Record Raid heads back downtown with a new location! We've headed over to the Old Ironworks in the Bywater at 612 Piety Street.

This is the summer show for our quarterly record fairs and we expect to have over 20 vendors selling LPs, 45s, CDs and more from storefronts and private collectors all along the gulf coast. It's like a big, awesome record store that only pops up 4 times a year with stock you've never seen before. Plenty of local music, old garage 45s, new punk LPs, mysterious oddity records -- that record that's been eluding you may be somewhere in these bins.

Strapped for cash? Entry is FREE! Come join us and talk records. All ages as well. And we're right across from a great pizza place, some excellent snowballs, and if you STILL want to dig through more records you're only a block away from our pals at Euclid Records NOLA!

June 29th
10AM - 5PM
FREE and Open to the Public

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/192427950909346/

I love the idea of a Record Store Day but there really weren't many items in the Record Store Day roster that excited me. So I like to take the opportunity to check on my record store friends and see how the madness is going for them. But if this is really a special day, then I should do it in a special way. So I set out to do the Record Store GRAND TOUR: hit all New Orleans record stores in one day. With a combination of strategic planning, light jogs, the phrase "I'm not going to buy anything, do you mind if I come in and take a few pictures" and keen driving intuition, I just about managed to achieve this.

I started out heading to the French quarter to check out the two stores opening at 9AM: Skully'z and Peaches.

Skully'z had opened a bit early but still had the remnants of a line. Skully'z tiny one-room layout didn't keep them from stocking a healthy amount of Record Store Day merchandise. They probably have the highest concentration of great music per square foot of any record store in the city, and there were a number of shoppers on hand that recognize that.


Caught a friend outside and he showed me his finds. Uh oh. DIdn't know about this album with A Place To Bury Strangers covering Dead Moon. Could it be I had something to look out for besides that one Chicha Libre 7"? I had already been thinking a little harder about that Tame Impala EP...

Peaches was next

I had gotten there a little bit after the opening but there were still a number of shoppers checking out the Record Store Day merch.


Peaches was pretty well stocked. They had a brand new selection of Third Man Records' fancy wax. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to check out their free beer or see Brice Nice spinning records later in the day. I was heading uptown!

The Mushroom, it turns out, was opening earlier that day despite what I was told over the phone, so I missed some of the early rush. Can't lay any blame though, as I heard the girl I talked to discussing her confusion over it with the manager. Oh well.

The Mushroom has long celebrated 4/20 for other reasons, which meant a pretty killer sale store-wide. To some degree, my musical tastes were shaped by the used CDs I got there as a high schooler, so I took a few moments to check out their 42% off used CDs.

I thought this would be a good time to grab that Tame Impala album. As I kept browsing, a man asked me "awlright, how much for that album". His son had headed off to Austin Psych Fest (I believe) to check them out and his father was going to treat him to this Record Store Day exclusive. I told him don't sweat it, I'll be at a bunch of record stores today and judging by the other stores I've been to, I'll find another copy. He handed me a 20 as thanks. I never did end up finding another copy of that record that day, but I walked out of the Mushroom having turned a profit and done somebody a favor.

I'd heard through the grapevine that Euclid was where things were really crazy. As it was approaching opening time, I figured now was a good time to visit.


It was a sight for sure. The line backed up to two houses past the store. The trio in the front of the line arrived no later than 7 a.m. that morning

Definitely made me think about Black Friday. A lot of the items could have been had at another store earlier, but I think a lot of the people there were excited about *the experience*. I saw a bunch of friendly faces in the crowd and felt a lot of enthusiams.

I explained that I wasn't planning on buying until much later and just wanted pictures, so I was in the store a little early to catch the first 8 make their way to Euclid's array of RSD items. While everybody kept it civil, I could see a little bit of adrenaline-fueled smash & grab attitude at first, then everybody realized there was plenty enough there and cooled down. I joked to Euclid's staff that they should have a prize for the first person to buy a regular release.

Back to the quarter and onto Louisiana Music Factory

Don't know what's up with the date on the sign....

I had seen a bit of a line forming when I passed by Louisiana Music factory at 9:40, but coming by around 11:15 was a little sleepier. Still, I think their non-local music variety is underrated and they were an overlooked venue for Record Store Day. They still had plenty left

I went upstairs and grabbed Bombino's Agadez and a Sundazed reissue of an old Del-Fi surf record.

At the register I found free cupcakes and cookies. That cupcake would sustain me for much of the day.

Domino Sound Record Shack has never been a Record Store Day participant in the past. There were a few items this time but clearly items suited to Domino's specialties and likely not what a lot of buyers were looking for (not even the Dead Moon cover album despite Matt Knowles love of the band!). That's fine, I still made away with La Logia Sarabanda's LP and a compilation of Bollywood Steel Guitar I'd wanted for ages.

Made one more trip to the quarter, first to actually take a look at Skully'z. Found some great garage 7"s and the aforementioned Dead Moon cover album

And then I took what will likely be my last trip to Odyssey Records over on Canal

The owner caught me snapping the picture of his closing signs and said "I know, can you believe it?". I'll admit I've walked out of Odyssey empty handed more often than not, so maybe, but regardless it still hurts to see a record store go. I know a lot of people have a lot of good memories about the spot. I said goodbye with a purchase of Ricky B's LP.

Jim Russel Records has never been a Record Store Day participant, though Denise did celebrate the day with a buy two get one free sale. Her response to my normal "how's business" question was at first surprisingly enthusiastic as she showed off the new signage that a local company had made for the store. Her usual complaints followed, but it was nice to see a silver lining.

A man walked in and announced the bad news about Odyssey's closing. This was big news to Denise... she thought for sure she was the next to go. I reminder her, "but you're still here", and paid for a handful of 45s.

My stomach was demanding more than a cupcake, and I remembered the smell of pulled pork at Euclid. To the Bywater!

At 3pm, 5 hours later than I had been there before, Euclid was STILL packed. Everywhere I turned a familiar face was finding something to take home. As much as I wanted to stay to see Guitar Lightning Lee and find that one killer surf 45 that was likely hiding somewhere in those piles of 45s, my journey was starting to take its' toll. I was beat.

Skullyz, Peaches, Mushroom, Euclid, Louisiana Music Factory, Domino, Odyssey, Jim Russell

8 Independent Record Stores (and there are others such as Musica Latina I didn't visit). I'd been to all of these many times before, but after tallying them up I couldn't believe this city could hold as many as 8 when some larger cities offer one decent store.

So that's what I learned in this journey. For a city with a complicated relationship with its music, our record stores are *NOT* our weakness.

Record Store Day is this coming weekend (April 20th). On this day Record Stores tend to receive exclusive material coming from the Record Store Day organization. How this is done has been very controversial (often these items are horded for eBay use) but on the whole it's usually a financial boon to the participating Record Stores. Some stores celebrate it more unofficially, with special sales or in-store performances. I'd suggest this: drop by a Record Store on Record Store Day and make 'em feel loved. For those of you in New Orleans or just outside New Orleans, we'll try to make your decision of which a little easier. And remember, you don't have to just visit one! For a full list of official Record Store Day items see this page. Often stores don't know what they expect to receive and sometimes they don't arrive until the day before or day of. '

*** If you are a store owner and want to be added to this list or add details, email recordraid@recordraid.com ***

New Orleans

Euclid Records

3401 Chartres St 11am-7pm Euclid has made a facebook page with all sorts of details for the event. Here's an abridged version: Around FOUR HUNDRED (400) RECORD STORE DAY RELEASES! one copy per title per person, no holds, no layaway, no shipping $2 OFF all USED VINYL LPS $4.99 and UP $2 off all USED CDS $4.99 and UP live music 1:30p Blind Texas Marlin 2:30p Guitar Lightnin' Lee & his Thunder Band 3:30p Heavy Lids 4:30p Truth Universal 5:00p AF THE NAYSAYER 5:30p Peace Love Technicolor Dream

Skully'z Recordz

907 Bourbon St 9am-6pm Will have Record Store Day stock. A few rules: no preorders we cannot hold items ahead of time people can buy as much as they want, but only 1 item of each per person first come first serve, no exceptions no phone orders or transactions

Lousiana Music Factory

210 Decatur St 10am-7pm Will have new RSD stock as well as some leftovers from RSD's Black Friday. Live performances: 2pm - Andrew Duhon 3pm - Miss Sophie Lee 4pm - Dave Jordan

The Mushroom

1037 Broadway St 10am-Midnight Mushroom has a number of premium RSD releases. The Mushroom has celebrated 4/20 long before Record Store Day was a thing, so they have a big sale as well: 42% off Non-Record Store Day releases. $4.20 off used CDs.

Peaches Records

408 N. Peters Street 9am-9pm Big order of Record Store Day releases. Also Free Beer courtesy of PBR and Brice Nice spinning wax.

Domino Sound Record Shack

2557 Bayou Rd Noon-6pm Domino Sound hasn't particpated in the past, but Matt Knowles had this to say Not my favorite day, but I will have some stuff in here that is labeled as "Record Store Day". Can't remember what, just stuff I'm excited to stock.

Jim Russell Records

1837 Magazine St 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. No official RSD releases but still some special plans edit: Offbeat reports the following deals (Denise, ya gotta call me back!) Cash – buy 1, get 1 free on all records Credit Card – buy 2, get 1 free on all records All ’45′s will be $3 ea. + special surprise guests in-store

Odyssey Records

1012 Canal Street Was told by owner that Record Store Day will be a regular day for them. Still, this is an often overlooked Record Store, so in the spirit of the day worth dropping by.

A little further out

Atomic Pop Shop

2963 Government Street, Baton Rouge, LA 9am - 4pm Will have official Record Store Day Merchandise. Will also have sale on music and scratch off tickets to win RSD or Atomic Pop Shop prizes including two portable Record Players. Live Performances: The Patsies at 10:30am, Secret Annexe at 1:00pm, and Clay Parker at 2:30pm

Maynard's Music

2209 Government St., Ocean Springs, MS 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm Doesn't have offical RSD releases but expects a sale, munchies and perhaps a keg! Details TBA at their facebook page

We're back at Tulane March 16th for another Record Raid as part of WTUL's marathon fundraiser.

WHEN: March 16th 10am-5pm
WHERE: Tulane Zimple Quad at about 1209 Broadway Street. Outdoor show under the shades of two big oak trees (the records are safe, don't worry).
HOW MUCH: Free to enter!
WHO: You! No Tulane enrollment required.
WHAT: LPs, 45s, CDs, Cassettes

Interested in selling? Check our vendor page

Oh, and here's the facebook event

Offbeat reports that Floyd's Record Shop (Louisiana's oldest record store) is closing its doors.

“Basically, we just couldn’t cut it anymore,” says owner Floyd Soileau. “The last two years have just been horrible. Like I told several people, having a record store now is like having an antique shop. I talked to the staff about six months ago and we discussed the situation. Luckily most of them are close to retirement now. We’ll start discounting product in December and keep discounting it week by week until we close. Whatever is left over we’ll auction off in January.”

This is absolutely a shame, but not an unsurprising one. Floyd's was ground zero for cajun & creole music, being in the same building as Jin and Swallow records as well as radio station KVPI, where owner Floyd Soileau worked before opening Floyd's. After years of meaning to find the opportunity, I made my pilgrimage only a few months ago in September. The building was charmingly dated, convincingly a product of its era. I couldn't wait to get inside. I was disappointed to find that the biggest slice of Louisiana history was a shelf against the wall smattered with 45 repressings of in-house labels, which given the lack of major Jin, Swallow, Maison etc recording artists, appeared to be the leftovers. This was where I spent most of my time. The rest of the store was stereo equipment and CDs, half of which were cajun, the other half assorted pop. There were about 30 LPs in all. As for any history, I was disappointed to find that there was merely a small section of cajun cookbooks etc. No plaques, no paraphernalia. I had just come from the swamp pop museum, but figured I could read some local history here. So to me, this is the saddest note of Floyd's closure: that it didn't seem to try. Perhaps I came too late? We have people fly to this state from Australia to see the Ponderosa Stomp. People are crazy about Louisiana's culture, especially music. I came to Floyd's as a cultural pilgrimage, one that I know many others have taken, and left with two 45s and a rubber alligator I thought was kinda funky. Could they not procure any used records of local artists? Why were there no represses of cajun country groups, such as the Uniques reissue Sundazed recently pressed? Why did I not see any history (pictures, articles) of a 50 year old record shop? To be honest, I'd heard descriptions of Floyd's today and set my hopes low, but upon visiting I was sad to say the reality limboed right under my expectations. In recent years, Lafayette has had successful flea market vendors selling material Floyd's should have been selling, and Rayne recently opened a new store (currently closed for building code reasons)... especially with historical name recognition, I have a hard time believing that the conditions weren't right for Floyd's to continue with a little bit of elbowgrease. And maybe that's the key here. Record stores continue to exist and even appear these days, but they never run themselves; they take a lot of blood sweat & tears from the people that run them. Maybe I overestimate the interest in cajun culture (after all Mulattes in Breaux Bridge recently closed as well). I don't know what Floyd's situation was exactly, but maybe after 50 years, more than anything, this was retiring. -- photo from here

We thought we'd squeeze in one more opportunity to seize some presents for your loved ones, including yourself. So Emerson & Son are playing host to the first HOLIDAY DIGGIN' PARTY. A miniature Record Raid in time for the holidays. WHERE: Emerson & Son @ 8725 Oak St. NOLA WHEN: 11AM-5PM December 15th 2012 HOW MUCH: FREE ENTRY! Full details still coming together, but we know this much: A bunch of your favorite music vendors from around New Orleans sellin' music. Free entry Uptown Food, Drink Merriment To be announced/decided: DJs? Bands? an actual flyer

View Larger Map Want to sell? Email recordraid@recordraid.com (Tables are FREE but you must bring your own)

The November Record Raid went off without a hitch! Weather was perfect, attendance was great (especially considering all the other events happening around town), and the vendors brought out some choice material. Thanks to everybody that came out, bought some music and made some friends!

As always we're curious what you found in the crates. Feel free to post some comments or pictures of a any choice finds

Thanks Annalisa Kelly for snappin' these shots!

Record Store Day has expanded onto the awful worldwide phenomenon of Black Friday. That means special one-day-only releases at record stores nationwide. While personally, I'm not a huge fan of the event (I much prefer my music used, affordable, and not bought explicitly for later ebay selling), it is a big day for the local stores.

Most record stores don't know what they're getting from Record Store Day, nor how much (and often they end up just crossing their fingers that they'll get them on time).

You can check out a list at Record Store Day's website for what to expect.

As for local participation, here's what I know. Unlike Record Store Day, I don't believe any stores are doing a special sale on non-Record-Store-Day releases.

Euclid (3401 Chartres St. in the Bywater) opens at 11am
Due to shipping frustrations, they won't be fully stocked but HAVE listed what they will be getting on Black Friday on the facebook page about the event. They will have nog of some sorts handy. They suggest getting drinks at Marky's after the whole deal.

Skully'z (907 Bourbon St.) opens at 10am
The usually get pretty well serviced.

The Mushroom (1037 Broadway Street) opens at 10am
Standard first-come first serve. I believe they usually get a good chunk of stuff too.

Louisiana Music Factory (210 Decatur Street) opens at 10am
They confirmed that they will be participating. I don't know how much RSD stuff they've carried in the past, but if you haven't visited, they actually have a pretty formidable collection of non-Louisana and recently released vinyl upstairs.

--- On the sidelines

Domino Sound typically doesn't participate.
Jim Russel's usually doesn't either. Sometimes they get a poster.

I have not checked on Iron Rail or Hey Cafe, but I'm doubtful.
Oddyssey Records has had a few Record Store Day items in before, but I wouldn't bank on them for finding that one item you're looking for.

-- In Baton Rouge

Kerry Beary's Atomic Pop Shop (2963 Government Street) opens at 11am (I think)
Kerry posted the following vowel-less message to the shop's facebook page. "Black Friday - Big Bro & Hldng Co Dylan Zappa Gslght Anthm Grtful Ded Cash Jllyfsh Mnrse Kingdom My Mrnng Jckt Shins Vlvt Undrgrnd Res Dogs". Break out your decoder ring!

We're back! Back to the Tulane Zimple Quad (approximately 1150 Broadway st., New Orleans Louisiana) under the big pretty trees November 17th, 10AM-5PM Free Entry! Open to the Public! Here's a facebook event!

Together we shall be great! Often being a record collector can be a lonely thing, waking up at awful hours of the morning, spending hours organizing your collection... it doesn't have to be! We've created the Raiders mailing list for Louisiana record collectors to trade with each other, tip each other off to great sightings, hear about upcoming sales, organize carpools to record shows, or just meet some new pals!

Join up here