Approximately 500 artists are primed to release exclusive recordings and vinyl to coincide with the tenth Record Store Day, which will take place on Saturday April 22. Celebrated in record shops across the United Kingdom, the event builds more momentum with each year, as artists continue to lend their support to the grassroots initiative.
With Musician Champions including Izzy Bizu, Kate Tempest and Kate Nash, Record Store Day sees shops across the country transformed to benefit music lovers and local bands. In London, Rough Trade East (Spitalfields) has always proven to be a hotspot, having previously seen Toddla T, Toy, Django Django and others play in-store to swarms of customers. Indeed, this year there will be some top-draw live performances in the capital to coincide with the celebrations. Alex Patterson from The Orb playing at Book and Record Bar (Norwood), and Geoff Lloyd of Absolute Radio at Lion Coffee and Records (Hackney) look like early highlights, but expect a lot more to be announced in the next few weeks.
This year over 500 artists past and present will release exclusive recordings, with a remastered demo of “The Boy with the Thorn in his Side” by The Smiths, and a 1974 live recording of “Cracked Actor” by David Bowie as some of the highlights for a collector. For those looking to pick up contemporary gems, Sia’s “This is Acting: Spotify Sessions” and London Grammar’s “Rooting for You” will surely be worth a buy. A limited edition of Little Mix’s “Glory Days” stands out at one of the more bizarre additions to this year’s list.
To find out more about Record Store Day and coinciding events, visit the official website at: recordstoreday.co.uk/home
Words by Matt Fredrik
