Record Store Day is one of my favourite days of the year. Despite my general hatred of queues, other human beings and queuing alongside other human beings, I still love hitting up my favourite indie stores and rifling through the special releases on the day.

It's not a day for mindless crate surfing through, you need to know what you want and what you want to avoid or you may just end up panic buying that novelty Aqua single, a continent shaped Africa cover or expensive and pointless 3" turntable...

In no particular order, here are a few of my suggestions for what to pick up this Saturday 13th April 2019.

Accompanying playlist here. 

1. Craig Mac / Notorious BIG - B.I.G. Mack

A 1994 promo cassette distributed by Bad Boy Entertainment to create hype for the new label and hot new artists Craig Mac and Notorious B.I.G. In the end, Mac's album Project: Funk da World went gold and Biggie's Ready to Die went six times platinum.

It's limited to 8000 copies but comes as an LP packaged with a replica of that original cassette. A nice package and a must for hip-hop fans.

Essential listen: Flava in Ya Ear, Ready to Die

2. Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

Francis Black, Black Francis, Frank Black or whatever you prefer to call him is the howling genius face of The Pixies. Teenager of the Year is his second solo album, released in 1994, but despite his considerable output it's the album that's still most picked as his best work (outside of The Pixies of course).

You can pick it up as a double LP on white vinyl limited to 4500 copies. For fans of confusingly catchy alt. rock.

Essential listen:  Freedom Rock

3. Green River - Olympia, Tropicana 1994

If you delve even a little bit into the early days of the Seattle music scene of the 80s / 90s then Green River will come up again and again. Featuring future members of Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney they played a huge part in the evolution of some of the styles and sounds that later came to be defined as "grunge".

This live LP is limited to just 2000 copies and includes a replica concert poster and band photos. For fans of urgent and frenetic hard rock.

Essential listen: P.C.C.

4. Mighty Boosh - The Complete Radio Series

Three series of cult comedy The Mighty Boosh aired on BBC THREE back in the early noughties starring that bloke off the bake off (Noel Fielding) and that other bloke from Mindhorn (Julian Barratt).  It's a surrealistic trip and visual and aural feast full of dry humour, slapstick, bottled genius and insane off the wall characters. It would never have seen the light of day if some brave soul hadn't taken a chance on it on BBC Radio 4 (of all places!). Oh and the duo are also UK ambassadors for Record Store Day 2019.

This release shoves that entire season on 3 vinyl discs with brand new artwork and liner notes from the stars. For fans of creative nonsense.

Look into the parka! 

Essential listen(?): yes

5. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade is Dead

The mere mention of MCR bring sneers of derision and passionate cries of adulation in equal measure. The Black Parade was a genuine cultural phenomenon and this show in Mexico City marked the band's final performance in that guise.

My Chemical Romance are a genuinely brilliant and groundbreaking band and this release is a must for fans of when emo was cool.

Essential listen: Teenagers

6. Pearl Jam - Live at Easy Street

Pearl Jam are ambassadors for RSD 19 so I couldn't not include them on this list. This live performance from Easy Street records in Seattle was released as a CD EP back in 2006 but never before on vinyl so this is your first chance to own it on wax. It's a pretty unusual set in terms of the songs they play but culminates in a typically raucous performance of Porch. You can listen to the whole thing below.

Worth picking up if you're a fan or if you just want to hear an exciting live band performing in their prime. For fans of powerful and emotional rock bands.

Essential listen: Lukin

7. Weezer - Dusty Gems & Raw Nuggets

Remember when Weezer were a band and not just a ridiculous meme? This exclusive release compiles the b-sides and rarities originally included on deluxe versions of the seminal debut Blue album. Pop this on then pop on the Black album to see just how far they've come. To be fair, I genuinely love the Black album.

For fans of good bands gone bad.  Keep on blah blah blah.

Essential listen: Say It Ain't So

8. Death Grips - Steroids

“What the fuck is this?” your ears might exclaim upon being subjected to Death Grip's Steroids aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Gabber. It's a sonic assault of stupendously heavy, pounding, stabbing electronics and gruff, spitting, spoken word.

As an EP packaged up as one single twenty two and a half minute song it's certainly not an easy listen but give it a chance and it can be fantastically rewarding.

For people who hate their neighbours. 

Essential listen: it's just one long track so strap yourself in for the ride.

9. Fat Lip - The Loneliest Punk

A new pressing of the long since out of print debut from one of the members of The Pharcyde? Shut up and take my money! This kind of release is what RSD is all about; it makes navigating that dirge of novelty 7" singles worth it by making great music affordable again. The Loneliest Punk was produced by J-Swift, also responsible for the simply excellent Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde and features contributions from Chali 2na (from Jurassic 5) and Shock G.

If you like jazz infused rap with humour then snap this one up if you spot it, it's an RSD exclusive and limited to only 1500 copies.

Essential listen: Today's Your Day

10. Kool Keith - Complicated Trip

I don't normally do singles on vinyl but for Kool Keith aka Dr Octagon aka Black Elvis aka Dr. Dooom, I make an exception. The song itself is an interesting concept where all three Kool Keith personas are on a road trip together but the record itself is quite special with a number of different etchings featuring bonus tracks and a dual etching for the main track which gives the user a 50/50 chance of playing the full or instrumental version when the needle drops.

Backing on the track comes from the astoundingly heavy and frantic Thetan and there is set to be a full collaborative LP later in the year.

Worth checking out if you're into weird gimmicks and experimental hip-hop. 

Essential listen: pretty much anything by any of his alter egos; it's all gold

11. Blood on Black Wax: Horror Soundtracks on Vinyl [Book]

 "Fuck your books, this is a day for records" I hear you say. Just calm down. This is a day about celebrating music and indie stores so why not chill out and read a book about spooky film music?

This release is a special signed version of the book which also comes with a 7" single featuring exclusive tracks from the Jamie Lee Curtis horror film Prom Night.

For fans of horror and reading.  Why listen to music when you can read about it?

Essential listen: the delightful sound of a real paper page being turned…

12. Greta Van Fleet - From The Fires

Greta Van Fleet just won a Grammy for this album, made up of two separate EPs released in 2017. Despite that, they still get a lot of criticism for being just Led Zeppelin rip-offs and whilst their debut album Anthem Of The Peaceful Army was a bit disappointing, From The Fires is a genuinely brilliant collection of classic rock songs influenced by the likes of The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival and yes, Led Zeppelin. You can read my full review here. 

For fans of classic rock and roll, done to perfection. 

Essential listen: Safari Song

A pretty varied list then. Are any of these on your own lists? What have you decided are essentials on the day? Let me know in the comments. Happy digging. 

Peace.