Local record stores are offering extended hours and live in-store performances for Record Store Day this Saturday (4/18). Captured Tracks, Academy Records Annex, Record Grouch, Rough Trade, and Earwax Records are all participating in the event.
Many record labels are releasing albums Saturday exclusively for in-store distribution. Chris Pappas at Captured Tracks says, “We’re most excited about the Polaris, Five or Six, Brian Eno, and Ride reissues, as well as the Red House Painters box set and the Thai Pop Spectacular record from Sublime Frequencies on vinyl.” The folks at Academy Records love the Gallagher picture disc release, and the store will have a free performance by Steve Gunn at 7 pm.
Rough Trade NYC will have appearances by Kim Gordon and The Buzzcocks, and The Dresden Dolls and Sondre Lerche will perform. Lerche will also be recording a public domain song live onto a 1930’s Presto direct-to-acetate disk recorder, as part of The 78 Project.
The founders of The 78 Project, Lavinia Wright and Alex Steyermark, have recorded with the Presto in some glorious North Brooklyn locations, including the High Horse Saloon & Salon, Pete’s Candy Store, and the now-shuttered Brooklyn Rod and Gun. Here are The Mynabirds recording in Lavinia’s own Williamsburg backyard:
That video brings back wonderful memories of hanging out in our neighborhood’s omnipresent backyards, surrounded by great food, music, and friends. The simplified recording setup used by The 78 Project will be familiar to many Greenpoint musicians who employ a do-it-yourself philosophy to record and be heard in an honest, affordable way.
Greenpointers spoke with Lavinia and Alex recently about the process and purpose behind their method of recording. They pointed out that each musician gets to choose the song they sing, as long as it is in the public domain, so it often resonates personally with the singer. Since there is no way to erase a mistake on a disc recording, it must be done in one take. This allows musicians to avoid obsessively pursuing technical perfection over multiple takes, so they can focus instead on expressing a deeper truth behind the lyrics of the song.
Those who want to learn more about the enterprise can catch “The 78 Project Movie,” screening at the IFC Theater on June 4th.