As vinyl increasingly becomes a more collectible, sought-after commodity, so too has Record Store Day's reputation grown. Now in its fourth year Record Store Day 2011, which is just four days away -- this Saturday, April 16th -- promises to be the best RSD to date with even more special, exclusive releases than any previous year! As outlined in the video above with Chris Brown from Bull Moose (the man responsible for creating Record Store Day in the first place), there are oodles of amazing releases, including freebies, this year. In the above clip Chris overviews a great many of the notable RSD 2011 exclusive releases. These include records in all formats (7", 10", 12", LP, colored vinyl, picture discs, and box-sets) from such artists as Ozzy Osbourne (RSD 2011's "Official Ambassador"), Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Beach Boys, Buck Owens, Big Star, and Fleetwood Mac. You can get a full RSD release list right here! Fleetwood Mac's latest re-release of their mega-successful 1977 album Rumours is unique because it is a Deluxe 2 LP 180 gram vinyl set that plays at 45 RPM. It has been stretched out on a double LP at 45 speed for attaining the highest playback audio quality.

Along with all the vinyl releases (many quite limited pressings), there are also non vinyl RSD releases such as the (Frank) Kozik designed RPM blind boxed collectible toy figures with each box containing one randomly inserted figure plus a miniature RSD toy record. Another non-vinyl RSD 2011 release is the MF DOOM Operation Doomsday lunchbox with 2 CDs inside. There's quite a few 10" RSD releases this year too, including Adele's "Rolling In The Deep." Of the numerous 7" RSD 2011 records, ones that caught my attention include Busdriver's "ATM," Bad Brains' "Pay To Cum," and one from funk/soul and breaks legend Dennis Coffey. The Coffey record is a seven inch single (c/o Strut, who are releasing his 2011 full-length) titled "Uniquitous." What's extra cool about this seven inch is that it comes with a Steinski remix. Yesterday I tracked down Steinksi and asked him to tell the Amoeblog a bit about this remix and what it was like working with Coffey's music. "One of the nicest surprises about hearing the rough mixes for Dennis's LP is how funky he still is and how accomplished," said Steinski of the man who is probably best known for his disco/b-boy classic, the 1971 instrumental funk hit "Scorpio." "He hasn't lost much, if anything, off his fastball. I had the luxury of poking around the multitracks, rearranging and adding to a lot of exceptionally fine parts. I was honored."



Busdriver's "ATM" seven inch on Polyvinyl Records, which stands for "Ass To Mouth," is from the LA artist's forthcoming anticipated new full-length. The B-side ("Colour Wheel") is also a sneak peak of the artist's new, genre-defying album. The record's production comes care of Loden, whose experimental/instrumental hip-hop album Buggy was one of my favorite releases in 2010.

Note that availability is subject to quantities available on these releases and since many RSD titles are extremely limited, they will be sold on a first come, first served basis, and will be limited to a quantity of one title per customer. Also please note that there are no holds, mail-order, or web orders on RSD titles. For exact details on all of this, best to check out the Amoeba homepage under "What's New" where you can also download a PDF with every RSD release listed to print and fill out your wish-list in advance of Saturday. It will get you more prepared for this Saturday, which, based on last year's enthusiastic reception, should be pretty hectic at Amoeba.

Besides all of these releases, Amoeba Music is offering much more. There's the Amoeba Record Store Day Contest in which you can win one of three Pro-Ject Debut III turntables plus a grip of super cool vinyl. Additionally, each Amoeba store will have a lot going on this Saturday, including performances and guest DJ spots such as a mini-acoustic set and signing by Al Jardine at noon at Amoeba Berkeley, Los Shimmy Shakers playing live at 4pm at Amoeba San Francisco and emcee Evidence at noon & Henry Rollins at 2pm at the Hollywood Amoeba where from 11am until 4pm or whenever supplies run out there will be free RSD T-shirts (c/o Anti and Epitaph) been given away. There will also be a fresh selection of newly acquired jazz LPs at Amoeba Berkeley! Please click here to get all the details on the RSD happenings at all 3 Amoeba locations.