Record Store Day 2024 - Saturday, April 20

Country pop supernova KACEY MUSGRAVES retreats into a safe space on 'Deeper Well', her latest new album that follows the anguished, bombastic 'Star-Crossed'. Her lyrics feel a little less tinged with bitterness, and her drifting folk-pop has the calming, meadow breeze feel of the British folk revival. We may be a ways off from the acid-tongued straight talk of her early albums, but that seems fitting coming from a superstar who has seemed to navigate the world of fame with a degree of healthy distance. Our copies come on limited "spilled milk" vinyl (no crying now), and inner sleeves scented in collaboration with candlemakers Boy Smells, whose work I can definitely vouch for (anyone get the Grace Jones candle?); and we've also got an awesome deluxe CD version that comes packaged with a zine, in which Kacey presumably outlines her vegan potluck do's and don'ts. LGBTQ pop heroes MUNA got quite a boost over the covid-era, signing to Phoebe Bridgers' Saddest Factory label, and grabbing opening slots on tours by Musgraves, Lorde, and the almighty Taylor Swift. All that action led to quite a bit of demand for their out of print 2019 album 'Saves The World', which gets a fan-requested repress this week. UK vocalist NADINE SHAH's foreboding, throaty rasp lands somewhere in between Beth Gibbons and Josephine Foster on a funky dark synth-pop album called 'Filthy Underneath'. Viral Philly rap sensation TIERRA WHACK is the real deal. Even her name, which sounds like an amazing alias, is actually her real name, at least according to the internet, which is never wrong. Her debut album 'Whack World' drew universal acclaim for its righteous energy, inventive wordplay, and relentless humor, but was only available at Urban Outfitters, which we are gonna let slide. She's back with a new full length called 'World Wide Whack', said to be a concept album about her alter-ego, who is also named Tierra Whack. We're laughing already.

One of the greatest of the Analog Africa compilations collects the blazingly funky Congolese rumba of VERCKYS ET L'ORCHESTRE VEVE, the dance band that spun off from the legendary Kinshasa outfit OK Jazz. This one's been out of print for close to a decade, and gets a fresh printing this week. Fast-rising alto saxophonist LAKECIA BENJAMIN made huge waves with last year's 'Phoenix', which features an incredible range of guests on vocals and spoken word like Dianne Reeves, Georgia Ann Muldrow, Angela Davis, Sonia Sanchez, and Wayne Shorter. This modern classic is available on vinyl for the first time this week, fittingly alongside a fresh pressing of the explosive poetry and jazz melange of MAX ROACH's 'We Insist!', which features Abbey Lincoln on the mic. In the tumultuous year of 1968, percussion master BUDDY RICH traveled east to make a record with Hindustani tabla virtuoso ALLA RAKHA. 'Rich à la Rakha' turned out as vibrant with cross-cultural invention as you might imagine, and is reissued for the first time ever on vinyl this week.

The brotherhood Robinson has amassed a new crew as THE BLACK CROWES for 'Happiness Bastards', garnering rave reviews on a comeback of sorts. Lots of customer requests for the latest album 'Critterland' by folkie WILLI CARLISLE. 'Island', the 1990 album by apocalyptic folk runecasters CURRENT 93 alongside Icelandic composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, is a dreamy standout in the group's vast catalog, and features an early guest appearance from Bjork. XIU XIU's confessional synth-pop epic 'La Foret' has been out of print for 15 years, returning now on "sunset swirl" colored vinyl with an added download of "drunk commentary". Oh, Jamie.

It's been (just a little over) ten years since THUNDERCAT changed the game up with his landmark fusion-dream genre blending epic 'Apocalypse', which gets celebrated this week with a new edition on red vinyl with a trippy holographic sleeve. Lebanese modern library composer Charif Megarbane returns as COSMIC ANALOG ENSEMBLE with a new set called 'Les Grandes Vacances'. Apparently this is all played by him but he had me fooled. Mike Patton teamed up with underground NYC hip-hop legends on 2005's GENERAL PATTON vs. THE X-ECUTIONERS, which lands on vinyl for the first time this week in a silver edition. Windy City DJ and edit maestro MARC DAVIS turns in two extended dancefloor mixes of boogie funk rarities on the cant-miss 'Chi Talo EP Vol. 2'.

We'll update this section weekly where the Thursday night sneak peek video on our @StrictlyDiscs Instagram and Facebook left off. No frills. Just the artists. The rest is for your 500+ fresh-used digging pleasure downstairs. Some standouts this week:

Irish (Erin go Braugh!) - The Dubliners, Skara Brae, The Irish Rovers, Clannad, The Boys of the Lough, Da Dannann, Shegui, Tara, Donncha O Briain, The Clancy Brothers, The Pipers Club, Judy Mayhan, The Tannahill Weavers, Scartaglen

Rock - Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Rick Springfield, ZZ Top, Steely Dan, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Genesis, INXS, Grateful Dead, Rush, Frank Zappa, T.Rex, Berlin, The Stone Poneys, The Beach Boys, Rare Bird, The Outsiders, Smog, The Doors, Kinks, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Black Sabbath, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Van Halen, The Traveling Willburys

Blues: Memphis Slim, Big Maceo, Sammy Price, Joe Turner, Cripple Clarence Lofton & Walter Davis, Little Brother Montgomery, Bonnie Raitt

Soul: Ketty Lester, Willie Hutch, Stevie Wonder, Raw Silk, Aretha Franklin, Cissy Houston

Hiphop: Mister Mixi, Whodini, LL Cool J, Lucas, Curren$y

Country: Charlie Louvin, Elton Britt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash

Jazz: Coleman Hawkins, Horace Silver, Frederic Hand, The Lee Konitz Trio, Dexter Gordon, Les McCann, Shelly Manne & His Men, Kenny Burrell, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, Big Jay McNeely

Soundtracks: Risky Business, Cal, American Graffiti

May the luck of the Irish be with you in the bins.

Yes, we are still buying! Call us at the shop to schedule: 608-259-1991