Shearwater and Sharon Van Etten – Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
Last Saturday was Record Store Day so I thought I would throw something related on here. I’ve been buying stuff at RSD for about 5-6 years now, since I became aware of it. For the first couple of those years you could just rock up to one of the stores taking part and get what you wanted at a sensible time of day. Last year I heading into town for about 06:15 and found myself 5th in the queue at Windows. This year I landed at 04:25 and was still behind Dave who was also first in line last year. Geoff my work colleague and Record Player buddy arrived 3rd and we spent a good time putting the world to rights and stamping our feet to keep warm.
Why the rush? Well, the thing about RSD is that there are limited edition pressings of LPs and singles made available for the day. And once they are gone, they are gone. Unless you want to buy on eBay from some leach who stole an opportunity for a fan to get hold of something all in the name of making a quick buck. This year I had my eyes on Between the Buried and Me’s The Anatomy of. Limited to 100 pressings on double, clear orange vinyl I didn’t want to take the chance of missing it.
Central Arcade Entrance
The organisation at Windows was top notch. The three entrances to Central Arcade were clearly marked as to which to wait at to avoid last year’s multiple queue conundrum. It was, however, bloody freezing with only the lovely Kate, who joined 4th in line, being sensible enough to bring a flask of coffee. Still, once Dave from Windows arrived things took a turn for the warmer with the first 20 in line getting a courtesy coffee and bacon/sausage butty. With record lists highlighted we were eventually allowed in to the store 5 at a time and the staff took care of our wish lists. I think I got everything I wanted, barring the Between the Buried and Me disc. Obviously.
From there it was a walk past the huge queue outside Reflex with Geoff. There must have been 100 people or more waiting and we got some envious looks as we strolled casually past flaunting our bulging record bags. I was heading down to Beatdown Records to see if I could get anything there when it opened at 09:00. Geoff, sensibly, was on his way home. I landed at Beatdown in about 20th place in line so thought it might take a while as they filtered people through. But no. Just before nine they opened the doors to everyone and a free for all commenced. Not the most comfortable of melees but I survived and did land that BTBAM disc so worth it.
Visits to RPM and Reflex followed before a much needed beer or two was taken in Lady Grey’s Bar. I even managed to pick up a couple of singles for Geoff who hadn’t landed it in Windows and for Steve Drayton. He of Record Player fame. All and all a great day and some great purchases:
- Between the Buried and Me – The Anatomy of: 2LP (100 copies), clear orange vinyl
- Dio – Holy Diver: LP (250 copies), Grey/White/Red/Blue splatter vinyl
- Everything Everything – Duet: 7″ (500 copies), signed sleeve
- Hawkwind – Urban Guerilla: 7″ (1000 copies), black vinyl in picture sleeve
- Jethro Tull – Living in the Past: 7″ EP (1000 copies), Ft new Steven Wilson mixes
- Jethro Tull – Nothing is Easy: 2LP (250 copies), half orange/half brown vinyl
- John Smith & the Common Men – Music from the Inferno: 7″ (1000 copies), picture sleeve
- Kate Bush – Running up that Hill/Walk Straight Down the Middle: 10″ (2500 copies), picture disc
- Men Without Hats – Safety Dance: 7″ (500 copies), picture disc
- OST – Star Trek/Lost in Space: 7″ (1000 copies), black and glitter vinyl
- OST – Twighlight Zone/The Outer Limits: 7″ (1000 copies), clear and black vinyl
- OST – Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Munsters: 7″ (100 copies), white and black vinyl
- Rainbow – Long Live Rock N Roll: LP (250 copies), half orange/half black vinyl
- Rainbow – Rising: LP (250 copies), half yellow/half red vinyl
- Rory Gallagher – Continental OP: 10″ (400 copies), 4 track EP
- Shearwater & Sharon Van Etten – Stop Draggin’ my Heart Around: 7″ (275 copies), exclusive flipside
- Steven Wilson – Luminol/The Watchmaker: 12″ (500 copies), 180g picture disc
- UFO – Live ‘N’ Ready: 7″ (500 copies), 4 track EP in disco bag
- Witchfinder General – Death Penalty: LP (250 copies), Red/Black/With splatter vinyl
The Other 