Inside the Record Store Day 2026 List: The Records Worth Chasing
Sorting through 400 new releases to highlight the record collection essentials.
Make room on your shelves. Record Store Day returns Saturday, April 18, when vinyl heads descent on more than 1000 indie record stores for a worldwide crate-digging frenzy. It’s a day that really tests my self control.
Here’s the full list of Record Store Day releases; there’s roughly 400 new vinyl releases, broken up into three categories:
RSD Exclusive: titles you’ll only find at independent shops.
RSD First: debuts that will likely see wider represses later on.
RSD Limited Run: vinyl specific to a region or store, often pressed under 1000
As always, there’s plenty of bloat. Live sets, remixes, remasters, reissues, EPs, 45s, zoetropes, and more gimmicks than any one shelf could ever need. But if you’re willing to wade through the muck, there’s a lot worth chasing.
Below are the essential records that jumped out at me. Put them on your radar, make a plan, and go support your local record shop!
Sonic Youth - Diamond Seas (Grayfolded)
RSD First, limited to /3500
Let’s start with a record that stopped me in my tracks when I saw it on the list. Sonic Youth – Diamond Seas (Grayfolded) pulls together 32 live performances of “The Diamond Sea,” plunderphonically reassembled by composer John Oswald into two entirely new versions of the Washing Machine classic.
If you know Grayfolded, you know the deal. Oswald previously did this with the Grateful Dead, collapsing decades of “Dark Star” performances into a mashup document that felt both archival and brand new.
That project finally received its long-awaited vinyl reissue recently, and now Oswald is applying the same approach to Sonic Youth.
Side A focuses exclusively on 1995 performances, while Side B pulls from 1996, each clocking in at a precise 20:44. I cannot wait to hear how this one unfolds.
Gil Scott-Heron - Reflections
RSD Exclusive, limited to /1700
Originally released in 1981 and long out of print, Reflections is Gil Scott-Heron in the zone, fusing jazz, funk, and spoken word with razor-sharp clarity. The closer “B-Movie” is perhaps the most prescient track in his catalog. Decades later, its critique of spectacle, power, and hollow leadership still lands with accuracy. Here’s Gil Scott-Heron performing “B-Side” live at — well, look at that — The Wax Museum Nightclub.
This deluxe reissue arrives on purple marble vinyl with original artwork, a printed inner sleeve, and an OBI spine. With just 1,700 copies pressed, don’t expect this one to survive the weekend.
Mutemath - Mutemath
RSD Exclusive, limited to /3130
I’ll never forget the moment I sold my copy of Mutemath’s 2006 self-titled debut because I had less than $100 in my bank account. It made sense at the time. I’ve regretted it ever since.
For nearly two decades, this album has floated in reissue limbo, regularly selling for hundreds while fans begged for a proper return. Now it’s finally here: the first-ever color vinyl pressing, spread across sea blue double LPs. Sometimes the vinyl gods make things right.
Jhené Aiko - Trip
RSD Exclusive, limited to /2000
Here’s another wrong finally being righted. Jhené Aiko’s Trip has been fetching as much as $750 on the secondary market, turning one of the most immersive R&B albums of the 2010s into an unreachable grail.
The Los Angeles singer’s second album is designed to translate the hallucinogenic highs of weed, LSD, and shrooms into sound — something the psychedelic artwork makes clear. This RSD edition leans all the way in, pressed across a double picture disc for maximum trippiness.
Jazz Dispensary: Magia Brasileira
RSD Exclusive, Limited to /4000
Let’s keep the grooves spinning with Jazz Dispensary’s trip to Brazil. I never miss their RSD releases, and Magia Brasileira will be no exception.
This compilation pulls together sun-soaked samba, hazy vocal jazz, and funk-forward cuts from legends like Cal Tjader, Bola Sete, and João Donato. I didn’t see a playlist on Spotify yet so I made one. It’s an instant mood improver.
James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Ali Jackson, & Reginald Veal - Gold Soundz: A Jazz Tribute To Pavement
RSD First, limited to /1000
Originally released on CD in 2005, this brings together four jazz heavyweights: James Carter on sax, Cyrus Chestnut on keys, Ali Jackson on drums, and Reginald Veal on bass. They take the spirit of Pavement and run it through a free-jazz furnace. The result is loose, explosive, and joyfully unfaithful, turning slacker anthems into something closer to the Pharaoh Sanders arena. This edition marks the album’s first ever vinyl release, expanded into a double colored LP with bonus material, new artwork, and liner notes to breathe new life into this cult classic.
Paramore - All We Know Is Falling
RSD Exclusive, limited to /7000
Paramore’s 2005 debut gets the deluxe treatment it deserves, pressed to smoky red double wax. It’s easy to forget just how fully formed this album was right out of the gate, with instant classic bangers like “Pressure” and “Emergency.” This edition pairs the original album with a bonus LP featuring The Summer Tic EP, making its first ever appearance on vinyl.
Pink Floyd - Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26th, 1975
RSD Exclusive, limited to /15400
RSD is always packed with live sets, so let’s close this roundup with two I’m yoinking. First up, don’t judge this one by its cover. The artwork is lazy, but what’s inside is a genuinely legendary Pink Floyd performance, and the story behind it is just as wild.
This show comes from Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here tour stop at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April 1975, captured by the late Mike “The Mic” Millard, widely considered the greatest concert taper of all time. Millard famously snuck pristine recording gear into venues using disguises, wheelchairs, and sheer nerve, and this tape has circulated for decades as the crown jewel of Floyd bootlegs. Unbelievably, the band never properly recorded shows from this era, which makes this audience tape the definitive document of a peak-era Floyd performance. Rolling Stone recently ran a deep dive on Millard’s story and how this once-illegal recording finally became legitimized, and it’s absolutely worth your time if you want the full, incredible backstory.
And now it’s official. Live From the Los Angeles Sports Arena collects 16 tracks from that night, restored and remastered by the great Steven Wilson with care taken to preserve the sound of the room. The 4 LP set is pressed on clear vinyl, turning one of the most revered bootlegs in rock history into a proper archival release.
Steely Dan - Alive in America
RSD Exclusive, limited to /4000
Let’s go. For the first time on vinyl, Steely Dan’s first official live album, Alive in America, will finally be mine. The record pulls from the band’s 1993 and 1994 tours, marking their return to the stage after nearly twenty years, and captures Donald Fagen and Walter Becker sounding loose, sharp, and fully in control.
If you’ve never watched the accompanying VH1 documentary, it’s twenty minutes of dudes rocking, and features my favorite exchange: Fagen admits he no longer remembers what the lyrics mean, the reporter asks Becker if he does, and Becker shrugs, “What’s the difference?” Fagen nails the punchline: “You see, he doesn’t have to sing them.”
I’ve only scratched the surface of this year’s RSD — what’s on your list? Reply to this email or drop a Substack comment and let us know what you’re eyeing!
Catch you next week,
Jared
I've been collecting live recordings for the better part of 35 years and it still blows my mind that a complete Mike Millard recording got officially released. I'm so happy it's being released separately (from the boxset) on vinyl, but I sure wish they would have put a bit of effort into the artwork.