Black Friday Finds

I hope everyone made it to their local indie record store on Friday for all the great special releases.

I made it to Amoeba in Berkeley, Calif., where I picked up The Black Keys' 45 RPM edition of Brothers. The package includes the album on double 45 RPM vinyl as well as a bonus 10-inch disc of six previously unreleased tracks.

In addition, I got U2's Wide Awake In Europe EP, which features three live songs from their recent tour. The first side has the previously unreleased "Mercy," recorded in Brussels.

And, I was able to get the Bruce Springsteen and The Gaslight Anthem 45s. The Springsteen 7-inch features "Save My Love," a new song off The Promise album, and the great song "Because The Night" on the flip side.

The Gaslight Anthem 7-inch features the band covering "Tumbling Dice." The B-side is their own "She Loves You." The single comes in four different colors, with the cover matching the color of the vinyl.

There was a nice little line in front of Amoeba before the doors opened. When folks were let inside, they jammed around the special releases, so you had to be a little aggressive, but everyone was friendly.

It was a good day to hold vinyl lovers over until Record Store Day in April.