Insure your wallets and purses, re-mortgage your life - it's Record Store Day once again on 19th April 2014, a day when various record companies will once again unleash 'rare' wares and impressive represses while record shops fend off crowds from early in the morning 'til late at night. But before you consider camping outside your local emporium, you'll want to know what's worth having after freezing your privates off. Well, that's if your crazy enough to do it.
You can go here to check out the full list or savour the flavour below by reading about 30 key releases - in a handy alphabetical guide.
Adam and the Ants - Dirk Wears White Sox
The classic debut album will be issued on white vinyl and apparently mastered by Adam himself making this a very collectable piece indeed. Worth it for the tracks Zerox, Whip in my Valise and Cartrouble (presuming they get included). Also includes archived material printed from the Ant vaults.
Amorphous Androgynous - The Cartel and Remixes
A double album of rare cuts and remixes that will sport hand-numbered sleeves and that good old FSOL and Gallagher connection. The electronic psychedelic duo rarely fail to deliver anything less than interesting and this edition will sell well.
Art of Noise - Live at the End of the Century
A 7" and 12" picture-disc featuring a handful of live tracks from the ZTT vaults (well, 1999's Coachella Festival to be precise). Preempting a full-length release of the same name (minus the 'live' bit), the End of the Century RSD-style includes nifty images and three tracks, Out of This World, Moments in Love and Born on a Sunday.
Bathory - various catalogue reissues
You want Swedish extreme metal on vinyl? - with Bathory, you get all this and more - 180grams more. The band's first six albums will finally get a reissue on wax as collectable picture discs. Not only will these appeal to anyone remotely interested in thrash and dark metal (Bathory were underrated purveyors of both), they will also draw in geeks fascinated by quality metal album-covers. Hammerheart will look particularly nice.
Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari
This sounds superb. Pressed on 180gram blue vinyl and packaged with a 7" packed with rare demos, Beach Boys fanatics will be grabbing at these. One of the band's lowest charting albums back in the day with only one or two big(ish) tunes (the title track and Surfin'), Surfin' Safari might prove to be a viable investment for the discerning fan of sixties' pop.
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling (remixes)
Two versions of Blancmange standards coupled together on a natty 12" by Cherry Red to celebrate the band's soon-to-be-released Happy Families 2. Essentially a re-reading of the pairing's debut long-player, HF2 will include Living On The Ceiling and Feel Me, both included in remixed form here.
Camera Obscura - 4AD Sessions
A double 7" with a title that explains precisely what you'll get, lovingly wrapped in a smart sleeve. The four songs include Break It To You Gently and Desire Lines and the in-demand outfit will ensure this ends up on many RSD buyer's lists.
David Bowie - Rock and Roll Suicide
Most of Bowie's cracking early singles have already been issued as 7" picture-discs during the past couple of years but this one promises to be in demand since it failed to break the Top 20 when issued as a single 40 years ago. It'll look great too.
Dead Kennedys - Original Singles Collection (78-82)
Seven lovely 7" singles packaged in a box-set? Just what would Jello say? He'd probably relish it, truth be told as this box gathers all of their great early singles, saving you the bother of digging them out of second-hand shops at £8 a pop. Worth it for California Uber Alles, Kill the Poor and Life Sentence.
Devo - Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig
This is a live picture-disc issued to tie-in with other 'new' Devo releases including the long-awaited DVD release of the infamous The Men Who Make The Music film and a less-than-enthusiastically-received new transfer of The Complete Truth About De-Evolution compilation. So then, best to head to this new edition of Devo's 1996 gig.
Django Django - Porpoise Song (Late Night Tales)
Pressed on a psychedelic splatter-vinyl 7" disc, the Djangos newest collectable comes with a spoken-word track by Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, making this a collectable item for fans of his, as well as Django lovers.
Durutti Column - Chronicle LX:XL
A deluxe double CD edition of the one-off album previously only available after the band's launch show at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester during 2011. Partly autobiographical and very personal to guitarist and catalyst Vini Reilly, the songs took on new meaning after his split with then girlfriend of 9 years (Poppy). Reilly suffered serious illness in the following few years and is on the mend enough to recalibrate that original album and bring it up to date with life-long Durutti percussionist Bruce Mitchell at his side. Chronicles LX:XL will be packaged in a smart burgundy box with 2 CDs (both versions of the album) and loads of related memorabilia, images and paraphernalia. Original copies of Chronicles have sold on Discogs for upwards of £150 so for anyone who missed it, this will be the best alternative.
Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
Arguably the Liverpool new-wavers' most complete, commercial and cohesive work, Ocean Rain comes wrapped in an already iconic sleeve that took an age to photograph - so imagine it being released on coloured vinyl! Imagine no more - Weatherbox will continue their reassessment of the Bunnymen back-catalogue with this fourth release, a blue-vinyl edition of said opus. Yum.
ESG - Dance To The Beat Of ESG
Every year seems to bear fruit from the Scroggins family vaults and RSD 2014 is no exception. This time Fire Records have upgraded the thirty-plus tracks as a triple vinyl set with additional liner notes including an interview with Renee Scroggins plus an updated outer wrap sleeve. Judging by the price quoted on Banquet Records website, this won't come cheap - £40! Still great music though - Dance, Moody, You're No Good etc....
Fleetwood Mac - Dragonfly
A very early Mac song from their Danny Kirwan days, this plaintive piece of bluesy psychedelia only ever appeared as a 7" in 1971, save for its appearance on a Greatest Hits variant from the same year. The B-side is Purple Dancer, the inspiration behind the colour of this much-fancied item. It's a lovely tune Dragonfly - Durutti fans will warm to the guitar-work on it, by the way.
Grace Jones - Me I Disconnect From You
Taken from the Deluxe reissue of Jones' landmark Nightclubbing album (it's 30 years old - thirty!), her cover of the Gary Numan standard is pretty much what you'd expect - brim full of Sly and Robbie tricks and licks and a deadpan reading of an already moody song by the inimitable Grace. Judging by the reactions to Nightclubbing's re-release, demand for this will be very high.
Grant Hart - Every Everything and Some Something
Husker Du fans will be sniffing around this excellent-sounding package I'll wager. Basically a DVD featuring a rare documentary about the drummer coupled with a rare limited vinyl pressing, EE&SS follows up his latest studio album Good News For The Modern Man, also issued on Wienerworld. Note that Husker Du's Candy Apple Grey is getting another reissue from Rhino for RSD 2014 - probably on coloured vinyl.
Inspiral Carpets - Dung 4 and The Cow EP
Blimey, this'll sell quick - the legendary Inspirals debut cassette is finally getting a vinyl release that will come coupled with a 7" bonus. Cherry Red may well have struck gold with this one and there's even a CD edition due out a few weeks afterwards.
John Foxx - Metamatic
As well as a double vinyl issue of The Maths-era Interplay and Shape of Things, Demon will be stepping back in time with a reissue of Foxx's landmark debut album Metamatic. Aside from a gatefold sleeve, white vinyl and numbered edition, the real reason to buy this record is for the music - this is Foxx stripped bare and armed with machines, a radical enough departure from his days with Ultravox in that convention flew out of the window the moment that Underpass droned into earshot like a threat.
Joy Division - An Ideal For Living
Remastered at Abbey Road and one of the most-heavily bootlegged (often badly) JD releases, this version from Rhino will include a 're-imagined' package inspired by the original 12" 'scaffold' sleeve, as well as featuring the classic No Love Lost and Leaders of Men to boot (pardon the pun). I expect greedy peeps will be slapping these on eBay and Discogs for triple mark-ups which is daft really - the songs aren't that difficult to find anymore.
Marnie - The Hunter (Remix)
Les Disques du Crepuscule's resurgence continues with its first RSD committal to vinyl - a lovely clear-vinyl 12" pressing of versions of the title-track from the Ladytron singer's recent album The Hunter. There's a Stephen Morris remix amongst the tracks on offer, making this collectable on another level, apart from being a decent-looking package (from the pics I've seen so far). Limited to 500 copies.
Public Image Limited - Death Disco/Warrior
Two rare versions of two key PiL tracks have been gathered together for this 12" release. You get a 'monitor mix' of Death Disco (previously only available on a compilation) and the full Dave Dorrell reworking of Warrior which is, I have to say, one of Pil's best remixes commissioned in the '80s. You can find a similar mix on the Don't Ask Me 12" and this version on a US promo - otherwise, it's pretty rare. I'll be queuing for this baby.
Psychic TV - Hacienda
One of a handful of vinyl reissues of selected titles from Psychic TV's live series of the '80s, this one comes as a red vinyl 180 gram pressing in a striking sleeve with the iconic nightclub on the front. It was PTV's first show at the Manchester venue, by all accounts and is as easy to listen to as you'd expect. There is a Live at the Marquee reissue as well.
Public Service Broadcasting - Elfstedentocht
This tune has been previously issued as a download in celebration of the famous Dutch skating event which covers 200 miles in total. This 7" will be pressed on white vinyl and includes two versions of the track, the second part of which is prime PSB material.
Roddy Frame - Surf
Two of Frame's solo albums will be sympathetically repressed by mate Edwyn Collin's AED label, which means the attention to detail should be pin-sharp. Of the two, Surf is the most essential be a country mile (the other being Western Skies) and includes some of the Aztec Camera man's most intimate and beautiful work. Now, bring on the North Star reissue please.
Section 25 - Reflection
Factory Benelux's second RSD release from Section 25 (following last year's My Outrage) comes as a sister-release to the expanded reissue of the landmark electro album From The Hip (a double CD, no less). Reflection has been re-imagined by the current band line-up while on the flip you'll find a new and exclusive track Change, with the added attraction of orange vinyl and a superb fluorescent orange die-cut sleeve based on Peter Saville's original artwork of the 1984 club-hit Looking From a Hilltop.
Spacemen 3 - Translucent Flashbacks
One Spacemen 3 record isn't enough for RSD - so how about three of their earliest tracks reissued and slotted into one tasty psychedelic box, with download codes. As if you're going to bloody use them - Spacemen 3's earnest drones always sound better on wax. Here you get Walkin' With Jesus, Transparent Radiation and Take Me To The Other Side.
Suede - Let Go
Once again Brett and the boys get a RSD release under their belts, this time an ultra-rare track previously issued as a CD single only (in Sweden) with Heroin on the B-side. This 7" is designed to slot neatly into your Suede 7" Singles Box Set, due for release in April. It's going to be an expensive month. Bastards.
The The - Giant
Possibly one of Matt Johnson's greatest committals to a recording medium, this epic percussive tour-de-force, taken from the soon-to-be-boxed Soul Mining album, finally gets a 12" release. You'll get the original mix plus a DJ Food remix and two sleeve designs by both Food and The The (inspired by original sleeve artist Andy Dog). A great great record.
Various - Sun Records Curated By + Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll
Four track EP celebrating some of Sun Records' visionary rockabilly on a 7" EP plus a full-length album of cuts chosen by participating RSD stores - what's not to buy? Expect Sonny Burgess, Rufus Thomas and the like to decorate your lugholes once purchased. The album has a superbly iconic sleeve based on the Sun Records logo.
Good luck queuing for this lot!
Adam and the Ants - Dirk Wears White Sox
The classic debut album will be issued on white vinyl and apparently mastered by Adam himself making this a very collectable piece indeed. Worth it for the tracks Zerox, Whip in my Valise and Cartrouble (presuming they get included). Also includes archived material printed from the Ant vaults.
Amorphous Androgynous - The Cartel and Remixes
A double album of rare cuts and remixes that will sport hand-numbered sleeves and that good old FSOL and Gallagher connection. The electronic psychedelic duo rarely fail to deliver anything less than interesting and this edition will sell well.
Art of Noise - Live at the End of the Century
A 7" and 12" picture-disc featuring a handful of live tracks from the ZTT vaults (well, 1999's Coachella Festival to be precise). Preempting a full-length release of the same name (minus the 'live' bit), the End of the Century RSD-style includes nifty images and three tracks, Out of This World, Moments in Love and Born on a Sunday.
Bathory - various catalogue reissues
You want Swedish extreme metal on vinyl? - with Bathory, you get all this and more - 180grams more. The band's first six albums will finally get a reissue on wax as collectable picture discs. Not only will these appeal to anyone remotely interested in thrash and dark metal (Bathory were underrated purveyors of both), they will also draw in geeks fascinated by quality metal album-covers. Hammerheart will look particularly nice.
Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari
This sounds superb. Pressed on 180gram blue vinyl and packaged with a 7" packed with rare demos, Beach Boys fanatics will be grabbing at these. One of the band's lowest charting albums back in the day with only one or two big(ish) tunes (the title track and Surfin'), Surfin' Safari might prove to be a viable investment for the discerning fan of sixties' pop.
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling (remixes)
Two versions of Blancmange standards coupled together on a natty 12" by Cherry Red to celebrate the band's soon-to-be-released Happy Families 2. Essentially a re-reading of the pairing's debut long-player, HF2 will include Living On The Ceiling and Feel Me, both included in remixed form here.
Camera Obscura - 4AD Sessions
A double 7" with a title that explains precisely what you'll get, lovingly wrapped in a smart sleeve. The four songs include Break It To You Gently and Desire Lines and the in-demand outfit will ensure this ends up on many RSD buyer's lists.
David Bowie - Rock and Roll Suicide
Most of Bowie's cracking early singles have already been issued as 7" picture-discs during the past couple of years but this one promises to be in demand since it failed to break the Top 20 when issued as a single 40 years ago. It'll look great too.
Dead Kennedys - Original Singles Collection (78-82)
Seven lovely 7" singles packaged in a box-set? Just what would Jello say? He'd probably relish it, truth be told as this box gathers all of their great early singles, saving you the bother of digging them out of second-hand shops at £8 a pop. Worth it for California Uber Alles, Kill the Poor and Life Sentence.
Devo - Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig
This is a live picture-disc issued to tie-in with other 'new' Devo releases including the long-awaited DVD release of the infamous The Men Who Make The Music film and a less-than-enthusiastically-received new transfer of The Complete Truth About De-Evolution compilation. So then, best to head to this new edition of Devo's 1996 gig.
Django Django - Porpoise Song (Late Night Tales)
Pressed on a psychedelic splatter-vinyl 7" disc, the Djangos newest collectable comes with a spoken-word track by Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, making this a collectable item for fans of his, as well as Django lovers.
Durutti Column - Chronicle LX:XL
A deluxe double CD edition of the one-off album previously only available after the band's launch show at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester during 2011. Partly autobiographical and very personal to guitarist and catalyst Vini Reilly, the songs took on new meaning after his split with then girlfriend of 9 years (Poppy). Reilly suffered serious illness in the following few years and is on the mend enough to recalibrate that original album and bring it up to date with life-long Durutti percussionist Bruce Mitchell at his side. Chronicles LX:XL will be packaged in a smart burgundy box with 2 CDs (both versions of the album) and loads of related memorabilia, images and paraphernalia. Original copies of Chronicles have sold on Discogs for upwards of £150 so for anyone who missed it, this will be the best alternative.
Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
Arguably the Liverpool new-wavers' most complete, commercial and cohesive work, Ocean Rain comes wrapped in an already iconic sleeve that took an age to photograph - so imagine it being released on coloured vinyl! Imagine no more - Weatherbox will continue their reassessment of the Bunnymen back-catalogue with this fourth release, a blue-vinyl edition of said opus. Yum.
ESG - Dance To The Beat Of ESG
Every year seems to bear fruit from the Scroggins family vaults and RSD 2014 is no exception. This time Fire Records have upgraded the thirty-plus tracks as a triple vinyl set with additional liner notes including an interview with Renee Scroggins plus an updated outer wrap sleeve. Judging by the price quoted on Banquet Records website, this won't come cheap - £40! Still great music though - Dance, Moody, You're No Good etc....
Fleetwood Mac - Dragonfly
A very early Mac song from their Danny Kirwan days, this plaintive piece of bluesy psychedelia only ever appeared as a 7" in 1971, save for its appearance on a Greatest Hits variant from the same year. The B-side is Purple Dancer, the inspiration behind the colour of this much-fancied item. It's a lovely tune Dragonfly - Durutti fans will warm to the guitar-work on it, by the way.
Grace Jones - Me I Disconnect From You
Taken from the Deluxe reissue of Jones' landmark Nightclubbing album (it's 30 years old - thirty!), her cover of the Gary Numan standard is pretty much what you'd expect - brim full of Sly and Robbie tricks and licks and a deadpan reading of an already moody song by the inimitable Grace. Judging by the reactions to Nightclubbing's re-release, demand for this will be very high.
Grant Hart - Every Everything and Some Something
Husker Du fans will be sniffing around this excellent-sounding package I'll wager. Basically a DVD featuring a rare documentary about the drummer coupled with a rare limited vinyl pressing, EE&SS follows up his latest studio album Good News For The Modern Man, also issued on Wienerworld. Note that Husker Du's Candy Apple Grey is getting another reissue from Rhino for RSD 2014 - probably on coloured vinyl.
Inspiral Carpets - Dung 4 and The Cow EP
Blimey, this'll sell quick - the legendary Inspirals debut cassette is finally getting a vinyl release that will come coupled with a 7" bonus. Cherry Red may well have struck gold with this one and there's even a CD edition due out a few weeks afterwards.
John Foxx - Metamatic
As well as a double vinyl issue of The Maths-era Interplay and Shape of Things, Demon will be stepping back in time with a reissue of Foxx's landmark debut album Metamatic. Aside from a gatefold sleeve, white vinyl and numbered edition, the real reason to buy this record is for the music - this is Foxx stripped bare and armed with machines, a radical enough departure from his days with Ultravox in that convention flew out of the window the moment that Underpass droned into earshot like a threat.
Joy Division - An Ideal For Living
Remastered at Abbey Road and one of the most-heavily bootlegged (often badly) JD releases, this version from Rhino will include a 're-imagined' package inspired by the original 12" 'scaffold' sleeve, as well as featuring the classic No Love Lost and Leaders of Men to boot (pardon the pun). I expect greedy peeps will be slapping these on eBay and Discogs for triple mark-ups which is daft really - the songs aren't that difficult to find anymore.
Marnie - The Hunter (Remix)
Les Disques du Crepuscule's resurgence continues with its first RSD committal to vinyl - a lovely clear-vinyl 12" pressing of versions of the title-track from the Ladytron singer's recent album The Hunter. There's a Stephen Morris remix amongst the tracks on offer, making this collectable on another level, apart from being a decent-looking package (from the pics I've seen so far). Limited to 500 copies.
Public Image Limited - Death Disco/Warrior
Two rare versions of two key PiL tracks have been gathered together for this 12" release. You get a 'monitor mix' of Death Disco (previously only available on a compilation) and the full Dave Dorrell reworking of Warrior which is, I have to say, one of Pil's best remixes commissioned in the '80s. You can find a similar mix on the Don't Ask Me 12" and this version on a US promo - otherwise, it's pretty rare. I'll be queuing for this baby.
Psychic TV - Hacienda
One of a handful of vinyl reissues of selected titles from Psychic TV's live series of the '80s, this one comes as a red vinyl 180 gram pressing in a striking sleeve with the iconic nightclub on the front. It was PTV's first show at the Manchester venue, by all accounts and is as easy to listen to as you'd expect. There is a Live at the Marquee reissue as well.
Public Service Broadcasting - Elfstedentocht
This tune has been previously issued as a download in celebration of the famous Dutch skating event which covers 200 miles in total. This 7" will be pressed on white vinyl and includes two versions of the track, the second part of which is prime PSB material.
Roddy Frame - Surf
Two of Frame's solo albums will be sympathetically repressed by mate Edwyn Collin's AED label, which means the attention to detail should be pin-sharp. Of the two, Surf is the most essential be a country mile (the other being Western Skies) and includes some of the Aztec Camera man's most intimate and beautiful work. Now, bring on the North Star reissue please.
Section 25 - Reflection
Factory Benelux's second RSD release from Section 25 (following last year's My Outrage) comes as a sister-release to the expanded reissue of the landmark electro album From The Hip (a double CD, no less). Reflection has been re-imagined by the current band line-up while on the flip you'll find a new and exclusive track Change, with the added attraction of orange vinyl and a superb fluorescent orange die-cut sleeve based on Peter Saville's original artwork of the 1984 club-hit Looking From a Hilltop.
Spacemen 3 - Translucent Flashbacks
One Spacemen 3 record isn't enough for RSD - so how about three of their earliest tracks reissued and slotted into one tasty psychedelic box, with download codes. As if you're going to bloody use them - Spacemen 3's earnest drones always sound better on wax. Here you get Walkin' With Jesus, Transparent Radiation and Take Me To The Other Side.
Suede - Let Go
Once again Brett and the boys get a RSD release under their belts, this time an ultra-rare track previously issued as a CD single only (in Sweden) with Heroin on the B-side. This 7" is designed to slot neatly into your Suede 7" Singles Box Set, due for release in April. It's going to be an expensive month. Bastards.
The The - Giant
Possibly one of Matt Johnson's greatest committals to a recording medium, this epic percussive tour-de-force, taken from the soon-to-be-boxed Soul Mining album, finally gets a 12" release. You'll get the original mix plus a DJ Food remix and two sleeve designs by both Food and The The (inspired by original sleeve artist Andy Dog). A great great record.
Various - Sun Records Curated By + Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll
Four track EP celebrating some of Sun Records' visionary rockabilly on a 7" EP plus a full-length album of cuts chosen by participating RSD stores - what's not to buy? Expect Sonny Burgess, Rufus Thomas and the like to decorate your lugholes once purchased. The album has a superbly iconic sleeve based on the Sun Records logo.
Good luck queuing for this lot!