Here’s a small selection that we’re overly excited about out of the many, many titles coming out for Record Store Day this year. We’ll be posting our full list of RSD titles later this week! So check back soon.
1.) The Space Project
This one is a doozy! (from Lefse Records and Fat Possum)
Last Thanksgiving, Matt Halverson, who runs the Portland-based label Lefse Records, was talking with his brother in law, Exogenesis President and Chief Scientist Sean Anklam, who described a trove of recordings the NASA-launched Voyager space probes had made in the outer solar system. Halverson, the Walter White to Anklam’s Hank Schrader, was overtaken by an idea: to commission imaginative artists to create songs and soundscapes out of the Voyager recordings. The interest among musicians—including Spiritualized, Beach House, The Antlers, Mutual Benefit, Blues Control, Youth Lagoon, and others—was overwhelming. Lefse will release the resulting album, entitled Space Project, on April 19, Record Store Day. It will be available on vinyl, CD, and as a 7” box set.
The audio tracks that form the raw material for Space Project were recorded by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes that NASA launched in 1977 and still uses to study the outer solar system. The satellites carry numerous instruments fine-tuned to record in different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The “sounds” recorded by the Voyager probes aren’t sounds in the conventional sense; rather, they are electromagnetic radiation fluctuations in the magnetosphere of the planets, moons and large asteroids the Voyager probes traveled near. Each celestial body is composed of different elements, has its own size and mass, and therefore sounds unique.
2.) Our cassette compilation…naturally
Read lots of info on this release right here!
3.) R.E.M. “Unplugged” Vinyl Box Set
Anyone that’s been in our shop knows we’re big R.E.M. fans so it’s no surprise we’re excited about this release. Culled from 2 R.E.M. Unplugged shows spread over several slabs of vinyl. This thing is beautiful.
4.) The Velvet Underground “Loaded” Splatter Vinyl
One of the best records ever made. Period. And now on crazy looking splatter colored vinyl.
5.) Built to Spill “Ultimate Alternative Wavers” LP
The FIRST Built to Spill record. Man, this one has been impossible to find…because it was never put on vinyl! But now it is.
6.) SUN Records Compilation
Some of the best SUN cuts ever all on one LP picked by record stores for record stores. This is what Record Store Day is all about.
7.) Gil Scott-Heron “Nothing New” LP
A posthumous release from one of our favorites and most important songwriters. This record features reworks and re-recorded songs from throughout Scott-Heron’s entire catalog. Most of these tracks were recorded during the “I’m New Here” sessions, which is also a fantastic record. If you aren’t familiar with Gil’s work this is a great place to start down the rabbit hole.
8.) J. Spaceman & Kid Millions “Live at Le Poisson Rouge” 12″ LP with extra 7″
On September 11, 2013, J. Spaceman (Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Spacemen 3) and Kid Millions (Oneida, Man Forever, People of the North) took a night off of their US tour with Spiritualized to perform an improvised set at (Le) Poisson Rouge, in Greenwich Village. Northern Spy was there to document the show. The resulting 12″ LP with an accompanying 7″ will be limited to 3000 copies and released for Record Store Day 2014 (April 19).
Throughout their respective careers, both Spaceman and Millions have navigated the various sub-genres that fall within the rock and experimental labels, and, on this album, we find the two artists exploring elements of their counterparts’ prior work in a fresh and unique way. Spaceman uses Millions’ free style of drumming as a cue to eschew the pop melodies and structures he worked with on his last release, 2012′s, Sweet Heart, Sweet Light.
9.) Songs:Ohia “Journey On: Collected Singles”
A beautiful box set full of 7″ singles with some of Jason Molina’s best work.
10.) Steve Earle “Townes” LP
Steve Earle covering Townes Van Zandt. On vinyl. No brainer.
