Second annual Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 18

As if there weren't enough events already contending for the attention of local music fans this weekend, this Saturday, April 18 is also the second annual Record Store Day, an event intended to celebrate the culture of independent music stores, many of which are the sort of establishments that cater to fans of jazz, blues and other less-than-trendy musics.

Here in the St. Louis area, Euclid Records in Webster Groves has a big bash planned to celebrate the day, with live entertainment, food, a sidewalk sale, and storewide discounts. They're closing off Sutton Ave alongside the store to set up an outdoor stage for performances by the Bottle Rockets, Jason Ringenberg, Troubadour Dali, Grace Basement, Bent, Farshid Etniko, the Trip Daddys, and others. For the complete schedule of Record Store Day events at Euclid Records, go here.

Meanwhile, over in University City, Vintage Vinyl will be celebrating Record Store Day with guest celebrity DJs inside the store and live music outside on Delmar, with performers including the Beat Street hip-hop collaborative (DJ Needles, B-Money, G-Wiz and guests), the May Day Orchestra & Robert Sarazin Blake, Zimbabwe Nkenya and Alley Ghost. VV also will have free refreshments courtesy of Pabst Blue Ribbon and energy drinks from Monster, and they're also designating the store as "a TAX FREE ZONE for the entire day," which I presume means they'll be eating the sales tax on all purchases. For the lowdown on all of VV's RSD activities, go here.

A number of record labels and independent artists are offering some sort of limited edition releases for Record Store Day. For example, mega-label Universal Music Group has a whole list of promotional releases that includes everything from Motown reissues on extra-heavy virgin vinyl to sampler CDs from the various imprints under the UMG umbrella. Here's a list of some of the other Record Store Day exclusives, though not all titles will be available at all participating stores.