Record Store Day happens every April, but it’s a holiday so nice, they hold it twice. The Black Friday edition of RSD comes the day after Thanksgiving (this year, obviously, it’s Fri Nov 24), so avoid the mass of humanity at the big-box stores by getting to your local independent record shop and picking up these limited items—and don’t listen to the fun-hating snobs who pooh-pooh the event as a crass commercial exercise.
There’s a solid batch of releases for this year’s Black Friday, which you can peep in its entirety at recordstoreday.com, but click through for our picks for the most crucial items. (Pro tip: Music Millennium stocks nearly everything that’s on the release slate, but downtown’s 2nd Avenue Records has better prices, if a smaller selection.)