CDs
01. Black Keys – El Camino
02. Ani DiFranco – Which Side Are You On?
03. Christina Perri – Lovestrong
04. Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures
05. Rebelution – Peace of Mind
06. Skrillex – Bangarang EP
07. Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur
08. Adele – 21
09. Little Willies – For the Good Times
10. Soundtrack – Descendants

RECORDS
01. Black Keys – El Camino
02. Sublime – Sublime
03. Pixies – Surfer Rosa
04. Hatebreed – Satisfaction is the Death of Desire
05. Chris Isaak – Beyond the Sun
06. Band – Music From the Big Pink
07. Portishead – Third
08. Fugazi – Repeater
09. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
10. Arcade Fire – Funeral

DVDs
01. Dale Ockerman Project – Love, You Can Take it With You
02. Bad Company – Live at Wembley
03. Red Sonja
04. Amores Perros
05. Amy Winehouse – I Told You I Was Trouble
06. Nirvana – Unplugged in New York
07. DEADMAU5 – Live at Earl’s Court
08. Ray Charles – Live in France
09. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
10. American Hardcore

BLU-RAY
01. Cape Fear (1991)
02. Moneyball
03. Super 8
04. Mortal Kombat
05. Pulp Fiction
06. Tom Petty – Live
07. Star Wars Trilogy
08. Apollo 18
09. Sigur Ros – Inni
10. Gangs of New York

VIDEO GAMES
01. Okamiden
02. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
03. Star Wars: the Force Unleashed
04. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
05. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
06. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
07. Call of Juarez: the Cartel
08. Alpha Protocol
09. Kirby: Mass Attack
10. Dead Rising 2

by Cat Johnson

Wait. Did we really think that we could make sense of Sinead in one blog post? Friends, I wish I could. But to be honest, I’ve lost interest in tracking Ms. O’Connor’s every befuddling move. Between marriages, ordinations, coming out announcements and retractions, break-ups and generally pissing people off, who can keep up?

But, the other day I was looking at a photo of Sinead, reminiscing about all the things she has done in her life and career, and it was no small list. She reshaped what a woman in pop music could be; she inspired a legion of girls, myself included, to shave their heads; she released a series of mega-hit songs that took root in music charts around the world; she stands strong for what she believes in; and she has fought ceaselessly against child abuse, war and injustice.

So, in honor of the Sinead that I grew up admiring and singing along to, here are a handful of my favorite Sinead O’Connor songs.

It’s official. The face of Record Store Day 2012 is none other than Iggy Pop. Here’s what he has to say about his appointment:

“A person should have a personality. You won’t get one dicking around on a computer. It helps to go somewhere where there are other persons. Persons who are interested in something you are. That’s how a record store or any shop that’s got some life to it should work. It’s not about selling shit. I got my name, my musical education and my personality all from working at a record store during my tender years. Small indie shops have always been a mix of theater and laboratory. In the 50′s and 60′s the teen kids used to gather after school at these places to listen free to the latest singles and see if they liked the beat. You could buy the disc you liked for 79 cents and if you were lucky meet a chick. Clerks in these places became managers, (like Brian Epstein), label heads, (Jack Holzman) and Faces on album covers (like me). Personally I feel best in a store that, while staying small and socially relaxed, still keeps a complete variety of music types and non musical recordings on offer. I’m aware though that a lot of great places are genre-specific, like dance hall shops in Jamaica or Compas here in Little Haiti. In Europe and on the West coast the same goes on for Punk and Goth. All of this is cool and has a much bigger future than most people realize today. When the record and record store businesses began to die at the turn of the new century, they deserved it because they got too big too boring and too plastic.

“As Record Store Day Ambassador for 2012 I feel like a representative from some exotic jungle full of life and death and sex and anger, called upon to wear a leopard skin and translate joy to the world of the dead.” –IGGY POP (via RecordStoreDay.com)

All kinds of interesting things get tucked into or between record sleeves and end up in the store. This little treasure, postmarked 1948 in Philadelphia, was recently found on the floor. No one seems to know where it came from.

The text is as follows:

1704 N. 52d St
Philadelphia, Pa.

Dear pals:

Surprise – I fear our next record session will have to be suspended a few months – at least. I’m a Curtis-ite now. Menotti is my new teacher. I’m going to be a composer, yazzah. I left Oakland in a cloud of dust so please forgive my not coming to say goodbye. Please write & tell me the news – I promise to answer with more than a card!

Love, Lee

Mr. & Mrs. Howard Sugarman
56a Edith St.
San Francisco, Calif.

Post mark: Save the Easy Way/Buy U.S. Bond/Payroll Sav
Philadelphia, P.A. 8, 1948
Oct 2, 9:30PM

CDs
01. Rebelution – Peace of Mind
02. James Durbin – Memories of a Beautiful Disaster
03. Adele – 21
04. Black Keys – El Camino
05. Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures
06. Little Willies – For the Good Times
07. Chris Isaak – Beyond the Sun
08. Black Keys – Rubber Factory
09. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & the Harvest
10. Foster the People – Torches

RECORDS
01. Black Keys – Thickfreakness
02. Morrissey – Greatest Hits
03. Black Keys – El Camino
04. Wilco – Whole Love
05. Strokes – Is This It
06. Joy Division – Closer
07. Black Keys – Magic Potion
08. Dick Dale – Mr. Eliminator
09. Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics
10. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

DVD
01. Blood In Blood Out
02. Adele – Live at the Royal Albert Hall
03. The Harder They Come
04. Bad Brains – Live at CBGB 1982
05. AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
06. Rolling Stones – Stones in Exile
07. Triplets of Belleville
08. IP Man 2
09. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
10. Ghostbusters

BLU-RAY
01. Tom Petty – Live
02. Star Wars Trilogy
03. Sigur Ros – Inni
04. Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
05. Mortal Kombat
06. Space Jam
07. Le Mans
08. Gangs of New York
09. Metropolis
10. Pulp Fiction

VIDEO GAMES
01. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
02. Dead Rising 2
03. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
04. Call of Juarez: the Cartel
05. Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
06. Assassins Creed: Revelations
07. Super Paper Mario
08. God of War: Origins
09. Portal 2
10. Red Dead Redemption

The Little Willies, featuring Norah Jones, are back with a new album entitled For the Good Times. This one is a collection of classic country tunes as well as a handful of lesser known gems written by the likes of Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Ralph Stanley, Dolly Parton and more. Here’s a peek at what you can expect:

by Cat Johnson

Through a combination of coincidence, mutual indie admiration and a handful of emails, I found myself on the phone with Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums. The conversation was set up by the band’s label as a way to do a bit of outreach to indie stores. Over the course of an hour, three representatives from three different indie record stores would be on the phone having a loose chat with Fitz, who was on the road in Phoenix. Turns out that he’s a funny, interesting fellow with high regard for vinyl and record stores. Here are a few more tidbits I picked up from our conversation.

• Although the band’s current tour was slated as their last round of shows to promote Pickin’ Up the Pieces, that’s not going to be the case. They were recently announced for Coachella and some other festivals and are playing a handful of dates in Mexico.
• After this tour, the band members are, according to Fitz, “going to lock ourselves at home and take some time to write some new songs.”
• Fitz was “so excited” when [indie label] Dangerbird said they were going to put Pickin’ Up the Pieces on vinyl. “You work so hard on the album artwork,” he says, “then it gets reduced to the size of a postage stamp. For us to get to see the artwork in full format on the scale of vinyl is incredible.”
• The record of Pickin’ Up the Pieces is the “number one, best selling thing” the band sells on tour. “It’s really something that people can feel like they walked away with a piece of the show,” says Fitz. “Vinyl has been making such a comeback, it’s pretty incredible to see it making such a strong statement.”
• Fitz and the band love independent record stores. “This last year it’s been really important for us to do in-stores and support all the indie stores that have been so kind and supportive of us,” Fitz says. “The indie spirit and indie market is so important.”
• They played and had an “incredible experience” at last year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. “We had not been to San Francisco in quite some time, so we were excited to get back up there,” says Fitz. “I love the idea of this free festival. It really fits the spirit of San Francisco.”

CDs
01. James Durbin – Memories of a Beautiful Disaster
02. Black Keys – El Camino
03. Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures
04. Adele – 21
05. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
06. Little Willies – For the Good Times
07. Yelawolf – Radioactive
08. Florence & the Machine – Ceremonials
09. Nickelback – Here & Now
10. Rebelution – Peace of Mind

RECORDS
01. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
02. Beatles – Yesterday & Today
03. Minor Threat – First Two 7 Inches
04. Faith – Subject to Change plus First Demo
05. Dwarves – Fake ID 10
06. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – Soul Time!
07. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
08. Roky Erickson with Okkerville River – True Love Cast Out All Evil
09. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
10. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

DVDs
01. Pepe Le Pew Collection
02. Born in East L.A.
03. Tom Petty – Live
04. Roky Erickson – Night of the Vampire
05. Smiths – Complete Picture
06. Amy Winehouse – I Told You I Was Trouble
07. Pearl Jam – Twenty
08. Woodstock
09. Iron Maiden – Interviews
10. City of God

BLU-RAYs
01. Tom Petty – Live
02. Apollo 18
03. Star Wars Trilogy
04. Life is Beautiful
05. Colombiana
06. Le Mans
07. Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan Revealed
08. Grateful Dead – Grateful Dead Movie
09. Point Blank
10. Grand Prix

VIDEO GAMES
01. Kirby Mass Attack
02. Assassins Creed: Revelations
03. Goldeneye 007: Collection
04. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
05. Red Dead Redemption
06. Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
07. Super Paper Mario
08. Punch Out
09. L.A. Noire
10. Mass Effect 2

We’re not sure what the story is with this modified UB40 cover but it seems that someone named Rich was having a birthday and his clever friend(s) decided to personalize his gift. Any other guesses?