Record Store Day 2023: Store Staff Give Their Recommendations

This Saturday is Record Store Day. The most exciting day on any vinyl collector's calendar, this weekend's event is Record Store Day's sweet 16th birthday. After its inception in 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland, the big day expanded across the world, offering in-store signings, competitions, vinyl and CD exclusives, and meet and greets, making it a communal, annual celebration of all things vinyl.

This year there's a host of brilliant exclusive wax on offer, so we asked those behind the counters what releases fans should be looking to snap up when they're at the front of the line this week. 

MUSIC FARMERS (Wollongong, NSW) - Jeb Taylor
1. Nuggets Box Set (Expanded version of the essential garage/psych comp)
2. New York Noise (Great compilation of very early NY dance punk)
3. Fraternity - Flaming Galah (First ever vinyl reissue of Bon Scott's pre-AC/DC band)

GREVILLE RECORDS (Melbourne, VIC) - Cody Lee
1. Tom Tom Club self-titled: This ripper debut Lp from 2 ex Talking Heads is a bop from beginning to end, but the exclusive RSD pressing includes a bonus LP of 12” mixes and rare single tracks! Yipee!
2. Soul Jazz Records: New York Noise: All you New Wave/ No Wave fans out there, get ready to enjoy your favourite tracks all over again, on this re-issue 2LP on coloured wax... Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Implog, Dinosaur L, Konk... dare I say anymore!!
3. Taylor Swift - Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions: Although I am not a big Taylor Swift fan personally, nothing beats working at a record store and witnessing the joy of a TS fan buying one of her albums, especially an RSD release. Seriously, you should try it sometime...

SONIC SHERPA (Brisbane, QLD) - Steve Bell
1. Jonathan Richman - Jonathan Goes Country
2. Wilco - Crosseyed Strangers: An Alternate Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
3. Taylor Swift - Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions

URBAN WORLD AUSTRALIA (Melbourne, VIC) - Michael Radisavljevic
1.  Taylor Swift - Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions
2.  Pearl Jam - Give Way
3.  Madonna – American Life (The Mix Show Mixes)

RELOVE VINYL (Brisbane, QLD) - James Lee
1. Pearl Jam - Give Way 2LP - Must have for any collection. Recorded during Pearl Jam’s March 5, 1998, Melbourne Park show during the Australian tour in support of their fifth studio album Yield, the highly sought-after Give Way is released on vinyl for the first time
2. Bluey: Dance Mode (Zoetrope) LP - The exciting follow-up to the award-winning, number 1 debut ‘Bluey: The Album. The last time we had a Bluey RSD title, the queue went down the street.
3. Taylor Swift, Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions (Grey) 2LP - If the number of phone calls and emails we have had for this release is any indication, Record Store Day 2023 is going to be very, VERY busy.

FEMINISTA VINYL (Melbourne, VIC) - Trish Hayes
1. Björk – Ovule (Sega Bodega Remix) / Atopos (sideproject Remix) 12″
2. Bluey – Dance Mode!
3. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – Up Your Alley LP

MIDLAND RECORDS (Perth, WA) - Jacob
1. Taylor Swift - Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions - even with getting as many copies as we did, we know that we will have many lining up nice and early for this one. Incredible live cuts from one of Taylor’s strongest albums.
2. Pearl Jam - Give Way - while there are a lot of Pearl Jam live releases, they all feel fresh and diverse in their performances and setlist, and we can’t go wrong with an Aussie live recording of one of the defining rock acts of the 90s and beyond.
3. Larry Lovestein and the Velvet Revival - You EP - anything Mac Miller has always been a major seller, so we are very excited to receive one of his many underrated releases as his jazzy alter-ego Larry Lovestein, one of the most excited for releases here

NORTHSIDE RECORDS (Melbourne VIC) - Chris Gill
1. Ella Thompson -  Cool Down My Heart 7"
2. Close Counters - SoulAcosta II EP (Fanta vinyl edition)
3. The Rookies - Feed The Fire (Ochre vinyl edition)

DUTCH VINYL (Melbourne / Brisbane) - Claire
1. Marble Phrogg - Marble Phrogg
2. Groove Armada - Black Light
3. Nuggets 5 LP Box Set

SUFFRAGETTE RECORDS (Hobart, TAS) - Lauren & Oberon Carter
1. Taylor Swift - Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
2. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes B Sides and Rarities
3. Koko Taylor - I Got What It Takes

HUM ON KING (Sydney, NSW) - Peter Thiele

1. Sisters of Mercy - Reptile House
2. Nuggets - 50th Anniversary Box Set
3. Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club: Expanded Edition

HAPPY VALLEY (Melbourne, VIC) - Chris Crouch
1. Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival (Mac Miller) - You (Gold 10-inch)
2. Magnetic Fields - I (140g solid gold vinyl)
3. Jonathan Richman - Jonathan Goes Country (Red cowboy boots vinyl)

HOWL & MOAN (Byron Bay, NSW) - Wolfgang von Lupo
1. Live and Cookin' At Alice's Revisited  by Howlin' Wolf
2. Senza Sapere by Ennio Morricone
3. A Woofer In A Tweeter's Clothing  by Sparks

RERUN RECORDS (Adelaide, SA) - John Siviour
1. Fat Freddy’s Drop – Live at Roundhouse
2. Miles Davis – Turnaround: Unreleased Rare
3. Taylor Swift – Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions

SOUND MERCH (Melbourne, VIC) - Tim Everist
1. Gum / Ambrose Kenny Smith - Minor Setback (7" white vinyl)
2. Peking Duk - Spend It (7")
3. Confidence Man - Re-Tilt EP (12")