As usual, several record stores in D.C. plan to participate in Record Store Day this Saturday, and we’ve got the goods on what local shops have planned for this year’s spring edition. (For your reference, here’s the official list of every April 2013 Record Store Day release.)
Update, 8 p.m.: We finally have info on what Crooked Beat plans to sell, and it sounds like it’s your best bet if you want to scoop up as many Record Store Day releases as possible. The Adams Morgan store ordered an insane number of releases—-about 390 in all, more than most stores on the East Coast, according to owner Bill Daly. The shop will open early at 9 a.m. on Saturday and offer grab bags for the first 100 customers (and we hear the grab bags are extra voluminous this year). The first 50 customers also get a limited-edition, silk-screened Crooked Beat tote bag. The store ordered around 8,000 pieces of vinyl for the event, which is about as much as it has in stock on a normal day. Bonus: Daly says the shop has one—-one!—-copy of the highly limited, hotly anticipated Dave Matthews Band box.
14th Street NW shop Som Records will be selling 70 to 80 Record Store Day records, including special releases from Orange Juice, Can, Fela Kuti, The Grateful Dead, Phish, Codeine, and Frightened Rabbit. It also plans to stock Adventures in Afropea 3: Telling Stories to the Sea, the Factory Records compilation, and the Dazed and Confused soundtrack. The store will give away gift certificates and CDs all day.
Record Store Day happens to coincide with Smash Records‘ sixth anniversary in Adams Morgan, and the store is throwing a party for the occasion. It’ll also have about 80 or 90 titles in stock, including the Elliott Smith 7-inch, the Nick Drake self-titled record, “Dust/Hard Attack” from Marky Ramone‘s old band Dust, The Cure‘s Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, releases from Orange Juice and Can, and most tantalizingly, the Bon Jovi picture disc. You know you want it.
Show up early to 18th Street NW store Red Onion, and you might be greeted with snacks and drinks. Owner Josh Harkavy is participating this year, and he’s especially excited about the releases from Elliott Smith, Double Dagger, Nick Drake, Hüsker Dü, Orange Juice, and the Factory Records compilation.
Adams Morgan’s Joint Custody is getting in on the action, too—-though it will participate in Record Store Day only on a “minimal level.”
Store employee Laurie Spector says both CD Cellar locations—-in Clarendon and Falls Church—-plan to be fully stocked for RSD. The shops will be slinging titles from Ty Segall, Big Mama Thornton, The Trashmen, Robyn Hitchcock, The Seeds, Daniel Johnston, Fela Kuti, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and way, way more. Spector also says the shop ordered a glut of regular vinyl to keep both locations loaded with goodies of all kinds—-not just Record Store Day releases.
Joe’s Record Paradise in Silver Spring is going all out: The store will feature a band and DJs all day, and a 5:30 p.m. panel with several original WHFS DJs including Damian Einstein, Cerphe, and yes, Weasel. The shop plans to stock ample Record Store Day titles.
The Record Exchange in Silver Spring will sell more than 300 titles, including Cream‘s Royal Albert Hall, The Flaming Lips‘ Zaireeka box set, GZA‘s Liquid Swords box and chess set, The White Stripes’ Elephant vinyl edition, Grateful Dead‘s Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966, Phish’s Lawn Boy deluxe edition, and Avenged Sevenfold‘s Carry On picture disc. All of the store’s used items will be 30 percent off. They will also have coffee from local shop Kefa in the morning and barbecue from the Curley Q’s food truck in the afternoon. Check the store’s Facebook page for details and updates.