ZOMG I want that Grateful Dead release so bad. I picture the Special Record Store Day releases rack bein' all like

I'm gonna go later and hope that nobody cares about Built To Spill's Ultimate Alternative Wavers reissue. Would like that Surfer Blood demos release but there's only a 1000 and I don't know if my store is even going to have it.

I am done with this shit.

Huge swag table at Dig! Music in Ukiah. They had a free copy of Scott Henderson's Well To The Bone, along with something called Project Z with Jimmy Herring on guitar. Score!

Also grabbed a s-load of samplers and artists I've never heard of. Live band playing in a couple of hours, too.

Go Dig!

Just stumbled into an in-store by
The Thons
Not expecting it. Not planning it. But loving it.
One of my favorite local bands these days. Nice guys, too.

I'm not sure what's fun about standing in line for over an our to get into a store so you can by overpriced reissues and 7"s.

I'm also not sure what's cool about record stores further marking up already overpriced items because they know they're going to be hot items on eBay.

There are some cool in-stores at some places and some free swag, but those are more like the occasional added bonuses than the main event. This whole thing has become centered around and driven by eBay speculation, and it sucks.

The Muppet Movie soundtrack and glow-in-the-dark 10" Ghostbuster's EP are going to make a nice backdrop for my beanie baby collection.

What Drinky said. The GD release was long gone by the time I got to the store. Of course there were plenty copies available on ebay when I got home.

Haha I saw both of those releases on my Facebook feed yesterday, like "Look what I got!"

I'll head in to the store tomorrow and see what's left. Otherwise I'll head over to exy, stuff is already trickling in there.

the only thing i really want is that Songs: Ohia box set, but yeah...i just wasn't into it yesterday. like bort, i may pop in tomorrow and see what's left.

fucking hippies.

This was the main reason I went out and stood in line yesterday morning. I knew it was supposed to retail for $60 and already had mixed feelings about that. It's definitely an inflated RSD price, and Secretly Canadian probably wouldn't have charged as much for a non-RSD release.

So I get there 10 minutes before the store - Decatur CD - opens, but I had to wait over an hour to get in. This year they decided to let only ten people inside the store at a time (probably to prevent theft), and there were about thirty people in front of me. So I finally get all the way to the front of the line, and I'm thinking my chances are still pretty good of finding a copy there. But I think to myself, what if they aren't even selling it for $60? What if they've already marked it up to like $80 or something? It was already being listed on eBay for $150 days earlier. Well, guess what, I get inside, and they have two copies, priced $75. I was pissed. I said so. I had just waited outside in the rain at this place for an hour, and by then I had most likely missed my chance at getting it anywhere else. (At this point lines at Criminal Records were still around the block.) I was absolutely not going to pay a 25% mark-up on this thing I totally didn't need even though I knew someone else would. I'm sure they've sold them both by now.

I only bought two 7"s even though I wish I'd only bought one of them, a Chad Vangaalen thing with four leftover songs that won't be on his upcoming album. That was actually a worthwhile thing with a reason to exist. It was $7, and I'm glad I got one. I just wish I had bought it somewhere else.

I guess if you're gonna do RSD, you might as well go to a place like Criminal Records that's going to go all out. I never want to deal with the crowds, parking, or even longer wait, but I'd bet they were selling that box set for $60, not $75. They were giving away a lot of free stuff, too, and had bands playing outside all day.

Also, as far as that Songs: Ohia box is concerned, I'm really pretty glad I didn't buy it. Not only was it money I didn't need to spend for an overly elaborate package of music that all fits on a single CD, but it turns out there are some problems with it, too. Some of the tracks are mislabled, and they mistakenly included the album version of "Are We Not Perfect Men" rather than the 7" version. This is all supposed to be corrected with a later digital release.

that's fuckin lame about the songs: ohia box being fucked up. in theory, rsd is a cool thing that offers the opportunity to do something creative and thoughtful with our favourite music medium. across the board, too many of these releases are ill-conceived money grabs, and do little to contribute something new or valuable. as a sidenote, pressing records that were not intended for rsd has been a total nightmare because all plants have been backed up making rsd stock. i bought the grateful dead release, put back the springsteen 12", put back the life without buildings reissue, cared about nothing else, and spent a fortune on a bunch of non-rsd shit.

I didn't buy anything, except one used CD for my 12-y.o. son:
Johnny Cash - Unchained

He heard the Soundgarden cover ("Rusty Cage") on a video game and fell in love with it, and, subsequently all things Cash. Hey! However they get there, right?

To be fair, I haven't seen a single mention of regret from anyone who bought it. It's by all accounts a beautiful package. Super weird that there would be obvious mistakes like mislabeled tracks and using the wrong version of a song given how much care and finesse was put into the packaging.

I probably would have bought that Life Without Buildings album if I'd seen it. Unless it was like $25 or more which it probably would have been at the store I went to.

And... I just ordered one:
http://www.scdistribution.com/music-sho ... gs%3A+Ohia

$49.99

Couldn't resist. Take that scalpers and shitty record stores.

Dig it, congratulations.

Clicked on your link but didn't see it. Maybe they're out now.

ya, i emailed secretly canadian and seems as though they went very fast. thanks for the heads up though Drinky.

NP. Hopefully they will re-press or reissue this in some form later, and maybe fix the problems with it when they do.

As for my "shitty record stores" comment, I guess I should take it back. Maybe. Turns out every record store in Atlanta was selling this box set for $75. Weird. I wonder if it was a distribution thing? Doesn't seem like they'd all agree to over-charge the same amount.

Also, I went to Criminal and Wax'N Facts today, and it totally reinforced my anti-RSD stance. Criminal still had both 7"s that I bought on Saturday, and they still had five copies sitting out of the Songs: Ohia box set. For $75, but still. Never standing in line on RSD again. From now on I'm just gonna swing by on Monday and pick through what's left at my leisure.

I ended up picking up the Breadwinner 12" and the A Minor Forest 2-album/4xLP reissue. Both were really reasonably priced.

Jessie @ Secretly Canadian said there are no plans for a reissue.

One of my locals - Albums on the Hill - had one left for $59. I thought that was fair enough. I asked him about pricing, and he says it was up to him to set the price. One other local had one left priced at $70.

$59 is good. With shipping, it came out to about $54 from SC. (You know, assuming I actually get it.)

Weird and shitty that 3 separate stores here were/are selling it for $75.

Gf and I were in Pasadena and went to a couple stores. It was actually first time I've been to RSD. Was looking for the Non Violent Femmes comp but had no expectations of finding it and didn't.

I don't really get paying so much money for vinyl. I grant that as a physical objects, records have more aesthetic value than CDs. They probably sound better too. But is that all worth paying twice as much--just for regular, non-RSD stuff?

I still have mixed feelings on the whole thing. Some of the local stores do really cool community stuff. Live bands, food, drink, and sales are cool. Limited edition bs is not.

Plus, most of these "limited editions" are in pressings of 1000 or more, which is more than they make of most of the regular releases I'm digging these days anyway.

My local store down here had 20% off everything today, including leftover RSD stuff. Picked up the LCD Soundsystem boxset, was $100 before tax.