2015 guide Record Store Day Black Friday: the essential shopping list

One for the angsty younger brother to start, whose incessant hormonal whining at your parents is sure to make this year’s Christmas dinner a crushing experience. Lock him away in his room with this on the needle, however, and he can exorcise his puberty-ridden woes to his heart’s content. The opening lines to the iconic mixtape’s closing track - “I only plan to steal whatever I want, fuck who’s watching” - might not be the most festive of sentiments (keep an eye on your bag of new swag when he emerges for Doctor Who), but this re-issue of a modern hip-hop classic is sure to fill the hole in his tiny, teenage angst-filled heart. It comes complete with newly Photoshopped artwork and a replica of the license plate on the cover too, so everyone who passes his bedroom door can know just how edgy he really is.

Pressed on clear yellow 12” especially for this occasion, the central track of last year’s sensational Chvrches debut ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’ makes for a perfect gift for mum. One of only a couple of tracks from the record that sees Martin Doherty’s gravelly vocal take centre stage, it’s a croon that’s sure to melt even the iciest heart, and the oscillating synths are ideal for a kitchen boogie in between bastes of the turkey. The B-side houses ‘Strong Hand’ - a track previously reserved for the iTunes deluxe edition – and versions of ‘The Mother We Share’ and ‘Gun’ taken from an Alucard session, which offer the perfect teaser of their always impeccable live performance.

Previously released on limited edition CD under the pseudonym Imagene Peise, The Flaming Lips’ Christmas record is a baffling affair - a collection of warped, Middle Eastern re-works of classic festive tracks and winter-influenced originals. The title-track features none other than Yoko Ono as a guest artist, so taken as a follow-on from this year’s Miley Cyrus collab it’ll make the ideal left-field gift for a younger sister. Want to drag her out of the Smash Hits posters, One Direction calendars stage of childhood? What better way to baffle her into submission than with an undulating, psychedelic reworking of all her favourite Christmas songs? She’ll be dreacklocking her hair, tye dyeing her scarves and claiming her homemade Taylor Swift t-shirts ‘ironic’ by New Year.

It’s been fifteen years since DMC’s dedication to the festivities of Hollis, Queens was last pressed, which makes this an ideal shout for the mid-life crisis addled uncle in your life. It’s a classic slice of tongue-in-cheek nineties hip-hop, and will go perfectly alongside his slightly embarrassing newfound obsession with vintage motorbikes. The press release for the pressing declares anyone who buys it for a mate “the illest rap gift-giver of the year” – if that doesn’t sound like the cringeworthy sentiment of a Harley Davidson ogling relative, then what does?

Featuring two brand new, previously unused songs from the John Congleton recording sessions for this year’s phenomenal self-titled album, St Vincent’s release is definitely one for the madcap aunty or godmother in your life. ‘Pieta’ has been a mainstay of the methodical and beautiful St. Vincent live show this year, which means there’s a perfect follow-up birthday present in the form of tickets to a show. Always plan ahead. Speaking on the release to DIY, Annie Clark revealed that the tracks “just didn’t quite fit into what I was trying to say with ‘St Vincent’ unfortunately; they just didn’t fit in the weird puzzle piece that is sequencing an album.”

In a bizarre recent trailer for the release (above), Clark demonstrates how to work a record too, so even if the recipient isn’t quite as well versed in archaic music formats as yourself, they can count on Clark to help them through their troubles.

Christmas is nothing without a pissed up dad playing ‘the oldies’ way too loud after one too many mulled wines – at least with this you can be sure he’ll keep it a little on topic with regards to seasonal spirit. With Joey Ramone’s murky-as-mud vocal lending a slightly comical edge to these three-chord, palm-muted renditions of ‘What A Wonderful World’ and its festive brethren, it’s perfect Christmas fodder. Get too drunk, eat too much, stage-dive off the sofa and try not to land on the cat. We’ll be round for Boxing Day leftovers.

Tags: St. Vincent, Features