April 18 is Record Store Day!

Worried about the demise of independent record stores nationwide? Then make a date to visit your local "mom and pop" shop this Saturday, April 18 — the second annual Record Store Day.

Bands will play. Special releases will be available. And despite the logo above, this isn't only about vinyl; it's about everything that your local record store offers. Including little things like music knowledge and customer service.

For a complete list of participating stores, product exclusives, in-store performances, and related events, go to recordstoreday.com.

Last year, my photographer son Tony and I went to 4 Record Stores in 1 Record Store Day. Visit that link to get a taste of what the second RSD will be like.

Alas, I will be unavoidably otherwise engaged this Saturday, so I won't be able to do another multistore mecca. But I hope to visit at least one shop before the sun goes down.

Don't let the sun go down on your local record store. Spread the word about Saturday, go to the store, buy some stuff, and buy some more stuff. You'll be glad you did.

— Ken Richardson

Boxed Set of the Month: Pearl Jam's "Ten"

Let's see now . . . two CDs, one DVD, four LPs, a buncha other stuff, and a cassette! What, no 8-track? Despite that, the Collector's Edition of Pearl Jam's 1991 debut, Ten (Epic/Legacy), truly goes to Eleven — and as such, it's without question our Boxed Set of the Month for March.

In an increasingly non-physical-product Entertainment Age, this box, subtitled Pearl Jam 1990-1992, is the epitome of how record companies — when they do get physical — are pulling out all the stops for certain projects. I mean, just look at that thing above.

List price for the Collector's Edition: $199.98. Amazon.com is selling it here at $134.99.

Another thing that the box doesn't have, however, is — hello? HELLO?! — a surround mix of the album itself. Sigh.

Some details:

Records 4 Sale

Our fellow bloggers over at Gizmodo uncovered an interesting opportunity. Some guy is selling some records. About 3 million records, along with 300,000 Compact Discs. More than half the records are said to be new. Billed as the World's Greatest Music Collection, it represents a lifelong (60-year) fascination with recorded sound. Now, Paul Mawhinney wants to sell it.

Advancing age and health concerns, and the financial considerations that go with them, are forcing him to part with the summation of his passion. As with any collector who treasures his work, Paul is looking to find a good home for the collection. He's spent over 10 years searching for a buyer, but so far, there haven't been any serious offers. The collection is currently housed in a climate-controlled facility of 16,000 square feet.  The Terms of Sale require . . .

Modern Audiophiles Rejoice: R.E.M. 45 rpm LP

While 45 rpm records aren't exactly news, and even 45 rpm LP records aren't news, most pop and indie fans will be surprised when they see these as new releases. Over at CNET, it's an interesting read. What's the frequency, Kenneth? R.E.M. released their latest studio recording, ACCELERATE on CD, but it's also on two long-playing 45 rpm 180gm records. No longer reserved for the jazz crowd, R.E.M. is embracing this technology. Why 45 rpm? It's the same reasoning that higher tape recorder speeds produce better signal-to-noise ratios and better sound. You can record more information if you take up more space, and since the disc is moving faster, you get more signal per second. (Really. Try to fit your signature on a 1-inch space. Now sign in a 2-inch space. Which is clearer and easier to read?) Of course, this means you're flipping the LP every 8-10 minutes or so, but for better sound quality, who's going to argue? How much will you pay for quality?

4 Record Stores in 1 Record Store Day

That's what my photographer son Tony and I accomplished last Saturday (April 19) on the first annual Record Store Day. As I announced here previously, RSD is an effort (spearheaded by indie-shop organizations) to remind people that, yes, record stores still exist. And on Saturday, some participating shops had specials, and some even had in-store appearances, such as the one you see above: The Parlor Mob at Jack's Music Shoppe. For more on that and the other three stores that Tony and I checked out, click below.

Get Thee to a Shoppery!

What's a "record store"? If you've never been to one, it's time for you to paddle away from your computer keyboard's virtual Amazon and enter the real world of bricks and mortar. And if you're, ahem, an older buyer who hasn't been to one in a while, it's time for you to remember the future. (Band? Nationality? Year? Famous guy who joined them later? Answers below.)

"Magic": Early Vinyl Gets the Grammy?

Hot on the heels of my Bruce Springsteen post last week comes word that his new album with the E Street Band, due October 2 on CD, will appear on LP a full week earlier, on September 25.

Why? Because the cutoff date for albums to be eligible for the 2007 Grammy Awards is September 30. A-ha!

Of course, the very fact that the cutoff date for the year is three months before the END of the year is, ahem, RIDICULOUS! Every year, some important records miss that cutoff — which explains why the Grammys have always been hopelessly out of sync with the rest of the award-givers and Top 10 listers. Really, it's time that the Grammy folks joined the rest of the world and made their cutoff date, if not December 31, then at least November 30. (Very few albums are released during the month of December. It's considered too late for extended holiday shopping.)

Anyway, vinyl junkies, you can now beat the rest of the Boss's fans by 7 days. So get ready. Meanwhile, here's the cover art.

And get ready for the tour, everybody. It will happen. —Ken Richardson

Happy 25th Birthday, CD! Now, Get Lost!

Or so the masses seem to be saying.

The Compact Disc is indeed 25 years old today. On August 17, 1982, the first discs were born in Germany. They contained Richard Strauss's Alpine Symphony, but the first commercially available release would be Billy Joel's 52nd Street. CDs and CD players initially went on sale in Europe and Japan; it wouldn't be until 1983 that the format reached America.

Back then, Pieter Kramer was the head of the optical research group at Philips (which co-invented the format with Sony). That's him in the right-hand photo, which was taken on Monday. He's holding a model of the first CD player.

S&V has already tracked the history of the CD and what lies ahead — see The Future of Recorded Music — so I won't bother rehashing anything here. What I will say is that, personally, I was happy to welcome the CD a quarter-century ago — and happy to say goodbye to the LP and its surface noise, user-unfriendliness, and frequent coloration that was often mistaken for "warmth."

Are we now, in turn, saying goodbye to the CD? Well, from 2001 to 2006, CD sales fell from their historical peak of 712 million to 553 million. That's a drop of 22%. Record companies are scrambling, lousy digital files are proliferating, and the perceived "value" of music is withering away. As Kramer told AP writer Toby Sterling on Monday: "The MP3 and all the little things that the boys and girls have in their pockets can replace the CD, absolutely."

But it has been a good ride for the format. I've enjoyed it immensely — although, truth be told, I've been enjoying my journeys with SACD and DVD-A even more. Whither those formats?

"You never know how long a standard will last," Kramer said. "But the CD was a solid, good standard — and still is." —Ken Richardson

Vinyl Sessions, Round 1, Part 2: Brothers in Ears

When last we left off in vinyl land, Micah Sheveloff and I were quite enthralled with the joys of wax and less so with those of the shiny digital disc. (Bone up here before you read any further.) After hearing things sound anew on The Dark Side of the Moon, we decided to tackle Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms, the massive 1985 album that was widely heralded as the first mainstream CD that truly realized the promise of the digital age.

Instead of going for the more obvious cuts, I chose "Ride Across the River," the track that commences Side 2, for this part of the session. "Ride" (the song the Straits opened their farewell '92 tour with) contains a number of different dynamic elements that I felt would be better served in this head-to-head.