Record Store Day 2012: Los Angeles Roundup

Record Store Day is a music nerd’s version of ComiCon, and we celebrated its fifth anniversary this past Saturday, reminding folks the world over to love and appreciate independent record stores. But since most music geeks do this anyway, musicians sweeten the pot by releasing limited LP’s and 7″ records for us geeks to run around trying to snag (you can see my top picks here).

Aside from all the limited releases, most record stores host a number of exciting events to lure audiophiles into their shops and I was lucky enough to check out some of the offerings in a galaxy far, far away… Los Angeles, California.

I will admit that being in a brand new city for Record Store Day threatened to be overwhelming. With tonnes of record stores in the L.A. area like Rockaway Records, Origami Vinyl and As The Record Turns, I had to narrow down my selections to make sure I could see the best the city had to offer while chasing down my own top record releases. This meant my first stop was going to be somewhere tried, tested and true: Vacation Vinyl.

Vacation was my first stop because I’d been in there a few days prior, “practicing” for the big day. Despite its location in Silver Lake, L.A.’s hipster mecca, there was no hipster like pretention to be found. In fact, the store owner and staff were nothing but friendly, making a mental note of what releases I was looking for, which they remembered on Saturday after I battled an almost hour long lineup to get in. The line was a bit of a surprise, but shouldn’t have been given how small the shop is and the fact that it’s in a pretty happening neighborhood. Vacation had been given a number of rare releases, including the Nick Waterhouse/Allah-La’s limited edition 8″ that I sought. In addition to these, Vacation boasted some in-store DJ’s and giveaways. On the decks were DJ Mahssar (from Finders Keepers and B-Music) and Complicated Dance Steps, offering up the tunes while we shopped. It also made this punk rocker’s day to be shopping alongside Keith Morris (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Off!) who popped by to pick out some of his own RSD wants (FYI, he did NOT have to wait in line).

After cashing out and scoring some freebies I set off in search of the next store on my list. Amoeba Records in Hollywood is an adventure in itself on a regular day, but on Record Store Day I was greeted by a line that dwarfed the one at Vacation. Wrapping around the city-block sized store were record fans eager to pick up some of the highly-anticipated releases and catch some of the many in-store performances slated for the day. On the bill were DJ sets from Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene) and ††† (aka Crosses) consisting of Chino Moreno (Deftones), Shaun Lopez (Far) and Chuck Doom. It was no wonder there was so much excitement around the store, and everyone was buzzing about the performances as well as what records they wanted to snap up. I spoke to fans and heard a mixed bag of bands that L.A. folks were into – everything from Refused to The Small Faces was fair game. By the time I made it inside, most of my picks had been snapped up but there was one remaining Joey Ramone, ‘Rock n’ Roll is the Answer’ 7″ that I made mine – all mine.

Toronto was not at a loss for great things to do on Record Store Day either. Toronto’s largest indie record store, Sonic Boom, had a full day’s worth of bands playing including Plants and Animals, Bloodshot Bill and GEEKPR0N favourite, Diemonds. Soundscapes on College St. hosted acts like The Elwins and there were deals aplenty to be had all over the city in stores like Hits & Misses/Frantic City, Vortex Records and Play De Record to name a few. If I had my way, I’d be able to celebrate Record Store Day everywhere, even as far as Japan.

Since I could only cover a small handful of stores on Record Store Day, tell me where you went, what you saw and most important: what records you grabbed (or didn’t but wanted). Sound off in the comments below.

*All photos by Misty Hill & Rob Ferraz