From Mike “Bueno” Good
Join Cactus Records & Gifts for the 11th Annual Record Store Day on Saturday, April 21st. Record Store Day is a celebration of all the things we here at Cactus Records love: independent record stores, live in-store music, giving back to customers, supporting local businesses and, of course, some killer records including over 400 limited-edition vinyl, CD, and cassette RSD titles!
Each year, the RSD organization works with labels big and small to curate a selection of exclusive or early releases only available from independent record stores. The Record Store Day Official Release List includes a wide range of artists, covering the diverse taste of record stores and their customers. The general rule here at Cactus is to order as much as possible off the list, but what the the distributors sends, in the end, is out of our hands. But really, this adds to the fun of the thing.
Fans of David Bowie may pick up the RSD exclusive LPs of “Bowie Now” or “Welcome to the Blackout (Live in London 78),” an early release of Bowie’s eponymous first album on red and blue vinyl, well as the full-length demo and live versions of “Let’s Dance” as a 12” vinyl single. A RSD first re-release of Lulu’s “Heaven and Earth and the Stars,” which contains two Bowie covers produced by and featuring guest vocals from the Thin White Duke himself, also comes with a limited edition 7” picture disc featuring the covers, “The Man Who Sold the World” and “Watch That Man.” To really round out your Bowie collection, RSD is offering a colored 7” by the cast of “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” which includes the Bowie-penned “No Control” and 7” picture disc of Motorhead covering the 1977 Bowie track “Heroes.”
But with over 400 titles, the list goes well beyond Bowie. There’s a 7” from Trampled by Turtles, a newgrass band who are performing in Bozeman this summer (tickets are available at Cactus while they last). The single is a cover of Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” and the B-side is the title track from “Life is Good on the Open Road,” Trampled by’s upcoming album set for release on May 4th.
Then there’s Tom Waits’ “Brawlers,” “Bawlers” and “Bastards” trilogy, originally released as part of the “Orphans” collection, but now available separately. Each is a double LP pressed on transparent colored vinyl.
There’s also a RSD first release of Iron Horse’s “Pickin’ on Modest Mouse” from the Pickin’ on series, releases by the Grateful Dead, Wu-Tang, Wilco, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Rage Against the Machine, Sublime, Soundgarden, Miles Davis and The Rolling Stones. Annual RSD compilations from Dogfish Head Brewery and Sun Records are also on the list. AND there’s a porg-shaped 10” picture disc with music from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” by John Williams. Really, porg-shaped! Fans of die-cut shaped vinyl picture discs also have the opportunity to pick up a leaf-shaped disc from Cheech & Chong (only one day late for 420 parties) and a telephone-shaped 7” of the song “Roxanne” by The Police!
Cactus’ doors open on Record Store Day at 9am for the first shot at exclusive releases. In the afternoon, drop in for live music from a variety of artists showing their love for Cactus and indie record stores. Here’s a look at the featured artists and performers.
Serving as a Record Store Day warm-up on Friday, April 20th, Southern California hip-hopper Abstract Rude kicks off the weekend celebration with a performance at 2pm, providing a sneak peek to his performance later that afternoon at the Reggae Rap Rumfest Block Party & Bonfire outside
of Mixers.
Then, on Saturday, April 21st, Record Store Day proper will feature performances by the likes of Chairea, a Bozeman-based Emo-Math Rocker; Russ Chapman, a singer/songwriter whose lyrical wit and stage presence garnered him the 2017 Telluride Emerging Blues Artist award; and Dan Dubuque, a native Montanan multi-instrumentalist most known for playing his lap-style-slide Weissenborn guitar.
Check out Sean Foster, who’ll bring a mix of Emo & Prog-Rock; Kuinka, described by NPR Music as joyous folk pop, who “laces modern folk and Americana with an electronic jolt, waltzing along the grooved edges of dream-pop, synth-pop, and Brooklyn’s mid-aughts guitar-rock revival.” Then catch them later than night at the Filling Station.
Also performing, Bozeman Punk-rockers The Permians; the ska reggae swingin’ sounds of Skavocado; and The Waiting, roadhouse rock n’ rollers who celebrate the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (and can also be seen at the Rialto on May 4th).
The cast of Freak Out! The Musical will also show off their antics at 7pm. The cast of a locally-written, life-size puppet Psychedelic Rock Musical perform songs from their
show (which will be shown at the Rialto on May 19th).
Set times are to be determined. For more information and an up-to-date schedule, find Cactus Records & Gifts on Facebook, Instagram, and www.cactusrecords.net, or visit the store at 29 W Main St. in Bozeman. •
