At the Drive-In, Relationship of Command LP (Twenty-first Chapter) This reissue of At the Drive-In‘s magnum opus—first released in 2000 on the Beastie Boys’ long-defunct Grand Royal label—is an obvious result of the band’s popular yet short-lived 2011 reunion (or cash grab, depending on your perspective). A must-have for any early-aughts posthardcore fan, Relationship of Command is a moody, restless confluence of ragged guitar melodies and Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s powerful vocals, which are trippy but not yet Mars Volta trippy. A handful of the heavier cuts, including “Pattern Against User” and “Mannequin Republic,” hold up well—but I’m not too sure about “Rolodex Propaganda,” with its slurring-weirdo guest vocals from Iggy Pop. —Kevin Warwick
Dan Deacon, “Konono Ripoff No. 1” seven-inch (Domino) Record Store Day is a great opportunity for established musicians to sell even their wackiest ideas, leveraging collector-baiting phrases such as “limited edition” and “hand numbered.” Dan Deacon has done stranger things than release a seven-inch with two versions of a tune that pays homage to percussion-heavy Congolese street band Konono No. 1 (you might’ve heard them on Bjork’s 2007 album Volta), but this is probably the first time many of his fans will scramble to buy anything that name-checks an artist from the DRC. —Leor Galil
Double Dagger, 333 LP and If We Shout Loud Enough DVD (Thrill Jockey) This is the alleged swan song from the typography nerds in Baltimore postpunk trio Double Dagger. The LP features the familiar combo of Bruce Willen’s rumbling, blown-out bass chords and Nolen Strals’s rabid, red-faced evangelizing, but the addition of pensive, almost triumphant instrumentals is what makes it feel like a true good-bye. The accompanying DVD documents the band’s final tour. —KW
Drive OST picture disc (Mondo) In a perfect world, this picture disc would be emblazoned with a photo of Ryan Gosling and a speech bubble that said, “Hey girl, you spin me round.” Alas, this isn’t a perfect world, but Drive‘s nocturnal electronic soundtrack—particularly Cliff Martinez’s moody score, which makes up the bulk of the album—is a worthy purchase even without a reference to (or a contribution from) Dead or Alive. —LG
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The First Five: A Picture Disc Collection (Razor & Tie) Much like everything else about Emerson, Lake & Palmer, this box set—the original prog supergroup’s first five LPs on beautiful picture discs—is incredibly self-indulgent and of questionable necessity. —Luca Cimarusti
Josephine Foster, Little Life (Fire) Inspired by the recordings of Ella Jenkins and by giving music lessons to children, Josephine Foster recorded these 11 songs in 2001, when she still lived in Chicago, accompanying herself on ukulele and guitar. Previously available only as a limited-edition cassette and reissued for Record Store Day on ten-inch vinyl, Little Life is steeped in Tin Pan Alley pop and various strains of early American folk (both black and white), and it provides an early demonstration of Foster’s easy way with such styles—she remakes all of them in her own elegantly gawky image. —Peter Margasak
GZA, Liquid Swords box set (Get On Down) Widely regarded as the best Wu-Tang solo record and one of the best rap albums of the 90s, Liquid Swords gets the deluxe vinyl-reissue treatment it deserves, with the original and an instrumental version on four LPs, extra artwork, and new liner notes from the GZA himself. Fittingly, given that it’s possibly the most intensively chess-themed Wu record, the box doubles as a chessboard—and a full set of wooden pieces comes with the package. —Miles Raymer
Joe Mansfield, Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession: V.2 TR-909 (Get On Down) Excerpted from an upcoming coffee-table book by prominent drum-machine collector Joe Mansfield, this slim 20-page volume focuses on the Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer, one of the most influential drum machines ever produced—released in 1983, it helped define the sound of rap, house, techno, and almost every other genre that’s come along since. Beat Box includes photos and vintage ads, and it comes with two flexi discs—one clear, one orange—featuring sounds of the 909 narrated by Schoolly D, plus the 909-based instrumentals of his songs “Gucci Time” and “P.S.K.” —MR
Old 97’s & Waylon Jennings double seven-inch (Omnivore) In 1996 outlaw-country legend Waylon Jennings joined fellow Texans the Old 97’s in the studio to record versions of two Old 97’s songs—”Iron Road” and “The Other Shoe“—but they haven’t been commercially released till now. This double seven-inch is rounded out by two previously unissued demos that the band cut sans Waylon at around the same time, and its sharp gatefold sleeve features art by Jon Langford. —PM
Charlie Poole with the Highlanders, The Complete Paramount & Brunswick Recordings, 1929 (Tompkins Square) Before he launched the Tompkins Square label in 2005, Josh Rosenthal was at Sony Music, where he worked on the great Charlie Poole box set You Ain’t Talkin’ to Me. That three-disc collection includes a couple of the tunes that the influential country singer and banjo player recorded in 1929 for Brunswick and Paramount, and this 12-track release collects all of them. (To skirt contract restrictions with Columbia, he and his band called themselves the Highlanders or the Allegheny Highlanders.) It’s a wonderful complement to the box set. For more on Paramount, see James Hughes’s feature on page BTK. —PM
The South Park “San Diego” b/w “Gay Fish” seven-inch picture disc (Comedy Central) These songs provided some of South Park‘s best episode-ending punch lines in years, and even though they might not make much sense without an accompanying DVD, this seven-inch is worth it for the Kanye-biting B side. “Gay Fish,” which pokes fun at Ye during his 808s-era breakdown, is the best “Heartless” send-up about homosexual aquatic creatures that you’ll hear all weekend. —LG
The Stooges, “No Fun,” b/w the Black Keys, “No Fun” (Warner Brothers) Warner Brothers’ Side by Side series of colored-vinyl 45s pairs classic tracks with cover versions by contemporary bands. This one matches up the greatest band of all time with the most popular band in America right now; others include the Lemonheads taking on the Misfits and Type O Negative covering Deep Purple. —LC
The XX, Jamie XX Edits (XL) The primary architect of the XX’s potent and much-copied blend of indie rock, dance music, and sex vibes remixes two tracks from the band’s 2012 album Coexist. Jamie replaces the two-step beat of “Sunset” with one that nods at his affection for Chicago house, while the minimalist bonus track “Reconsider” picks up that two-step influence for a version considerably more danceable than the original. Both are available online, but the vinyl version’s tasteful deluxe packaging (its Record Story Day page refers to a “die cut sleeve with wrap around inner sleeve”) is worth paying for. —MR