2012 Record Store Day - NYC Events & Goodies!

 Saturday April 21st is Record Store Day for 2012, and that means plenty of live events at your local music shops as well as special vinyl releases. This year's RSD offerings include Bruce Springsteen "Rocky Ground," Iggy & the Stooges live at All Tomorrow's Parties, the David Bowie "Starman" picture disc, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals' "Live from the Legendary Sun Studios" CD & LP, and the Joey Ramone "Rock and Roll is the Answer" seven-inch.

And of course there's the much talked-about "Feistodon," a split seven-inch that features Feist covering a tune by metal band Mastodon on one side, and Mastodon covering Feist on the other. (Listen to Feist's Mastodon cover, "Black Tongue," here at Soundcloud.)

See the full Record Store Day release listing as a downloadable PDF or as a webpage.

Get ready for special vinyl releases galore at Record Store Day.

ScoutMob in New York lists its top five ways to celebrate Record Store Day in NYC. Among its choices (see websites for times, etc.):

• Generation Records in Greenwich Village has live music by The Paul Collins Beat (of The Nerves), Supertouch, and Joyce Manor (pop punk), as well as DJ sets by WFMU's Tom Scharpling and Three Chord Monte.
• Mates of State plays at Soundfix in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (7:30 p.m.)
• The Men perform at Other Music, where you'll also find Four Tet doing a DJ set

One of ScoutMob's choices deserves special attention, and that's J&R, NYC's huge (but still family owned) music/electronics complex. See the Record Store Day releases you'll find at J&R, and check out their live performances for Saturday, including:

• 12 Noon: Everest
• 1 p.m.: French musician Yann Tiersen
• 2 p.m.: Mike Doughty

J&R says it will have hundreds of RSD titles (some available for pre-order), including ...
Also, J&R will have a listening party for Jack White's new album "Blunderbuss"at 11 a.m.

Over in Jersey, Princeton Record Exchange will feature a performance by They Might Be Giants (in front of the town's public library) from 6 to 6:45 p.m., with record signing back at the store from around 7 to 8.

Also, see Paste Magazine's "21 Albums You Should Buy on Record Store Day" and its article "101 Musicians Discuss their Favorite Record Stores." And NPR Music weighs in with its "13 Reasons to Visit Your Local Record Store," surveying releases including the Iggy/Stooges offering, a Deerhoof/Of Montreal split seven-inch, and the T. Rex "Electric Warrior" seven-inch box set.

What are you doing for Record Store Day? Where will you be, and what special releases are you looking forward to picking up?

Free J&R MusicFest & Tech Expo This Weekend - Live Music from Eli "Paperboy" Reed & More

The free 2010 J&R MusicFest & Tech Expo takes place this weekend at City Hall Park, near the music/computer/electronics retailer's complex on Park Row in lower Manhattan. The live music takes place on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 27th and 28th, but the Tech Expo goes on through Sunday.

There are special discounts and deals throughout the weekend on CDs, DVDs, audio equipment, and much more.

The Tech Expo began Thursday with demonstrations of new audio equipment and other tech gizmos, but the music starts Friday, August 27th at 5 p.m. Here's the schedule:

Friday, Aug. 27th
Performances start at 5:00 p.m. / Hosted By DJ Parler
* 4Troops
* J Cole
* Marsha Ambrosius
* Alexis Jordan

Saturday, Aug. 28th
Performances start at noon
* Marcus Johnson
* Eli "Paperboy" Reed
* Leela James
* Ayanna Irish

The Tech Expo continues through Sunday.

The Free J&R Music Fest & Tech Expo, August 27 - 29, Lower Manhattan

The huge music and technology retailer J&R periodically hosts live music in its lower Manhattan neighborhood, and starting today is its 2009 J&R Music Fest & Tech Expo. The proceedings actually started Wednesday with a performance by the pop group Air Supply, but things get going in earnest on Thursday, August 27th.

Here's the schedule (all events are at City Hall Park, except where noted). See the J&R Music Fest & Tech Expo Web site for more details and biographical sketches of the performers:

* Thursday, August 27th
2pm - Dick Dale and Jimmy Dale (J&R Musical Instruments Store, 33 Park Row)

5 pm - Diane Birch
6 pm - Jemina Pearl
7 pm - The Smithereens

* Friday, August 28th
5 pm - Melinda Watts
5:30 pm - J Moss
6 pm - Clipse
7 pm - Mario

* Saturday, August 29th
1 pm - Randy Jackson (J&R Musical Instruments Store)
1 pm - KRS-One and Buckshot
2 pm - Letoya
3 pm - Nikki Yanofsky
4 pm - Roberta Gambarini
5 pm - Roy Hargrove

Note: Hurricane Danny is projected to blow up around the East Coast Saturday, which may throw a monkey wrench into the Festival. Check the Web site above for the latest updates.