The Critical Mass 15: Viva la difference

Saturday's second annual National Record Store Day is a tribute to the independent-minded gatekeepers of our music culture: Down now to barely more than a half-dozen outposts in this town, ranging from the vastness of the Record Archive and House of Guitars to the intimacy of the Bop Shop.

   More than 700 indie record stores have signed on nationwide for Saturday's event, and the list of artists playing free, in-store shows at them is inspiring: Chris Cornell, Eryah Badu, Franz Ferdinand, Bob Mould, Cannibal Corpse. We didn't get any big names here, but the local performers are worthy. The Archive's day of music begins at noon and includes bluesman Roger Kuhn, jazz saxophonist Jimmie Highsmith Jr. and the recently resurrected '80s rockers New Math. The Bop Shop, in Village Gate Square, has a 4 p.m. performance by the Horse Lovers, guitarist Phil Marshall's band that just last weekend debuted its wonderful new singer, Jenna Weintraub.    

     These performers, both national and local, are keenly aware of the irreplaceable role that indie record stores play in encouraging people to seek out new and interesting artists. Chain record stores and box outlets such as Wal-Mart are generally populated by sales people whose only qualification as a music authority is they know the alphabet: "You're looking for the new Metallica record? That should be here, next to Meat Loaf...."  

     But as properly portrayed in the film High Fidelity, indie record stores employ only music geeks whose sole purpose in life is to blow your mind with the unlimited possibilities of music. "A lot has to do with the social aspect of it," Bop Shop owner Tom Kohn says of the magic of the indie record store. "I think of it as being like old bookstores in the '50s and '60s, when Beatniks used to hang around and talk about their books."

    National Record Store Day will be enhanced by the kind of exclusive releases that will have these guys chattering. The new Wilco documentary DVD, Ashes of American Flags, will be made available first to indie record stores on Saturday; Fans who pick up the release on Record Store Day will have access to downloads of an entire concert, pieces of which are featured on the DVD.

       Stores such as Record Archive that are associated with organizations like the Coalition of Independent Music Stores will have access to most of this exclusive stuff, both free and for a nominal charge. That includes rarities by the Decemberists, the Jesus Lizard, Sonic Youth, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Kings of Leon and the Cold War Kids. Some of these releases are as rare as adrenochrome: Only 500 copies were pressed of a Tom Waits 7-inch vinyl single called Live From the Glitter and Doom Tour; Record Archive managed to get five to sell on Saturday. A combined 10-inch vinyl single with a CD by My Morning Jacket, Celebracion de la Cuidad Natal, will also be in big demand. "It's so limited," says Archive co-owner Alayna Hill-Alderman, "I'm gonna run out in the first two hours."