Singles weren’t always released on Spotify or Soundcloud. They used to be pressed on vinyl. Often these 45 RPM recordings came with a serious treat. Led Zeppelin’s “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” appeared on the flipside of the “Immigrant Song” single and never appeared on an official studio LP. U2’s “The Sweetest Thing” got second billing to “Where the Streets Have No Name” before resurfacing on a best-of compilation. Needle to the Groove invites all local crate diggers to see what they might unearth at this massive sale of 10,000 recently acquired 45s.

45s Mega Sale
Sat, 11am
Needle to the Groove, San Jose

On April 18, the music industry rises once again to show support for the greatest of all recording formats: vinyl. Many Silicon Valley small businesses—your local record stores—will be participating:

•   Streetlight Records—San Jose, 980 S. Bascom Ave.
•   Rasputin Music—Campbell, 1820 S. Bascom Ave.; Mountain View, 1939 W El Camino Real
•   Needle to the Groove—San Jose, 410 E. Santa Clara St; Fremont, 131 I St
•   The Record Man—Redwood City, 1322 El Camino Real
•   The Analog Room—San Jose—1416 Fruitdale Ave.
•   On the Corner Music—Campbell, 530 E Campbell Ave.

There’s too many special releases to list. Here are three of the most anticipated among the many reissues, picture discs and bootlegs hitting stores this Saturday.

Run The Jewels: S/T 12”
The sleeper hit rap duo of 2014 are contributing a special, limited run 12” EP that comes out on Record Store Day. Atlanta’s Killer Mike and New York’s El-P have contributed some of the most critically acclaimed rap of the past two years, so this record is sure to be in high demand.

Metallica: No Life ’til Leather cassette
The Bay Area heavy metal giants’ demo tape is shrouded in legend at this point, but Metallica are reissuing it as a limited edition cassette available only on Record Store Day. It features early versions of some of the best songs on the classic album Kill ‘Em All, as well as some songs that can’t be found anywhere else. Except, you know, on YoutTube:

Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear 7”
Father John Misty exploded this year, rocketing from well-kept secret to bona fide indie rock star. His album I Love You, Honeybear, is an early favorite for Album of the Year. The singer-songwriter is releasing an exclusive acoustic version of the album’s title track in a special heart-shaped 7” record.

For more info on special releases check out the Record Store Day website.

The Bang’s Derek See recently took a momentary break from classic 1960s soul and recorded a solo EP, She Came This Way, an exploration into the psychedelic rock sounds of the mid to late 60s.

“While I love many different types of music, I essentially live for the sounds of 1963-1971,” See told us. “I guess stylistically if I were to analyze what I do best at on my own, it’s the distillation of the whole West Coast folk-rock sound by way of British rock and psychedelia.”

See recorded every instrument and all the vocals himself, except the drums, which were played by the Bang’s drummer Richard Gutierrez. See, who also created a blog to share his passion for music, Derek’s Daily 45s, felt inspired to record these new songs after spending some time with a musician friend.

“I spend so much time writing about music and sharing that it was high time that I started focusing on getting some of the ideas that float through my head onto a finished song,” See says. “I started relentlessly singing ideas into my voice memo recorded on the phone and among the sketches these songs came about.”

Psychedelphonic Records will releasing a 7″ single of the title cut “She Came This Way” with “McQueen (Slight Return)” as the B-side track.

Stream or purchase the EP on Derek See’s Bandcamp page.

Sigur Rós’s second album, Agætis byrjun (1999) was awarded Iceland’s best album of the century. Yes, that is a real award. And that’s saying a lot considering Iceland gave the world Bjork, not that Bjork isn’t adored in Iceland. There’s just something about the gorgeous, atmospheric slow-buildups of Sigur Rós songs that drive Icelanders crazy.

Streetlight is hosting a sneak peek at the latest Sigur Rós record, Valtari, on May 17, almost two weeks before its scheduled May 29 release. Plus, those who attend will be entered in a drawing to win a test pressing of the album on vinyl.

This listening session is part of an international promotion that will be occurring at different record stores and specially chosen sites all over the world. Each participating location will stream the album in their respective time zones and one person from each location will leave with a test pressing of the album on vinyl.

Valtari is the first album from the band in four years. Since the late 90s, Sigur Rós have challenged listeners with 10-minute long songs that move at a snail’s pace and are highlighted with Jónsi Birgisson’s unusual falsetto voice. With influences ranging from Radiohead to classical music, Sigur Rós have made an unlikely impact on the states, not to mention the world, especially considering that they are a non-English band. Will Valtari be voted best Icelandic album this century? We’ll find out in another 88 years.

For more information, check out Streetlight’s Facebook event site.