Record Store Day 2015 is in the books, and EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE wants to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who went out to the stores on Saturday, April 18th to support and celebrate them.

We hope you found something you loved to take home with you, whether that was something released exclusively for Record Store Day or something fantastic from what they regularly stock.

Yes, every day should be Record Store Day, so we encourage you to make stopping by your favorite record store AND stopping by this website a regular thing - because we'll be telling you about awesome things going on at record stores all year long!

Today we are highlighting, and reviewing, the three (3) Record Store Day 2015 vinyl releases that were kindly sent to us for review from ABKCO Records.

Indeed, Saturday, April 18th marked the RSD that ABKCO Records, one of the world’s leading independent record labels, brought forth three (3) unique releases on vinyl. Inclusive of one that had never been issued in the U.S., one that is making its LP debut, and one that has been unavailable on any format in the U.S. for almost five decades, here's what came out:

DARJEELING LIMITED (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) - Various Artists (on GREEN vinyl) - The 2007 Wes Anderson-directed film starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman is notable for its eclectic soundtrack. Though Indian cinema has come to mean Bollywood for most Americans, Anderson pays tribute to art filmmaker Satyajit Ray by including music from some of his movies, mines the early (1963-1970), lesser-known oeuvre of James Ivory, and features traditional Indian tunes.

This may throw fans of Bollywood's more frantic style at first (even if the upbeat go-go 'Typewriter Tip, Tip, Tip,"' co-sung by superstar Asha Bhosle, gets close), but the music's eerie charm works in insidious ways.

British Invasion pop, an enduring love of Anderson's, is represented by obscure songs from well-known combos (three cuts from the Kinks' 1970 album Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One), as well as obscure songs from obscure performers, like Peter Sarstedt's 1969 nugget 'Where Do You Go To (My Lovely).' Add a fantastic Rolling Stones pop tune from 1965 ('Play With Fire'), a couple of Western classical tracks, a popular French hit by Joe Dassin, and you have an LP that's all over the map - and yet oddly consistent in its eccentricity.

This will be the first time the soundtrack is available on the LP format, and the RSD exclusive version will be on transparent green vinyl in a gatefold jacket featuring stills from the film.

SIDE ONE:
1) 'Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)' – Peter Sarstedt
2) Title Music from Satyajit Ray’s film Jalsaghar – Ustad Vilayat Khan
3) 'This Time Tomorrow' – The Kinks
4) Title Music from Satyajit Ray’s film Teen Kanya – Satyajit Ray
5) Title Music from Merchant-Ivory’s film The Householder – Jyotitindra Moitra
6) 'Ruku’s Room' from Satyajit Ray’s film Joi Baba Felunath – Satyajit Ray
7) 'Charu’s Theme' from Satyajit Ray’s film Charulata – Satyajit Ray
8) Title Music from Merchant-Ivory’s film Bombay Talkie – Shankar/Jaikishan
9) 'Montage' from Nityananda Datta’s film Baksa Badal – Satyajit Ray
10) 'Prayer' – Jodphur Sikh Temple Congregation
11) 'Farewell To Earnest' from Merchant-Ivory’s film The Householder – Jyotitindra Moitra
12) 'The Deserted Ballroom' from Merchant-Ivory’s film Shakespeare Wallah – Satyajit Ray
13) Suite Bergamasque: 3. “Clair de Lune” – Alexis Weissenberg

SIDE TWO:
1) 'Typewriter Tip, Tip, Tip' from Merchant-Ivory’s film Bombay Talkie (sung by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle) – Shankar/Jaikishan
2) 'Memorial' – Narlai Village Troubador
3) 'Strangers' – The Kinks
4) 'Praise Him' – Udaipur Convent School Nuns and Students
5) Symphony No. 7 in A (Op 92) Allegro con brio – Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
6) 'Play With Fire' – The Rolling Stones
7) 'Arrival in Benaras' from Merchant-Ivory’s film The Guru – Ustad Vilayat Khan
8) 'Powerman' – The Kinks
9) 'Les Champs-Élysées' – Joe Dassin

RSD LP Purchase Link

HERMAN’S HERMITS – BLAZE - Considered an under-appreciated psych-pop gem, Blaze was the final studio album to contain all new material from the Herman’s Hermits line-up of: Peter Noone, Keith Hopwood, Derek Leckenby, Karl Green and Barry Whitwam.

Produced by Mickie Most, the album features several originals, plus songs by Donovan, Graham Gouldman and the duo John Carter-Geoff Stephens. Blaze hasn’t been available in the U.S. on any format since its original release in October 1967, but here on RSD 2015, well, come on down, one and all, to own your very own brand new vinyl LP copy.

For my money, and having listened to it back-to-back now twice on my record player, Herman's Hermits' Blaze is the creative high point of all their recordings from the 1960s. It just seems to be a result of some careful thoughts from the group, with regard the lyrics and the way they brought together a cornucopia of engineering and producing talent.

SIDE ONE:
1) 'Museum'
2) 'Upstairs, Downstairs'
3) 'Busy Line'
4) 'Moonshine Man'
5) 'Green Street Green'

SIDE TWO:
1) 'Don’t Go Out Into the Rain (You’re Going to Melt)'
2) 'I Call Out Her Name'
3) 'One Little Packet of Cigarettes'
4) 'Last Bus Home'
5) 'Ace, King, Queen, Jack'

Indeed, it is an excellent album and illustrates a lot of the changes occurring within the group at the time. The lyrics were more introspective than anything they had done prior to that, and according to lead guitarist Derek Leckenby (down through the years), songs like 'Moonshine Man' (Leckenby-Hopwood-Green) and 'I Call Out Her Name"' (Hopwood-Leckenby) were deliberately done with subtle satire in mind.

Digging a wee bit deeper into the truly wonderful Blaze, it also included Donovan's 'Museum,' which reached a modest #39 in the US charts, and Kenny Young's 'Don't Go Out Into The Rain,' which peaked at #18. Graham Gouldman's contribution was 'Upstairs, Downstairs,' while Geoff Stephens of The New Vaudeville Band came up with both 'Green Street Green' and 'One Little Packet Of Cigarettes,' the latter co-written by John Carter of The Ivy League.

RSD LP Purchase Link

THE ANIMALS – THE ANIMALS NO. 2 (EP) (10" Vinyl) - Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, this is the Animals’ third British Extended-Play record. Never before released in the U.S., it is being reissued as a 45 rpm 10" vinyl (the original was a 45 rpm 7" vinyl) for optimum audio fidelity. The Animals No. 2 is part of a series of EP reissues for ABKCO, which earlier released 10" vinyl editions of The Animals (RSD 2014), The Animals Is Here and The Animals Are Back (RSD 2013).

SIDE ONE:
1) 'I’m in Love Again'
2) 'Bury My Body'

SIDE TWO:
1) 'I’m Mad Again'
2) 'She Said Yeah'

Having been never before released in the U.S. this stunning 10" vinyl EP is a dream come true for all us Animals fans! Actually, for all you Animals fans out there, a copy of this EP with a misspelling of the name 'Burdon' as 'Burden' was won by a bidder on eBay for over £340 = @ $500!!

ABKCO have been releasing Best Of albums from The Animals for years, oh so many years now, but they never let the listener down. And here on this 4 track EP songs like the hit single 'I’m in Love Again' encapsulate The Animals recording style perfectly. Eric Burdon's voice is the key to the Animals sound for me. The music is good, but Burdon's young, less-smoky, naively emotional, and relaxed delivery add a beautiful polish to The Animals sound here.

RSD 10" Vinyl Purchase Link

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