Revolution Number 9

There are only a few holidays in this world that I actually care about: Christmas, my birthday, tax free day, Halloween, and Groundhog Day are a few of them. However, it's not common for a person's HOBBY to be honored with a day of recogniton. There isn't a national stamp collecting day, a craft-airplane-painting day, or a denim bedazzling day. Therefore, National Record Store Day feels very personal to me because it's both recognizing local record dealers and rewarding those who prefer vinyls and platters over MP3s and YouTube. Today, my friends, I am in 100% bliss mode.

You may remember my last Record Store Day post that was written exactly 365 days ago. I had gone to Plan 9 Records in Carytown and had a checklist of exclusive releases that were going to be sold at locations around the nation. The cool thing about RSD is that artists and music companies will release limited editions of both old and new music in very small numbers of pressings--that is, they only make a very small number of these particular releases. I managed to get my hands on an orange-colored .45 that has "Georgia On My Mind" on both sides: Side A has Ray Charles' 1960 recording, and Side B has Michael Bublé's rare 2009 performance. Unfortunately, though, I wasn't able to grab any of the super-rare or collectible vinyls besides that one.

I wanted to change that this year. I went to Plan 9 fairly early in the morning with a mental list of what to look out for. I also remember that Neil Young had visited Plan 9 Records on RSD in 2011, so I knew that there could potentially be some music stars flipping through the crates. I parked about a block away and heard live music playing before I'd even reached the store.

Since I hadn't waited in a long line to get into the store before the general public this morning, I knew that some things would already be long gone. However, I spotted a Buddy Guy album from the late-1960's that had been re-issued on 180-gram vinyl (AKA top of the line), and I grabbed it immediately. I didn't even want to go NEAR Plan 9's standard collection of records in the back of the store because there were already tons of people crowding around that area, so I stuck to walking around the front of the store. I managed to get my hands on a RSD exclusive copy of Gary Clark Jr.'s "When My Train Pulls In" on vinyl, which I was very excited about. One side has the title song coming in at around 17 minutes long, and the other side has a radio version of it. The third record I found was a copy of Ben Harper's album "By My Side," which looks and sounds beautiful. There were free stickers and posters on tables throughout the store, and many of Plan 9's movies were on sale as well (I saw a 14-disk Hitchcock box set for an incredibly low price).

I could have stayed a little longer and made an effort to dive into the stacks towards the back of the store, but I was already happy with what I'd found. Some of the rarest records, like a special release by Mumford and Sons and a vinyl record by The Roots, went to the people who'd been waiting outside the store well before 10:00 am, and because I'd been at a Delta Gamma dance for most of last night, I really didn't feel like getting up that early. Overall, though, it was my second successful outing in a row and I can't wait to see what next year's Record Store Day has to offer.