This Saturday is Record Store Day.  Each year when I preview this event in my BCB show I notice the list of special, very limited, releases grow and grow.  Apparently this year there are 500 such releases.   Now, I love Record Store Day, and what it does for independent record shops.  However, I think there is a real danger that these limited edition releases may be starting to overshadow to real purpose of Record Store Day, and there are record shop owners who share my oncerns.   It is not Limited Edition Day, or Record Label Day.  The clue is in the title.   It is about the record shops.

This is why I think what shops like Jumbo Records in Leeds are doing is the right way to approach the day.  They have lined up a fabulous set of of instore performances throughout the day.  So, whether or not there is a limited release you want (and whether or not you get there in time for there to be any left) you can enjoy some wonderful music, have a browse round the shop, and acquaint yourself with the staff.  Last year a couple of young girls who are special to me saw The Staves at Jumbo, instantly became fans of the band, and want to go back to Jumbo again for Record Store Day this year.  The array of limited edition releases didn’t really matter to those little girls, but Record Store Day has done its job in drawing them into an independent record shop.  I for one hope that relationship lasts many years for them.  Their lives will be all the richer for it.

In my show this week you can hear Adam of Jumbo Records talking about what this day means to their shop.  If I were to make one recommendation, it would be that you are at Jumbo in the afternoon to see James Yorkston.  He came into BCB a few years ago to record one of my favourite sessions we’ve had.  Listen to the show here, and this is what you will hear:

Jono McCleery – ‘Fire In My Hands’ (single) (Ninja Tune)
Glasvegas – ‘I’d Rather Be Dead’ (single)
Ghostpoet – ‘Meltdown’ (single) (Play It Again Sam)
Vampire Weekend – ‘Diane Young’ (single) (XL)
The Uncluded – ‘Delicate Cycle’ (single) (Rhymesayers)
Daughter – ‘Human’ (single) (4AD)
Daniel Johnston – ‘True Love Will Find You In The End’ (LP – 1990) (Eternal Yip Eye) (this week’s Brief Candle)
Serafina Steer – ‘The Removal Man’ (LP – The Moths Are Real)
Jumbo Records interview previewing Record Store Day
David Bowie – ‘Drive In Saturday’ (single and LP – Alladin Sane)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou – ‘Vi E Lo’ (LP – Volume 3: The Skeletal Essences Of Voodoo Funk) (Analog Africa)
Golden Gurls – ‘Kid Tested’ (LP – Typo Magic) (Damnably)
Vulgar Fashion – ‘Krystal Liez’ (10″ – Vulgar Fashion) (Handmade Birds)
James Yorkston – ‘5 a.m.’ (BCB session version)
CocoRosie – ‘After The Afterlife’ (single) (City Slang)