Remember Your Local Record Stores April 18

GeorgHH

From the time I was old enough to drive down to the malls and used vinyl shops to my adult addiction to scouring Aquarius' newsletters and getting the local lowdown from Amoeba employees, record store clerks are still one of my favorite ways to hear about undiscovered music. But, as you may have heard a couple times already, our High Fidelity heroes are a dying breed as brick 'n' mortar stores shutter because the kids are all stealing music online. Once a year, record stores eek out a plea to please, please drop some cash after perusing their racks during the annual Record Store Day. I'll be honest and say the idea of shopping for a cause is still a little odd to me, but I like the sentiment behind this one. The only way the independent shops you profess to love will stay around is if you also part with a couple dollars on their behalf. At the first annual RSD event last year, the big news was a Metallica performance at Rasputin's. So far this year there's no such special performances slated, but if you poke around the official site  you'll find tips on participating shops and the special goodies they'll have on offer to try and tempt you off the computer and through the front door.