Record Store Day Delivers

Its been a couple weeks since the Record Store Day of 2012 left a crater like dent in everyone's wallet, yet it is still the stuff of legends. Here in Brisbane alone we had two record stores with great live performances - Rockinghorse had the amazing Blank Realm killing, whilst Tyms pulled out the big guns with two interstate bands being trumped by the might of No Anchor and Turnpike. I myself came away with some great vinyl, including the below (although I bought two of them over the internet - it still counts though, right?)


Thrill Jockey had a few releases up their sleeve for Record Store Day, but I couldn't go past this split between Hush Arbors and Arbouretum called Aureola. It's a match made in pastoral psych folk heaven, seeing as the two men behind these projects, Keith Wood and Dave Heumann, have been honing their craft in weird and wonderful fashion for some time now. Nothing too extreme happens on this release, which may be a disappointment to some, but the quality of these tracks has us here at Sonic Masala wishing that this is just a toe in the water towards more fervent collaborations.

Hush Arbors - Up Yr Coast
Arbouretum - New Scarab

The fine folks over at Bristol label Howling Owl Records released this doozy of a 4-way split, featuring three bands that we "discovered" over the course of Sonic Masala's existence. Spectres' Sonic Youth embalmed EP was a near-classic as far as first raw efforts go; United Fruit unleashed their hard-hitting self-titled album (yeah, they are Scottish, but whatever); TOWNS has been doing its best to bewitch everyone in the mother country with an ounce of taste; and then there is Fairhorns, a band previously unheard by yours truly (although the inclusion of matt Loveridge from Beak> drew my attention). These are four quality tracks (some are brand new, others it's their first appearance in the waxen form), and perfectly showcases the bands, the label, and the burgeoning talent bubbling under Bristol's surface. (There is more than just a quiet interest in Bristol bands for me these days - but more on that later...) Buy this beautiful 12" here.

Spectres - Bug In Amber



These last two took me by surprise, as I had no idea that Toronto's Pow Wows and Austin psych giants Black Angels were even putting out 7"s for the day! The respective Killing Me and Watch Out Boy I'd Rather Be Lonely discs were sitting on their lonesome - I couldn't believe that they had been overlooked! And they are awesome as expected. See below.

Pow Wows - Killing Me

The Black Angels - Watch Out Boy

There was also a great compilation of unreleased tracks from bands off the Sacred Bones label (the Pop. 1280 song is worth the purchase price alone), but really it's all about the love of vinyl. The love of music full stop. So much good stuff, this barely scratches the surface, but gives you the best indication yet that Record Store Day is one killer event that I'm already counting down to.