The annual celebration of independent record stores, Record Store Day 2025, is coming up this weekend on April 12. Music fans across the country will continue the tradition of lining up outside their local shops on Saturday hoping to score limited-edition vinyl. You can find the full list of 334 releases on Record Store Day’s official website.
Here’s how to interpret the website: Record stores exclusively release “Exclusives”; other retailers may release “RSD First” titles in the future; and you might find “small run/regional” titles harder to locate across the entire country. Whether picture discs affect quality remains under debate; regardless of your opinion, they are printing only five sets on picture disc (of the 334 releases).
Record Store Day, the organization, is managed by the Department of Record Stores and is organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS) and the the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS). They promote independent record stores year-round with events, special releases and other fun programming.
- Royel Otis Nashville Sessions: Only three songs long, fans of this Australian pop duo will nevertheless be excited about this limited-edition release. The record includes their cover of “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star, notable in part after their cover of “Linger” went mega-viral recently. The bone-colored vinyl also includes paired down versions of the songs “Sofa King” and “Oysters In My Pocket”.
- Sun Ra Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (Deluxe Edition) – Ra and the Arkestra recorded these performances over two nights in August 1970 as their first concerts outside North America. This 6 Disc recording initially appeared as two volumes in 1971, and could be the days biggest potential purchase. The packaging comprises a hardboard box, a reprint of the festival program, an oversized booklet, and restored festival photos.
- CHVRCHES Every Eye Open (Tenth Anniversary Special Edition) – The indie-rock band will be releasing a double disc, tenth-anniversary edition of their second album, Every Eye Open. The band previewed a light blue disc inspired by their song “Clearest Blue”. This run of LP has only 2500 editions spread throughout the country.
- Air Moon Safari – Celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary last year, Moon Safari is the album that catapulted Air to electronic music stardom. This iconic record features ten unique rarities, demo versions, and BBC live sessions in its new release. They are printing the album on recycled white vinyl. The band has recently come back into vogue with multiple songs going viral as sounds on Tiktok.
- beabadoobee Live and Acoustic in London – This release features a 2024 performance, recorded in London, of songs spanning multiple albums. beabadoobee chose to press this special LP onto slushy red vinyl.
- Free Nationals Free Nationals (Instrumentals) – Their self-titled album is getting an instrumental release on 180g of heavyweight black vinyl. Fans of their work, including collaborations with artists like Anderson Paak, can enjoy the pure landscape of their funky instrumentals.
- Bun B Return of The Trill – This is the first ever vinyl pressing of Bun B’s seminal record, Return of The Trill. Bun B has cemented himself as a Texan legend in the rap world, formerly one half of the famous Houston rap group UGK. Largely produced by Big K.R.I.T, the record will be pressed on a marbled red vinyl.
- The Veronicas The Secret Life Of… – This clear edition of The Veronicas debut, multi-platinum record will be a record store day exclusive with only 2000 copies made.
- Laufey A Night At The Symphony: Hollywood Bowl – The Icelandic Chinese artist Laufey is gracing enthusiasts with the vinyl soundtrack to her debut concert film. The Los Angeles Philharmonic joined her onstage to record this incredibly night of soaring music. The double LP includes a limited edition poster. Luckily, there are relatively plenty (15000) of these records available.
You’ll also be competing with fans for popular releases like Taylor Swift’s Fortnight 7’, the movie album Wicked: The Soundtrack, Charli XCX’s two releases (7” Guess Featuring Billie Eilish and Number 1 Angel), The OASIS Time Flies… ( featuring the band’s entire singles collection from 1994 – 2009), and this year’s Grateful Dead pressing, On a Back Porch Vol 1. In addition, John Williams is releasing the first three Harry Potter Original Motion Picture Soundtracks on vinyl.
Best of luck with your vinyl wishlist!
