Black Friday is Soul Time!

I hadn't realized it until recently but Black Friday has become a kind of mini Record Store Day. You can see the full list of releases on the Record Store Day webpage.

The main thing that caught my eye was a limited edition Sharon Jones album, Soul Time!, which purports to represent the funkier side of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (does Sharon Jones have a side that isn't funky?). It's an odds and sods type compilation featuring some previously released singles, b-sides, compilation tracks, as well as studio versions of some previously unreleased live favorites. Two of my favorites are a very funky cover of Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Information," and the Christmas song "Ain't No Chimneys In the Projects." "Chimneys" is far more than a Holiday novelty song, as it beautifully recognizes and honors the struggles and sacrifices made by a working, single mother to make Christmas a special for her daughter.

Luckily my local record shop had a few copies on LP (somehow buying Sharon Jones on CD seems wrong). The packaging is beautiful and the record was nicely mastered at Golden Mastering and well pressed to standard weight vinyl. Despite the disparate sources, the whole album holds together nicely. My only complaint? Where is their blazing cover of Kenny Rogers and the First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)"? The small print on the cover calls this "Vol. 1," so hopefully it will show up on Vol. 2. 

Soul Time! is limited to 5,000 copies on LP and 20,000 on CD, so get up, get out, get into it, and get yourself to your local independent record store.

Second Chance At Big Star

If you missed out on scoring a copy of Omnivore's test pressing version of Big Star's Third on Record Store Day, you have a second chance. Omnivore has 500 copies pressed on clear vinyl available for sale exclusively at their web store. The price is steep (in my opinion) at $60, but that is much less than you would pay for a copy on eBay.

I was lucky enough to score a copy in store on Record Store Day, and I don't remember paying that much for the black vinyl version. But I know many were not so lucky, as this was one of the most in-demand Record Store Day items ever (and for good reason). I can practically hear the wailing and teeth gnashing of vinyl hoarders who camped out on Record Store Day about the unfairness of it all. Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just passing along the news to those who might be interested.

This an amazing album and package, and the sound quality is outstanding. It's hard for me to imagine a fan of Big Star not wanting this in their collection.

I also see that Omnivore has a CD and "digital LP" of Richard Thompson's long out-of-print instrumental album Strict Time available for pre-order. I wrote a bit about this album a while ago, and it is gratifying to see it returning to print after having been unavailable for too long.

Daddy, this music is not making me feel happy.

"Daddy, this music is not making me feel happy." That's what my four year old daughter said to me as I played my new prized-possession, a limited edition reproduction test pressing of Big Star's Third, an album I've listened to regularly in one form or another since the age of fifteen. It's a pretty sensible statement. Really, what other reaction could a normal four year old have?

You're a wasted face

You're a sad-eyed lie

You're a holocaust

I doubt my daughter was specifically responding to the lyrics of "Holocaust," but rather to the overall tone of exquisite melancholy that pervades the album. Nobody ever accused Big Star's Third of being "the feel good album of the summer." Alex and Jody couldn't even find a label willing to release it when the original test pressing was cut in 1975.

But why should we enjoy (or even listen to) music that doesn't make us happy? Or is it possible that incredibly sad music can--on some level--make us happy under the right circumstances? I don't have any easy answers to those questions, other than to say that as we move past the age of four, some of us learn to embrace music that covers the full spectrum of human emotion (love, happiness and ecstatic joy, yes, but also anger, fear and even depression). Maybe you get to a certain age and you're happy just to still be able to feel anything at all, and sometimes you need art (musical or otherwise) to provoke an emotional response to remind you that you're alive, that you're a human being.

You're eyes are almost dead
Can't get out of bed
And you can't sleep

Maybe you have to have been there once or twice to find any comfort in lyrics like that.

I didn't try to explain any of this to my daughter. She'll have to find out for herself.

Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" 78 RPM Screw Up?

After playing around with the Beach Boys 10" a bit, I suspect Capitol may have cut this in odd way (shocking, I know).

What I suspect they did was cut the record on the lathe at 45 RPM while playing the tape back slowly. Since Capitol hasn't been cutting 78s for a half century or more, it would not surprise me if their lathe can't spin at 78 RPM (I'm trying to find out whether that is the case or not). But no problem right? Play the tape (or digital file) back at around 57.7% speed, and spin the lathe at 45 RPM and everything should work, right? Not exactly. The problem comes when introducing the RIAA compensation curve, and if that is applied as the tape runs at the slower speed, it also shifts the RIAA crossover points. If that is the case, and the RIAA curve is off, the frequency response will be a bit off when actually played at 78 RPM.

How do I know this you ask? Well, I don't, it's a somewhat educated guess. I recorded my copy while playing at 45. Then I sped it up the proper amount using the method outlined in the post below. But when I used the EQ program I suggested (using the 45 > 78 setting) the frequency response sounded off (too bass heavy and muffled in the treble). But if I didn't apply the EQ change, it sounded right. When I recorded at 33.3 and applied the appropriate speed changes and EQ correction in Equalizer, the resulting file sounded even more off than when I recorded at 45 and applied the changes. I've used Equalizer to adjust EQ under similar circumstances dozens of times in the past, and this is the first time I've found the results unsatisfactory.

It was also interesting to me that on the EQ corrected copy I could see the brickwall frequency cut off appears to have been mostly shifted down to around 17 kHz, whereas without the correction I see the brickwall cutoff around 22 kHz (which is right were I would expect it to be if they used a 44.1 kHz digital source, or had a 44.1 digital delay head in their cutting set up). Also when I inspected the re-EQ'd file I recorded at 33.3 RPM, the brickwall filter appeared to have mostly been shifted down even further than that (to around 15 kHz).

So my revised advise--in this case only--is to skip the EQ step I outlined below for best sound quality. Just record at 45, speed it up, and don't worry about correcting the EQ. It will sound fine that way. The difference between the two is not so huge anyway, but the uncorrected version sounded more right to my ears. Or you can do it both ways (it's a free program and works quickly) and decide which way it sounds best for yourself.

I just want to emphasize that in other cases, I have found the Equalizer program to work perfectly for transcribing vintage 78s. Brian Davies, the author of the program knows 78s inside out and backward in his sleep. I highly recommend Equalizer in general both for transcribing vintage 78s at 45 RPM, or for recording 45 RPM singles at 33.3 (which is sometimes a useful technique if you have a noisy 45, but that's another story). And as I have noted in the past, Click Repair (also by Davies), is the single best vinyl restoration program I have used, and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to digitize any kind of record (78s, 45s, LPs, flexi-discs, whatever...).

All of this is assuming Capitol used the RIAA curve to cut the record, and since the release doesn't indicate any other curve was utilized (Decca, Columbia, Westrex, etc.), I think it is reasonable to assume they used RIAA, although I could be wrong about that.

I have a few inquiries out, and I'll see what I can find out what actually happened. Although, honestly, I think I've wasted more than enough time on this already.

**Update: I revised this post for the sake of clarity. The original post was written quite quickly, and may not have been as clear as I hoped it would be.

How To Listen To Your Beach Boys 78 RPM Record Even If Your Turntable Won't Spin That Fast

Just got back from Record Store Day with your Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" 78 RPM double 10" EP, but don't have a turntable that spins at 78 RPM? Really want to hear those previously unreleased alternate versions on the second disc?

 

You are probably not alone.

So, what's to be done? You could follow the advise of commenter Mark N. and just play it at 45 RPM and pretend it's Vanilla Fudge covering the Beach Boys. That might be fun for a spin or two, but once the quaaludes wear off it might not be so amusing anymore.

There is another solution. You could record the tracks to your computer and then once they've been digitized, manipulate them digitally so that they play back properly. However, there are couple tricks to doing this that are necessary in order for them to sound right.

First, you'll need to record the tracks. If you've never digitized a record before, I recommend doing a little research on best practices. If you have a CD recorder, you could just record to that, then load the tracks on your computer. There are numerous programs you can use to make recordings directly to your computer, including a free one called Audacity.

For simplicity's sake, I recommend recording at 45 RPM and setting the digital sampling rate to 44.1 kHz (this is the standard for CDs, so if you went the CD-R route you're good). Once you have made this recording, if you use any de-clicking software, I recommend running it through the de-clicker at the slower speed.

The next step will be to change the sampling rate without resampling. This will change the speed at which your computer plays back the recording. Assuming you recorded at 44,100 Hz, you'll want to change the sampling rate to 76,440 Hz. (If you recorded at some other sampling rate, simply multiply the original sampling rate by 1.733333...) Again, it is important that you do not resample when you change the sampling rate. Most audio programs will offer the ability to change the sampling rate without resampling, but you'll need to check your owner's manual for how to do this.

Once you have done this, you should have a recording that sounds correct in terms of speed, but not quite right in the frequency domain. If you want to get things right, you'll need to change the equalization because you originally applied the RIAA equalization at 45 RPM, and changing the speed also shifted the EQ. To make the proper EQ change, I recommend you download the free program, Equalizer.


Once you open Equalizer, use the following settings: Under Filters "Original" select "RIAA + 45>78," under "New" select "RIAA." I would also recommend in the box that says "Mono Mix" that you check the box that says "Merge." Make sure "Lo-cut" and "Hi-cut" are off (they should be by default). Under "Main controls" Click "Open" and select the file you recorded. A box will come up asking you for a name for you new file. You can call it whatever you want, but by default Equalizer adds "-dr" to the name of your original file. Select "Save." Under Main controls select "Start."
 
Once the program is finished running (it shouldn't take long), you will have a new file that is both speed and EQ correct. You can then make any further changes you want (normalization, etc.) in your normal audio editing software. Enjoy!

Or you could just let someone else do the work and wait for the result to show up somewhere on the web. But what is the fun in that?

Merry Record Store Day!

**Update: I offered some bad advice, but it wasn't my fault, it has to do with the screwy way (I suspect) that Capitol cut this. See my updated post for details.

Other Providence Area Record Stores

I've written about three first class record stores (real record stores) in the Providence, Rhode Island area. As I said before, I feel very lucky to live in an area that can still support the existence of record stores. But these are not the only places to buy records in the area, and I wanted to single out a few other shops. All three of them will be participating in Record Store Day.

Armageddon Shop - Providence, RI
Shockingly, I have never even set foot in this store, a situation I really should remedy. Armageddon's focus is on punk/metal/noise/hardcore/indie, but they carry a variety of used records. (Maybe I'm afraid a trip to Armageddon will make me feel even older than I already do.) I've been told it's quite a good shop, and the fact that I've never been there is only a testament to how spoiled I am by the other great record stores in the area.

The Time Capsule - Cranston, RI & Seekonk, MA
I didn't even know this place existed until recently, despite the fact that their Seekonk, MA location is just a stones throw or two from my house. I only discovered their existence when I saw them listed as a participating Record Store Day retailer. I suspect the Cranston location is where the real vinyl action is, but the Seekonk shop has a lot of used records and CDs, as well as comic books, video games and various collectables. (I couldn't decide between the Fonzie and Ralph Malph dolls that were still in their original packaging, then I started thinking about the "Potsie" doll and how dreamy Anson Williams is, and then I realized I was better off sticking to looking at the records.)

I ended up searching through a lot of Asia and R.E.O. Speedwagon records, but found a copy of The Rain Parade's Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (yeah, I already owned a copy on CD, but I wanted the LP too), a very clean copy of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night ("the audience fell at his feet like plums!"), and an Ella Fitzgerald CD. Most LPs are priced at $3 each. For her patience, my daughter got a beanie baby kitty cat, and if it had been a little cheaper, my son would have scored a Gigan action figure. Fun for the whole family!

What Cheer! Antiques (and some records) - Providence, RI
What Cheer is an antique store, but they have records and a few CDs in their back room. Their selection is very interesting and varied. As you might expect from a funky antiques shop, a lot of their records seem to have high kitsch value, but there is lots of good music there as well (nothing against the musical value of kitsch, mind you). In my opinion their records are fairly overpriced, but on Record Store Day (and Sunday 4/17) all LPs will be 50% off, and their "bargain bin" will be 10 for $1. It's not uncommon for them to have 50% off sales at other times too (you can decide what that means about their everyday prices for yourself).

Price complaints aside, What Cheer! is an important Providence institution and owners Chris and Jennifer Daltry are solid citizens. They are both big supporters of (and participants in) the local Providence music and art scene. They also run the semi-annual Providence/Somerville Rock & Roll Yard Sale.

I still haven't even covered everything in the area, but if you're a vinyl or music hound in the Northeast, a trip to the Providence area could be well worth your time. Prices here are not as high as the New York or Boston markets, but the selection is still quite good.

In Your Ear - Warren, Rhode Island

In Your Ear Records - 462 Main Street, Warren, RI

In Your Ear Records is my favorite record store in the Providence area. Located in scenic Warren, Rhode Island (just a few miles from my house), In Your Ear houses a fantastic collection of records, 45s, CDs, DVDs, 8-Tracks, reel-to-reel tapes, as well as vintage turntables and stereo equipment. The store is bright and clean, and both the owner and his employees are friendly folks.

What I like best about In Your Ear is that they are constantly getting in new stock. Constantly. It pays to check in often (which I do). But what this constant influx of records, CDs, 8-tracks (and God knows what else) means is that it is almost impossible for the store to be kept to the same level of organization as found at Round Again. Yes, records are alphabetized by genre on the racks, but you'll find a lot of the really good stuff placed randomly in boxes on the floor. Strangely, I am okay with that. I think I actually even like it. For me it's fun to spot a new stack of records hiding in a corner of the store then checking to see what's in it. More often than not there will be something cool in there, and chances are it's in good shape and extremely reasonably priced.

For nearly 20 years In Your Ear was a hot destination on Thayer Street in Providence (the main commercial area around Brown University). But then Thayer Street rents skyrocketed right around the time college students discovered a way to get music without paying for it, and what once was a prime location for a record store no longer made sense. So the store relocated to the mean streets of Barrington, Rhode Island (with a brief name change), and later moved to it's current location on Main Street in Warren.

I've picked up a lot of great records from In Your Ear over the years; stuff like a white label promo of Richard Lloyd's Alchemy (I just spotted a non-white label copy in one of the boxes on the floor for cheap if you're looking for one), an original pressing of Big Star's #1 Record, a minty fresh original U.S. pressing of Exile On Main St. with all the postcards intact, a near perfect six-eye stereo copy of Sketches Of Spain, and many other terrific records. They also stock new CDs and LPs and will special order anything you want. If you are looking for something specific, it pays to ask because they also have locations in Cambridge and Boston and might have it there.

In Your Ear is worth a special trip to Warren. While you're there you can grab a refreshing Del's Frozen Lemonade, a coffee at The Coffee Depot, or an award winning pizza across the street from Federal Hill Pizza. (I recommend skipping their next door neighbor Warren House of Pizza unless you enjoy being yelled at over a greasy, bland slice of pizza).

In Your Ear is definitely participating in Record Store Day. In addition to having limited edition RSD exclusives, all new CDs and vinyl will be 10% off, used vinyl will be 25% percent off, and used CDs will be buy one get one free. Weather permitting they will also be having a sidewalk sale featuring items from the mysterious In Your Ear "vault."

Round Again Records - Providence, Rhode Island

Round Again Records - 278 Wickenden St. Providence, RI

 If Analog Underground is the new kid on the block on the Providence record store scene, Round Again Records is almost defiantly old-school. Round Again has no Facebook page. Round Again barely has a webpage. It's been in the exact same location since 1979.

All of which might give you the wrong idea. It may be old-school, but Round Again is not some musty-smelling hole in the wall. It's extremely clean and everything is exceptionally well-organized (alphabetized by genre). There aren't piles of records sitting on the floor, and nothing makes it to the racks that is in questionable condition. I hardly bother to inspect records before buying them at Round Again because they are always in excellent condition and very clean (a Nitty Gritty record vacuum sits prominently on the counter).

Steve, the owner (and only person I've ever seen working there), clearly knows his records. He knows what's an original pressing and what's not. He knows whether a mono copy of an Elvis Presley soundtrack is more sought after than the stereo version. He knows if there's an alternative cover that increases the value of a record. From the limited interactions I've had with him, it's clear to me that Steve works really hard at what he does, and that's why Round Again has survived in the same location for over thirty years while other shops have come and gone. And if he isn't ready for the brave new world of social media, he is one of the most trusted sellers of LPs on eBay, and deservedly so.

Selection is excellent and varied. Round Again is a great spot to hit if you are looking for 50s and 60s Jazz Records, but there is also a robust selection of Rock, Pop, Folk, R&B, Country, Classical, and Soundtrack LPs. But don't go in looking for the latest indie buzz band's limited-edition flexi disc, cause it's not there. Prices are fair. (During one of my recent trips, I scored a still sealed original pressing of NRBQ's first album for only $10.) Wall items tend to be pricey, but I have no doubt Steve could sell them on eBay for at least what he asks for them in store. Round Again also carries some nicely refurbished turntables and other vintage stereo equipment, and like the records he sells, all of the equipment is clean and appears to be in excellent condition.

If you live anywhere near Providence and love records Round Again is well worth the trip. And when you're done shopping for records you can go get amped up on caffeine across the street at the Coffee Exchange. I seriously doubt Round Again is doing anything to celebrate Record Store Day, Steve strikes me as more like a Festivus kind of guy.

Analog Underground - Providence, Rhode Island

Analog Underground - 504 Broadway, Providence, RI

I missed this when it came out, but there was a nice story in the Providence Phoenix about Analog Underground, a relatively new record store on Broadway in Providence, RI.

I've met owner Dave Lifrieri a few times over the years, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. And it's great to see that that a younger person with some vision can still establish a new business that is built primarily around selling vinyl records in the year 2011. Dave has been particularly savvy in utilizing Facebook to communicate with his customers, and using the world of digital media to create a feeling of community. 

Dave is also smart, in my opinion, to focus not only on selling the records themselves, but also helping his customers to set up relatively high quality vinyl playback systems. Too many record stores miss out on the opportunity to educate their customers about the pleasures of high-quality vinyl playback. Instead of just having a few cheap ION USB turntables collecting dust in a corner of the store, Dave has set up a serious "listening den" in the back of the his store, and is both knowledgeable and outgoing enough to educate those who want to know what all the fuss over vinyl records is about.

Too often you have "music guys" on the one hand, and "gear heads" on the other. Often the music guys are only too happy to play their music on crummy equipment, and don't seem to care a bit about sound quality (more power to 'em). On the other hand the gear heads who tend to run hi-fi shops often seem happy to play immaculately recorded, but musically sterile, "demo" recordings over and over to demonstrate their equipment's remarkable imaging abilities. (I apologize for these gross generalizations, but I think you know what I mean here.) Dave seems like a good balance between the two. There is no doubt he is a serious music lover for whom music will always come first, but he also has a good understanding of how the right equipment can enhance the listening experience.


Analog Underground is a small shop, but the selection is well-chosen. You'll find lots of 70s and 80s Punk and New Wave vinyl for reasonable prices (last time I was there I picked up a copy of the Buzzcocks' Parts 1-3 EP, and was really tempted by several original 10" copies of The Clash's Black Market Clash), as well as a great selection of reasonably priced jazz records, and smattering of new releases and reissues. There is also a small selection of used CDs, although as the name of the shop implies, the focus is very much on vinyl.


I'm very grateful to live in an area that has a healthy selection of record stores, and it is nice to see a new store establish itself. I don't think Analog Underground is officially participating in Record Store Day, but Iif you are a music lover who lives in the greater Providence area (or are just visiting) this new shop is certainly a destination worth checking out.

Update: Analog Underground is participating in Record Store Day. They will have some of the RSD exclusives, plus their $3 LPs (already a bargain) will be marked down to $1. They will also have live in store performances from Village of Spaces, Mona Nash and others starting at 3:00 PM.

Other Record Store Day 2011 Releases

Generally, I try to keep things positive here, so in that spirit I wanted to point out a few of the Record Store Day 2011 releases that do look cool to me, and that I will pick up if I can.

The one I really want is the Television Live At The Old Waldorf 2 LP set. This was originally released as a 5,000 copy limited edition CD by Rhino Handmade several years ago. It promptly sold out, and I really regret missing the boat on it the first time. It is available as a download from iTunes (and probably other places), so the music is available. But for me, music on a hard drive never totally cuts it, and damn it, I want this on LP. Am I a hypocrite for wanting this on vinyl (even though I have the music in some form already) while criticizing the Beach Boys 78 RPM set? Possibly. But, want it I do. (In the words of the great philosopher David St. Hubbins: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.") Live At The Old Waldorf is limited to 3,000 copies, so hopefully my local record store gets a copy or two.

Another interesting looking release is Big Star's Third (Test Pressing Edition). For those who don't know the history of this album, it originally appeared as a very limited edition test pressing that was never released commercially. Several years later the album was issued by PVC on LP with a different track listing and song order, but many prefer the way the album was originally intended to be sequenced. If I can find this, I'll buy a copy, but it's limited to a pressing of 1,000. I expect this one to be difficult to obtain and quickly fetch big collector dollars on eBay. Such is life.

Another promising release is a new single by The Fleet Foxes, "Helplessness Blues" b/w "Grown Ocean," I have no idea if either of these songs will show up on their upcoming album release, but I am very much looking forward to hearing new music from this band.

Finally, there is Rhino's "audiophile" reissue of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, pressed as both a 2 LP 45 RPM set and a standard 33.3 RPM set. I think this is only getting grouped in with Record Store Day releases by circumstance because it was supposed to have been released years ago, but got held up for one reason or another. The LP was cut by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray (who cut the best sounding version of Joni Mitchell's Blue I have ever heard, along with many other fantastic sounding LPs).

Much as I respect Hoffman and Gray's work, I'm a little nervous about hearing this album remastered, because I love how the original LP sounds so much already. When I drop the needle in the groove of the original album a million memories and sensations from 1977 wash over me. It's like my own personal 33.3 RPM time machine. The sound of this one really defined its era, for better or for worse (I love it). Still, I'm looking forward to hearing this album presented in a different way (I imagine with no compression and limited EQ). I don't doubt the 45 RPM version will sound spectacular, but I really don't care for 45 RPM sets (the sides are too short), and have an order in for the 33.3 version instead. The 33.3 version is not a limited pressing, so it should be no problem to get a copy. The 45 RPM set is limited, so if you want it, act fast.

There are some other releases that look interesting, but that I will probably pass on.

It's good to see The Flaming Lips first 5 Warner LPs get reissued on premium vinyl (especially given what some of the original LPs go for on eBay), but I'm not made of money, and will happily settle for the CDs I already own.

Shuggie Otis's Inspiration Information: World Psychedelic Classics 2 is getting a limited 2 LP repressing by Luaka Bop. I already own a copy of that, and can't recommend it highly enough. The 2 LP set I own sounds much better than the CD to my ears (less compressed, less harsh EQ, etc.). And, of course, the music on this release is absolutely essential; funky, soulful, weird, inventive, passionate, it is absolutely one of my all time favorites, and the Luaka Bop set also adds the best tracks from the nearly as good Freedom Flight. Grab one if you can!

It also looks like the dB's have a new single coming out called "Picture Sleeve" as well, hopefully that means there will be more new music from this legendary combo around the bend.

Record Store Day 2011

Like many things that started out as good ideas, Record Store Day has (in my humble opinion) gotten extremely lame less cool as it has become increasingly institutionalized. Case in point; one of the big, exciting, must-have Record Store Day releases this year is a 78 RPM version of The Beach Boy's "Good Vibrations"/"Heroes And Villains."

What started out as a well-intentioned celebration of an important but struggling institution has devolved into little more than an orgy of collector fetishism. I mean seriously, what is the point of a 78 RPM version of "Good Vibrations" other than to have a 78 RPM version of "Good Vibrations" that you can show to your friends and say "Look! I have a 78 RPM version of 'Good Vibrations'! It plays at 78 RPM!" And if your friends are really nice people they will pretend you have a really cool, unique and important cultural artifact, but trust me they don't really care because all you have is a pointless commodity fetish.

I still support Record Store Day in concept because real record stores are a dying breed, and I love record stores. But the concept and the reality seem more and more at odds with each passing year. When I recently stopped into my local, genuinely independent, record store (In Your Ear in Warren Rhode Island), the owner was unsure how many releases he would actually be able to get because the regional, medium-sized chain, Newbury Comics (which isn't even really a record store, but a lifestyle and accessories shop that happens to sell some records) gets priority from the people who run Record Store Day.

I'm eager to know if any of my readers actually really want the 78 RPM "Good Vibrations" (and not just because you think you might be able to sell it at a profit on eBay--see poll at right). Is a 78 RPM version of "Good Vibrations" the thing that will finally fill the hole in your life that you were always vaguely aware of, but never could fully articulate until you learned that Capitol records would be producing a special, limited-edition, 78 RPM edition of "Good Vibrations" exclusively for Record Store Day 2011, or will it just be another piece of junk that sits in your closet?

Oh yeah...the fourth annual Record Store Day will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Support your local independent record store!