Record Store Day's Black Friday shopping

I took home some swag from Record Store Day's Black Friday sale.

As a general rule, I do not go shopping on "Black Friday." I like saving money on Christmas shopping as much as the next guy, but I can't handle all of the people and the frenzy.

But for the last two years, I make sure to brave the madness to go to record stores. Record Store Day is in April, but in 2010 they started doing a smaller version of the event on the day after Thanksgiving.

I like vinyl. I like music. So, off I go.

I did decide to skip the lines and frenzy that takes place in the morning. Homer's Music and Drastic Plastic employees told me that each store had a line before the stores opened at 9 a.m. and it was a little crazy.

I hit up both of those stores as well as Saddle Creek Shop to see what was available. I did write up a wish list in this week's column, and most of what I was looking for was still available.

I ended up going home with Craig Finn's solo single, "Honolulu Blues;" Silversun Pickups' "Seasick;" and Wilco's "Speak Into The Rose" 10-inch. (see the photo above)

I didn't really want to drop all the money for the Black Keys' single (about $10), Iron & Wine (about $15) or the Beatles singles (more than $50... sheesh). The Civil Wars record had sold out and then, according to Mike Fratt at Homer's, The Rolling Stones single had a pressing problem, so I put my name on a waiting list for that.

The most interesting aspect, to me, was over at Saddle Creek Shop. There, I was the very first person to buy any of the RSD exclusives. This was at 3 p.m. and they had been open all day.

SC Shop had most of the RSD stuff and I ended up buying the Wilco record there because everywhere else had sold out. It's a great little store. They have lots of stuff on vinyl and every single Saddle Creek Records release that's in print.

A friend bought some non-RSD vinyl including the Magnetic Fields's "69 Love Songs" box set. They have tons of other great vinyl there, too.

Did you go out for Record Store Day? What did you take home? Where did you go?