April 23rd 2022 is Record Store Day (RSD), the 15th one, I believe. It’s the first time I tried to participate in this “event,” and it turned out a bust.
The local record store where I shop handles RSD via a lottery. You submit your requests, and if you win they give you a call. I submitted requests for four albums, and received not a single call. They’d delayed opening the store until 3pm, and at 2:50pm I was in a crowded strip mall parking lot. At 2:58pm I was fourth in line, and within one minute of entering the tiny environs of the store there were 20 people or more inside.
I checked the crowded bins for my wants—albums by The Album Leaf, Camera Obscura, The Cranberries, Weyes Blood. Zip. Nada. Bupkis. Camera Obscura’s album is probably local, available only in the UK, not in central Texas. The Cranberries? Well, the store had received some copies, but I was not among the fortunate winners. As for The Album Leaf and Weyes Blood, the had not received any copies. The latter was intended for my daughter, and the others for myself. As far as RSD, no luck for me.
I did pick up albums by Portishead and Wild Beasts; one of which I had in digital format, and the other I had in no format. As luck would have it, the one I had in no format offered digital downloads, while the one I already had, did not.
I’m not sure I’ll participate in another RSD. The idea of limited editions that may of may not be available, combined with my abysmal luck in terms of any lottery system, means it’s probably not worth my time. Am I bothered? Not too much. At least I’m not among the 93 individuals who failed to get a copy of a Taylor Swift 7″—poor souls, they must be heartbroken, their lives ruined.
