Random Gleanings from Record Store Day

An abundance of riches on this year's massive list of rarities and discoveries....

Taking a second to savor this moment on the calendar. Today, April 22, 2022, is Earth Day. Tomorrow, April 23, is Record Store Day.

You can already hear the Earth Day speeches destined for excerpt on the news. About how there’s only one Earth, the importance of global collective action and small steps by ordinary citizens. And how, as all the science we don’t understand is now saying in unison, time is running out. The issues around climate are not partisan talking points, but some politicians will grandstand that way. Brace for thoughts and prayers.

Thankfully, there are no speeches around Record Store Day.

The messaging is about music discovery, and those places (shrines?) where it is possible to have unexpected encounters with sounds that instantly become our lifelong companions. The mostly independent shops where that happens have been under threat since before streaming; also under threat, it must be said, are many of the independent artists championed by those shops.

RSD celebrates music as gift and inspiration circuit and gathering point. It’s an attempt to reclaim the serendipitous act of music browsing from the soulless rote emptiness of Internet search. It’s about receptivity. It says: Come snag rare gems and discoveries dropping today from your favorite artists — and while you’re here, check out some talents you didn’t know about when you woke up this morning.

This year’s list of titles runs seven jaw dropping spreadsheet style pages. The list includes releases aimed at collectors — colored vinyl editions of big sellers, etc. — as well as works of profound historical importance. A preface to the list makes an unfortunate supply chain lament, related to the enormous vinyl backlog: Not all the titles will reach stores by Saturday. According to the site: “We’re also being proactive with designating an RSD Drops date on June 18. That will serve as a street date safety net, for titles that are part of the Record Store Day celebration, but for any number of reasons beyond controlling, can’t make it into stores on April 23.”

Here’s a handful that went onto my list as soon as I saw them:

BeBop Deluxe: Live In the Air Age. Recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in 1977, this captures the UK art-pop band rethinking “Ships In the Night,” “Fair Exchange” and other twisty and trenchant songs written by frontman/guitarist/singer/sage Bill Nelson.

Albert Ayler: Revelations: The Complete ORTY 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings. This discovery from “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman — who is responsible for a bunch of RSD gems, including the Mingus title discussed earlier this week — augments existing releases with nearly 2 hours of music from an epic July 1970 concert, just several months before Ayler’s death. It opens with a riveting blues-drenched declaration, “Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe,” that was the title of Ayler’s last studio effort.

Joyce: “Feminina” single. Brazilian singer and songwriter Joyce began her recording career in 1968, and soon her effortlessly melodic songs were covered by stars like Elis Regina. Joyce recorded regularly in the 1970s, but oddly one of her most lavish and international productions, 1977’s Naturaeza, was never released, though several tunes like “Feminina” did appear subsequently. This single, a gorgeous 11-minute samba jaunt, is a teaser: Naturaeza, which features flute solos from Joe Farrell and orchestrations from textural wizard Claus Ogerman, will arrive June 18.

Karen Dalton: Shuckin’ Sugar. This release greatly expands the known output of enigmatic singer/songwriter Karen Dalton, who died in 1993. It’s a transfixing 1963 live session at the Colorado coffeehouse known as the Attic, and it features some known Dalton songs and seven not released previously, as well as a series of transfixing duets with partner Richard Tucker.

Linda Hoover: I Mean To Shine. Here’s one for obsessive readers of album credits: The storied and previously unreleased 1970 debut of Linda Hoover, which was produced by Gary Katz and contained a bunch of songs written by Walker Becker and Donald Fagen. The release was shelved due to a business disagreement; the title song, from Becker and Fagen, became a hit for Barbra Streisand (and therefore a trivia-contest evergreen). Watch this space for more when this LP becomes available in June.

Miles Davis: What It Is: Montreal 7/7/83. Somehow, there aren’t many live recordings of the band Miles Davis assembled for Star People, which included drummer Al Foster, guitarist John Scofield and bassist Daryl Jones. That’s rectified with this charged, unexpectedly kinetic set from the Montreal Jazz Festival. Some things happened that night that captivated Davis, the svengali-like scavenger of vibe: He used edits from these performances of “That’s What Happened” and “What It Is” as foundations for the studio versions on 1984’s Decoy. Contains liner notes written by the peerless Greg Tate shortly before he died.