Record Store Day 2024 

• Sophie Caliguiri
• Shelves at Diabolical Records

There are many ways to tend to the past. Whether you pay homage to nostalgia or pander to remorse, reminiscing is more interesting when set to music. Enter the vinyl record, a conduit for history in two distinct ways. One: The record itself is a relic, recalling a time before the CD, before Walkman and certainly before Spotify, when vinyl was the only medium designed for music. Two: Music itself is memory. Tied to circumstance, people and the past, in many ways music is a momentary reenactment of time and space.

If listening to a record lets such histories loose—conjuring spirits which come tapping upon your inner ear—then Record Store Day brings a shovel and ceremoniously digs up the grave of What Once Was, presenting it re-invented, rearranged, re-formatted and fit for our 2024 inclinations. Designed to "celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role they play in their communities," Record Store Day (RSD) annually boasts special, demo, live or re-releases of your favorite tunes by your favorite artists—only on vinyl, and only fashioned for indie record stores across the U.S. What started as a kitschy way to not just save but prove the importance of local record haunts has metamorphosed into a 15-year annual event fueled by 5 a.m. line-ups in record store parking lots.

So, lest we forget what the day is all about—supporting locals and the music, man!—we've reached out to the staff at three Record Store Day participating shops in Utah, and asked them one simple question: Why do you love records?

Diabolical Records: Owned and operated by Adam Tye and Alana Boscan, since 2013, Diabolical Records has been known for slinging records pressed for those with provocative, alternative and exciting sensibilities. They're long-time carriers of independent music labels as well as physically formatted local releases, and despite what the name suggests, the only truly diabolical thing about this shop is how fit the selections are for greedy fingers.

Tye's favorite thing about vinyl is "the collectability of it." "I think humans instinctively gather things. If you love something, you should want a physical representation of it," he said. Besides fastening music to listeners on Record Store Day 2024, Tye is most excited for "the phone calls about the Olivia Rodrigo release to stop."

So, leave Tye alone, and read it here once and for all: Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan are releasing two live singles on colored vinyl especially for RSD, with Kahan covering Rodrigo's "Lacy," and Rodrigo covering Kahan's "Stick Season." Now, instead, ask Tye this: "If I like Olivia Rodrigo, what indie label artist should I check out?" Bingo!

Graywhale Entertainment: Since 1986, Graywhale has been an oasis for the mediaphile and a cornerstone of record collecting. Carrying an all-encompassing array of genres on CD and vinyl formats, their eclectic selection has been known to satisfy both industry snobs and half-listening amateur music purveyors alike.

Allyson Katana, manager at the Taylorsville location, says she loves vinyl because, "The act of putting on a record is so mindful. You have to put it on the player, and flip it over. It's a more zen way to listen to, and experience music." Staff member Mady Ewell agrees: "I really love the look and sound of vinyl. It's crazy that it is just a giant flat disc that you put a needle to, and it creates sound. I love the snap-crackle-pop you get off of some of the vintage records. It's just really unique." Collin Womeldorf also likes the vintage aspect: "I love finding old records, and thinking about where they've been before, and how they've been enjoyed a lot, and now it's your turn to enjoy them."

Sam Stahura, a clerk at the Ogden Graywhale, loves "the ritualism of it all. The tangibility of it. I'm not a religious person, and even though it sounds pretentious, [listening to a record] is like a religious experience." Fellow clerk Tyler (whose last name is "Don't Worry About That") says: "I just like music in general. That's what it boils down to for me."

And, their Record Store Day 2024 picks are just as diverse as their stores' offerings, with the staff excited for the Witchfinder's General Death Penalty, Sonic Youth's Hits Are For Squares, Grateful Dead's Nightfall of Diamonds and At The Drive-in's In/Casino/Out RSD special releases, among others.

Lavender Vinyl: If you have love and will travel, Ogden's local music brandishing bouquet, Lavender Vinyl, has plopped the quintessential browsing-among-the-stacks-feel that big-business record stores fail to develop right into the beating heart of Ogden. Owned and operated by Kye Hallows and Blake Lundell, and with friendly faces and knowledge to boot, this local shop shows that matching sounds to listeners is never quite as rhapsodical as when done here with vinyl blooming like flowers ripe for the picking.

Hallows says their favorite thing about vinyl is that it "forces you to slow down and take in the experience in this fast-paced world, where we are always looking at our phones and skipping tracks. It allows you to enjoy the work as the artist intended us to hear it." They're most excited not about a specific release, but about "hanging out with all of the fellow record nerds" on a day that many wait for round-the-clock.

Record Store Day 2024 is on April 20, so turn to your favorite local, indie store to see when they open for business. And please: If you buy the Olivia Rodrigo album (all the more power to ya!), try and buy something from a more underground label while you're at it. Yeah, it might not be the resale ticket item of the year, but it will likely transport you to the past. But only as long as you're listening closely.