The Quietus are big champions of the independent record shop, so we're firmly behind the Record Store Day 2010 event on April 17 this year

Despite being constantly told about the death of the record industry and the threat of the recession, 14 independent record stores opened last year. To help support them, Record Store Day 2010 is offering a series of exclusive releases and instore performances from top artists.

Artists such as The Rolling Stones, Flaming Lips, Jesus And Mary Chain, Neu!, Hold Steady, Joy Division, Paul Weller, Julian Casablancas, Jimi Hendrix, Editors will offer exclusive releases for the day, while names including Laurie Anderson, I Blame Coco, Blood Red Shoes, Michael Rother and The Paddingtons will perform special instore shows.

Meanwhile, Last Shop Standing, the official Record Store Day book, is on sale now.

None other than Paul McCartney voiced his support for the event, revealing: "“There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store. This is why I’m more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come. Cheers!”

We imagine it's almost a certainty he had his thumbs aloft at the time...

Check back on The Quietus soon for more details.