The Ten Essential Record Store Day Exclusives To Get Your Hands On This Year

Despite digital dominance, physical media has made a surprising, significant comeback, and given that vinyl sales have gone from strength to strength, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Record Store Day 2016 is shaping up to be one of the biggest celebrations of that old shiny black stuff yet.

The full list of exclusives is kind of overwhelming, so to help you out we’ve compiled a list of the ten releases you can’t miss. Read on and start saving up your pennies.

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1. Jay Reatard –Blood Visions

The world lost a true creative force when Jay Reatard passed away tragically at the age of 29. Blood Visions is his masterpiece – an unstoppable collection of garage-pop tunes that sounds better than anything else produced in that genre since his death.

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2. The Shaggs – ‘Sweet Maria’and ‘The Missouri Waltz (Missouri State Song)’ 7″

A pair of unreleased singles from The Shaggs, the outsider artists Frank Zappa once described as “better than the Beatles”? Yes please.

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3. Pearl Charles – Pearl Charles

Pearl Charles might have dipped under your radar, but it shouldn’t have – the record is an endlessly cool, deliciously tactile collection of retro rock and pop songs. Catch it the second time round.

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4. Various Artists –Reloaded

Nothing beats supporting the local music sceneandnabbing yourself a sweet album in the process. As both atribute to the Velvet Underground’s Loaded and a taste of Sydney’s underrated alt. rock scene,Reloaded is an unmissable opportunity, featuring the likes of Salvador Dali Llama and Bad Valley.

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5.Patti Smith – Horses Live Electric Lady Studios

Last year, one of the most important US musicians of the last five decades took to the studio to rerecord one of the most important US albums of the last five decades. This is the result.

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6.Metz, Mission Of Burma – ‘Good Not Great’ and ‘Get Off’ 7″

Given Metz and Mission Of Burma share essential musical DNA, it’s appropriate that the incendiary bands have teamed up to cover each other. Two landmark groups for the price of one.

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7.Hüsker Dü –‘In A Free Land’

Given the troubled times we find ourselves in, Hüsker Dü’s paranoid brand of punk rock feels more relevant than ever. ‘In A Free Land’ has been out of print for over 30 years, making this a very welcome release indeed.

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8. The Feelies –Uncovered

Jittery, over-caffeinated legends The Feelies pay tribute to their heroes on this unmissable album, a collection of covers that features material from the likes of The Doors and Neil Young.

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9.Jason Molina – TheTownes Van Zandt Covers7”

Jason Molina was one of the most talented songwriters of his generation. Townes Van Zandt was one of the most talented songwriters of his. Absolutely essential.

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10.Giant Sand – The Sun Set (Vol. 1)

Giant Sand may not have achieved widespread commercial success over the course of their career, but who needs sales when you make music this good? Given the band formally broke up last year, this is your chance to celebrate/mourn one of the very finest groupsof recent times. Of all the incredible releases assembled for Record Store Day 2016, this one might be the most enticing.

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