Christmas in April: Saturday is Record Store Day!

As many of you are aware--this Saturday--April 17--is Record Store Day. What does this mean? Many great things! Labels big and small, like Seattle's prolific and always reliable Sub Pop, put out special edition vinyl to get us music nerds to spend our dollars at our local shops. Everyone wins! Also, it is a day full of some kind of incredible artist in-store appearances, gift bags, and a multitude of other special surprises. Here's SFCritic's handy guide to the highlights of Bay Area Record Store Day 2010. The weather report calls for sunshine, so walk or bike around and get some good stuff. Don't forget to bring your own bag (we keep it green).

Complete National details and listings here.

Ameoba San Francisco
Charlotte Gainsbourg (signing)
Jonsi of Sigur Ros (performance)

Aquarius Records
A great selection of rare releases.

Creative Music Emporium
Lots of contests and giveaways!

Forces of Habit Records

Medium Rare Music

Stream MGMT's New Album "Congratulations"

Last week, following the leak of their hotly anticipated sophomore release, MGMT decided to stream Congratulations in its entirety over at WHOISMGMT?.The site also features the video for "Flash Delirium." The album itself leaves behind the epic electro-rock singles of Oracular Spectacular, in favor of a more subtle surf rock-influenced sound. The scheduled release is April 13th. Stay tuned for the full SFCritic review to come.

News in Music Blogs

In an effort to define SFCritic into a streamlined, user-friendly content, we will be running the "News in Music Blogs," a weekly update of interesting blog posts, discussion topics, and event listings in the music blogging community. Think Largehearted Boy with a focus on San Francisco events, and only music topics. The catch, we want your voice. Read a post you want to share, have an event you think is appropriate for SFCritic, interested in continuing a larger online discussion, email us links, or comment below!

Bay Area

SFCritic recently caught up Sila and The Afrofunk Experience, who recently were awarded best "World Music" by the NAACP. Check back for the interview!

Epicsauce.com, one of our favorite Bay Area show lists, is debuting a hot new event series at Milk (1840 Haight St - across from Amoeba Records). The kick-off is Thursday, March 11th and will feature local bands French Miami, White Cloud and Silian Rail. The show is free, and there will be awesome drink specials ($1 PRBs and select $3 pints). More information and an official RSVP can be found at: http://bit.ly/ccrEW7 and http://epicsauce.com/party

Radiohead's Thom Yorke's much-anticipated solo project Atoms for Peace has announced a handful of dates with Flying Lotus. The tour is visiting Oakland's Fox Theater April 15, among a handful of others.

General

Hole, lead by the much maligned Courtney Love is planning their first big come-back show at SXSW this year. SFCritic will be there to cover it!


Broken Bells (consisting of Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins) a new SFCritic favorite, brought their first single/video "The High Road" to Letterman.

MGMT announces secret events around the country, which apparently should be entitled, "big fail."

Yeasayer's video for the stand-out song on their album Odd Blood is out. Popjustice got the exclusive yesterday.

Upcoming Releases: Epik High, The Roots

By Henry Curtin
With this past week's release of Jay-Z's new album, The Blueprint 3, we've entered into a great period of upcoming releases. First, I have been eagerly waiting for the newest album from Epik High, one of the biggest Korean hip hop groups. Their 6th album features thirty tracks, with an appearance by Rakaa of Dilated Peoples. Here is a sample teaser they recently released:

Epik High [e] Album Trailer


The second release I am anxiously awaiting is the newest album from the Legendary Roots Crew. On the Jimmy Fallon show, where they are the house band, they recently played their newest single off their upcoming album, How I Got Over. Hopefully, the album is filled with more of the same.

The Roots: "How I Got Over"


If you enjoyed this post, check out these:

It's Working Out: An Interview With Mayer Hawthorne

Listen to What You're Missin': Portugal. The Man, Bat For Lashes, The Raveonettes, and Akron/Family

A&R: The Music Submissions