Record Store Day 2016: Manchester & Liverpool

It's that time of year again as we look ahead to Record Store Day (Saturday 16 April), the annual global celebration of our beloved bevy of independent record shops – and the culture that comes with them. 

And while RSD is met with the occasional shutdown – fuelled by questions of whether the major labels are eating up resources to make a quick vinyl buck (inevitable), 'Why don't we celebrate vinyl culture year round?' (pedantic) and so on – we suggest you simply embrace the inclusivity and positivity behind it, and the many goings-on in your city.

Check out our guide to Record Store Day 2016 events in Manchester and Liverpool below. 

Organising or know of a Record Store Day event in Manchester or Liverpool? Email jess@theskinny.co.uk and we’ll add it in!

Record Store Day events in Manchester

Another Record Store Day means another Soup Kitchen All Dayer, where just four of your precious pounds will get you live sets from Macclesfield’s Hot Vestry, local duo Ghost Outfit, BBC Radio 6 Music favourites Mother, experimental noise-rockers Werk, Widnes trio Mums and electronic duo Black Lung. Being only a quick jump across the road from Northern Quarter record shop Eastern Bloc, it seems like a natural progression for the day to take (4pm, £3 on the door).

Speaking of which, it seems Eastern Bloc have been busy conjuring up huge plans for this year, with the announcement that they'll be joined by original junglists and drum'n'bass pioneers Roni Size and Krust. They'll be playing in store ahead of taking to Band on the Wall that evening with their Full Cycle tour, which comes following the news earlier this year that they'd be re-launching the famed drum'n'bass label. Accordingly you can expect a lot of bodies to be knocking around that bijou space. Biiig stuff (time TBC).

Live music also fills The Ruby Lounge, where garage rock outfit The Hipshakes mark the release of their latest LP, Snake, as well as 15 years since their first ever practice took place. They’ll be joined by 60s garage-beat group Mourning After and mod revivalists The Transmitters (7pm, £6 advance).

Elsewhere, Vinyl Revival’s got an in-store gig from the Tom Hingley Band – fronted by he of Inspiral Carpets (9.30am, free).

[Eastern Bloc Records]

It may not be an indie record shop, but you will find a whole ton of vinyl up for grabs at the Manchester Record Fair, taking place once again at Sacha’s Hotel on Tib Street – which, despite an exterior resembling a destitute Las Vegas showgirl who's seen better days, has recently become a hotspot for some pretty good events (including vegan fairs – incidentally, the next Northern Vegan Festival is happening the weekend after RSD). Here you’ll be able to spend the day rifling through crate upon crate of long-forgotten gems, before haggling for a bargain (10am, £1.50-£3).

Like their Northern Quarter brethren at Soup Kitchen, Trof are also on the all-dayer format, roping in regular DJs and all-round nice guys Jim Bane (Eastern Bloc Records) and Swindells, who’ll be taking you into the small hours with soul, funk, jazz, hip-hop, disco, afro, tropical, yacht rock, broken beat, reggae, Latin and world tunes – which will go perfectly with a daiquiri, incidentally (4pm, free).

Meanwhile, their bigger sister venue The Deaf Institute have taken the reins for after-party duty, topping the bill with Manchester’s seemingly unstoppable Horsebeach, who marry sun-drenched Cali jangles with some healthy Mancunian murk. Also stepping up to the plate are local rising trio Blooms, whose lo-fi dream-pop has been making particularly sizeable waves locally and beyond in the last year or so, plus indie quartet Sprinters, and Move, the post-punk venture of former MONEY man Scott Beaman. All this and DJ sets in the main and basement bars from Piccadilly Records DJs, Dave Walker, Sylvester and Patch (6pm, £4 adv.).

And if it’s still not quite time for bed, make your way to Joshua Brooks, where Manchester promoters Tussle and Doodle will be going head to head in a RSD special, enlisting the help of two turntables, one mixer and all of their favourite house, techno and disco records. Nab yourself a free ticket via Skiddle, or cough up a fiver on the door (11pm).

The party also continues into the next day, as R.A.D (Retro and Dangerous, dontchya know) Screenings host a double bill of 1995 coming-of-age flick Empire Records and High Fidelity, the adaptation of Nick Hornby’s seminal tale exploring the obsession behind being a music fan. Both absolute musts for music fans – and for anyone who likes to sort their records autobiographically (Sunday 17 April, 5pm, £8 adv.).

Where to buy Record Store Day releases in Manchester

Participating stores in Manchester are Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Vinyl Revival, Eastern Bloc, or if you’re prepared to edge out a little to Prestwich you’ll find your fix at Endless Music.

Record Store Day events in Liverpool

The entire Jacaranda building gets the RSD treatment, as the doors are flung open at 10am for all of the day’s releases, with the rest of the general stock also available on the ground floor. Then they're laying on a pretty handsome 12 hours of entertainment across the venue all the way through ’til 2am, cranking out live music down in the basement from Thom Morecroft, whose daytime acoustic session is followed by Daniel Saleh, Rossa Murray, The American Hitmen and others as things progress into the evening. On ground floor DJ duty, you’ll be in safe hands with Mellowtone Records, who’ll be showcasing the sounds that have made them a Liverpool staple with live sets from Edgar ‘Summertyme’ Jones and Nick Ellis, plus Mellowtone DJs behind the decks (free).

Vinyl fair and 'listening bazaar' Stylus will be camping out at Arts Club for a Saturday special, complete with rare and collectable 45s, LPs and 12"s (12pm, free), while in the Buyers Club garden (weather permitting, we hasten to add) they'll be collaborating with some of the region's best collectors and selectors throughout the day, with more details on the music line-up and food options yet to be announced (12pm, free).

3B Records also have Inspiral Carpets’ Tom Hingley in for a special in-store gig with his band, celebrating the RSD launch of his new charity single, Beggar's Hand (5pm, free).

Liverpool Small Cinema are also getting involved, with an evening of short films celebrating creative collaborations between local musicians and filmmakers (7pm, £2-£3). Think you’ve got something that might fit the bill? You can submit your film here. As well as this, they’ll have Chris Paul Daniels’ epic remix of the Virgin Records video archive on loop (from 12pm), the café will be open and there’ll even be a chance to spin some records.

Where to buy Record Store Day releases in Liverpool

Participating stores in Liverpool are Jacaranda Records, 3B Records and Probe Records, while a little further out there’s also Kaleidoscope Records in St Helens and Southport’s Quicksilver Music.