Today is a very special day for record collectors. Saturday, April 19th: Record Store Day. Today, independent record stores across North America are celebrating the wonders of the digging lifestyle with sales and special in-store performances.

It’s also an opportunity to boost flagging sales of physical media - especially your favorite and mine, VINYL!

From the NY Times:

Among the highlights: Metallica will be greeting fans at Rasputin Music in Mountain View, Calif., and Regina Spektor is to perform at Sound Fix, a four-year-old shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that like many has learned to get creative, regularly offering free performances. At Other Music, a capital of underground music on East Fourth Street in Manhattan that faces a shuttered Tower Records, a roster of indie-rock stars will be playing D.J. all afternoon, including members of Tapes ’n Tapes, Grizzly Bear and Deerhunter.

One-day-only record releases will also be part of the event. Vinyl singles by R.E.M., Death Cab for Cutie, Vampire Weekend, Stephen Malkmus and others are being sold on Saturday, and labels big and small are contributing sampler discs and other goodies.

A list of participating venues is available at the official Record Store Day website.

So, get out there! It’s Spring, the weather is great, and the records are plentiful. The closes store to my house has everything 20% off and a live in-store performance by Marshall Crenshaw.

After you scratch the itch, be sure to stop in and let us know what you picked up.

Cross-posted to Newsvine.com.

Read more articles in the “Diggin’ the Crates” series.

© 2008 Evan Mix for Listen In. Some rights reserved.

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