The OKP Guide: 16 Must-Cop Vinyls For Record Store Day 2015
Well, it appears it's that time of the year again, folks. The Black Friday edition of Record Store Day 2015 is upon us. And with the master list of releases having just been published, we figured it'd only by right to provide you with a little guidance as you scour through shelves, bins and crates for the cream of the acetate crop. For the first installment of the 2015 RSD, we had choice selections, featuring first-ever pressings and reissues of gems from the catalogues of Blackstar, D'Angelo, J Dilla, Wu-Tang, Marvin Gaye, Sun Ra, Sly & The Family Stone and grip of others, spanning the gamut of hip-hop and r&b's brightest and most cherished stars.
The day-after Thanksgiving installment will prove to be a proper follow-through, digging deep into electric blues with titles from Jimi Hendrix, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, ascending to some intergalactic funk with joints from Starchild, The Isleys and Egyptian Lover, taking it back to some of hip-hop's adolescent years with pressings from Eazy-E and Schoolly D and then setting course for Stankonia to touch down for a well-earned victory lap. There's even a few pieces for the jazz cats of the world. Record Store Day is a high holiday 'round these parts. So here's a little companion script for your travels. Skim through the pages to peep all that is in store for you, bragging rights and all. Hit the link to find the participating stores in your area.
>>>Participating RSD locations
1. OutKast - Stankonia
We begin with the prize piece of this collection; a freshly-reissued, fittingly-psychedelic pressing of Andre 3000 & Big Boi's fourth studio album. Joined by the likes of Eykah Badu, Killer Mike, Cee-Lo, Sleepy Brown and a grip of others, the Stanklove was all-too real, winning the ATLien duo two Grammys and a massive commercial breakthrough and going on to become one of the best-selling rap albums of all-time with 4 million copies sold to this date. This 2xLP release is blasted with orange, yellow, black and purple splatters, but is limited to just 3,000 copies, making this perhaps the most coveted item on our list--on top of easily being the dopest.
2. Funkadelic - Shake The Gate (Version Excursion)
Perhaps some of you recall late last month when Kendrick Lamar joined the interplanetary funk mob for a righteous cross-generational collaboration. Well, it appears that this edition of RSD will be graced with a wax treatment of the that extended four-to-the-floor jam, plus five more cuts, featuring the extended P-Funk family, appropriately-dubbed the Version Excursion; another fitting prize for the seasoned funkateer.
3. Jimi Hendrix - Burning Desire
Guitar gods are getting plenty of love on this year's list, starting off with the patriarch of the purple regalia. Burning Desire is one of those well-circulated bootlegs, comprised rarities and outtakes, hitting stores for the first time ever, and on wax no less. We cannot overstate how crucial this release is for the Hendrix aficionado.
4. The Isley Brothers - Groove With You...Live!
Uh...The Isley Brothers live and direct on 180-gram wax? You better believe this one's a must. For reference: peep our exclusive outtake "World Series" to hear just what the foundational soul camp was capable of in a live setting.
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan - A Legend In The Making--Live at El Mocamba
Those familiar with the SRV legend know precisely how heavy this live joint is. The performance, filmed during Stevie's heralded Texas Flood Tour in '83, was originally a TV and radio-only broadcast, fashioned into a DVD release back in 1999. But this is the first time it's seen the black of wax, putting the Austin-born heir to the Hendrix throne on full-display with a grip of blues standard covers as well as his own high-voltage originals, eclectic and electric in all of the right ways.
6. B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone EP
This here's a true treat for the bluesman of our day. Most know of Blues Boy's commercial breakout, but few are aware of the fact that the only studio versions we've heard have been of the album edit. This will be the first time since the track's original single edit will be heard on any format since the original The Thrill Is Gone EP.
7. Howlin' Wolf - The London Sessions
Rounding out the deep blues section of our guide is a swanky cut of Howlin' Wolf's legendary London Sessions recording, numbered and complete with an insanely rare gold gatefold. The recording itself offers an intimate lens into the later years of a legend only 5 years out from his passing, shedding in Olympic Studios with Brit rock & blues luminaries like disciple Eric Clapton, famed keys player Steve Winwood and two original members of The Rolling Stones in bass man Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts.
8. Wes Montgomery - One Night In Indy LP
For the jazz heads: an unreleased full album from the gawd Wes Montgomery. This mythical piece was recorded with fellow titan Eddie Higgins, whose sessions have provided early starts and introductions to/between the likes of Ramsey Lewis and Maurice White, not to mention a who's-who of jazz giants, from Cannonball Adderly to Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz to Dizzy Gillespie. Here you'll find Montgomery ca. '59 in what we can only imagine was one of those smokey, musky, dimly-lit joints off the early Down Beat pages, ripe with Wes' wispy licks and Higgins' relentless rhythm section.
9. William Onyeabor - Atomic Bomb
Who is William Onyeabor? asked the funky Nigerian synth-pop pioneer's most recent release in 2013. But for RSD, Onyeabor's much-adored, often slept-on (like much of his catalogue) sophomore record, is where you'll learn just that. Pure. Brilliance.
10. The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??!
For its 2oth (err, 21st depending on who you ask) The Roots sophomore studio record is getting a true, blue commemorative reissue as a limited edition 2xLP, fit for new ears and diehards alike. And just in time for the cratedigger's high holiday.
>>>Grab your copy at the OKP Shop today.
11. Jay Electronica - "Exhibit A" / "Exhibit C"
We get so amped at the prospect of any and all Jay Electronica releases that we already let you know about this one here. But if it need be said again, let it be done with strict brevity. Jay ElecHannukah, Jay ElecYarmulke (sorry, had to) and his two "exhibits" of lyrical supremacy. One piece of wax, for the first time ever. Run, don't walk, for this one.
12. The Pharcyde - "Runnin'"b/w "Emerald Butterfly"
Now that we've finally broken into our true-schooler's section; a fix for the donut lover. The early, 7-inch reissue of what is perhaps The Pharcyde's most cherished cut, pressed to a split blue, translucent vinyl in the image of the original single pressing, anchored by an early J Dilla beat and all of the hazy verbal merriments on can bear.
13. Eazy-E - "Merry Muthphuckin' Xmas" b/w "N***** My Height Don't Fight"
Just in time for the holidaze, Eazy-E's irreverent XXXmas joint is getting fit to its very first 45 treatment. Stocking-stuffer, anyone?
14. Schoolly D - "PSK What Does It Mean" b/w "Gucci Time"
Some Okayplayers may be old enough to remember Philadelphian mic terror, gawdfather of the gangster, Schoolly D. But truth be told, in the thirty years since Schoolly's close-up, the man's never truly gotten his cut of the recognition. And so, in order to remind the world of his OG influence and superhuman swagger, GET ON DOWN has teamed with the man himself to bring one of hip-hop's most legendary 12" back to the true-schoolers, back to the diggers, back to your speakers in the heaviest of fashion and with liner notes helmed by Check The Technique author Brian Coleman with all the nerd-bait needed for such a colossal pillar in the game.
15. Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson - "Say, Say, Say" (2015 Remix)
Earlier this year, Paul McCartney released a slightly reworked version of"Say Say Say," his blockbuster 1983 collaboration with Michael Jackson, featuring never-before-heard vocal takes from MJ. And with that healthy reintroduction, proving just how proper Macca & MJ's creative connections were, seems only right that they'd bring the Pipes For Peace cut back to the world in waxy bliss. Two legends (three, if you count Beatles producer George Martin) one intoxicating, pop-leaning gem that brought different worlds together. Get to it, folks.
Honorable Mention: Egyptian Lover - "Egypt, Egypt" b/w "Girls"
We've been to the Delta, London, Stankonia, Compton and even the mothership on our vinyl voyage. And to cap off our sojourn, we're taking it to the pyramids, good people. Egyptian Lover (interplanetary machinedrum funk forefather) will be treating the world to a fresh reissue of his breakout joint "Egypt, Egypt" and On The Nile standout "Girls" pressed to a die-cut, pyramid-shaped 7-inch. So. Damn. Proper.
