Record Store Day Record Haul (Black Friday '23)

Treasures discovered and white whales acquired at this year's Record Store Day Black Friday shopping extravaganza

I can’t believe that it’s been two weeks since another epic Record Store Day, and this one definitely delivered a hodgepodge of vinyl records from various genres, countries, and stores. I went to two of the BIPOC Record Stores I featured in my previous post and hit up two other shops with epic Black Friday deals, resulting in a splendid cornucopia of needle drops that I want to share with you. If you missed it, no worries, the beautiful thing is that Record Store Day is every day, and you can always support your local record store and small business anytime you want.

If you’re still looking for gift ideas, might I suggest this gift guide?

Without further adieu, my RSD Black Friday Record Haul.

80s pressings

Driptone Records - “Cyber Thursday” Sale

• Morrissey - “Viva Hate”: I passionately dislike Morrissey the person. In recent years, he has said many problematic things and is an all-around pretentious shit. His music, though, really does something to me. I’ve become re-obsessed with The Smiths because of the epic two-part Bandsplain and Moz’s solo songs like “Suedehead “and “Every Day is Like Sunday” which have been in rotation for me since I was a moody teen.

• Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast: I won’t lie, I’ve never really listened to Iron Maiden. I’ve always wanted to get into them because I think it speaks to my metal heart, but I’ve been holding out for OG Pressings at fair prices. I freaking love the artwork on all their albums, so I’m excited to finally give it a spin.

an OG Urban Outfitters pressing?!

Sonido Del Valle - 33% Off Black Friday Sale

• The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth: I’m not the biggest Strokes fan, but I LOVE this album. It was constantly on repeat on my Sony Walkman in high school, especially “Ize of the World” with that killer guitar riff.

• Azymuth - Spectrum: Brazilian jazz-funk fusion band that hits all the right notes and fit inside all the right grooves. It’s definitely nighttime cocktail hour music while the sun sets and the orange clouds disappear.

"Iron Maiden and Hector Lavoe? That's my jam." - Osmar of El Marchante

Estuario’s Pop-Up Sale with El Marchante & Mausoleum Books & Music

• Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine: I’ve been searching for Kraftwerk’s Computer World ever since I went to SXSW in 2015 and I regretfully didn’t buy it at Waterloo Records for $15, so this was a good start to heal that old wound.

• Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden: the Iron Maiden streak continues with this Venezuelan pressing of their debut album.

• Hector Lavoe - Que Sentimiento! Before I even had a chance to say hi to the Estuario guys, I immediately saw this album and grabbed it. Lavoe never disappoints as the reigning king of salsa music.

• Tito Puente y Celia Cruz - Cuba y Puerto Rico: Celia. Tito. One album together. This one was an absolute no-brainer for my deep love of all things Latin music. I can’t wait to spin it during the holidays.

• Maria Creuza - Eu sei que vou te amar: Julian from Estuario was spinning this one at the shop after his cousin had graciously handed me a cup of coquito, a delicious Puerto Rican cream drink with rum. I loved the sultry bossa nova that I was hearing, and I could picture myself playing this at home. The Estuario guys loved that I bought this one on the spot and kindly snapped the below photo to commemorate the day.

Source: Estuario on Instagram

always dig through every box at the shop

On Maritime Records - Black Friday Sale

• Iggy Pop - Blah Blah Blah: $5 cheap heat for an Iggy album produced by David Bowie in the 80s. Hell yeah.

• Iggy Pop - Instinct: $5 cheap heat for an Iggy album not produced by David Bowie in the 80s. Hell yeah.

• The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta: You know the hits “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “De do do do de da da da” but the song that lives ren- free in my head is “When the World is Running You Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”. I dare you not to groove out to that bass.

• Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time: At this point, if you are selling an Iron Maiden OG album, I’ll buy it. Who wants to come over and blast 4x Iron Maiden albums in a row?

• Ray Barretto - Acid: MY WHITE WHALE! I have been searching for an OG mono of this album for YEARS, maybe since I started record collecting. It’s expensive and it’s hard to find. While On Maritime specializes in house music, they have an incredible Latin section where I always find amazing things. This one was turned around with the inner sleeve on the outside, so I didn’t know what it was until I flipped it over. My jaw dropped.

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That’s it for this issue of First Pressing. Thanks for sticking around, and hope to see you at the next one.

Until then, happy spinning :)

Kadrian

P.S. What did you pick up at RSD Black Friday? Share in the comments!