Days of Lore

Always next year
Yes, in Chico we celebrate Cesar Chavez Day and, of course, April 20 … better known as 4/20, brah!

But you’d pretty much have to live in any town other than Chico to celebrate this other holiday. The first Record Store Day was celebrated on April 19—a day that celebrates the dying old man, the safe haven people turn to when things look bleak and dire, the place where hours can be spent without guilt. Sigh.

Record stores across the nation hosted live music: Psychedelic rock band The Black Angels (excellent, by the way) performed at Good Records in Dallas, Rogue Wave played in Chicago at Reckless Records, and Nada Surf played at Vintage Vinyl in New Jersey. There were exclusive releases by Stephen Malkmus and Vampire Weekend. And dweebs like me around the country rejoiced. Next year I’m getting some bands to play at Melody Records and do it up right.

Something up their sleeves
All this talk about vinyl is getting me all hot and bothered. And a Web site called SleeveFace.com is getting a bunch of hip Brits a lot of attention. A few mates at a party began goofing around with record sleeves, holding the record covers in front of their faces, and creating an illusion. The site started out with about a dozen, and has since grown to more than 11,000 sleeve faces from all over the world. For a tutorial, go to: www.youtube.com/sleeveface

It looked like fun, so I gave it a go. Here’s some homegrown sleeve face in yo face.

A face made for sleeves