Record Store Day has its champions and detractors—but mostly the latter. The cons definitely outweigh the pros for this controversial retail holiday, which happens April 12 at select area shops.

But, as I've said every year since it launched in 2008, RSD typically yields just enough treasures to not make it a total migraine for store owners and employees, indie labels trying to press non-RSD titles without long delays, and heads who don't give a damn about splatter-wax editions of [insert inexplicably popular mediocre band]'s Grating Hitz and just want to browse in peace.

RSD began as a celebration of independent music retailers, and generally has been a boon to their bottom lines. More often than not, though, the event has led to a substantial quantity of sonic offal heading to reduced-price bins and to Discogs pages. And often the titles that you most want don't even surface at the shops that you frequent most. It's so random and frustrating! As always, most of the blame rests on hubristic decision-makers at major labels. Nevertheless, RSD persists.

Record Store Day releases fall into three general categories:

1) The sop to basic Baby Boomers who have more money than sense. For example, the 917th Grateful Dead live album, now a holographic picture disc pressed on cannabis-infused vinyl, with bonus commemorative Jerry Garcia toenail clippings, or the mega-selling, classic-rock bargain-bin staple, of which consumers now have the privilege of buying a reissue at a 400-percent mark-up.  

2) The mildly interesting artifact by a well-known artist whose RARITIES, OUTTAKES, and DEMOS have been PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED... for solid reasons. Hey, sometimes the gatekeepers knew what they were doing back in the day. And no amount of heretofore unseen photographs and hagiographic liner notes can compensate for the lackluster music.

3) Legit essential reissues of long-out-of-print gems or archival discoveries of unjustly obscure greats. My 10 picks will focus on the last category: 

Pharoah Sanders, Izipho Zam (My Gifts) (Strata-East/Mack Avenue) Here, the firebrand saxophonist went on a spiritual/freeform bender with a killer 13-piece group—including guitarist Sonny Sharrock, vocalist Leon Thomas, bassist Cecil McBee, and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Recorded around the same time as Sanders's classic Karma LP, but not released until 1973, Izipho Zam possesses the same combo of Afrocentric beauty and infernal power that made Karma canonical. Make My Gifts your top RSD priority.

Sun Ra, Stray Voltage (Modern Harmonic 2xLP) A collection of Saturn's #1 musician, Herman Poole Blount, centering on the avant-jazz keyboardist/composer's most outré electronic freakouts from the '70s and '80s? Inject it into my veins. Expect ahead-of-its-time inventions of the mind-blowing kind, all previously unreleased. On frosted orange vinyl, for some reason.

Chrissy Zebby Tembo & the Ngozi Family, I'm Not Made of Iron (Now-Again) The excavation of the febrile 1970s rock scene from Zambia has been one of the music industry's most Nobel-worthy endeavors. Thanks, Now-Again Records! Integral to that African nation's funky and flammable psych rock was drummer/vocalist Chrissy Zebby Tembo and the Ngozi Family. I'm Not Made of Iron was their second LP, which somehow never saw release... until now. The five other Tembo/Ngozi Family albums I have all rule hard, and I suspect this one will, too. 

The Verve, Voyager 1 (Virgin) Before "Bitter Sweet Symphony" made them ubiquitous, the Verve reigned as Britain's top space-rock/shoegaze unit. The six early songs collected on this previously oop collector's-item EP from 1993 moved mountains and churned oceans. Oh yes, it'll be great not to have to pay $550-$1,400 (per Discogs) for these 39 precious minutes of music. 

Sister Nancy, One, Two (VPAL/Techniques) My favorite female reggae singer's beloved 1982 album gets a long-overdue reissue. Sister Nancy's vibrantly dulcet voice is medicine for the soul, world without end, "Bam Bam."

Wire, Nine Sevens (Pink Flag 2xLP) Wire were at once one of the greatest punk and post-punk bands, and the 7-inch singles that they issued from their peak years (1977-1980) prove that thesis in thunder. How convenient, then, to have these timeless/timely tunes gathered on two 12s for your long-playing pleasure. 

François Hardy, En Vogue: Best of 1962-1967 (Omnivore 2xLP) The yé-yé singer's winsome songs defined a large swath of French culture in the heart of the '60s, so it's wonderful to have Hardy's most charming chansons gathered in one place—even if they are pressed on opaque red vinyl (color vinyl = bad is a hill on which I am willing to be injured). Now let's see a similar collection encompassing Hardy's best work from 1968-1978.

Shudder to Think, Pony Express Record (Legacy) Shudder to Think were one of the most interesting rock bands of the '90s. Thanks to Craig Wedren's singularly skewed lyrics and idiosyncratic vocal mannerisms, 1994's Pony Express Record stood out like an XXL, diamond-encrusted codpiece in those wan, post-grunge years in major-label-land. Sounding like the incorrigible US Maple, but with a keener ear for hooks, STT are ripe for rediscovery. Let's hope a Get Your Goat reish with all the trimmings comes next.  

The House of Love, The House of Love (Cherry Red) Masters of moody melodies, the House of Love were one of Britain's greatest rock bands in the '80s. The singles collected here—"Shine On," "Love," "Real Animal," etc.— represent the peak of Guy Chadwick's heartbroken lyrics and guitarist Terry Bickers's radiant guitar inventions.  

Gloria Jones, Vixen (Rhino) The respected Northern soul singer's 1976 album contains a vital alternative version of her biggest hit, "Tainted Love," plus two flamboyant disco takes on "Get It On," the 1971 glam-rock smash hit written by her talented ex, Marc Bolan. Vixen is worth it for these gems alone. (Speaking of Marc, RSD's also rolling out a T. Rex comp titled Bolan B-Sides, including songs from 1972-1977. Don't sleep on that one, either.)

More Worthies (for those not on a strict budget):
Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music (Legacy); 13th Floor Elevators, Houston Music Theatre, Live 1967; Harvey Danger, King James Version (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (Barsuk) [First time on wax for this Seattle power-pop group's cult-fave sophomore LP, starring ex-Stranger editor Sean Nelson and the late, great former Stranger art director, Aaron Huffman.]; The Meters, Live at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (SING, Inc. 2xLP); Charles Mingus, Mingus at Monterey (Candid); Gil Scott-Heron, Moving Target (LMLR); Slint, Tweez (tweethan mix) (Touch and Go); Earth, Hex (20th Anniversary Edition) (Southern Lord); Jeff Bridges, Slow Magic, 1977-1978 (Light in the Attic); John Braheny, Some Kind of Change (RidingEasy); Motörhead, The Löst Tapes, Vol. 6 (Live in Berlin 1992) (BMG); Air, Moon Safari Live & Demos (Rhino); Wes Montgomery/Wynton Kelly Trio, Smokin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse (Resonance); Hal Blaine, Don Randi, Jerry Cole, David Marks, The Makaha Sessions (Steel Derrick Music); Rain Parade, Crashing Dream (Deluxe) (Label 51); The Doors, Strange Days 1967 - A Work in Progress (Rhino); Joni Mitchell, Live 1976 (Rhino 3xLP); Blue Cheer, Junk (Flatiron); Astrud Gilberto, That Girl From Ipanema (Prestige Elite); Goblin, L'altro Inferno/The Other Hell - O.S.T. (Cinevox); John Lee Hooker, The Charcot Sessions (Southern Echoes 3xLP); Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Peel Sessions 1979-1983 (Virgin); Camper Van Beethoven, Telephone Free Landslide Victory (Cooking Vinyl)