I don't know if I mentioned this to you or not (actually, I have), but I've got a little over $800 in store credit at Homer's. And I plan to drop a large chunk of it this Saturday at "Record Store Day."

The event, founded in 2007, is celebrated each year on the third Saturday of April and involves 700 independently owned record stores, which are defined as "a physical retailer whose product line consists of at least 50 percent music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70 percent located in the state of operation" -- i.e., the Good Guys.

It's not just Homer's who's involved -- The Antiquarium and Drastic Plastic also are participating, which I guess means they'll be offering some of the event's exclusive, limited-edition merch. What kind of merch? Well, the full list is online here.

What each store will actually have on hand is the real question, and will also depend on when you get there, because I assume all of this stuff is very limited. What am I interested in? Well, the Cursive/Ladyfinger 4-song 10-inch split picture disc (two unreleased and two "new" tracks) limited to 1,500 copies; the Neil Young Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House 1968 2LP set; The Yeah's new LP; The Smiths The Headmaster Ritual/Oscillate Wildly 7"; the Camera Obscura 7-inch, and that's just for starters. I'm open to suggestions. And apparently there are performances by Matt Cox, Far Beyond Frail, Brad Hoshaw and others downtown at the Old Market location, but I'm not sure of the schedule.

So drop in on any of the local record joints Saturday and buy something. Seriously, when was the last time you went to a record store?

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Seattle singer/songwriter Unwed Sailor a.k.a. Johnathon Ford is playing at O'Leaver's tonight with Landing on the Moon, $5, 9:30 p.m. Also tonight, Little Black Stereo plays at The Barley Street with Down with the Ship and Sweet Pea.

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