RSD 2016

Ah, Record Store Day. 99% things you could care less about and 1% things you're dying to have. At least that's how it goes for me every year. It's a little bit torturous when you have an aversion to close-quarters-crowds, so usually I just take my chances after the lines die out in the afternoon. (It's really a terrible acquisition strategy, but I've only had to take to ebay once--and it was worth the extra $10 not to have a panic attack in public!)

This year I was actually planning to head downtown around 6am and wait in line, because one of my all-time favorite albums, Regina Spektor's Soviet Kitsch, was a RSD exclusive, and I couldn't miss out.  So that was my plan, and I think it would have gone perfectly....

...except that Tyler scheduled his oral surgery for 7:30 am. I was pretty bummed, but I couldn't let him know that. Besides, he was in pain, and his well-being is way more important than an album, so I wasn't about to let him reschedule. I figured I'd just wait a couple days until he was coherent, and then go scour the city record shops after work, and then give into eBay if I had no luck.

Tyler's surgery went perfectly (and quickly--it only took about 20 minutes!); not only that, but he woke up completely lucid--no convincing him that the zombie apocalypse was upon us. By the time we got home (after he had helped give me directions at a confusing interchange), he was ready to play video games. He kept urging me to go out and look for the records on my list, so later that afternoon, I did just that.

 My favorite KC record shop, Mills Record Company, had my back--they still had a few copies of the one record I was absolutely dying to have: Regina Spektor's Soviet Kitsch. I snagged one for myself, and one for Bri, a gal I follow on social media who happens to really love Regina...but who also happened to not have access to any record shops for RSD. We Regina fans gotta stick together, man.

Along with Soviet Kitsch,  I also picked up the Chvrches remixes and a record of songs from old Disney shorts (I just love quirky historical stuff like that!).

I splurged a little more and also bought a few older non-RSD albums, including Cults & Camera Obscura. Mills has a great program where you get a free record for every $200 you spend (with double points on RSD this year!), so I also walked out with Daughter's new album, Not to Disappear for zero dollars. Love ya, Mills! It's such a great rainy day album; it will definitely be on a Vinyl Love post soon!

The only thing I had my heart set on that I didn't end up finding was Regina Spektor's other release, the Begin to Hope: 10th Anniversary Edition. I wasn't too worried about it, because it was a first release, meaning it will be available later in the year. I did look it up on eBay, though, and happened to find a copy from a record store being sold at retail price.

So I bought it. RSD success all around.

Do you participate in RSD? Any good finds this year?