When’s the last time you went to an actual physical record store without a specific album in mind? Do you remember wandering through the aisles and fingering your way through the racks, pausing to check out the track listings on rare imports and singles by bands you hadn’t really heard of before? Not too recently, I’m assuming — but fear not, because Record Store Day 2016 is finally upon us — and we’re all gonna celebrate it together!

The Meaning

Record Store Day is a holiday bestowed upon us by the independent record shop gods, who emphatically do not want you to forget one of the most fundamental joys of loving music. Once a year, mom’n’pop record shops and artists get together for a series of intimate performances, signings and brand new, reissued or special edition releases specifically designed for this holy day. This year, it falls on April 16, bless.

Autostraddle has been celebrating Record Store Day for years, but this year we’d like to celebrate for a little longer. For the next two weeks, we’ll gear up for the big day by talking about records and records and music and records until we have nothing left to say anymore. JK! We’ll just save the rest for next year.

But the best part of Record Store Day is what happens off the website: Meet-ups hosted by ‘straddlers like you! Yes, you. In the cool shirt. Nice hair, too.

The Meet-Ups

Hosting a Record Store Day meet-up is even better than finding the record that you’ve been looking for in the discount bin, and it’s definitely easier than learning how to use a record player in the first place. Simply pick a participating record store near you, decide on a magical time for everyone to meet up, and get going on getting the word out! Figure out a way for folks to RSVP (Intern Raquel made you a Facebook event banner for the occasion, but feel free to create a hanky code for your event instead!) and submit your event details to us via this link right here. If you need any help putting your event together, check out our handy-dandy event portal!

If you’re not hosting a meet-up, you can still get in on the action! We’ll let you know on the 14th what events are going down near you, and you can keep tabs on what RSD meet-ups have been submitted at any point right here. You can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and get hooked on our Tumblr and Insta to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the haps, too.

If you and your friends join the party, show us what you scored using the hashtag#AutoRSD. We’ll be RT’ing, regramming, and all sorts of other social media lovin’ on your posts all day long!

The Music

If money were no object and I had a lot of space in my apartment, here are all the special Record Store Day releases I’d be hauling home  – but there’s lots more, so feel free to peruse yourself:

Afrika Bambaataa – Planet Rock – 12″ vinyl
Air – Casanova 70 – 12″ colored vinyl
Anthrax – In The End/Antisocial – 7″ vinyl
Bee Gees / Faith No More – I Started A Joke – 7″ colored vinyl
Best Coast – Late 20s” b/w Bigger Man – 7″ vinyl
Blonde Redhead – Peel Sessions – 7″ vinyl
Justin Bieber – Purpose – 12″ picture disc
Big Star – Complete Columbia: Live at University… – 2 x LP
BØRNS – Live on KCRW’S Morning Becomes Eclectic – 12″ colored vinyl
David Bowie –I Dig Everything – The Pye Singles 1966 – 12″ vinyl
David Bowie –The Man Who Sold The World – 12″ picture disc

David Bowie –TVC15 – 7″ picture disc
Brujeria – Viva Presidente Trump! – 7″ colored vinyl
Buzzcocks –More Product in a Different Compilation – 2 x LP
Brandi Carlile –Live At KCRW ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic – 12″ colored vinyl
Johnny Cash –All Aboard the Blue Train with Johnny Cash – LP
Pearl Charles –Pearl Charles – 12″ vinyl
Cheap Trick – At Budokan: The Complete Concert – 2 x LP
Cheap Trick –Found New Parts – 10″ vinyl
Chvrches –Every Open Eye Remix EP – 12″ vinyl

Brandy Clark/Sheryl Crow – Girl Next Door”/”Homecoming Queen – 7″ colored vinyl
Clutch – “Mad Sidewinder”/”Outland Special Clearance” – 7″ vinyl
John Coltrane – The Roulette Sides – 10″ vinyl
Creedence Clearwater Revival – 1969 Box Set – Vinyl Box Set
Dead Can Dance – Anastasis – 2 x LP
Deerhoof – Offend Maggie – LP
Deftones – B-Sides & Rarities – 2 x LP
Peter Doherty/James Johnston – The Whole World Is Our Playground – 12″ vinyl
The Fall – The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click) – 12″ colored vinyl
Brian Fallon – Georgia – 10″ vinyl
Fleetwood Mac – The Alternate Tusk – 2 x LP
Florence + the Machine – Delilah / Only Love Can Break Your Heart – 12″ colored vinyl

Focus – “Hocus Pocus” – 7″ colored vinyl
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Rage Hard – 12″ colored vinyl
Ezra Furman – Songs By Others – 12″ colored vinyl
John Grant – Queen of Denmark – LP
Gwar – Scumdogs of The Universe – 2 x LP
Albert Hammond Jr – Yours To Keep – LP
Jimi Hendrix – Smash Hits – LP
Iggy and the Stooges – METALLIC K.O. – LP
Iron Maiden – Empire of the Clouds – 12″ picture disc
The James Brown Revue – Get Down At The Apollo With The J.B.’s – 2 x LP
Etta James – At Last – LP
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – Sinner LP – LP

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – That’s It Baby Right Now We Got To Do It – LP
The Kinks – Mister Pleasant – 7″ vinyl
KMFDM – Salvataion EP – LP
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter – 2 x LP
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter II – 2 x LP
Lydia Lunch and Mark Hurtado – My Lover the Killer – 2 x LP
Lush – Origami – Vinyl Box Set
Madonna – Like A Virgin & Other Hits – 12″ colored vinyl
Manic Street Preachers – A Design For Life: IMPORT – 12″ vinyl
Metz/Mission of Burma – “Good Not Great” b/w “Get Off” – 7″ colored vinyl
Mew – And The Glass Handed Kites: IMPORT – LP
The Monkees – Classic Album Collection – Vinyl Box Set
Alanis Morissette – Demos 1994-1998 – LP
Muse – “Reapers” – 7″ picture disc
NOFX – “Sid & Nancy” – 7″ vinyl
Nothing – A.C.D – 12″ colored vinyl
Notorious B.I.G. – “Mo Money, Mo Problems” – 12″ colored vinyl
Ol Dirty Bastard – “Brooklyn Zoo”/”Shimmy Shimmy Ya” – 12″ picture disc
Otep – Generation Doom – 12″ picture disc
Outkast – “Elevators (Me & You)” – 10″ colored vinyl
Puscifer – V is For Viagra – 2 x LP Picture Disc
The Ramones – “Judy Is A Punk” – 7″ vinyl
Jay Reatard – Blood Visions 10th Anniversary – LP
Rockabye Baby – Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Creedence Clearwater Revival – LP
Run the Jewels – VRTJ Viewer
The Runaways – The Runaways: Right Now/Black Leather – 7″ colored vinyl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6lmuK-jJqY
Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols – 12″ picture disc
The Shaggs – Sweet Maria b/w The Missouri Waltz (Missouri State Song) – 7″ vinyl

Ravi Shankhar – In Hollywood, 1971 – 2 x LP
Patti Smith – Horses Live Electric Lady Studios – 2 x LP
Soundtrack – Star Wars: The Force Awakens “March of the Resistance b/w Rey’s Theme” (Millennium Falcon) – 10″ picture disc
Soundtrack – Nosferatu (1922 film) – 7″ colored vinyl
Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope (Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition) – 2 x LP
Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch – LP
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Kiss My Amps II – LP
Various Artists – Across The Universe – 2 x LP
Various Artists – Monster a Go-Go Volume 1 – LP
Various Artists – Silly Symphony Collection: The Skeleton Dance – 10″ vinyl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP-8aBPuhFA
Violent Femmes – “Memory”/”You Move Me” – 7″ vinyl
Wendy O. Williams – Fuck ‘n Roll (Live) – 7″ vinyl
Xiu Xiu – Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks – LP
Rob Zombie – Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A UFO! – 10″ vinyl

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