ALBUM RELEASE NEWS

Record Store Day 2024, the Black Friday edition, is soon upon us — just two days from now on November 29, 2024, in fact. What better way to work off that typical turkey-tryptophan lull than to head on over to your favorite indie record shop on Friday and see what strikes your LP-lovin’ fancy? That’s what we here at AP plan on doing, just as we usually do on that ever-hallowed special release day.

Also, as per usual, we are going to share with you a number of our preferred RSD picks ahead of time — and we’ll ultimately review whatever we can, depending on how many of them we can get our hands on. As always, a complete RSD 2024 list can be found right here on the official Record Store Day site, if you want to follow along with their Web version and/or download the PDF to have your own checklist at the ready. By my count, it looks like 158 titles are listed for this year’s RSD event.

I’m going to have my LP reviewing compatriot Mark Smotroff share his five favored RSD 2024 picks first, then I’ll proffer my own five faves following his. Take it away, brother Mark!!

MARK SMOTROFF
Thanks, Mike! Joe Bataan’s 1968 LP Riot! (Fania/Craft Recordings) is the rare-to-find (in any condition!) second album from this Latin music pioneer — a.k.a. “The King of Latin Soul.” While I’m looking for this one (and it’s on 180g, btw), I hope I can also find a copy of Bataan’s 1967 debut LP Gypsy Woman, which Craft reissued back in January 2024. (1,000 copies; RSD Exclusive)

It’s the first time on vinyl (and on 2LP color vinyl, at that!) for The Carl Stalling Project’s Music From Warner Bros. Cartoons 1936-1958 (Rhino/Warner), a classic 1990 Warner Bros. cartoon music compilation that I’ve had on CD for decades. It also includes many Raymond Scott cues too! (5,000 copies; RSD Exclusive)

Brah, Humbug! Xmas in NOLA is a bit of a misnomer, as this one was out previously in 2022 via the label releasing it on RSD, Tipitina’s Record Club — but still, if the price is right (and remember, RSD-release SRPs aren’t typically announced beforehand), it sounds like a fun romp. I like their official description of this collection: “Not your parents’ Christmas album — this compilation shows how New Orleans puts a fresh spin on old classics and some fun holiday originals. Guaranteed to get your Christmas party hopping.” Works for me! (500 copies; RSD First)

Tracking Curtis Mayfield’s early production and songwriting work for Vee Jay, The Soul and Songs of Young Curtis Mayfield: The Spirit of Chicago (Vee Jay/Craft Recordings), looks to be an interesting 2LP compilation including tracks from his then-group The Impressions, plus his work with Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, and more. Reportedly, it’s been remastered from the original analog tapes by Paul Blakemore. I am pretty sure I have some of this material already — but it’s not always easy finding early Curtis and The Impressions LPs in even halfway-decent shape, so this collection has definite appeal, especially if they used single mixes. (1,500 copies; RSD Exclusive)

Lights on a Satellite: Live at The Left Bank (Resonance) is a fine — and fun! — new archival 1978 live recording by Sun Ra, and his Arkestra. This is big-band Sun Ra spinning futuristic jazz sounds, and even spinning his web around standards such as Harold Arlen’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” plus tunes by Fletcher Henderson (“Yeah Man”), Miles Davis (“Half Nelson”), and Tadd Dameron (“Lady Bird”). My Short Cuts review of this 2LP set, along with other recent non-RSD Sun Ra vinyl releases, will be posting here on AP fairly soon. (1,500 copies; RSD Exclusive)

MIKE METTLER
Lotta great choices there, Mark! Here are mine. I first became enamored with Angelo Badalamenti’s work for (and with) David Lynch on the iconic director’s still harrowing 1986 film, Blue Velvet — not to mention what he did on Twin Peaks (though I guess I just did mention it) — so I can’t wait to get my hands and ears on his Music for Film and Television LP (Varèse Sarabande). Pressed on translucent red vinyl, Music for Film and Television also features brand-new artwork by noted illustrator Brianna Ashby, which depicts Badalamenti surrounded by number of identifiable props from many of the projects he scored. Damn good piece of vinyl pie, this one! (1,500 copies; RSD Exclusive)

I’m an unabashed completist when it comes to The Doors, so I’m all about getting their Live in Detroit 4LP set (Rhino/Elektra), which was recorded on May 8, 1970, at Detroit’s famed Cobo Arena. Taken from the Motor City stop on the band’s Roadhouse Blues Tour, this collection includes a number of blues covers including “Back Door Man” (Side A), “Mystery Train” (Side D), and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” (also on Side D). According to the press notes, Live in Detroit was one of The Doors’ longer shows, as they played an hour past curfew and wound up getting themselves banned from the arena as a result. Oh, show me the way to the next whisky bar. . . (5,000 copies; RSD Exclusive)

Speaking of that certain elixir, the last time I interviewed Echo & The Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch, he promised to buy the whisky/whiskey next time we saw each other in person — and I still aim to collect on that offer. In the meantime, I’m happy to obtain and consume the 12in single for one of my favorite 1980s-era tracks of theirs, “The Killing Moon” (Rhino/Warner), which comes in part as celebration of the 40th anniversary of E&TB’s May 1984 release on Korova/Sire, Ocean Rain. This full-size single also contains “The Killing Moon (All Night Version)” on Side 1, available on vinyl for the first time since its original release, plus “Do It Clean (Live)” on Side 2. They’re also releasing a 12in single for another key Ocean Rain track, “Silver,” so Imma gonna have to get that one too, looks like! (3,000 copies; RSD Exclusive)

Stevie Nicks has been somewhat oversaturating traditional media outlets of late as her current solo world megatour winds down, but she recently wrote and put out a poignant new song, “The Lighthouse,” that’s very much worthy of her rich catalog heritage. According to the press materials, this song (which I recently watched her perform on SNL, with Waddy Wachtel on guitar) is “meant as a battle cry to current, past, and future generations of women during this pivotal moment in history.” Produced by Nicks, Sheryl Crow, and Dave Cobb, “The Lighthouse” (Warner Records) shines its way to representing RSD 2024 in the form of a white-vinyl 7in single. No advance info, though, as to whether it houses a new B-side, or merely a repeat of Side 1. (5,000 copies; RSD Exclusive)

U2 are frequent RSD releasers, and this year is no different. How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb (Island/Interscope) is purported to be a collection of ten songs taken from the original recording sessions for their quite strong November 2004 release on Island, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, just in time to celebrate the core album’s 20th anniversary. The source material was recently rediscovered in the band’s archive, and these selected tracks are being released for the first time as a standalone LP that is alternately being dubbed as a “Shadow Album.” The unreleased songs include “Luckiest Man in the World,” “Happiness,” and “Country Mile,” while newly remastered tracks include “Picture of You (X + W).” Given how many copies of Re-Assemble are being pressed, U2 fans like myself should, fingers crossed, be able to find this one easier than some of the other RSD releases on our lists. (20,000 copies; RSD Exclusive)

And there you have it — our Top 10 RSD 2024 picks. Happy hunting — and, in the meantime, may we also wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to one and all reading this. We here at AP are deeply thankful for each and every one of you!