Top releases on 2024 Record Store Day
Paramore may be the official ambassador for the 2024 Record Store Day, but in Houston, Devin the Dude feels like the unofficial shadow ambassador. This year’s Record Store Day — an annual event started in 2007 to celebrate independent record stores — falls on 4/20, and the beloved local rapper Devin is about as close as that marijuana-centric day has to a patron saint.
To wit, consider the cover designed by local artist Mike Frost for Devin’s 2017 album “Acoustic Levitation,” a first-person perspective shot that includes a hand holding a lit blunt in the foreground.
“Acoustic Levitation” will enjoy a small batch pressing of 1,250 copies for RSD. Befitting the theme, it will be pressed on “translucent green smoky galaxy vinyl.”
The Devin album is just one of more than 350 offerings — from Air to Zappa — as part of Record Store Day. One man’s Trashcan Sinatras (represented by a reissue of its “Wild Pendulum” album) is another man’s treasure, but the collection of albums, 7inch and 10-inch vinyl, make RSD a celebratory one for collectors with titles from acts old (Rolling Stones, Neil Young, the Doors) and new (Lainey Wilson, Lil Uzi Vert). So here are just a few titles that might catch the eye of one with tastes aligned with my own.
Devin the Dude
“Acoustic Levitation”: With his laid-back flow, Devin has been a favorite figure in Houston’s hip-hop scene for more than a quarter century. Since his 1998 debut, he’s released a dozen or so albums. “Acoustic Levitation” is definitely a good point of entry for newcomers.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
“Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges”: We’re seeing a long overdue correction regarding Tharpe’s standing as a colossus in 20th-century popular music and a cornerstone in the development of rock ’n’ roll. The concert, as described in the title, was captured in France in 1966, with Tharpe performing unaccompanied. She never needed any assistance. The set is lively and a wonderful introduction to Tharpe’s work. For those wanting to pull on some of the roots growing through Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter,” this is a great place to start and a good introduction to a legend. Houston native Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is among those who contributed to the liner notes.
Dwight Yoakam
“The Beginning and Then
Some”: This four-LP set includes Yoakam’s first three albums, all crucial for any fan: “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.” from 1986, “Hillbilly Deluxe” from 1987 and “Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room” from 1989. A fourth LP includes 13 demos of songs from that era, including “This Drinkin’ Will Kill Me,” “It Won’t Hurt” and “Miner’s Prayer.”
David Bowie
“Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth)”:
This is a sort of a lost sibling of Bowie’s landmark “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.” The two albums share several songs, though “Sky” has a different sequence and four songs that didn’t make the cut for “Ziggy.”
De La Soul
“Live at Tramps 1996”: Two months before the New York hip-hop trio released its groundbreaking “Stakes Is High” album, De La Soul played Tramps, a weirdly configured but muchloved club. Among those making guest appearances were Common, who wasn’t a wellknown entity at the time, and Mos Def, who was still a year away from releasing his first solo single. There are nods to the past (“Potholes in My Lawn,” “Buddy”), but the show captures the group in transition to its next phase.
Talking Heads
“Live at WCOZ 77”: Side One of Talking Heads 1982 album “The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads” featured five songs from a 1977 broadcast on WCOZ in Maynard, Mass. A 2004 reissue added another two songs from the WCOZ set. This two-LP set boasts the full 14song performance.
Mavis Staples
“Have a Little Faith”: It’s hard to believe there was a period when Mavis Staples was denied her roses, but the soul and gospel singer struggled to find a home for her 2004 album, “Have a Little Faith.” The album ended a quiet spell of nearly a decade, during which Staples’ father and former bandleader Roebuck “Pops” Staples died. It’s a dynamic album of faith and resilience that found its way into the world thanks to Alligator Records, which should sound wonderful on this reissue, remastered at 45 rpm.
Wilco
“The Whole Love: Expanded”: Wilco’s eighth album, “The Whole Love,” was released in 2011. From the noisy “Art of Almost” to the meditative “One Sunday Morning,” it holds up quite well among Wilco albums. This expanded edition includes the 12 original songs and runs three LPs with previously released singles, EP and bonus tracks, as well as a clutch of recordings from the band’s Loft studio.
The Replacements
“Not Ready for Prime Time: Live at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, Il., Jan. 11,
1986”: Last year, the Replacements snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a new release of their wonderfully messed up 1985 album, “Tim.” The “Tim: Let It Bleed Edition” included a 1986 Chicago concert on CD that sees its first vinyl release this weekend. The title refers to the band’s “Saturday Night Live” appearance a week after the Chicago concert, an infamous moment in Replacements lore in which the band snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Vince Guaraldi
“It Was a Short Summer,
Charlie Brown”: Every year, Record Store Day seems to find a way to pull money out of the pockets of Peanuts obsessives upon whom a spell was cast by jazz pianist Guaraldi. This soundtrack to the 1969 special finds Guaraldi fronting a large combo with brass as well as guitar played by Texas legend Herb Ellis.