Record Store Day 2014: This year's 24 must-have releases
Get down to your local record store on 19 April
Joy Division - An Ideal For Living: Where it all began, the first ever release from the Godfathers of post-punk - with beautiful new artwork and a new master cut at Abbey Road. This is going to be an absolute audio-visual mindgasm.
Django Django - Porpoise Song: The Scottish electro-indie quartet's self-titled debut was one of THE best records of 2012, and we're still obsessed with it. Therefore, we're insanely excited to hear their first new material in 2 years. If it's even half as good as the likes of 'Hail Bop' and 'Waveforms', we'll be happy.
Jay Z/Linkin Park - Collision Course: It's been a decade (!) since MTV did a good thing for once and did the unthinkable - mashed up a nu-metal band and a rapper. And it worked. Really bloody well. It's now being reissued on blue vinyl specially for Record Store Day, and we want it. Badly.
Darq e Freaker - Ironside: The self-dubbed Professor of Urban Electronica has been one of the best producers in grime for a while now, his taut, brash, repetitive riffs quickly becoming a trademark. 'Ironside' sees Freaker experiment more with some massive horns and THAT eerie Kill Bill siren. Very big.
Metronomy - Love Letters (Soulwax Remix): Metronomy's slice of retro pop perfection gets a bit of a disco makeover from Soulwax, who spin it into a seven minute long funky soul groove. It will sound EXCELLENT on vinyl.
Elbow - Charge: One of the highlights of the Mercury-winning Mancunian heroes' latest album, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything, this epic ode to drinking the night away will sound all the more glorious on vinyl.
Regina Spektor - You've Got Time/Call Them Brothers: Fans of prison drama Orange Is The New Black will be very familiar with the breathless, punchy 'You've Got Time', which soundtracks the series' opening credits. On side B, there's Regina's rather pleasant collaboration with Only Son, 'Call Them Brothers'.
Disclosure - Apollo: The Lawrence brothers marked the end of their incredible, chart-dominating 2013 with the decidedly leftfield 'Apollo', a far cry from the radio friendly garage pop that featured on debut Settle. A haunting, spiralling slice of deep house that sticks a big finger up to the critics who call them sell outs, we've got no issues at all if this is a sign of things to come from Disclosure.
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters: The criminally-underrated but insanely perfect debut from Scotland's finest kraut-rock miserablists is finally getting the celebration it deserves this year, with the band playing it in full at a string of gigs and re-releasing it on vinyl. It's the perfect way to appreciate all of its powerful poetry and glorious noise.
Outkast - Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik: With Andre 3000 and Big Boi reuniting for a massive run of 40 festival dates this summer, it's the perfect time to revisit the duo's seminal debut, which introduced the world to their unique brand of Southern hip hop.
Shlohmo - Shlo-fi: With the LA producer's star on the rise following collaborations with the likes of Banks and Jeremih, Shlohmo now reissues a remastered version of his critically acclaimed debut EP, released when he was just 19.
London Grammar - Hey Now (Bonobo Remix)/Hey Now (Zero 7 remix): Let's face it, you've probably played the hell out of trip hop trio London Grammar's debut If You Wait, particularly moody standout cut 'Hey Now', so why not try these new versions of the track? Bonobo ups the tempo, whilst Zero 7's is still to be heard. All the more reason to buy it.
Ghost Beach - Blonde: New York newcomers Ghost Beach are peddling a rather unique sound of tropical, glitchy electro pop, which is sure to put a smile on your face. It'll definitely sound great on vinyl - nice artwork, too.
Chvrches - We Sink: Possibly the best track on Chvrches' bloody brilliant debut The Bones of What You Believe (although it's a struggle to choose) why not purchase it on lovely vinyl?
Natasha Khan & Jon Hopkins - Garden's Heart: This collaboration between the musician also known as Bat For Lashes and superb, in-demand producer Jon Hopkins featured on the soundtrack to film How I Live Now (us neither). Luckily, this pulsating, bewitching piece of work is far more memorable than the film it soundtracked.
Illum Sphere - Spectre Vex: Ninja Tune affiliate Illum Sphere is one of the most prominent DJs and producers in the UK, having founded influential club night Hoya:Hoya and remixing tracks for the likes of Radiohead. Spectre Vex is his latest EP.
Various Artists - Ed Banger Classics Deluxe Box Set: Highly influential and super, super cool, Ed Banger Records have introduced the world to artists such as Justice, Feadz, Mr Oizo and Uffie, so expect a never-ending stream of electro classics from this deluxe box set.
We Have Band - Movements: Dance-rock trio We Have Band return with glittering third album Movements, a collection of dancefloor-beckoning tunes. Perfect for parties.
MO - Say You'll Be There (Spice Girls cover): Danish singer-songwriter MO is one of our favourite new artists of 2014, and this cover of the Spice Girls' classic pop hit 'Say You'll Be There' is perfect in every way.
Asgeir - Here It Comes/Heart Shaped Box: Icelandic folk musician Asgeir is bloody brilliant - we're rather excited to hear his version of the eerie Nirvana classic 'Heart Shaped Box'.
Kode9 and The Spaceape - Memories Of the Future: UK dubstep kingpin Kode9 teamed up for this collaborative LP with rapper Spaceape back in 2006. It's a stark, unsettling but stunning piece of work.
Little Dragon - Klapp Klapp: Awesome Swedish pop oddballs have returned with 'Klapp Klapp', a thundering, texturised slice of electro pop that doesn't really seem to know where it's going, but in a good way. Does that make sense? We like the artwork, as well.
Chromeo - Ezra's Interlude feat Ezra Koenig: One for fans of Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig (and there are a lot of them out there, mainly thanks to his surreal and hilarious Tweets), 'Ezra's Interlude' is rather self-explanatory - a piano led interlude, it features on Chromeo's forthcoming album White Women. It's sure to be bizarrely brilliant.
LCD Soundsystem - Th Long Goodbye. Their Final Show in NYC. In all of its three-hour, five vinyl, era-defining glory. Sob. Take home this little piece of nostalgia - how could you resist?
Yep, it's (nearly) that time of year again. Record Store Day returns on April 19, and as usual there's a stunning selection of exclusive releases from some of the best artists out there. Here's our pick of the best, coolest, most awesome, must-have releases this year.
This year looks set to be the biggest Record Store Day ever, with over 600 releases available through 240 of the UK's independent record stores.
And what can you expect? A mind-bogglingly large list of records, for a start. So to help, we've sifted through them in order to bring you the very best of the bunch. Here's our picks of this year's Record Store Day offerings, featuring the likes of Joy Division, Outkast, Django Django, Illum Sphere, Elbow and more.