It used to be that we’d count down the days on the calendar for a long-awaited release to come out.

Now we don’t put much into such notions as street dates. We just keep checking the web to see if it leaked.

Three very records high on my list of Spring 2009 releases did just that across the expanse of the internet in the past few days.

Search for yerself!

(Note: Artvoice does condone the illegal downloading of records prior to street date… but if you do make sure you buy them on vinyl when they do officially come out.)

The Left of the Dial column in this week’s ARTVOICE spotlights the most terrifically made-up retail holiday ever

RECORD STORE DAY!

I spoke to one of Buffalo’s great record gurus slash mod slash ace drummer Brandon Delmont and spotlighted Record Theater’s participation in Record Store Day.

All of this was good, however I goofed in excluding the great newcomer and vinyl haven Spiral Scratch Records at 2531 Delaware Avenue in North Buffalo.

Yeah, Spiral Scratch – named for after a legendary Buzzocks 45 -  is new to town but owner/proprietor Dave Paulmbo has been slogging it out here in the Queen City his whole life and is undoubtedly a familiar face to anyone who has hung out at punk shows, dug through crates of albums or participated in other related activites.

Spiral Scratch is mostly vinyl – with CDs, DVDs, books, t-shirts and other off the beaten path rock arcana – in the less than six months of business it has seen the stock on the shelves steadily increasing and become a hot spot for in store gigs.

Not only does Spiral Scratch get a glowing endorsement from Record Needles in the Camel’s iPod in general, it should ABSOLUTELY be a stop for anyone out perusing the bins for Record Store Day.
Though Spiral Scratch was not listed on Record Store Day’s official site, the store is participating and will be stocking many of the limited and special edition releases slated for shops.

Dave and Spiral Scratch were featured by our good friend and colleague Jeff Miers in today’s Gusto Sound Check.

Check it out here.

Follow me on Twitter for the blow by blow from the trenches and then where we go afterward to drink beers and make fun of each others purchases.

Have a happy Record Store Day.

@donnykutzbach on Twitter

How did we ever live without Twitter?

Just fine, actually.

I mean, do we really need to know that our cousin is “making a peanut butter sandwich” and then three minutes later get an update that it has been eaten and was “good”?

Of course not.

So Twitter (and all the social network experiences that have taken root) can be really annoying but can be every bit as addictive.

Even with the endless amount time wasters at the fingertips via iPhone, I’ve found using Twitter to be one of the most consistently fun, quick, often ridiculous, sometimes informative and usually satisfying way to kill a spare moment.

If you wanna get the same kind of music, pop culture, Buffalo-related nonsense and such that passes for this blog, follow me on Twitter:

@donnykutzbach

I promise I will never tweet about making a sandwich or something “cute” that my dog did.

Hearing a great record, finding a good bar or seeing someone from Channel 2 News at Starbucks – on the other hand – area all fair game…