Record Store Day 2024 [April 20th] is upcoming and EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE wants to encourage you all to come out and help all your local record shops celebrate the day by purchasing as as many wonderful new vinyl releases as possible!

We hope you find something you love to take home with you, whether that be something released exclusively for Record Store Day or something fantastic from what the store nearest you regularly stock.

Yes, every day should be Record Store Day, we agree, 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!

And so, as our dear friends at Sony Legacy Recordings have once more kindly sent us quite a few of their RSD 2024 [April 20th] releases for review, as always, we shall review and highlight them all.

Nas - Illmatic: Remixes & Rarities (LP – First Time on Vinyl): Marking the 30th anniversary of Nas’s Illmatic, we present the Remixes and Rarities 1LP Vinyl, a limited edition collector’s item that pays homage to one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time.

Unearthed from the archives, this vinyl features carefully selected remixes and rare tracks that add a new dimension to the iconic Illmatic experience. Immerse yourself in the evolution of Nas’ artistry with this exclusive release, housed in a specially designed package that captures the essence of the album’s enduring legacy.

Commemorate three decades of Hip-Hop excellence with this must-have addition to your vinyl collection.

Side A: 40 Side North:
1. I’m A Villain
2. The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show (WKCR, Oct. 28, 1993 feat. Nas, 6’9”, Jungle & Grand Wizard)
3. Halftime (Butcher Remix)
4. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (Remix)
5. One Love ( LG Main Mix)

Side B:
1. Life’s A Bitch (Arsenal Mix)
2. One Love (One L Main Mix)
3. The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)
4. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (The Stink Mix)
5. It Ain’t Hard To Tell (The Laidback Mix)

Well, and simply put, Illmatic is, and not just to my mind, but to the music buying general public, at large, the greatest hip-hop album ever made and not only that, but by the greatest rapper ever born!

Sure people will have their own opinions, but for the most part, this statement has circled the globe ever since the release of the album.

I mean, all the beats are class, with production from Premier, Pete Rock, Q Tip, etc. and Nas rips through every single one of them with a passion and energy not seen from him over a whole album since.

Some people may have been put off by the original short track listing, being only 10 tracks (one of which is an intro) long, although the album, as a whole, was only about 40 minutes long, and yet contained 40 unforgettable minutes that you will want to hear over and over again, but this RSD release brings for some specially selected remixes and rarities that will keep all fans very happy after all these years!

Legacy Recordings’ Bare Jr. - Boo-Tay (2LP – First Time on Vinyl): Boo-Tay is the first full album featuring the son of country music great Bobby Bare and was originally released in September of 1998 on the now defunct alt/punk/metal label Immortal Records.

Unleashing a southern fried cowpunk garage rock sound with electric dulcimer, Bare Jr. is “the best y’alternative band you never heard of” according to bassist Dean Tomasek. The band consisted of Bobby Bare, Jr. on lead vocals and guitar, Tomasek on bass, Keith Brogdon on drums, Tracy Hackney on dulcimer and harmonica, along with Nashville independent record stores’ own Michael “Grimey” Grimes on lead guitar.

First time available on vinyl, this 2-LP includes the original Peter Collins produced album along with the promotional Live “Custom Gauge Electric EP,” and early demos as Bobby Joe and the Metros.

Side A:
1. Boo-Tay
2. Nothin’ Better To Do
3. The Most
4. You Blew Me Off
5. Tobacco Spit
6. Faker

Side B:
1. Patty McBride
2. Give Nothing Away
3. Soggy Daisy
4. Love-Less
5. I Hate Myself
6. Naked Albino

Side C:
1. I Wanna Live
2. Why Won’t You Love Me
3. Phone Call / Pearl
4. Why Won’t You Love Me [Live]
5. You Blew Me Off [Live]

Side D:
1. The Most [Live]
2. Guitar Playin’ Woman
3. You Blew Me Off [Live]
4. Nothin’ Better To Do [Live]
5. Awe Hon (The Relationship Song)
6. Mike Tyson

Well, if you’ve heard of Wilco along with the rest of the alternative country world, and you think Bare Jr. (the son of former country star Bobby Bare) is just a coat tail hanger on, you couldn’t be any more wrong.

For he does an excellent job of giving us a new type of country rock and so if you enjoy the alt country scene or not, you will certainly appreciate what this band is trying to do.

The music they produce is similar, and yet so different and in a way it is really rather shocking at first. Songs like Nothin’ Better To Do and The Most start of the album off with a bang. And that bang does not fade anywhere in the album’s mist of musical greatness, trust me.

And that kinda/sorta mix between Jimmy Eat World and Garth Brooks continues onward within songs like The Most, and skew a little differently, yet not badly, of course, all due to to the fact that anyone who has ever been in love (or out of it) can relate to his words.

I mean, we have all been in love and we have all been hated, Bare Jr. just gives us a new way to look at those situations. Another great song is also the track that first got me into Bare Jr. You Blew Me Off. In and unto itself, it actually did receive a little radio play, and a mix of the song was featured in the movie Cruel Intentions.

Some may actually say that it might be the best song off Boo-Tay, but other songs do come close, in my own humble opinion, such as Give Nothing Away, I Hate Myself, an impressively slow Soggy Daisy, or the track infamously titled Pearl.

G. Love & Special Sauce - G. Love & Special Sauce (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (2LP Light Blue Custom Mix – First Time on Vinyl as Deluxe Package): G. Love & Special Sauce’s legendary self-titled debut album has been remastered and newly expanded for its 30th anniversary. Along with the classic 14 song original album, this expanded edition boasts a fourth side of rare versions and live tracks on vinyl for the first time. Available exclusively on light blue vinyl.

Side A:
1. The Things That I Used To Do
2. Blues Music
3. Garbage Man
4. Eyes Have Miles

Side B:
1. Baby’s Got Sauce
2. Rhyme for the Summertime
3. Cold Beverage
4. Fatman
5. This Ain’t Living

Side C:
1. Walk To Slide
2. Shooting Hoops
3. Some Peoples Like That
4. Town To Town
5. I Love You

Side D:
1. The Things That I Used To Do (Live)
2. Blues Music (Fast Version)
3. Lila (Original Version)
4. Just Like Trains (Live)

Despite emerging in the same year that Beck released his Mellow Gold debut, G Love is still a relative unknown in the UK. It’s a shame, because the Philadelphian’s take on slacker hip-hop deserves a wider audience, not just for the deep soul, funk and even country grooves that he entices the listener to embrace, but for the inventiveness of his format (especially back then, of course).

Steeped in blues licks, the album was recorded practically live with just an acoustic trio of upright bass, piano and drums accompanying G Love’s guitar. Admittedly the vocals, which veer too much toward a lounge singer trying to do a lazy rap, are an acquired taste, but an incredible 30 years on, this album still sounds fresh.

Mind you, and as much as the end of the day all it really lacked was a killer track, it does have a lot of feel good and chill music, which appeals to a broad market of listeners around the world. Together with a unique funky blues recorded in a garage sound to it also, stand out tracks include Garbage Man, Rhyme for the Summertime, Baby’s Got Sauce and Walk To Slide.

Spawn The Album - Various (2LP Red Smoke): Throughout the 90’s, crossover and blending of styles and artists were ever present, specifically in the genres of hip-hop and rock. Taking that a step further, mixing techno with nü-metal, breakbeat with rap, and DnB with hard rock, was 1997’s soundtrack to the film Spawn.

To match the dystopian wasteland aesthetics, this double LP is pressed on smokey red vinyl, and features the likes of Metallica, The Prodigy, Tom Morello, Cypress Hill, Moby & Slayer, just to name a few. Take the plunge deep into hell with Spawn and his foes for this sonic beatdown of a soundtrack!

Side A:
1. Filter & The Crystal Method – (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do
2. Marilyn Manson & Sneaker Pimps – Long Hard Road Out Of Hell
3. Orbital & Kirk Hammett – Satan

Side B:
1. Korn & The Dust Brothers – Kick The P.A.
2. Butthole Surfers & Moby – Tiny Rubberband
3. Metallica & DJ Spooky – For Whom The Bell Tolls (The Irony Of It All)
4. Stabbing Westward & Wink – Torn Apart

Side C:
1. Mansun & 808 State – Skin Up Pin Up
2. Prodigy & Tom Morello – One Man Army
3. Silverchair & Vitro – Spawn

Side D:
1. Henry Rollins & Goldie – T-4 Strain
2. Incubus & D.J. Greyboy – Familiar
3. Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot – No Remorse (I Wanna Die)
4. Soul Coughing & Roni Size – A Plane Scraped Its Belly On A Sooty Yellow Moon

Going in knowing that this is a selection of tracks that range between hard rock (a genre that I personally appreciate) and nu-metal (which is not so much my go-to), but man, the collaboration between Orbital and Kirk Hammett of Metallica is bloody stellar!

Featuring the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Incubus, Korn, Moby & Soul Coughing, it’s the latter who has always been sample heavy, and Tom Morello is essentially a hip-hop DJ who uses a guitar instead of turntables.

There are quite a few tracks that are worthy of being singles - (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, No Remorse (I Wanna Die) - but like most compilation albums, not everything is a keeper.

Korn and The Dust Brothers turn in a song that feels a bit too minimalist, and the contribution of Henry Rollins and Goldie is almost too experimental to register on the strength charts, but that said, dark themes abound as well as action-based grooves and lyrics.

Wilco - The Whole Love Expanded (3LP Box Set – First Time on Vinyl as Deluxe Package): Wilco’s legendary 2011 album now on three LP’s. Expanded to include all related single, EP and bonus tracks – plus a selection from The Loft’s archive of live in-studio performances and previously unreleased alternate mixes and demos. Includes Wilco classics “Art of Almost,” “Dawned on Me,” “Sunloathe” and many others.

Side A:
1. Art Of Almost
2. I Might
3. Sunloathe
4. Dawned On Me

Side B:
1. Black Moon
2. Born Alone
3. Open Mind
4. Capitol City
5. Standing

Side C:
1. Rising Red Lung
2. Whole Love
3. One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)

Side D:
1. I Love My Label
2. Speak Into The Rose
3. Message From Mid-Bar
4. Sometimes It Happens

Side E: Bonus Tracks
1. Black Moon (iTunes Session)
2. Born Alone (SiriusXM Session)
3. Dawned On Me (SiriusXM Session)
4. I Might (SiriusXM Session)
5. Cruel To Be Kind (feat. Nick Lowe)

Side F: Bonus Tracks
1. Art Of Almost (Demo)
2. Rising Red Lung (Early Rough)
3. Sunloathe (Early Rough)
4. Whole Love (iTunes Session)

Since 1994 Wilco have proved themselves one of the most reliable and enjoyable bands to occupy the upper tier of indie-rock hierarchy, though recent LPs Sky Blue Sky (2007) and Wilco (The Album) (2009) might have dented their reputation somewhat as one of the most exciting. So all we fans were extraordinarily pleased to discover that the band seemed both relaxed and reinvigorated on The Whole Love, which was equally at home spinning into stormy electric guitar crescendos as it was offering up deft acoustic numbers.

The current line-up had been in place since 2004 at that point, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone notably receiving a production credit here, while renowned guitarist Nels Cline’s contribution feels more vital to proceedings than ever before.

Art of Almost is an exciting opener with a ferocious speed guitar work out at the end. I Might and Dawned On Me are up tempo alternative pop songs that Tweedy writes so well. The moody Black Moon has enough darkness to keep things from getting too sunny. Capitol City sounds like it could have been on Being There and I personally love the jolly vibe it creates.

The title song is also another major highlight. Closer One Sunday Morning drifts along mellowly, and carries you all the way for it’s 12 minutes. The two vinyl expansion - that includes an EP and bonus tracks along with a gorgeous selection from The Loft’s archive of live in-studio performances and previously unreleased alternate mixes and demos (phew!) - just goes to show (nay prove) just how Wilco are unique.

There just seem to be no band member egos, for Tweedy writes the songs, and always will, and it is his band, but he needs talented musicians like Glenn Kotche, John Stirratt and Nels Cline to flesh out his ideas and add the extra ingredients to allow the songs to fly.

Willie Nelson & Various Artists - Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 – Live At The Hollywood Bowl Volume II (2LP – First Time on Vinyl): In April 2023, scores of artists spanning genres and generations came together with Willie Nelson to celebrate the legend’s 90th birthday for a once-in-a-lifetime event at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. This double LP on black vinyl, available exclusively to Record Store Day retailers, is the second vinyl volume of highlights from these legendary shows and includes 19 performances. Artists performing songs from every era of his unparalleled seven-decade career include Willie plus The Avett Brothers, Edie Brickell, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Warren Haynes, Daniel Lanois, Lyle Lovett, Shooter Jennings, Jack Johnson, Jamey Johnson, Booker T. Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Lukas Nelson, Particle Kid, Orville Peck, Margo Price, Nathanial Rateliff, Keith Richards, Charlie Sexton, Snoop Dogg, George Strait, Billy Strings and Dwight Yoakam.

Side A:
1. California Sober - Willie Nelson & Billy Strings
2. The Ghost - Particle Kid & Daniel Lanois
3. Remember Me (When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming) - Edie Brickell & Charlie Sexton
4. Me and Paul - Dwight Yoakam

Side B:
1. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys - Lyle Lovett
2. I Can Get Off On You - Margo Price & Nathaniel Rateliff
3. It Ain’t Over Yet - Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Payne, Mickey Raphael
4. Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other - Orville Peck
5. Willie Got Me Stoned - Jack Johnson

Side C:
1. Good Hearted Woman - Lukas Nelson & Shooter Jennings
2. Heaven And Hell - The Avett Brothers
3. A Song For You - Nathaniel Rateliff
4. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again) - Rosanne Cash & Kris Kristofferson
5. Georgia On My Mind - Jamey Johnson, Warren Haynes, Booker T. Jones

Side D:
1. Crazy - Sheryl Crow
2. Stardust - Willie Nelson & Booker T. Jones
3. Sing One With Willie - Willie Nelson & George Strait
4. Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die - Willie Nelson & Snoop Dogg
5. Live Forever - Willie Nelson & Keith Richards

The concerts were recorded live on April 29th & 30th in 2023 at the legendary Hollywood Bowl and feature once-in-a-lifetime performances by Willie Nelson, Allison Russell, Beck, Billy Strings, Bobby Weir, Booker T. Jones, Buddy Cannon, Charley Crockett, Charlie Sexton, Chris Stapleton, Daniel Lanois, Dave Matthews, Dwight Yoakam, Edie Brickell, Emmylou Harris, Gary Clark Jr., George Strait, Jack Johnson, Jamey Johnson, and, of course, Keith Richards.

Add to that artists such as Kris Kristofferson, Leon Bridges, Lily Meola, Lukas Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Margo Price, Micah Nelson (Particle Kid), Miranda Lambert, Nathaniel Rateliff, Neil Young, Norah Jones, Orville Peck, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Snoop Dogg, Stephen Stills, The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, Tom Jones, Tyler Childers, Warren Haynes, Waylon Payne, and Ziggy Marley, and you can see what a big deal this coming together really was!

This second volume - where the review could continue simply by listing the names of those present, who speak for themselves, as noted above - features a slew of genuine, and high class protagonists of the new Nashville country, along with some of the great, yet perhaps dusty old lions, and this combination is a mighty fine music recording because of them all.

OK, sure, Willie is struggling a bit now, but his duets are still moving and beautiful too, all the way up to the typical all-on-stage ending for a wild “On The Road Again” and the generalized Happy Birthday.

And so this second volume of an amazing 19 tracks holds some of the true gems of the night, for my money, showcasing some beauties such as opener California Sober (Willie Nelson & Billy Strings), the truly magnificent Remember Me (When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming) featuring Brickell & Charlie Sexton, the quartet of greatness on It Ain’t Over Yet (with Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Payne, and Mickey Raphael), and then further in we get Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again) with Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson, and as a huge Stones fan, Live Forever with Willie Nelson and Keith Richards.

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