Record Store Day Must-Haves

Creative Loafing music scribes call out their top picks for Records Store Day 2013.

Bardo Pond: Rise Above It All 12-inch (Fire/Cargo)

The band’s first release since 2010’s Yntra mini-LP, Rise Above It All includes the druggy space-rock enthusiasts covers of Funkadelic’s haunting “Maggot Brain” and Pharoah Sanders’ avant-garde jazz classic “The Creator Has a Master Plan.” Bardo Pond, which has previously released covers of psych godheads such as Spacemen 3 and Hawkwind, continues translating spaced-out symphonies using guitar, bass, drums, flute, and plenty of distortion. — Bobby Power

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Munich ‘59 LP (Birdland)

One of the greatest drummers of all time leads Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Walter Davis, and Jymie Merritt through a white-hot set in Bavaria more than a half-century ago. — Chad Radford

Black Lips/Icky Blossoms: Cowboy Nights split 7-inch (Saddle Creek)

This split single finds Black Lips embracing its inner outlaw. An older recording that’s just now getting a proper release, the Black Lips’ track is a cover of the Ed Bruce-penned “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,” made famous in the late ’70s by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. On the B-side, Icky Blossoms offers its take on Siouxsie and the Banshees’ classic “Arabian Nights.” - Bobby Moore

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: “Animal X” 7-inch (Bad Seed Ltd.)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are coming up on the group’s 30th anniversary this year. On the heels of releasing the stellar Push the Sky Away, an album filled with such haunting and oddly cerebral tracks as “We No Who U R” and “Higgs Boson Blues,” this RSD exclusive single promises even more plaintive and bittersweet rumination. Anticipating its arrival is more than a little exciting. — Amelia Shackelford

GZA: Liquid Swords 4xLP chess box (Get On Down)

The masterpiece from Wu Tang’s self-crowned Genius, and one of the greatest hip-hop albums of the ’90s, Liquid Swords is both progressive and primal as it channels a lifetime spent finding solace in the grainy texture of old-school kung fu and mafia films into a haunted and surreal album that is absolutely impenetrable. This time around it comes with full liner notes penned by GZA, and various other bonus material packaged in a 12-inch that functions as a chess set. — CR

Jandek: Jandek 3xLP Vinyl Box Set (Jackpot Records)

Jandek, the notoriously reclusive figurehead of outsider music, gets the reissue treatment for three of his earliest LPs, including Ready for the House (1978), Six and Six (1981), and Chair Beside a Window (1982). With more than 70 releases under his belt via his own Corwood Industries label, this box set encapsulates the first Jandek releases associated with a third party, Portland, Ore.’s Jackpot Records. — BP

Stephen Malkmus & Friends cover Can’s Ege Bamyasi LP (Matador)

Serving as a 40th anniversary celebration of the seminal krautrock LP Ege Bamyasi, Malkmus performed the album entirely in Can’s hometown of Cologne, Germany. Featuring faithful renditions of classic tunes of loosely structured jazz, rock, and minimalism, the Pavement and Jicks frontman nails a surprisingly similar impression of Damo Suzuki’s surreally babbling vocals. — BP

Thurston Moore & Loren Connors: The Only Way to Go Is Straight Through 12-inch (Northern Spy)

Two side-long cuts featuring Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and avant-garde bluesman Loren Connors - two masters of guitar noise, texture, resonance, and drone - playing to each other’s strengths. — CR

Kill Rock Stars: The Compilations: 3x Cassette Box Set (Kill Rock Stars)

Like an uncovered time capsule buried in 1991 by Slim Moon himself, this box collects three ridiculously hard-to-find compilations that outlined the bizarre indie rock seeds of the seminal Pacific Northwest label (and scene). Early material of soon-to-be-huge bands like Nirvana, Courtney Love, and Rancid; mid-level greats like Smog, Unwound, and Kathleen Hanna; and long-forgotten obscuros like Witchy Poo, Calamity Jane, and Nikki McClure are all here. — BP

Various Artists: Give Us Your Money LP (Wuxtry)

Wuxtry’s annual RSD compilation LP, now titled Give Us Your Money, is Athens-heavy, gathering up tracks by established local indie bands such as Casper & the Cookies to young punks like the Rodney Kings. This year’s edition features tracks by some Atlanta artists as well, including noise-pop luminaries Gold-Bears, and the fuzzed-out and soul-tinged skulk of Shepherds. — BM