Sometimes, it’s what’s outside that counts. One of the great joys of record shopping -- and one that digital music simply can’t deliver (yet) -- is savoring the visual spectacle of truly odd LP and single sleeves. Heck, sometimes us music geeks will purchase a disc solely for the jacket. David Day, owner of Seattle boutique Jive Time, and an ardent collector in his own right, appreciates this phenomenon so much he’s launched not one, but two blogs devoted to eye-popping record sleeves. Groove Is In The Art immortalizes a slew of Peter Max, mod-inspired covers that belie the less-than-groovy recordings inside, while Project Thirty Three celebrates minimalist masterpieces comprised of dots, squares, triangles and other shapes. Who knew geometry could be so hip? Both these delightful blogs are as much fun as sifting through the bins at an out-of-the-way Goodwill store -- and you won’t need a moist towelette to clean up grubby fingers when you’re through perusing these beauties!
DJ El Toro hosts the variety mix show on Wednesday nights from 9 PM to 1 AM on KEXP 90.3 FM Seattle and kexp.org. His column, Weird At My School, returns every Monday on the KEXP Blog. You can now follow DJ El Toro on Twitter!
