Arts and Culture

WATCH: Celebrating this classic way of listening to music

Exclusive records on sale for this event

Randall Allan carefully reaches into a sleeve, pulling out a bright blue record. At the centre, the iconic logo for The Offspring.

He gingerly places the record down on the player platter and the stylus automatically moves into place.

Immediately, Can’t Repeat, starts booming throughout Sunrise Records.

He is excited to purchase the Greatest Hits album, which he said is the first time the album has been pressed on vinyl. It’s an exclusive for Record Store Day (RSD), a global celebration sharing a love of music.

Allan is the assistant manager at the Orchard Park mall record store. He said playing music on vinyl is unlike any other listening experience.

“Having the physical copy and looking at it and being able to check it out,” Allan told Kelowna10. “Every time I put on a record, I want to be able to sit down and enjoy it, so I pour myself a drink, turn it up really loud, and listen to the songs I want to listen to.”

RSD started in 2007, and happens every year, to celebrate record store culture. The day is focused on bringing together stores, fans, and artists.

With streaming music being so popular, Allan said it’s still important to go to record stores to have the physical connection of looking through records to find the perfect match.

“It’s just more of a personal experience, too, just coming in and talking with someone about records and the love of music,” he explained. “There’s tons of exclusive vinyl for Record Store Day that come in [various] colours.”

Record labels have started to print exclusive vinyl for the day. Several come in rare colours, and others are limited print.

Allan is an aficionado of sorts - last month, he spent around $1,000 on vinyl.

“I’ve always enjoyed music [and] back when I was younger, I always collected CDs,” he said. “I started collecting vinyl, but only a few releases, and I only had a little stack, [and] now after a year, it fills up like half the wall.”

RSD is Saturday, April 23.

Published 2022-04-22 by Jordan Brenda

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