Call yourself a vinyl junkie? Then you’ll already know that Record Store Day is back this Saturday. Founded back in 2007 in the early days of the vinyl revival, the annual celebration of indie record stores has since become a key fixture in any crate digger’s calendar, with thousands of stores across every continent except Antarctica participating. London is home to around 50 indie record stores, which means there are all sorts of fabulous RSD events taking place across the city.
Musos will find plenty to do in Soho on Saturday, with beloved record stores like Sister Ray, Reckless Records, Sounds of the Universe, Phonica and Third Man staging in-store performances or offering limited edition vinyl releases to mark the occasion. Our pick of the bunch is dance specialists Phonica, whose previous RSD shindigs have featured high-profile DJs like Skream, Shanti Celeste, Daniel Avery and DJ Boring rocking up to surprise punters with a live set.
South London has a rich tradition of crate digging too, with a couple of cracking events planned for RSD. Head down to Rye Lane institution Peckham Soul to check out a live set from the excellently named post-punk outfit Hot Face and to nab yourself a freebie from local craft brewers Orbit, who will be giving away bottles to the first fifty punters through the door. Or check out Camberwell newbie Dash the Henge, which has teamed up with teaming up with local boozer The Old Dispensary for an eclectic day of live music dubbed South by South East (get it? Like SXSW!)
Record-peddling stalwart Rough Trade also has loads of live gigs planned throughout the day in both its Brick Lane and Notting Hill stores, with the genre-hopping line-up featuring the likes of psychedelic Parisian trio Oracle Sisters, Nashville country singer Caitlin Rose and indie-folk artist dodie.
And that’s just some of the plethora of events scheduled across the city throughout the day. Check out the Record Store Day website here for the full programme of goings-on.