Pitchfork

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Above the din of your Soulseek client's insistent friend request beep and that nasty "server seems to have been compromised" message they throw at you whenever you've got too many torrents open, you may have caught wind of the troubles the record industry's been facing lately. People just aren't buying Bow Wow records in the numbers they once did, and the same, of course, could be said for the artists that generally grace these pages. Sucks for Wal-Mart, but whatevs, they deserve it.

But it sucks in a totally sucky way for indie record shops, where you should be acquiring a vast majority of your recorded music and related bric-a-brac. Seriously.

With that in mind, a group of artists and record labels have come together to support Record Store Day, taking place April 19 at a mom and pop shop near you. Participating record stores-- and there are a lot of 'em-- are hosting special events throughout the day, and will have special merchandise for sale. One of those pieces of merchandise comes from a young man by the name of Stephen Malkmus (via his record label, Matador).

Anyway, Malkmus and the Jicks are issuing a limited-edition 10" single for Real Emotional Trash's "Cold Son", featuring a trio of unreleased jams. The disc will only be available through stores participating in Record Store Day, though some will also be available on the Jicks' tour.

There's a song on here called "Carl the Clod"! Good cause and all, but how could you not want this thing?

Oh, and that Malky tour? Dates after this.

"Cold Son" Record Store Day 10":

01 Cold Son
02 Walk Into the Mirror
03 Pennywhistle Thunder
04 Carl the Clod

Malks/Jicks:

03-19 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
03-20 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater *
03-21 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre *
03-22 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue Theater *
03-23 Newport, KY - Southgate House *
03-25 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge *
03-26 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
03-28 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
03-29 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore at the TLA *
03-31 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *
04-01 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *
04-02 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
04-03 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club *
04-04 North Adams, MA - MASS MoCA *
04-11 Portland, OR - Jupiter Hotel (Malkmus with James Mercer) (Buckman Bash)
04-20 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa #
04-21 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre #
04-23 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad #
04-24 Tucson, AZ - Plush #
04-26 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-27 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore #
04-28 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's #
04-30 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall #
05-02 Victoria, British Columbia - Sugar #
05-03 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards #
05-24-26 George, Washington - The Gorge (Sasquatch!)
05-29-31 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
06-05 London, England - Shepherd's Bush Empire
06-07 Manchester, England - Academy 2
06-08 Glasgow, Scotland - Oran Mor
06-09 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod

* with John Vanderslice
# with the Joggers