It's international RecordStoreDay today!

Which appears to be some sort of worthy gesture for dull rock fans who buy 180 gram Bob Dylan reissues every decade and indie dudes who call records vinyls judging by their website, but you - YOU! - can help me celebrate it by finding/selling me copies of the Solja Ragz sampler EP and the J. Prince presents... RNDS compilation sampler EP with Wood Wheel by UGK on it, which does exist according to Noz even though it isn't listed on Discogs. Failing that, maybe somebody could just use some Tony Bennett 7"s to buck-fifty bothersome internet vinyl purists like Wicked 22 and A.C The Program Director? It's what Thomas Edison would want.

In the meantime, here's a couple of 12" only cuts. Thanks to Step for putting me onto the Dipset joint after my Kay Slay album cuts appreciation post last year :

The Diplomats ft. Kay Slay - Harlem (2002)



Not to be confused with that other Cam & Kay Slay track called Harlem, but another 2002 Diplomats song originally intended to appear on Kay Slay's first Streetsweeper album like Drama King, Drama Gang which ended up consigned to mixtapes due to record label red tape. Killa starts this ivory-tinkering banger by interpolating Ma$e's opening lines from Feel So Good and maybe the warm weather has got to me this morning but I'm thinking that 2011 would be the perfect time for a Horse And Carriage part 2.

Camp Lo ft. Tyler Woods - Gotcha (2005)



I think this was a sequel remix to Gotcha from Let's Do It Again that got nixed because Jocko couldn't clear the Shoot 'em Up Movies sample which then turned up on wax 3 years later in 2005; but I know that this ranks between DOOM's Red And Gold and I Met My Baby At V.I.M by Kwest Tha Madd Ladd as far as joints with the Shoot 'Em Up Movies break go, and that's a sweet place to lay its head since the former is a bona fide classic and the latter is merely pretty darn great. Gotcha is probably the closest the Lo have gotten to any sort of introspection on record, and bearing their hearts could've proved disastrous for a group whose steez is permanently set to all style and very little substance, but, damn, it works in this instance and this is one of those great lost singles which woulda, coulda, shoulda been an N.Y radio show staple had the circumstances been right or their label had enough brown bags of that payola dough.

Ain't no shots at Tony Bennett, btw, because Boulevard Of Broken Dreams is an absolute tour-de-force.