Nearly a month on, the success of the 2013 Record Store Day is continuing to resonate. While industry reports demonstrate that the annual event – designed to get people back into independent music shops and buying up vinyl – was a resounding success, driving some of the biggest LP sales yet, the cultural currency of Record Store Day can also be seen in the number of exclusive releases being touted online.
Exclusive Record Store Day 2013 releases began turning up for sale on online auction sites from enterprising sellers looking to profit from the desires of those who had missed out at the annual event. Special one-day releases from Australian acts experienced inflated price tags, with Tame Impala’s 12″ expansion of their 2008 self-titled EP, fetching upwards of US$60–70 on eBay, while Cut Copy’s debut album Like Neon Love, issued for the first time on vinyl thanks to Modular, has reached similar price levels.
But even blow-outs of rare vinyl reissues of Sigur Rós, At The Drive-In, and The Flaming Lips can’t compare to one super-rare item that has fetched nearly ten times that of the Dave Matthews Band live album going for US$ 560.
One user on community based site Reddit is now US$ 5,700 richer, and earned the status of highest-selling Records Store Day release, thanks to the sale of a limited edition 12” release from cult electronic duo Boards of Canada, as FACT magazine reports.
Why the exorbitant cost? Because the vinyl single is a little piece of music history, kick-starting a community-driven hunt that was part of Boards Of Canada’s unique marketing campaign for what has now been revealed to be their latest album, Tomorrow’s Harvest. One user on community based site Reddit is now US$ 5,700 richer, and earned the status of highest-selling Records Store Day release…
Hype for new material from the Scottish duo has only escalated since the release of their last record, 2005′s The Campfire Headphase, so when a lucky fan stumbled upon the mysterious 12” in New York shop Other Music on Record Store Day, as Pitchfork reported,anticipation went into overdrive.
After a series of subsequent enigmatic vinyl releases began turning up, with a second in London (as FACT reported),
The lucky customer, Reddit user ‘lilcakey‘, then posted the rare promotional 12” up on eBay with a listing describing the unique thrill of discovering the first piece in Boards Of Canada’s marketing puzzle: “When I found this record I was anticipating some sort of unreleased track, which excited me in an almost frightening way (its just music.. right?),” wrote ‘lilackey’ on his eBay listing. “So when I first played the record, needless to say, I was mystified, and in some ways disappointed,” (here’s what he heard):
As he continues in his eBay listing however, “that disappointment would soon disappear… What I got instead, the experience of calling out to the web and watching the internet and its many niche-communities rally to pick apart this puzzle, was something I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around, but I am at any rate incredibly thankful to have been a part of this …thing,” he continued.
Despite finally cashing in at $US 5,700 from a user looking to own a little piece of music history, ‘lilcakey’ says the decision to part with the record was not an easy one. “As much as this record means to me, I’m just a college kid getting ready to graduate and move abroad and am in serious need of money,” he explained. “My thanks to the highest bidder for helping me start out on my own, and to the web community at large for making these last two weeks so incredibly memorable.”
More importantly, he writes, “nothing will erase the experience of pursuing the answer this record made me ask, and moreover the satisfaction of having that question answered by the hard work of my fellow nerds.”
Boards Of Canada’s Tomorrow’s Harvest is out June 7th through Warp Records (via Inertia). Artwork and tracklising below.
Tracklisting:
1. “Gemini” 2:56
2. “Reach for the Dead” 4:47
3. “White Cyclosa” 3:13
4. “Jacquard Causeway” 6:35
5. “Telepath” 1:32
6. “Cold Earth” 3:42
7. “Transmisiones Ferox” 2:18
8. “Sick Times” 4:16
9. “Collapse” 2:49
10. “Palace Posy” 4:05
11. “Split Your Infinities” 4:28
12. “Uritual” 1:59
13. “Nothing is Real” 3:52
14. “Sundown” 2:16
15. “New Seeds” 5:39
16. “Come to Dust” 4:07
17. “Semena Mertvykh” 3:30
