RECORD STORE DAY PRE-PARTY AT NEUROLUX APRIL 15: VINYL DJ, LIVE MUSIC, KARAOKE, MAXIMUM MIRTH!

A Record Store Day pre-party will be held at 8 p.m. Friday, April 15, at Neurolux, 111 N. 11th St. Boise. $5 cover until 11 p.m.; $3 cover 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. A portion of proceeds will benefit Radio Boise. This is a non-smoking event.

Hosted by Radio Boise (radioboise.org), Go Listen Boise (golistenboise.org) and The Record Exchange, the festivities will include a DJ set by Vinyl Preservation Society of Idaho (vpsidaho.org) DJ Tony B. (funk/soul/hip-hop), live performance by electronic duo Owlright (myspace.com/owlright) and Almost Famous Karaoke (almostfamousdj.com).

The event will highlight the launch of Radio Boise — which is slated to go on air at 89.9 FM this month and begin serving the biggest area in the country currently without independent, non-commercial, community-programmed radio — and the fourth annual Record Store Day (April 16) at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St., Boise), which includes in-store performances and the release of more than 200 exclusive CD and vinyl titles. Visit radioboise.org and therecordexchange.com/recordstoreday for full details.

ABOUT RECORD STORE DAY: The original idea for Record Store Day (recordstoreday.com) was conceived by Chris Brown, and was founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.

This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cookouts, body painting, meet and greets with artists, parades, DJs spinning records and on and on. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday of April.

CELEBRATE RECORD STORE DAY APRIL 15-17: IN-STORES, EXCLUSIVES & MORE!

The fourth annual Record Store Day (recordstoreday.com) takes place on Saturday, April 16, and this year The Record Exchange is turning the celebration of independent record store culture into Record Store Day Weekend. The Record Exchange will be open from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. on Record Store Day.

RECORD EXCHANGE RECORD STORE DAY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Record Store Day will once again feature a slew of exclusive, limited-edition releases on CD and vinyl. More than 200 titles will be available on Saturday, April 16, including releases from Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Gorillaz, Fleet Foxes, The Decemberists and Mumford & Sons. (Full list and detailed descriptions are available at therecordexchange.com/recordstoreday.) The Record Exchange Coffee Shop will open at 8 a.m. on April 16 to allow customers to line up for the exclusives, which will be available at 9 a.m. The first 25 people in line will receive vouchers for a free gift bag with purchase; a $50 gift card will be randomly inserted into one of the 25 bags.

• El Ten Eleven (elteneleven.com) will play a Record Exchange in-store on Saturday, April 16 (TBD) prior to their concert later that night at Neurolux (8 p.m.). The Los Angeles instrumental rock duo, which recently released its fourth album It’s Still Like a Secret, has earned heaps of critical praise over its eight-year career, particularly for its musical acrobatics and high-energy live show. (Sample quote from Filter: “They drive somewhere between a roughed-up version of Sigur Rós and Ratatat you wouldn’t dare bring home to your parents.”)

• Finn Riggins (finnriggins.com) and Hillfolk Noir (petometz.com) will kick off Record Store Day weekend with an in-store and exclusive 7-inch release at 6 p.m., Friday, April 15. In the spirt of Record Store Day, the two Boise bands decided to collaborate on a limited-edition split 7-inch (Tender Loving Empire) that will make its worldwide debut at The Record Exchange that night. Each band will perform a set on the RX stage.

• The Record Exchange is offering 20 percent off all used vinyl, CDs and DVD/Blu-ray April 15-17. This RSD weekend used sale includes collectible items!

• A Record Store Day pre-party will be held at 8 p.m. Friday, April 15, at Neurolux (neurolux.com), 111 N. 11th St. Boise. Hosted by Radio Boise (radioboise.org), Go Listen Boise (golistenboise.org) and The Record Exchange, the evening will include a DJ set by Vinyl Preservation Society of Idaho (vpsidaho.org) DJ Tony B. (funk/soul/hip-hop), live performance by electronic duo Owlright (myspace.com/owlright) and Almost Famous Karaoke (almostfamousdj.com). $5 cover until 11 p.m., $3 cover for Almost Famous Karaoke 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. A portion of proceeds will benefit Radio Boise. This is a non-smoking event.

• Go Listen Boise (golistenboise.org) will hold a bake sale outside the store on Saturday, April 16, while local musicians busk on the RX sidewalk all day long. Proceeds from the bake sale will benefit Go Listen Boise.

• Delicious food from Superb Sushi (superbsushidowntown.com) and Parrilla Grill will be available inside the store on Saturday, April 16. Superb Sushi will donate a portion of proceeds to Go Listen Boise.

• The Record Exchange is holding its second annual Record Store Day Mixtape Contest. Make us a mixtape, and you just might walk away with our grand prize: a $50 RX gift card and assortment of exclusive Record Store Day releases. The winning mix will be played on the store hi-fi during Record Store Day. Full details available at therecordexchange.com/recordstoreday.

THE LONELY FOREST RX IN-STORE APRIL 10 (4 PM) – BAND’S ONLY SHOW IN TOWN!

The Lonely Forest will perform live at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St., Downtown Boise) at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 10 (the band’s only show in town). As always, this Record Exchange in-store performance is free and all ages.

LISTEN TO THE LONELY FOREST’S NEW CHRIS WALLA-PRODUCED ALBUM ARROWS IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE.

Set between ancient forest and the forest-green waters of Puget Sound at the very edge of the continental United States, Anacortes, Washington (population 17,000) sees a lot come and go. Ferries docked here deliver thousands of itinerant hippies, millionaires and sightseers to farms and mansions dotting the remote San Juan Islands while Navy bombers and helicopters based nearby perform ear-splitting flyovers. Through all the coming and going, the local DIY community remains remarkably consistent and strong; an expression of defiant, end-of-the-line creativity. From that community comes The Lonely Forest (myspace.com/thelonelyforest), a rock band of four Anacortes natives with no intention of leaving.

From the outset, The Lonely Forest — singer/guitarist/keyboardist John Van Deusen, guitarist Tony Ruland, drummer Braydn Krueger and bassist Eric Sturgeon— has been about inclusion. In 2005, a raucous garage session inspired the guys (Braydn, Tony and Eric) to join forces with Van Deusen’s piano-pop. The newly formed entity, now called The Lonely Forest, played their first show while two band members were still in high school (the other two having recently graduated). Since that show, The Lonely Forest have racked up miles; steadily becoming heroes of the Northwest all-ages scene through relentless gigging around the region. From their first show at the Department of Safety, center of Anacortes’ all-ages DIY scene, to their high-profile appearance at Bumbershoot 2009, a sold-out concert at the Showbox in Seattle last fall and a coveted spot on 2010’s Sasquatch Festival, the accolades for The Lonely Forest have grown along with their fanbase.

As grows their fanbase, The Lonely Forest ‘s music is continually expanding and evolving. At its core, the music features Van Deusen’s soaring vocals and keyboard melodies wrapped tightly around Ruland’s expansive guitar, anchored by a heavy yet nimble rhythm section. The contrast of brilliant pop songs featuring lyrics about spiritual longing wedded to an almost prog-rock sensibility appeals to broad swath of listeners, from wide-eyed teenagers to jaded scenesters. As always, inclusion is important to these guys.

The Lonely Forest will continue their steady climb to prominence from modest Northwest roots with the March 22 release of their new album, Arrows, for Chris Walla’s label imprint, Trans Records. Walla, guitarist and producer for Grammy-nominated rock band Death Cab for Cutie, made The Lonely Forest his first signing when he launched Trans with the support of Death Cab for Cutie’s major label home, Atlantic Records. In addition to his role as label head, Walla produced and mixed Arrows at Sound City studio in Los Angeles, Tiny Telephone in San Francisco and his own Portland-based studio, Alberta Court. He also mixed three tracks: “Be Everything,” “Turn Off This Song” and “Live There.” The rest of the album was mixed by John Goodmanson (Girls, Nada Surf, Owl City).

EDDIE SPAGHETTI RX IN-STORE APRIL 21!

“Supersucker Soul Brother Number One” Eddie Spaghetti will perform live at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St., Downtown Boise) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21. As always, this Record Exchange in-store performance is free and all ages.

LISTEN TO “NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD” FROM SUNDOWNER HERE.

Everybody’s got that pal they turn to whenever they need a party, and for a long time Eddie Spaghetti, Supersucker Soul Brother Number One, has been that guy. Reveling in the center stage spotlight and the wallop of thousands of PAs for thousands of shows across the land, Eddie’s learned how to coax the inner life of the party out of all of us. And Sundowner, Eddie’s third solo album and first for his longtime fans at Bloodshot Records, unapologetically wears the love of the good times on its greasy flannel sleeve.

At the heart of Sundowner is a back-of-the-hand dismissal of the fussy genre lines between hard rock and hard country, all done with a sly nod to the bartender that the next round’s on him. The broad mix of source material shows that, in the right hands, C&W cats like Dave Dudley (the snarling “Cowboy Boots”) and Johnny Cash (“What Do I Care”) can obviously nestle up comfortably next to punk rock snots like the Dwarves (“Everybody’s Girl”), or that Rig Rock legend Del Reeves (“Girl On the Billboard”) and Touch & Go Records cult faves the Lee Harvey Oswald Band (“Jesus Never Lived On Mars”) share a surprising commonality.

Eddie takes ‘em all wherever they come from, strips ‘em down and builds ‘em back up around meat-and-potatoes arrangements, some devil-horn-throwing elan and a warmly ragged voice befitting his Southwestern roots. And who better to take on Dean Martin’s self-styled lounge lizard paean “Party Dolls and Wine”? No one we can think of. Sundowner also has songs by a couple of friends that Eddie has recorded with over the years: Willie Nelson (the after-hours croon “Always On My Mind”) and Steve Earle (the chiming “If You Fall in Love”), ‘cuz, as he says, it was “fun to put a little ‘Spaghetti’ on them.”

On Sundowner’s originals, Eddie, almost bashfully, lets some pop smarts shine through, without sacrificing any of the muscle. Check the Velcro-in-your-head harmonies on the title track or the dusty cantina vibe of “Marie.” The opening track, “Never Thought I Would,” positively soars with big hooks, the rush of the big sky and the open road. It’s gonna be hard to keep the speed steady when you’re pounding along to the song with your boot on the accelerator.

For those concerned with that broad creative stroke smearing into a blur, throughout Sundowner Eddie has used a similar cast of musicians to record as he has in the past, including Supersuckers members Scott Churilla (drums and percussion), Metal Marty Chandler (lead guitar), engineer David Fisher, and even his son, Quattro. For the full Supersuckers story, visit supersuckers.com.

TELEKINESIS IN-STORE THURSDAY (6:30)!

Telekinesis (Merge Records) will perform live at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St., Downtown Boise) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24. As always, this Record Exchange in-store performance is free and all ages.

LISTEN TO FULL TELEKINESIS SONGS HERE.

When Telekinesis (telekinesismusic.com) mastermind Michael Benjamin Lerner set out to record songs for the follow-up to his debut album Telekinesis!, he found himself with no band, a case of vertigo and a wrecked van. The long-distance relationship that inspired his debut album’s songs of wanderlust had ended, and he had just returned from a much-needed escape to Berlin where he banished himself to a room in the warehouse district to write songs from 9 to 5 each day.

With the original recording date scrapped, Michael was inspired (by the heavy, fuzzy bass in Flin Flon’s A-OK) to buy a bass guitar and, in a sudden burst of inspiration, wrote four more songs for the album.

His second attempt at recording led him to Portland and Jackpot! Studios. Michael and Chris Walla continued their partnership from Telekinesis! and again recorded to tape. They tossed out all the rules—as they are wont to do when they get together—and, as Michael says, “went a little crazy,” with impromptu dance parties and recording drum parts backwards.

The result of all of this is 12 Desperate Straight Lines, twelve new songs of heartache, anger and even a little hopefulness. Telekinesis has re-emerged with a new band featuring Jason Narducy (Robert Pollard band, Bob Mould band) on bass and Cody Votolato (Jaguar Love, The Blood Brothers) on guitar.

The van is fixed, the dizziness is gone, and Michael Benjamin Lerner has returned with more proof that Spin was right when they said, “If you don’t like Telekinesis, your ears don’t work.”