20 April is this year’s Record Store Day, the day of the year that music fans and musicians celebrate their love of those most wondrous spaces – independent record shops. Since 2007 the event has grown and grown, with record shops across the world opening their doors (often early) to incredibly lengthy queues, hosting in-store performance and offering exclusive releases.
This year’s exclusive releases are of a particularly high standard (a full list can be found on the RSD website) but one that has particularly caught our ear is Vic Godard’s Caught in Midstream 7”, produced at West Heath Yard by Edwyn Collins compatriot Seb Lewsley, and released on Collins’ label AED Records. Both sides of the 45 come from the sessions for the follow up to 1979 Now (the follow up to 1978 Now) a future release of another ‘lost’ Subway Sect album that saw them in their influential (but largely undocumented) Northern Soul phase.
Godard will also be playing a special set of Velvet Underground songs for RSD at Mono in Glasgow with the inimitable Sexual Objects. World Peace and Ela Orleans are also playing and Deena E. Jacobs, David Barbarossa, Jenny Rollo and The Brogues will be DJ-ing throughout the day.
On a related note, Edwyn Collins will also be releasing a 7” with The Heartbreaks for RSD, and all of Orange Juice’s wonderful LPs are to be re-released on vinyl for this celebratory day. Collins is currently on tour and is in fine fettle, as we can attest to, having seen him at Glasgow’s ABC last night. Tears may have been shed.
Wherever you are and whatever you’re into, independent record shops are important for so many reasons, get along to your local (or locals) tomorrow if you can, even if it’s just to get reacquainted with that smell (you know what we’re talking about).