The first Record Store Day of 2024 is coming up quickly on Saturday, April 20. For those who don’t know, Record Store Day is a bi-annual event that occurs on a Saturday in April and on Black Friday each year. It’s a day exclusively for independent, brick-and-mortar record stores to celebrate the culture and impact of small record stores, where they have sales, exclusive presses, and other fun events. The celebration has occurred every year since 2008, and since then multiple cities including Los Angeles, New York City, and Las Vegas have declared it an official holiday.
Record Store Day has been credited with boosting sales of vinyl presses, as well as increasing the percentage of vinyls being purchased from small businesses. It has become a staple for anyone who collects records and has even been described as the “single best thing that has ever happened” for independent record shops.
There are a number of presses that are produced exclusively for Record Store Day and can only be found at your local shops. Some are special re-pressings, some are brand new tracks, and some are albums that have never before been pressed on vinyl. Here are a few of the ones that I will be on the hunt for this April 20:
1) Paramore – re: This is Why and David Byrne collab
As the ambassador for this year’s RSD, Paramore is releasing three exclusive records. One is a remixed edition of their sixth album This is Why that was released back in October 2023. The limited edition two LP features re-recorded versions of the 12-song track list, featuring artists such as Julien Baker, Remi Wolf, and Jack Antonoff. There will be two pressings available: one containing only the remixed songs and one containing both standard and remixed. The first will have 10,000 copies available, the latter 15,000.
Paramore is also releasing 5,000 copies of a single LP containing two songs: Paramore’s cover of “Burning Down the House” by iconic rock band Talking Heads, and David Byrne’s cover of Paramore’s “Hard Times.”
2) The Cranberries – Bury the Hatchet : the Complete Sessions
Bury the Hatchet is the acclaimed fourth studio album from Irish rock band The Cranberries. Available on vinyl for the first time ever, this RSD exclusive features a two-sided LP full of remastered versions of the original track list and also includes five new bonus tracks. This pressing celebrates the 25 year anniversary of the album’s release. 4,000 copies will be available.
3. Wallows – Nothing Happens : 5 year anniversary
For RSD 2024, indie band Wallows is releasing a new exclusive two-sided LP to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their debut album, Nothing Happens. It includes new artwork, an exclusive 12 x 24 poster, and a resequenced track list with four bonus tracks, one of which has never been officially released. The record itself is also printed on exclusive blue and white splatter print vinyl. 5,000 copies will be available across all stores.
4) Noah Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo collaboration single
International sensations Noah Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo are teaming up to release an RSD exclusive single LP containing two tracks of them covering each other’s songs. The colored 7” vinyl features Rodrigo covering Kahan’s hit song “Stick Season” and Kahan covering “Lacy” off of Rodrigo’s sophomore album Guts. 15,000 copies will be available.
Noah is also releasing 15,000 copies of his second album I Was/I Am, which has never before been pressed on vinyl.
5) David Bowie – Waiting in the Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth)
To celebrate what would be David Bowie’s 77th birthday, Parlophone Records is releasing a special pressing made up of songs recorded during the era of The Trident Tapes, a collection of demos, alternate versions, and mixes recorded at Trident Studios in London between 1970 and 1972. This is the time period where Bowie recorded his legendary fifth studio album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The exclusive vinyl includes four songs that never made the 1972 album. 8,000 copies will be available.
For more information and a full list of all participating stores as well as a full list of releases, visit the Record Store Day website.