[category]
[title]
At some point in your twenties, likely around the time your Spotify Wrapped starts looking like the soundtrack of a Wes Anderson film, you realise you don't just 'like' music anymore. You want to touch it. You want to hold its weight, flip it over, scrutinise liner notes like they're sacred text and wince at the scratch you swear wasn't there when you bought it. You want vinyl.
Bangkok's record fair, Record Store Day, comes back, and diggers can warm up their fingers to hunt for treasures from music's golden eras. This year it lands at a pretty convenient spot: Siam Paragon, running from April 24-26.
Record Store Day started back in 2008 to celebrate the culture of independently owned record shops. It happens twice a year, once in April and again on Black Friday in November. These days it brings together fans, artists and lots of independent record stores from around the city, with loads of exclusive pressings made especially for the occasion.
In Thailand, Record Store Day is basically the event where the most record shops gather under one roof. You'll find everyone from the famous Fortune Town stalls to standalone shops in the old city to those Instagram pre-order accounts. Almost every store sets up a booth. What's brilliant is that each one specialises in different genres, so you're guaranteed to meet proper experts and serious vinyl collectors no matter what you're into.
Another highlight this year, there's a record exhibition zone, DIY vinyl workshops and mini-concerts featuring surprise guests every year. It's become a proper day out for anyone who takes their music seriously.
Record Store Day, April 24-26, Siam Paragon.