I spent Record Store Day between Amoeba and Space 15Twenty where a lot of events were going on, beside the incessant crowd of shoppers entering and exiting the giant store.
First there was an art party at Space 15Twenty as TV on the radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Julian Gross (‘Seeds’ artist, who designed the cover of the band’s last album) had decided to draw caricatures of people shopping at Amoeba and Space 15Twenty… How cool of them! This was limited to the first 100 people who had managed to get there, and TVOTR’s Dave Sitek was DJing the whole event. I spent a little time watching and there was a lot of talking going on while people were being drawn, some of them would simply not shut up! Tunde and Julian had very different styles, Tunde was quite the artist, drawing real portraits of people, while Julian Gross was drawing them in situations, fighting or riding unexpected animals from whales to unicorns.
TVOTR released their last album ‘Seeds’ last year, but they are certainly not foreign to visual art. Last December, they teamed up with Tumblr for the microblogging site’s first-ever Basel installation and performance: the band played their new tunes while Julian Gross was providing art accompaniment such as snow globes, paintings, sculpture and interactive pieces. They looked like totally cool guys, laughing with people and drawing funny caricatures on colorful papers.
Meanwhile, it looks like Amoeba next door got extremely busy all day long, with long lines of people waiting to get their hands on one of the numerous items of the day, sometimes taking a break in their shopping to listen to the series of DJs (Puro Instinct, Knxwledge, Jake & John of Health) who were providing the entertainment or buying one of these t-shirts or tote bags silk screened with a special RSD design, because we never have enough shirts to wear.
I am always impressed by the success of this Record Store Day, I went back to Space 15 Twenty for a free concert with Evkain and Mike Watt and the Secondmen,…not a bad time at all.
