Plenty of music formats have come and gone over the years – there were 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, minidisks and even those little Fisher Price plastic discs – but the king of all formats is definitely vinyl. Record Store Day aims to celebrate these big black discs, with loads of events throughout the city. Check them out…
Cottonopolis
Record Store Day at Cottonopolis promises to provide you with 15 whole hours of DJ’s and their lovely vinyl discs. You can expect to hear from special guest Nik Weston of Mukatsuku Records playing funk, soul, disco and Afrobeat, as well as Manchester legend Mr Scruff who will be playing a full hour of freshly cut tuneage. It’s free to get in which is good, and the 15 hours begins at 11am. On top of this they will also be holding a mini record fare from 11am til 5pm.
Cottonopolis, 16 Newton St, Manchester M1 2AE
www.cottonopolis-nq.com
The Refuge
There’s a film that’s been made that is set in the cold, cold city of Tromsø in Norway where a bunch of rambunctious teenagers decide to escape their boringly cold existence and create their own music scene. Apparently they go on to inspire a generation of like-minded kids and went on to change dance music and Norway forever. It’s called Northern Disco Lights and there will be a special screening at Refuge on Record Store Day followed by a Q & A with the director and producer, and then an after party upstairs. It starts at 3pm and should be pretty decent if you’re into music, films, snow and that horrible fish that Norwegians bury under the ground for a year and then eat.
Refuge, Oxford Street, Manchester M60 7HA
www.refugemcr.co.uk
Piccadilly Records
If you’ve never been to Piccadilly Records before and your Google Maps is broke then all you need to do is find the longest line in the city and follow it to the end. Expect to be stood outside for a while so bring a hot water bottle, but once you’re in you will find a huge selection of extremely limited RSD vinyl that won’t be available anywhere else. Having a look on their website and they have loads – anything you’re into including some corkers from The Cure, Bowie and Nigeria Soul Power 70. There will also inevitably be DJs spinning music all day too.
Piccadilly Records, 53 Oldham St, Manchester M1 1JR
www.piccadillyrecords.com
Eastern Bloc
If you’re sat in Slice; perhaps enjoying a lovely ice-cold Peroni and a Salami pizza, and you hear a ruckus coming from Eastern Bloc – then read this and you’ll know what’s going on. This legendary record store will be hosting a 19 hour long party – starting at 9am and finishing all the way up to 4am. You can expect to hear a massive list of DJs playing Hip Hop, Reggae, House, Broken Beats, Techno, Electro and a load of other genres which I know nothing about. Oh and they will also similarly have plenty of exclusive RSD vinyl to buy as well.
Eastern Bloc, 5A Stevenson Square, Manchester M1 1DN
www.easternblocrecords.com
Soda
There is a long list of participating record Store Day shops throughout the region, with Soda in Altrincham being one of them. You can expect the usual selection of RSD exclusives as well as live music all day. Opening at 10am, some blokes called DJ Jay T and Patrick Green will be on the decks in preparation for Educated Risk at 2pm who will be exclusively offering their latest single – strangely enough on CD. If you’re at the market with your child and pug then it would be a shame not to pop in.
Stamford Quarter, 28 Stamford New Rd, Altrincham WA14
www.wearesoda.co.uk
Vinyl Revival
As you would expect, NQ stalwart Vinyl Revival is a key Record Store Day participant so you can expect exclusive records and long queues. I’m just looking at the list of LPs they will have on offer for the day and I reckon I would love to have a listen to the Blade Runner Soundtrack one – if someone wants to buy it for me I would greatly appreciate it. I can’t give you any money for it though sorry!
Vinyl Revival, 5 Hilton St, Manchester M4 1LP
www.vinylrevivalmcr.com
Soup Kitchen
For 3 sheets you can head on over to Soup Kitchen on Stevenson Square and enjoy their ‘original’ Record Store All-Dayer, featuring a plethora of DJs and bands including Plank, Ill, Peaness and Kyotoya. If any of these words mean anything to you then you should probably head on down – as I said, its only 3 quid and starts at 4pm.
Soup Kitchen, 31-33 Spear St, Manchester M1 1DF
www.soup-kitchen.co.uk
Common
Some blokes love Record Store Day so much that they’ve decided to make their own beer celebrating it. That’s right – Cloudwater Brewery have made Record Store Session IPA and will be selling it at Common on Saturday 22nd. If I actually liked IPA I’m sure I would be full of enthusiasm for this beer but I don’t – so I’m not. But if you like IPA then get on down to give it a try and you can also take advantage of plenty of live bands from 5pm and 10% off food and drinks when you show your Piccadilly Records RSD receipt.
Common, 39 Edge St, Manchester M4 1HW
www.aplacecalledcommon.co.uk
