RSD Essentials

"Indie Exclusive * First time on vinyl * Although it is not actually a group album, RZA is the executive producer for the album, and it features several members of the Wu-Tang Clan collaborating with New York hip hop veterans; AZ, Kool G Rap, M.O.P., Sadat X, Sean Price, Cormega, Masta Ace, and Havoc of Mobb Deep. The album also includes several philosophical spoken word tracks from the RZA. The album's production features live instrumentation by Brooklyn soul band, The Revelations. Chamber Music has a sound inspired by classic soul and kung fu imagery that resembles the signature Wu-Tang Clan sound. RZA “This album has a very live element of today’s musicians playing the vibe of Wu-Tang. The vibe we would normally sample, the vibe of things that we would accumulate through old soul songs, jazz songs, kung fu movies, whatever, now you’ve got musicians that can play this vibe with Wu-Tang MCs rapping over it. The goal of this album is definitely paying homage to our early sound.” "

Indie Exclusive * First repress since the original in 2001. Copies on Discogs sell for well over $100. Weird Revolution is the eighth studio album by the band, released on Surfdog Records and Hollywood Records. It is in large part a rerecorded version of an earlier album, tentatively entitled After the Astronaut, that was abandoned in 1998. The Surfers teeter on the brink of conventional rock values. However, throughout the album, singer Gibby Haynes drives the proverbial truck into the ditch with rambling psychotic speeches.

Indie Exclusive * Third album from former Temptations member David Ruffin, the LP made it into the US R&B Top Five in 1973. David Ruffin was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 for his work with The Temptations. Marvin Gaye once said admiringly of Ruffin: “I heard in [his voice] a strength my own voice lacked.”

Newly Remastered - 50TH Anniversary Edition. Bill Withers' Live At Carnegie Hall was recorded 50 years ago on a rainy Friday evening, but it is still regarded as one of the best live performances in the history of Soul music. With beautiful renditions of his classics "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Grandma's Hands" and of course his biggest hit "Lean On Me", this shouldn't come as a surprise. Withers' brand of melancholy Soul plucks at your heartstrings and creates a wistful yearning, but it is still one of the most uplifting pieces of music you will ever find.

After making tsunami level waves in the industry after his 6 track appearance on Dr. Dre’s latest album, Compton–Los Angeles’s Anderson .Paak returns with his brand new LP, Malibu. After a whirlwind of press, accolades, performances and studio sessions with greats, Anderson .Paak took all those experiences and stirred them into his pot to formulate the silky-smooth Malibu album. The follow-up to 2014’s Venice features appearances from The Game, ScHoolboy Q, Talib Kweli, Rapsody, and BJ The Chicago Kid. The sonic backdrop to the album was provided by some of today’s hottest producers from 9th Wonder, Kaytranada, Madlib, Hi-Tek, RobertGlasper, DJ Khalil and more. With the good Dr.’s co-sign, Anderson’s talent, and his captivating live show, Malibu is sure to make Anderson .Paak a household name very soon.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ESSENTIAL Iggy & The Stooges- Raw Power we’re proud to offer the pressing on gold vinyl.  Includes both the original 1973 David Bowie mix and the 1997 remix of the album.

RSD Essential 036 * Think Indie Exclusive * The Offspring preserve the essential ingredients of their chosen genre--guitars grinding out three chords, shouted vocals, and plenty of vitriol--and layer them over a melodic base that packs considerable popular appeal. The singles from Smash, the Offspring's breakthrough album, still receive considerable radio airplay: "Gotta Get Away," "Come Out and Play," and "Self Esteem." With these and Smash's 11 other tracks, the band chronicles the adolescent experience with clarity and surprisingly incisive wit. That pretty much describes all of their albums, but this is the one to get. It's got more shape than their earlier material and isn't as disturbingly poppy as their more recent recordings; it's the perfect blend of riffs and rage. Smash is the best-selling independent album of all time with over 20 million sold worldwide. Alongside Rancid’s And Out Come the Wolves and Green Day’s Dookie, Smash signaled the arrival of punk rock as a commercial force upon it’s initial release in 1994.

First Time on Colored vinyl. Following a decade of stagnation and waning interest, legendary singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, who masked his soft side with his sarcastic, lyrical prose, entered the new millennium with his acclaimed 10th studio album Life'll Kill Ya. Though the album predated Zevon's fatal cancer diagnosis by two years, its title track, as well as standout cuts like "My Shit's Fucked Up" and "Don't Let Us Get Sick," brought the album critical praise as a "mournful lament on the aging process and the inevitable decay that accompanies it." Available now for the first time on colored vinyl. Ship To Shore PhonoCo's reissue of Life'll Kill Ya features expanded liner notes and rare photos from Jorge Calderón, Zevon's son, Jordan, and Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith. Other highlights include "Porcelain Monkey," which puts Elvis Presley in Zevon's sardonic crosshairs, a cover of Steve Winwood's "Back In The High Life Again" sounds as if it were written for Zevon, and "Fistful of Rain" is a melodious examination of the fickle nature of fame. Engineered as a comeback vehicle, co-produced by Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade (the producing duo responsible for Radiohead's Pablo Honey), Zevon's songwriting collaborator Jorge Calderón added a lighthearted accent to Zevon's musical portraits of doom and gloom. Despite helping with a successful comeback, Life'll Kill Ya's content was revealed all too true when, in 2003, Zevon passed away of pleural mesothelioma. "I mean, the fact that life will kill you is just that," Zevon told Rolling Stone upon the album's release. "I think you have to spend a fair amount of time realizing that you will be, so that you'll remember to enjoy everything you possibly can every minute you're not. You always want to try and tell younger people that, which is very difficult because they don't really hear it because they feel a life has been imposed on them. And of course, they're absolutely correct."

"Indie Exclusive * Rare Electronic Boogie-Funk-Soul Album * Originally Released & Privately Pressed in 1984 * The album we are proudly presenting you today (Out Break.) is Cecil Lyde’s sophomore’s album under the ‘Home Boy’ name and was released in 1984 on his own label Alwest Records. The whole album is backed by a fantastic cast of all-star players that includes John Stephens (Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder), Gary Bell (Lionel Hampton) and Terry Carter (Swamp Dogg). These recordings (eight songs in total) are particularly interesting to boogie-enthusiasts because of their high doses of funky electro twerks, solid grooves, crazy synth work, excellent drumbeats and Cecil’s soulful (yet sexy) Doo-wap influenced vocals. This album just oozes 1980’s Soul, Funk and Electronic Boogie…you’ll quickly find yourself shaking hips the moment the needle hits the first track! This LP is an essential purchase that just begs for a place in your record collection. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents a much-needed reissue of “Out Break.” originally released and privately pressed on Alwest Records in 1984. This rare record (original copies tend to go for LARGE amounts on the secondary market) now comes as a deluxe 180g SILVER vinyl edition with obi strip and features the original artwork. Released exclusively as an ‘indie only/RSD essential release worldwide."

25-year anniversary deluxe reissue of Mood’s seminal debut record, Doom, originally released on September 23 of ’97. Included here on this anniversary reissue is the J Dilla Remix of “Secrets of the Sand” along with some nice album packaging; matte finish, alternate cover and black flooded jacket pockets/black dust sleeves, 180 gram vinyl. 

We’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of the debut album from legendary hip-hop collective The Pharcyde with this exclusive RSD Essential 2-LP set of Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde, pressed on clear with yellow + purple splatter vinyl.

Originally released in 1992 through the iconic Delicious Vinyl, this RIAA Gold-certified album was featured as one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

This album features the singles “Passin’ Me By” “Ya Mama” and “Pack the Pipe”, and is a must-have for any West Coast hip-hop fan.

"Indie Exclusive * Released in 1973, this record was the first Al Wilson LP for the Rocky Road label. The hit title track ‘Show and Tell’ shot to the top of the US pop charts, and also reached top ten in the R&B charts. Due to some poor business decisions by his label, Wilson never truly got the credit he deserved as a contending hitmaker, but Hidle Brown Barnum’s arrangements here come packed with gritty horns, lustrous strings and sultry soul vocals. These 11 sides are certainly worth collecting for any true fan of mid-70s soul music. Pressed for the first time in five decades and reissued on heavyweight white virgin vinyl."

A remastered classic from the quintessential American girl group of the 1960s. Features the original European cover artwork.

Praised as one of the greatest records of all time, this newly remastered, 180-gram edition includes bonus material and a gatefold jacket.

“Lovage” is defined as “an herb that is said to be a benefit for relieving abdominal pains due to gastrointestinal gas…also touted to reduce flatulence when consumed as a tea.” But when placed in the able hands of sonic mastermind Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, recording under the guise of musical lothario Nathaniel Merriweather, the result is a concept album of “music to make love to your old lady by.” With the help of collaborators such as Mike Patton (vocals), Jennifer Charles (vocals) and Kid Koala (turntables), Merriweather serves as your personal guide to the sensual side of life, painting a satirical, darkly funny portrait of love and sex with left-field hip-hop and instrumentals as only he can do.

One can't speak of California's famed desert rock movement without mentioning the visionary producer/musician Chris Goss. The so-called Godfather of the Joshua Tree-centered scene, Goss has produced famed and acclaimed albums by groups like Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Kyuss, Screaming Trees, and numerous others. Before he was known as a renowned producer though, he was the singer/guitarist and only consistent member of one of the most influential-yet-forgotten hard rock groups of all time: Masters of Reality. Masters Of Reality (Whose name was appropriately taken from a Black Sabbath song) had the distinction of being the only group signed to two different hip-hop labels of historical note: Def Jam and Delicious Vinyl. Originally label mates with Public Enemy and Slayer, Masters Of Reality's self-titled debut album was released by Def American in 1988. Two years later, Delicious Vinyl founders Matt Dike and Mike Ross, huge Masters fans, bought the band's contract from Rick Rubin and re-released the album with new cover artwork to renewed acclaim and commercial success. So many years later, Masters Of Reality's debut still feels like a hard-hitting breath of fresh air in a modern landscape of over-produced rock music

Indie Exclusive * 25th Anniversary * Previously long out-of-print, this classic sophomore album by one of the greatest ska bands ever was given a proper treatment for its 20th anniversary. This is a must-have for any Slackers fan, regardless of whether you own the original or not. Remastered for vinyl, “Redlight” never sounded as good; and with a two-color foil stamped cover, exclusive art-print insert, and lyric sleeve, it’s never looked so good either! Originally released by Hellcat Records in 1997, this album truly solidified the Slackers’ iconic sound, blending ska, reggae, soul, jazz and dub, seamlessly, with the passion and integrity that the band has embodied. Whether you’re a new fan, or an old diehard, and whether you pick it up at the band’s merch table, your local record store, or your favorite online retailer, this brilliant re-issue is not one to pass up.

- First Time on Colored Vinyl

- LP has been out of print since the initial pressing in 2004, which appears to have been released in the US only.

- Duran Duran's first studio album since Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) to be recorded by the most famous five-member lineup of the band. Nile Rodgers did preliminary production work on several tracks. Debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and at #17 on the US Billboard 200, with similar top-20 debuts elsewhere in the world. The first single, "(Reach Up for The) Sunrise", debuted at #5 on the UK Singles Chart, later topping the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The second single, "What Happens Tomorrow", entered the UK chart at #11 (where it peaked).

- Out of print since the only pressing in 2009, which appears to have been in the US only (only 2k copies).

- Debuted at #44 on the UK Albums Chart, and #36 on the US Billboard 200. Album features production from Timbaland on 3 tracks (“Nite-Runner” ft. Justin Timberlake, “Skin Divers,” and “Zoom In”).