MusicTAP’s vinyl aficionados present their top 3 platter picks for April 13’s Record Store Day. While the resulting list reflects the breadth of our musical interests—and the expansiveness of what’s available this RSD—Third Man Records leads the pack here.
Frank Black and Teenager of the Year by Frank Black [4AD]
Stick with me here. The once and future Pixies frontman’s first two solo albums, which arrived after the first extinction of vinyl, now are revived after the resurrection of the format. (Phew.) Both albums largely stepped away from the the formulas that drove Pixies’ college rock ascendance, and offered bracing examples of power pop and mainstream rock that are – just enough – bent to be unique.
–DW Dunphy
In Transition by Jeff Buckley [Legacy]
These demos from Grace, Buckley’s beautific 1994 debut, could be a dark horse for hottest find on RSD. Buckley’s voice always was ethereal, gauzy like a phantom but with enough soul to knock off your socks, if that’s your idea of a good time. -Justin Vellucci
Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band [Third Man Records]
When I first heard Trout Mask Replica, it was hard to make it through all four sides in one sitting. I still have the vinyl reissue on Reprise from the 70’s; this album clearly put Beefheart firmly in the avant-garde, way beyond Zappa, The Velvet Underground or Sun Ra. It’s a weird, madcap, lunatic ride on a purely American musical landscape and even though it’s not an easy listen, it’s essential. -Rob Ross
Third Man Records is lovingly re-mastering and re-releasing the captain’s seminal 1969 work, which influenced fire-breathers like Tom Waits and friend Frank Zappa. Sitting at the intersection of Delta blues, free jazz and more abstract/experimental fare, Trout Mask Replica is the stuff of legend and rightfully goddamn so, ella’guru. -Justin Vellucci
The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five [Sugarhill Records]
The UK always gets some nifty exclusives for RSD. This reissue of an album that summarized the funk of the 70’s and defined rap music for the 80’s arrives on blue vinyl to match the original Sugarhill labels, and features remixes in addition to the landmark album. While the packaging says ‘nostalgia,’ the music says “It’s like a jungle sometimes/It makes me wonder/How I keep from going under” and that describes 2019 to a t. –Craig E. Bacon
Joe Haze Session #2 by Chuck Mosley [blocGLOBAL]
Mosley’s first official posthumous release reveals an artist in twilight – the former Faith No More frontman’s voice is raspy and beaten down, his guitar a little shaky as he reworks covers “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Take This Bottle.” Reveals the brutally honest potential of what could have been. -Justin Vellucci
“Store Bought Bones” by The Raconteurs [Third Man Records]
The revival of Jack White’s other post-White Stripes band (as opposed to his other, other post-White Stripes band) continues apace. It’s a welcome revival, made all the better by White’s devotion to vinyl records as an art form, via his Third Man label. -DW Dunphy
Just Do It One More Time! by Otis Redding with Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Mar-Keys [Monterey Pop Festival Foundation]
No one knew what was coming. Stax Records artists Otis Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and The Mar-Keys returned home after a tour of Europe. They would later recount what a wonderful response they received overseas in 1967, free from the jagged broken glass they regularly faced in the states because of all the bands’ multiracial makeup. These young men, most of which came from harder than “humble” backgrounds achieved a sense of superstardom, particularly in Paris. This golden era culminated in a performance back home at the Monterey International Festival in California, where Redding and two of the most rock-solid soul units ever treated the “peace and love” crowd to the very best they had.
By the end of the year, Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays – guitarist Jimmy King, tenor saxophonist Phalon Jones, organist Ronnie Caldwell, and drummer Carl Cunningham – would die in a plane crash.
It is, in some way, a miracle that Redding’s performance from Monterey was captured so that listeners could experience the bands at their peak and in such joyous spirits, with only thoughts of greater victories awaiting them. -DW Dunphy
Big Hits [High Tide & Green Grass] (UK edition) by The Rolling Stones [ABKCO]
I always loved those different versions of albums that had the same titles in the U.S. and England – the Stones were one of those bands whose catalogs varied but had shared titles – like “Out Of Our Heads” but “High Tide & Green Grass”, the first official “best of” has a meatier (in my opinion) track listing than the U.S. edition – the U.K. version offers up “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby…”, “Lady Jane”, “Come On” and “Paint It Black”. How can you go wrong with a Stones comp that packed with goodness? –Rob Ross
“Pizza Power (b/w “Tubin’”)” by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [iam8bit]
In 1990, MCA Records launched a multi-platinum selling cassette sold primarily at Pizza Hut. Unsurprisingly, this album features a song about how pizza is better than all other foods; that song will now be available on 7” vinyl with bonus patches to commemorate the Turtles’ national tour in support of the album. “The past returns…” –Craig E. Bacon
The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators by 13th Floor Elevators [Charly]
I love this album – pure garage freakout meets drug frenzy and jug band wildness – Roxy Erickson’s gang are at their best on their 1966 debut album, which almost reads like a greatest hits, with so many Elevators classics – “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, “Fire Engine”, “Tried To Hide”, “Reverberation” and so many more good, hearty slabs of rock & roll, the way it was intended. I’ve never grown tired of this one. –Rob Ross
Brazil Classics by Various Artists (compiled by David Byrne) [Luaka Bop]
Even back in 1989, David Byrne knew it: you need 3LPs worth of Brazilian music in your life. Go ahead, get it as a coffee table conversation starter to make yourself appear more cosmopolitan than you really are. Once you get these albums on your turntable, your other RSD purchases will gather dust as you groove your way into a better life. –Craig E. Bacon
