Josiah Hesse

The scene at Twist & Shout during last spring's annual Record Store Day.

This Saturday is 4/20. You know what that means? Uh-huh. Time for all of us Coloradoans to celebrate our favorite annual holiday. That's right. Record Store Day! Record Store Day has come a long way since it kicked off in 2007. The third Saturday of April has morphed into an international holiday of sorts, a celebration of tactile music.

See also:
- In honor of Record Store Day this Saturday: Ten records we treasure
- Record Store Day: Phish's Junta is fetching double its Record Store Day price on eBay
- Five famous record collections and a look at their doomed (and almost doomed) fate

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Judging by last Spring's massive turnout for the official Record Store Day, this year's Record Store Day: Black Friday edition is shaping up to deliver a healthy dose of vinyl geek fever to all of Denver's treasured music dispensaries. "There's a big anticipation for those three White Stripes singles," says Twist & Shout co-owner Paul Epstein. "And there's the unreleased Grateful Dead double live album from '71, and the Bob Dylan single 'Duquesne Whistle.' It's a lot bigger than last Black Friday -- a lot more titles. We're just going to just hold on to our hats and try to sell everything."

See also:
- Phish's Junta is fetching double its Record Store Day price on eBay
- Record Store Day: The hunt for Junta -- the scene from Wax Trax and Twist & Shout
- Ten records we treasure. What's your favorite vinyl?

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Sleep-deprived Phish fans who woke up early for Record Store Day made a great investment it seems. As noted in our Record Store Day coverage, the most sought-after piece of vinyl on the April 21 event was a limited-edition vinyl pressing of the band's first album, Junta, and the available copies went fast. One version included a limited edition poster ($80), while the other, slightly-less-super-deluxe version went for $40. Both versions are now going for roughly twice that amount on eBay.

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When Michigan record store owner Jeff Bubeck acquired several thousand records from an abandoned storage unit in Clinton Township, he didn't realize he might've taken possession of a piece of hip-hop history. Bubeck started sifting through the collection and found several items addressed to James Yancey (better known as legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla), which led him to believe he'd scored something more than just a great haul of wax. News spread quickly that part of the producer's collection was up for sale in Bubeck's shop, UHF in Royal Oaks, Michigan. But almost as soon as it was on sale, it was back off the market.

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The scene at Wax Trax this morning just before the store's 9 a.m. opening.

Josiah Hesse

See Also:
• A comprehensive guide to Record Store Day 2012 activities
• In honor of Record Store Day this Saturday: Ten records we treasure.
• Wax Trax celebrating 33 1/3 birthday in April

Like Rob Flemmng's Championship Vinyl in the book High Fidelity, it was "mostly young men." But for those waiting in line for the doors to Wax Trax to open this morning -- beginning the running of the bulls that is Record Store Day -- it was not deleted Smiths singles and Frank Zappa albums that the folks were after. Today it was Phish. "I want my Junta!" shouted Ken Smith while holding his well deserved place at the front of the line. "I came down here at 3 a.m. and got my place before anyone else. I'm going to get that Junta record."

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Brian Landis Folkins

Cypress Hill celebrates 4/20 tonight at the Ogden Theatre.

See Also: A 4/20 playlist from Westword's marijuana critic William Breathes

Happy 4/20! Welcome to the end of another work week. As always, there are plenty of music options to consider this weekend -- and that's whether you're living the Mile High life or not. The second edition of the annual Levitate Festival lives up to its name at 1STBANK Center getting fans high on the music of Rusko, DJ Shadow, organizer Paper Diamond and Pictureplane, playing his penulitmate hometown show. Cypress Hill, meanwhile, observes the holiday this evening at the Ogden Theatre. Oh, and there's Record Store Day tomorrow, plus CD release shows featuring New Ben Franklins, King FOE Rebel Tongue and Lexigram and so much more. Page down for the weekend's best live music bets.

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See Also: A comprehensive guide to Record Store Day 2012 activities
See Also: Wax Trax celebrating 33 1/3 birthday in April
See Also: Download a track from Wheelchair Sports Camp's forthcoming EP, Where We All Live

In honor of Record Store Day this Saturday, we dug deep into our collection to unearth our favorite pieces of vinyl. These are the records we treasure above all else. Don't even think about asking to borrow them. If there were a fire, these are the first platters we'd make sure to grab. You get the picture. So these are ours. What are yours? What album (or albums) should we be exceptionally jealous to know that you own? Where did you buy it? Check out our picks and then share your own stories below.

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Celebrate Record Store Day this Saturday, April 21.

See Also: In honor of Record Store Day this Saturday: Ten records we treasure.
See Also: Wax Trax celebrating 33 1/3 birthday in April
See Also: Download a track from Wheelchair Sports Camp's forthcoming EP

Whoever says the music industry is dead obviously hasn't observed Record Store Day. While file sharing has certainly dampened CD sales -- removing the casual music listener from the economic equation -- a contingency of hardcore record geeks can still be found thumbing through the bins most weekends at your local sound dispensary. These were the folks that were never too into CDs to begin with, preferring the assuring weight and sonic warmth of vinyl to the disposable plastic jewel cases that cost a nickel to make and a day's wages to buy. Record Store Day is to vinyl collectors what Black Friday is to suburban parents.

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See Also:
• A comprehensive guide to Record Store Day 2012 activities
• In honor of Record Store Day this Saturday: Ten records we treasure. What's your favorite vinyl?
• Download a track from Wheelchair Sports Camp's forthcoming EP, Where We All Live

For years, Ian O'Dougherty (Uphollow, Ian Cooke, TaunTaun, Eolian) thought about throwing himself a 33 1/3 birthday party and having a bunch of his friends spin records. He mentioned the idea to Wax Trax co-owner Duane Davis, and when he did, O'Dougherty discovered that he and Wax Trax were both born in October 1978.

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Record Store Day was originally started a few years ago as a once-a-year celebration for some 700 independently owned record stores in the U.S., including Twist & Shout and Wax Trax, but the organizers have also included today, Black Friday, as another chance to for music fans to get their hands on limited special edition vinyl and CDs, some of them numbered.

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