The most important annual ritual in music retail and vinyl-collector griping, Record Store Day, happens again this Saturday, April 22. As has become tradition on Slog, I've surveyed some of the most interesting releases coming out on this hallowed day. A casual perusal of the list reveals 2017 to be a better-than-average year for quality reissues and archival digs. Let’s hope you’ve been saving up for this.
Gil Mellé, The Andromeda Strain OST (Jackpot) One of the greatest dystopian-sci-fi scores ever. Actually, one of the most compelling pieces of electronic music ever, too.
Sun Ra, Janus (ORG Music) Comp of diverse, "rare material from the Sun Ra Arkestra, drawing from tapes recorded between 1963 and 1970, taken from both live and studio performances," makes its vinyl debut.
The Music Machine, (Turn On) The Music Machine (Concord Bicycle) Upper-echelon US garage rock from Sean Bonniwell & co., circa 1966.
Pink Floyd, Interstellar Overdrive (Sony Legacy) A 15-minute version of space rock's Big Bang, on luxurious 12-inch wax.
Shocking Blue, At Home (Music on Vinyl) Exquisite '60s Dutch psych pop. You know 'em for the smash hit "Venus," but they have much more to offer than that.
Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music from Myanmar (Burma) Vol 2 (Sublime Frequencies) Did you know that in the '70s and '80s, Burma had a happening scene of unrefined garage and psych rock, folk, blues, and country music? Leave it to Seattle-affiliated Sublime Frequencies to offer us the finest specimens from that nation.
U-Roy, Dread in a Babylon (Get on Down) Crucial 1975 work from pioneering Jamaican toaster.
Jimi Hendrix/Curtis Knight, Live at George's Club 20, 1965 & 1966 (Sony Legacy) Early, rare Hendrix jams with fellow axe master/soul vocalist Curtis Knight, whose Down in the Village deserves its own damn reissue.
Psychic Migrations OST (Cinewax/Light in the Attic) Featuring a panoply of modern psychedelic luminaries, including Bitchin Bajas, Thee Oh Sees, Wand, White Fence, etc.
The Time, What Time Is It? (Rhino/Warner Bros.) Prince protégés' most popular and, some would say, best album, from 1982.
Vangelis, Blade Runner OST (Atlantic Catalog Group) 35th anniversary picture-disc reissue of the vaunted Greek composer's iconic synth opus.
Link Wray, Beans and Fatback (Tidal Waves Music) Freaky roots rock, twisted blues, and oddball country from 1973 by the American guitar giant.
Jerry Cole, Astro-Sound From Beyond the Year 2000 (Modern Harmonic) In 1969, this Wrecking Crew guitarist cut one of the crown jewels of psychsploitation. This is very necessary.
Flower Travellin' Band, Anywhere (Phoenix) The image from this 1970 LP graced the cover of Julian Cope's bible of outré Japanese rock, Japrocksampler. 'Nuff said.
The Meters, A Message From the Meters—The Complete Josie, Reprise & Warner Bros. Singles 1968-1977 (Real Gone Music) New Orleans funk gods' singles: as essential as oxygen.
Popol Vuh, Cobra Verde (One Way Static) The incomparable German kosmische couriers scoring a Werner Herzog film? Attention must be paid.
Danny Brown, Ain't It Funny? 10-inch (Warp) Worth it for the previously unreleased Clams Casino-assisted B-side, "Worth It."
Spacemen 3, Recurring (Space Age) UK psych-rock legends' final, fulfilling statement; it's been elusive on vinyl for decades.
Suzanne Ciani, Fish Music (FindersKeepers) One-sided single by the Buchla synth wizard. "Previously unheard recording of an early installation project" from when Ciani was 17.
Allen Toussaint, The Allen Toussaint Collection (Nonesuch) Cream-of-the-crop compendium from the late New Orleans soul/R&B composer/musician's first four LPs.
