Xmas Comes Early for Vinyl Lovers

This past summer was, yet again, a magical time for independent record stores and vinyl lovers alike. April 17th was national record store day and there were patrons lined up down the sidewalk outside Sonic Boom Records in Ballard (and, most likely, every other location as well as Easy Street, Jive Time, and all of Seattle's finest vinyl retailers). As the doors opened, we all buzzed with excitement hoping to nab that favorite album (or more likely albums) that had caught our eye on the list of special releases specifically launched for that day.

It was obvious that record store day was a success for all involved and more importantly it gave indie record stores a boost in sales and visibility to the general public. They liked the hullabaloo so much they couldn't wait a whole year they're doing it again next Friday! On November 26th or as many shoppers know it, Black Friday, there will be previously unreleased vinyls of many well-known bands only available in independent record stores. A major example is the National's exclusive deal on their new expanded edition of High Violet at participating stores. This re-release includes new studio tracks, b-sides, live recordings and more for $7.99 (MSRP $16.98). We're going to be out early for this Black Friday sale, hopefully everyone else will be at the department stores and we get to keep all the good stuff for ourselves.