a festive saturday

Here are the 15 best places to celebrate Record Store Day and 4/20 in Houston

On Saturday, April 20, Houstonians will celebrate two holidays that appeals to specific — potentially overlapping — groups of people.

Vinyl enthusiasts across the city will be lining up for Record Store Day. The holiday celebrates independent record stores with almost 400 limited edition releases from musical artists in a wide range of genres.

At the same time, cannabis enthusiasts will celebrate 4/20. The holiday is devoted to appreciation for the herb’s beneficial qualities as well as promoting legalization efforts.

Here are the best bets for a very festive Saturday.

Record Store Day

Cactus Music will have a special guest for RSD. The English Beat founding member Dave Wakeling will be there for a meet-and-greet. In addition to RSD specials, Cactus will also have reissues of classic English Beat albums. 2 pm.

Sig’s Lagoon will have one fancy RSD. After buying some new records, head over to The Alley Kat Bar & Lounge down the street, where DJ Big Reeks may play your purchase during brunch. 11 am.

ZT Records over in the Woodlands will be getting exclusive RSD vinyl. They will also have a "what's in the box" live unboxing prior to the event as well, so shoppers can see what they’ve received. 10 am.

4/20

Cheba Hut will be curing 4/20 munchies with Nug subs for $4.20 all day long. Homies will also receive a free Cheba Hut-branded frisbee which can be used to play catch with some buds or as a rolling tray for another kind of bud. 10 am.

8th Wonder Cannabis will be celebrating 4/20 with food, music, and the introduction of Ocho Verde, its newest cannabis-infused seltzer. Dine on three pounds of crawfish and shrimp from Clutch City Crawfish. Musical acts include Marley Moon, Dollar Disco, The Stevie Clear Experience, and DJ G-Funk. They will also have an open air market, laser light shows, and more. Noon.

Over at The Flying Saucer, celebrate 4/20 with dank beer flights, food specials and, of course, munchies. A special-edition glass, courtesy of Great Heights Brewing, will also be available. 11 am.

Gas Gods is hosting the ultimate 4/20 All Gas No Smoke Car Meet. Houston’s own Slim Thug and Le$ will make appearances, and there will be a live performance by LaRussell. There will also be food truck vendors, a designated kids zone and, of course, exotic cars. 12 pm.

Over in EaDo, J-Bar-M Barbecue will host CannaFest HTX. The free event features a market with more than 40 vendors selling art, clothing, vintage gear, and smoking accessories. A percentage of proceeds from the market will go to The Courage To Bee Project, a non-profit organization that aims to increase access to school supplies and technology to economically disadvantaged youth in Texas, Latin America, and the Caribbean. 12 pm.

The Original Ninfa’s is kicking off 4/20 by offering a cannabis-infused Tranquilita Margarita. This is a refreshing and delightful alternative for those who want to unwind without the alcohol-related effects of a traditional margarita or cocktail. 10 am.

Velvet Taco will be granting guests the chance to get high (in the sky) with a prize of skydiving for two, followed by lunch at Velvet Taco. All guests have to do to enter is grab a 420 Blazin’ Taco on the loyalty app or follow the entry instructions on their Instagram page. 11 am.

Both WILD Concepts locations in Montrose and The Heights will have a 4/20 BBQ bash with a menu curated by chef German Mosquera. The cafes will also offer a bake sale with next-level, infused edibles, as well as a special 4/20 cocktail bar menu. 11 am

Both

The Blessings Gallery will be throwing a combined 4/20/RSD shindig, complete with live music and new records. It’s also a birthday party for singer Karina Nistal, who’ll be performing with her band The Cosmic Cats. 4:20 pm.

Cool Heads Prevail will have a 4/20-friendly RSD party with half-off vinyl. They’ll also have sounds from SCA Productions, boozy drinks, and snacks for all the elevated record collectors in attendance. 3 pm.

Both Sound Revolution locations will be opening up real early for Record Store Day. They will also celebrate 4/20 with a gift card raffle, 20 percent off glasses, and 20 percent off all wellness products. 8 am.

The Toasted Coconut will celebrate the holiday with food and drink specials as well as a market selling vinyl and ceramic pipes made by local artist Lori Muñoz. Specials include a Mapo Hotdog, Big Rib sandwich, and the Purple Kush cocktail. A DJ will spin from 9 pm until midnight. 4:20 pm.

Courtesy of Gas Gods

Gas Gods is hosting the All Gas No Smoke Car Meet.

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super duper

Quirky Houston DJ drops genre-blending mix CD inspired by video games

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

If you’re the type of person who has dubstep, Southern hip-hop, and Koji Kondo’s iconic “Ground Theme” from Super Mario Bros. in your streaming-music library, then Squincy Jones has created the perfect playlist for you..

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

Super Nintendub is the name of the mix where the Houston-born-and-bred DJ mashes up all those aforementioned music genres. A capella bars from Houston heavyweights (Megan Thee Stallion, Paul Wall) and other Dirty South MCs (Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG) gets laid over grooves from underground dubstep artists (Numa Crew, Blay Vision, Hamdi). But we also get music from various Nintendo (Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden) and Super Nintendo (Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI) games. Jones also throws in audio samples from commercials and gaming-heavy movies like WarGames, The Wizard, and the Adam Sandler-produced Grandma’s Boy.

Needless to say, Jones has always been a gamer. He’s had his run of game systems: NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, even the old-school Atari 2600. He recalls his days blowing the dust out of such cartridges as Contra, Double Dragon, and Duck Hunt. In the past, Jones has released a series of mashup mixes – titled Blend Pack – with cover art that resembles/salutes classic video games.

“I'm a huge fan of all the eight-bit and 16-bit stuff,” says Jones (government name: Shane Rector), 41. “I play a lot of the new games, or I have played a lot of the new games, but not as much anymore. You know, being a parent and having a full-time job – you don't really have time for video games anymore.”

Super Nintendub is a sequel to Nintendub, a dubstep mix he played during a party way back in 2008. “I added some a capellas, [like] a Bun B a capella,” he recalls. “I had some other Dirty South tunes from the time. I layered them because they're at the same tempo as dubstep. Another friend that does music gave me a folder of Nintendo songs. So, I just randomly layered it on top and kinda slowed down the Nintendo music, and it sounded cool as hell to me.”

The mix picked up fans overseas when he dropped it online. “I've always wanted to make a follow-up to it because I got so much good feedback,” he remembers. “People from all over were writing about it."

Jones decided to release Super on compact disc, sold in rectangular keep cases – packaging that’s very familiar to gamers – with double-sided artwork also by Jones. (A digital link is available upon request to those who buy the CD.) While the limited-edition disc is available for purchase on Jones’s Bandcamp page, the CD mix shouldn’t be confused with the Super mix that’s currently playing on the page.

“I wanted to have them in the mix as well,” he says. “But I'm not entirely, you know, confident with my production skills. So, I just kinda had it on the side to go along with the release of this mix.”

Since releasing Super in September, Jones says he’s gotten good feedback from those who’ve bought a copy. “Because it looks like a video game,” he says, “a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, cool! Is it an actual game or an actual DVD or whatnot?’ But it's always hit or miss because some people are like, ‘Oh, man, I don't have a CD player’ or "Wow, you actually printed a CD,’ because everything's, you know, digital.”

He’s looking into playing a big-screen version of Super, where videos of the rap songs are spliced in with video-game footage and other retro clips, somewhere around here. “I was thinking like either a movie theater or somebody mentioned Aurora Picture Show, or maybe Wonky Power, to do like a viewing or showing or whatever – kind of have a party for it.”

Even though Jones enjoys merging gaming and music – his dual obsessions – he still prefers to be known as more than a video-game DJ. A veteran of the Houston DJ scene for a quarter of a century, he continues to do gigs like his upcoming monthly residency at Eight Row Flint.

“I do open-format DJing,” he says. “I've done raves and dubstep parties. I've played on the radio. I've played at Mid Main, where it’s a mainstream crowd. In this day and age, everybody has their branding or whatnot. I just love video games, so I just kind of take that as my branding, I guess.”

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