Tabs Out

10.16.13: Aquarius Records Is Gunning For Some Cash

San Francisco’s Aquarius Records has been a place to grip underground/weird/DIY music since before I was born. In fact, their website boasts that they are “the store that’s old enough to think it’s funny that we’re selling lots of tapes again”. It’s not news to anyone that times are tough, especially for record stores. In the past decade THOUSANDS of record stores have closed their doors. So why not help one, especially one with quite a notable history, out when possible? That’s right, there is no reason not to. So….

Aquarius is competing for $250K, which is a whole lot of moolah, through something called Mission  Main Street Grants. And all you have to do is click. *Click*. Just like that. *Click* and they’ll be one step closer to pocketing a quarter of a million dollars. To put that into perspective, you could buy something like 30,000 tapes (plus shipping) and probably have enough cash left over for head cleaner.

THIS IS THE LINK TO VOTE FOR AQUARIUS! You have until November 15th.

10.16.13: Jak Tapes –  A Piece Of Himself Left Behind

Whoa.

Dozens of Tumblrs pop up daily, usually a dumping ground for animated gifs or screen shots of Charles In Charge, but it’s rare to come across one as remarkable as Jak Tapes. Jak used to make tons of cassettes. And like anyone who made mixes to jam in their car or sling to a buddy, he made unique covers for them. He passed away and his younger sibling is archiving 214 of Jak’s cassette covers. Not because they have cool or interesting artwork (they do), or because he had a discerning taste in music (he did), but because “they’re a little piece of himself that he left behind.” Below are a few choice picks of Jak’s alternate artwork for albums, mixes, and splits that never actually existed. You can enjoy everything here.