Saturday 18 April come back Record Store Day, the international day dedicated to independent record shops: a global event that celebrates musical culture, the passion for vinyl and the importance of record stores as living places of community, meeting and cultural identity.
For the 2026 edition, the ambassador is Bruno Marsan artist capable of combining pop, funk, soul and R&B in a transversal stylistic signature. For the occasion, Mars publishes The Collaborationsa collection that brings together his most iconic encounters: from Uptown Funk with Mark Ronson a Die With A Smile with Lady Gaga, up to the recent hit APT. with ROSÉ.
Among the most anticipated surprises, the meeting between John Densmore, historic drummer of the Doors, e Chuck D by Public Enemy. No Country for Old Mensigned with the alias doPErecalls the imagination of Cormac McCarthy and the Coen brothers, offering a lucid and powerful look at the present through the voice of two figures who have marked the history of popular culture. Another highly prestigious release is signed by Robert Plant with the EP Saving Grace: All That Glitters…which explores folk and American roots through songs by Gillian Welch and Bert Jansch, recorded especially for this day of celebration. To these icons is added Bruce Springsteen with Live From Asbury Park 2024a visceral performance captured in his house spiritual, which returns all the inexhaustible energy of the Boss on stage, in a monumental quintuple album.
As always, there are numerous releases that celebrate the anniversaries and history of rock. Time travel starts from fifty years of Calling Card Of Rory Gallagher (produced by Roger Glover of Deep Purple) and On Words of the Motorheadthe latter brought to new power by Steven Wilson's remix. We then move on to the forty years of Some Candy Talking of the Jesus And Mary Chainthe distorted energy of Dinosaur Jr. with Live in Hollywood and the guitar power of Bob Mould with the reprint of Body of Song. The roots of synth-pop live again with the return of Being Boiled of the The Human League and the noir remixes of the Soft Cell inspired by the club Danceteriawhile the irreverence of punk is celebrated by twenty-five years of Jubilee of the Sex Pistols.
There is also great anticipation for the thirty-five years of the abstract hip hop jewel Welcome To My Dream Of MC 900 ft. Jesus and for the thirtieth anniversary of This Film's Crap, Let's Slash the Seatsdebut of David Holmes available on vinyl for the first time. Alternative sound paths that intertwine with the dub drifts of Primal Scream in Echo Dek.
The magic of the performance takes center stage with the exciting Live at L'Olympia Of Jeff Buckley and the historian MTV Unplugged Of Tony Bennetttwo documents that capture legendary artists at the peak of their form. Hip hop lyricism is represented by the twenty-five years of God's Son Of Nassame age for sophisticated pop as Read My Lips Of Sophie Ellis-Bextor. There are twenty of them for the folk art of All The Roadrunning Of Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harrisat its absolute European debut on vinyl, up to ten years of contaminations of St. Germainwhich celebrates the tenth anniversary of African Project Remixesperfect bridge between electronics and Malian roots.
In this interweaving of eras, Record Store Day proves to be unmissable also for jazz lovers, bringing to light archive treasures and visionary collaborations. This is the case of Ahmad Jamal with the vibrant Live at Oil Can Harry'san unreleased performance from the 1970s, and the introspective lyricism of Bill Evans in At The BBC 1965which captures its historic trio in a state of absolute grace. While the trumpet of Chet Baker returns to excite with the fragility of Shinethanks to the work of the Italian Red Records, jazz is pushing towards psychedelic and Afrofuturist territories with the powerful reinterpretation of Nuclear War: an explosive meeting between the Heliocentricsthe veterans of the Sun Ra Arkestra and the voice of Bilal.
Also in research areas is the Expanded Edition Of Small Craft On A Milk SeaWhere Brian Enotogether with Jon Hopkins And Leo Abrahamsconstructs cinematic soundscapes of rare beauty.
The Italian panorama is also very rich, with a perfect mix of history and rarity. Ludovico Einaudi celebrates twenty years of Becomethe album that consecrated him globally, while for collectors of Litfiba three colored editions arrive: the masterpiece 17 Kingsthe 45 rpm single of Mona Lisa / The Flightand the 12” of X. The great female songwriting is represented by the colored versions of More than me And More than you Of Ornella Vanoni and from the double vinyl of Radio Station Of Patty Pravosymbol of his 90s experimentation. Finally, the myth of Mina lives again in three pearls: the historical recovery of Unpublished 1963/1967the overwhelming energy of Live 1970 and the precious reissue of the 1974 album of the same name.
For many years now, vinyl has no longer been just an object for nostalgics, but the true engine of the physical rebirth of music. The data of 2025 confirm an unstoppable trend: globally, the vinyl market continues to grow for the eighteenth consecutive year, with an increase of around 4-5% (IFPI source). In Italythe phenomenon is even more explosive: in the first half of 2025, sales of vinyl support recorded an incredible +17% (FIMI source), consolidating our country as one of the most dynamic markets in Europe.
The beating heart of this revolution are the places where music truly lives. I am over 245 independent record shops in Italy who open their doors with joy to celebrate what is, to all intents and purposes, the day dedicated to the most popular music in the world: a collective ritual that restores listening to its most romantic, human and tangible nature.
The complete list of all the records available in Italian stores will soon be online on the site www.recordstoredayitalia.com.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
