The 11 Best Songs By Crystal Castles

For years Black Friday has been the day for Christmas shopping.  I never get everything I want or need on that day but I usually end up getting a good start on where I need to be.  Oddly, I usually buy more things for myself on Black Friday than I do for others.  When it comes to buying things for myself, I'm actually really good at it.  For the past couple of years, another event has compounded Black Friday into an uber event that only further rips my wallet and bank account to shreds:  Record Store Day.  Combining the two events for me is like relocating Disneyland to the strip in Las Vegas while handing out free ecstasy tabs and buckets of $50 gambling chips.  Too many choices.  BluRay players for $50 or Velvet Underground Acetate?  $3 jackets or White Stripes 45-inches?  It's not fair.

I picked up 11 releases.  Three of them...I didn't even go into the store having any interest in...but when I was there in the moment, I bought a Wanda Jackson rarities disc...and I freaking love it.  I want to take Wanda Jackson out to a nice dinner with wine and tiramisu.  It was an impulse buy.  I feel in love with the album cover and the smile on Jackson's face.  That kind of love of music doesn't exist anymore.  It's more important to be popular than to be good.  No longer can you just be a fan of the art form and take a chance on a 6-song EP of demos and outtakes for $16 and be absolutely infatuated.  This is what makes me a fan.  Standing in line for hours to buy something I didn't even know I wanted...that makes me a fan.  Sitting in front of a record player flipping over records after one song...that makes me a fan.  Sitting by the TV waiting to see what new outfit Justin Bieber wore to PF Chang's...makes me want to shoot my eyes out.

Record Store Day continues on.  The lines keep getting longer.  The releases keep getting better.  And the record industry keeps blaming internet downloading for ruining their industry.  Weird.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Crystal Castles:

1. Not In Love w/ Robert Smith (II - Big Day Out Deluxe Version)
2. Vanished (Crystal Castles)
3. Celestica (II)
4. Crimewave (Crystal Castles)
5. Lovers Who Uncover w/ the Little Ones (Lovers Who Come Over)
6. Suffocation (II)
7. Untrust Us (Crystal Castles)
8. Year of Silence (II)
9. Pap Smear (II)
10. Knights (Crystal Castles)
11. Violent Dreams (II)

Buy Crystal Castles new album, III...now!!!

The 11 Best Black Friday Record Store Releases

Every April...us old dudes who still own record players crowd around record stores to pay a lot of money for limited edition colored vinyls with one extra track.  But Christmas has come early this year.  The wonderful folks at RSD have a new day for us...like a teaser trailer for spring's epic event.  Black Friday features a much smaller amount of releases but some exclusive and exciting ones none-the less.  Here's some of the most interesting releases...and click here for the the full list.


Here are 11 of the Best Releases for Black Friday:

1. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Kiss My Amps Live (No one has made a bigger effort to support vinyl than Tom Petty...so this live EP with songs from the Mojo tour promises to sound amazing.)
2. Wilco - Speak Into The Rose (a 4-song EP with two unreleased tracks from the Whole Love Sessions)
3. Janis Joplin - Move Over 7-inch box set (4 7-inch singles with unreleased tracks and versions)
4. Iron & Wine - Morning Becomes Eclectic (An collection of live tracks recorded for the show)
5. The Kings of Leon - The Early Vinyl (The first three albums on vinyl with a 4th album of unreleased material)
6. The Byrds - Eight Miles High & The Times They Are A-Changing (Two singles that were never released)
7. Ryan Adams - Do I Wait/Darkness (two songs from the Ashes & Fire sessions)
8. Silversun Pickups - Seasick (Unreleased Tracks from the Swoon Sessions)
9. The Civil Wars - Tracks in the Snow (Two new holiday tracks and two live tracks unavailable anywhere else)
10. Craig Finn - Honolulu Blues (The first single with solo material from the Hold Steady frontman)
11. Sea Wolf - Song of the Magpie (Two unreleased tracks produced by Mike Mogis)

Check out Black Friday here.