For Shangri-La Records, prepping for Saturday’s 9th annual Record Store Day means opening a few hours early.
“We said 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but usually we open a little earlier because of the big line of people. As soon as we’re ready, we let them in. I think last year we opened at 8:30 a.m.,” Shrangri-La Records owner Jared McStay says.
Bolstering the lot of official Record Store Day titles Shangri-La plans to have on hand Saturday will be a major increase in the rest of the store’s stock of new vinyl.
“We’ve done a lot of other ordering and will have more new inventory than we’ve ever had,” explains McStay.
“We ordered direct from Sundazed, Matador Records, Merge Records, a few one-stops, and a cool import wholesale house, to name a few distributors. I’m making a big bet on Record Store Day this year, as we pretty much over-ordered, but it’s usually a good day. I don’t know if you’d call it a store-wide sale, per se, like our ‘Purgefest’, but we’ll also be putting out bins of good discount records that we’ve never had out before.”
After “excuse me,” “can I squeeze in there?” and “sorry” have been politely uttered into an ambient drone for five or six hours, a veritable parking lot mini-festival will commence at 2 p.m. with Toy Trucks, followed by Fresh Flesh, and Jana Misener — formerly of the Memphis Dawls. Next up will be Tim Prudhomme’s recently conceived band, Dimplebones. Headlining the afternoon will be James and the Ultrasounds, the band’s first local appearance since returning from a European tour.
Wedged in between Prudhomme’s Dimplebones and the latter is the reunited original lineup of McStay’s primary musical endeavor, the Simpletones. One of the true gems to come out of the Memphis underground scene of the ’90s, the first incarnation of the trio featured McStay on guitar and vocals, Jim McDermott on bass, and Mark Miller on drums. This version released the Joe’s Cool Sign demo tape and a clutch of fidelity-challenged but fantastic 7″s between 1991 and 1994 before switching monikers to the less litigious “The Simple Ones.”
“We’ve been practicing most of what’s on the Joe’s Cool Sign demo tape and a lot of what’s on our three 7″s that came out before our Shangri-La releases for what will hopefully be a good 30-minute set,” McStay says. Last but not least, Shangri-La’s parking lot Record Store Day extravaganza is dubbed “Jughead Fest” due to its falling on McStay’s birthday (origins of the nickname are unclear).
Chris Shaw
It will be no sweat to split one’s afternoon between Shangri-La and what’s planned a mere 1.6 Midtown miles away at Goner Records. Timed with cross-rocking between the two destinations in mind, Goner will be presenting a three-band bill at the Cooper-Young Gazebo that kicks off at 1 p.m. with Austin, Texas’ Nameless Frames, a garage-y, post-punkish trio with a debut, self-titled full-length on Super Secret Records released this past February.
At 2 p.m. will be the live experience that is Aquarian Blood, the extra-Ex-Cult project of J.B. Horrell and his wife Laurel that not only debuted on vinyl with a 7″ that was Goner’s official Record Store Day 2015 release but, more importantly, had its first full-length scheduled for release on the label later this year.
Then, at 3 p.m., the venerable Tyler Keith & the Apostles will rock the Cooper-Young intersection an hour closer to its future Sunday morning hangover. Regarding the hours leading up to the music, Goner will be accenting their Record Store Day haul (which will in turn be YOUR haul, or part of it) with a bulking up of store stock, which means more of the best prices on great used vinyl that one could hope to find on a nationwide level.
Oxford, Mississippi’s participating venue, End of All Music, is giving goodie bags (of limited edition store-related swag) to customers who purchase records throughout the day and will certainly be stocking nearby Fat Possum Records’ three Record Store Day titles: the 10th anniversary edition of Jay Reatard’s amazing Blood Visions LP on white vinyl (also includes a 7″ of Blood Visions demos), a 12″ EP of a Daft Punk edit medley of five Junior Kimbrough songs into one 15-minute piece of music (the b-side is etched), and the Junior Kimbrough Tribute LP featuring Iggy Pop, the Black Keys, Spiritualized, and others (on clear vinyl). For other End of All Music-related Record Store Day news, make sure to check out the store’s blog.
For a list of all Record Store Day releases, visit www.recordstoreday.com
Record Store Day at Goner Records with Aquarian Blood, Nameless Frames, and Tyler Keith, Saturday, April 16th at 9 a.m. Free.
Record Store Day at Shangri-La Records with Fresh Flesh, Simpletones, Dimple Bones, and James and the Ultrasounds, Saturday, April 16th at 8:30 a.m. Free.
