As is our want, we’ve flipped the script here at The Singles Collection and in the spirit of timeliness, this week we’ll be featuring seven-inches that were exclusive to last Saturday’s Record Store Day (our newest all Sacred Bones feature will now run next week). Now, some of you may be listening to these as you read this, others may have unfortunately been shut out, while other still may have no idea these singles, or Record Store Day for that matter, even existed. At any rate, we’re only scratching the surface of the exclusive platters that were available on the 18th (for a full list, go here), and we hear some stores may even still have stock on some of these titles, so if anything strikes your fancy, best get a googlin’.

To kick things off this week, we’ve got a pair of split singles from Matador featuring the kings & queen of the alternative universe, Sonic Youth aka Sonik You*h. The first split features another icon, Beck, in a mutual appreciation style love fest which finds them covering each others’ songs — SY tackling “Pay No Mind” while Beck takes on “Green Light”. As you might imagine, Thurston & Co. thoroughly rough up the Mellow Gold sleeper, injecting it with their patented off-key/kilter harmonies/harmonics and some skuzzy meta-ooze thrown in for good measure. On the flip, Beck takes the EVOL track and turns it into a lovely, acoustic cloudburst that, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear was one of his very own.

The second exclusive RSD jam from Sonic Youth is their split with Memphis’ favorite son, Jay Reatard. For his part, Jay’s track, “Hang Them All” is a scorcher, a blink-and-you-missed-it track that bubbles with skittering synth and a clap-trap rhythm reminiscent of the Blood Visions-era. It alone is worth the price of admission, and certainly bodes well for his upcoming full-length. The SY track, “No Garage” is a rehearsal space jam that, well, sounds a lot like you’d figure a Sonic Youth rehearsal would. Which isn’t to say it’s bad, but it’s essentially instrumental meandering with a nice, Kraut-y groove that eventually denigrates into their trademark squall of loping distortion and ear-piercing feedback. Both of these splits are, ostensibly, sold out, but stores with extra stock seem to pop up daily, so make sure to keep a close watch if you don’t want to pay eBay prices.

The Sub Pop stable did their part and released a handful of limited 45’s for RSD, the best of which is the Obits‘ “I Can’t Lose” b/w “Military Madness”. For those not already familiar, Obits are Rick Froberg from Hot Snakes/Drive Like Jehu’s new project, and while their sound doesn’t really deviate too much from either/both of those outfits, it’s still new Froberg jams so who are we to complain? “I Can’t Lose” is less dissonant/angular than we’re used to hearing him, yet it roars with a heads-down fury and undeniable hooks-a-plenty. On the flip, their take on Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” flips the original on its ear, injecting it with a venomous core that’s both touching and destructive in equal measure. Copies of this still seem to be kicking around places like Reckless Records, so if you need some more Froberg in your life, you know where to go.

Lastly this week, we’ve got one of the lost gems from RSD, the super limited Kim Phuc & Centipede E’est split on Dear Skull Records out of Pittsburgh. These were primarily only available in the Pittsburgh area, with some other notable stores (Permanent Records in Chicago, Academy in NYC) getting the remaining stock to give away to punters who came out early and purchased vinyl. We’re not sure if this is going to get a proper release or not, but it truly deserves one as the two tracks here are absolute stunners. On the A-Side, Kim Phuc’s “Rustbelt Noose” delivers all the spit-crusted-psych-punk power you’ve come to expect from them, and has now officially taken the mantle as the greatest KP song yet. Not to be outdone on the flip, Centipede E’est offer up “Stingray”, an epic space-rock jam that’s ebbs and flows with terse psych-grooves and sky-melting crescendos. These are absolutely gorgeous, all hand-numbered out of 200 and featuring fantastic screened covers. We’re not sure if they are still available anywhere or not, but we’d suggest trying Paul’s or Wicked Discs in Pittsburgh if you are trying to track one down.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our truncated look at some of the Record Store Day exclusives, and make sure to also keep an eye out for others like the Slayer “Psychopathy Red” 45 and the totally awesome Jesus Lizard 9×7″ collection Inch as they’re both totally worth your time and hard-earned loot. Also make sure to come back next week to read about the newest batch of gems from one of our favorite labels, Sacred Bones Records.

This week’s Singles Collection is awash in the boozy afterglow of South by Southwest, a festival we survived for the 10th year running… but just barely.  If you are a true music fan and have never been, you really owe it to yourself to get down to Austin at least once and experience the mayhem and hysteria for yourself, because a slew of blog/twitter posts really can’t capture the sun-baked surreality that is SxSW. Soap-boxing aside, all of the bands featured this week were part of SxSW in one way or another (ie – lots of unofficial shows) and are well-deserving of your listening time and hard-earned stimulus cash. 

First up this week we’ve got the debut offering from The Mayfair Set, “Already Warm” b/w “Desert Fun” on the Captured Tracks imprint. To be fair, they themselves didn’t play SXSW, but one-half of the group, Mr. Blank Dogs himself, Mike Sniper, did, and since nobody knows if the goddamn Blank Dogs 7″ on DITG will ever get released, we figured we’d give this a whirl.  A collaboration with Dum Dum Girls, this two track taster for the duo’s forthcoming 12″ EP is both deliciously dour and infectiously joyous, mining fragile Comsat Angels territory as the songs waft towards the sun on gossamer wings and loads of FX. Not sure if it’s being billed as such or not, but it’s truly a double A-Side affair, with the lo-fi Cocteau Twins-like incantations of “Desert Fun” just edging out the slightly more rough-hewn shoegazer bliss of “Already Warm” for top honors.  These were just recently released and are available on Sniper’s own Captured Tracks, but probably won’t stick around for too long, so best get to steppin’ if this sounds like your cup of tea.     

Following that up this week we’ve got The Box Elders’ Hole In My Head 7″ on Grotto Records out of Nebraska. A fantastic 4-song platter from one of the most impressive bands of this year’s festival, this little slab o’ wax crackles with a kind of rambunctious, infectious pop energy you just can’t fake; either you’ve got it, or you don’t. The A-Side alone is worth the price of admission, featuring two crackling tunes, the jangle-licious pop romp ”Hole In My Head” and the staggering proto-punk stomp of “One Foot in Front of the Other”.  The hits continue on the flip, with the racing “2012″ pushing all the right buttons before their surprisingly stellar cover of Redd Kross’ “S&M Party”, a damn-near perfect song in its original form, swoops in and delivers the knockout blow.  Absolutely one of the most consistently thrilling EPs of recent memory.  It looks like these are still available on the label’s MySpace page, but if they’re not, the band definitely has copies and are on tour now.  Go see them, you most assuredly won’t be disappointed.

Last, but certainly not least, this week we’ve got Kim Phuc’s “Wormwood Star” b/w “Freak Out the Squares” on Chicago’s mighty Criminal IQ Records. Definitely one of the Top 5 bands we saw at this year’s SxSW, this PGH quintet thrilled in a sweat-and-glitter-splattered set that left band and audience bleary-eyed and thirsty for more.  A-Side “Wormwood Star” is a snarling, riff-ready death ride down a mountain of blood, with Rob spouting off about Babylonian malfeasances and fornicating witches (we think), all before exploding into a furious, piano-laced proto-punk coda that’ll make you weep like you just got socked in the jaw. The flipside, “Freak Out the Squares” is greasier and nastier still; a lyrical tribute to Dawn Davenport (look her up) set to a rhythm that sounds dredged from the bottom of lake Haze and a never-ending barrage of acid-laced riffs that send the whole thing careening into complete and utter meltdown. Somehow still available from Criminal IQ and a host of distros, so get out there and get you some.

As we continue to flush out all the toxins we’ve ingested in the past week, we do want to tell you that we’ve got a really special video edition of The Singles Collection coming your way, courtesy of one of our absolute favorite labels. You definitely won’t want to miss it.