1) Talib Kweli Prisoner Of Conscious (Blacksmith)

2) The Uncluded (Aesop Rock + Kimya Dawson) Hokey Fright (Rhymesayers)

3) Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city (Aftermath)

4) Eve Lip Lock (FTR Music)

5) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis The Heist (Macklemore LLC)

After debuting as new releases on the Amoeba Berkeley Hip-Hop chart last week both the brand new, highly anticipated Talib Kweli album Prisoner Of Conscious on the Brooklyn artist's own Blacksmith label, as well as the new genre bending Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson collaboration Hokey Fright on Rhymesayers Entertainment - recorded under the project name The Uncluded  - are back for a second week in a row in the numbers one and two chart slots respectively.  Also back on this week's chart - and no surprise to see these two unstoppable albums each released back in 2012- are Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist. My bet is the ever popular respective major label and indie label releases will both be still charting over the next few months too. But what is surprising (to me at least) and worthy of a double take is the new chart entry from Eve. My first reaction was - huh, Eve the rapper from back in the day, Eve the female member of the Ruff Ryders crew fame?  The answer is yes, that Eve. Eve the female rapper who last released an album eleven long hip-hop years ago - 2002’s Eve-Olution on Interscope.

As you know May is National Bike Month and this week (May 13th to May 17th) is Bike To Work Week, with tomorrow (Friday May 17th) being Bike To Work Day - the one day out of the year everyone, not just the avid cyclists, are encouraged to abandon their gas guzzlers but instead take out their bikes and cycle to work. I encourage everyone to do this everyday, especially tomorrow - but if you simply cannot bike to work then I suggest after you get home from work you instead bike over to Amoeba and park you bike outside (as in the Amoeba Hollywood bike rack area pictured above) and go crate digging inside for records and CDs with songs about cycling/biking - including Queen's classic  "Bicycle Race" (with the refrain "I Want To Ride My Bicycle, I want to ride my bike"), "My White Bicycle" by Tomorrow, Kraftwerk's "Tour De France," and TV On The Radio's "Bicycles Are Red Hot." Oh and if you missed it when it was published last month here on the Amoeblog check out the excellent, in-depth psychedelic themed bicycle Amoeblog by Eric Brightwell's excellent, in-depth "Shifter and sugercubes -- Happy Bicycle Day" blog

Shannon and the Clams – “Into a Dream”

Shannon’s sweet snarl leads us through a tunnel-of-love melody and ’50s pop arrangement. The gloriously lo-fi production and Shannon and her Clams’ disorienting harmonies make the whole thing a fun, woozy ride. Dreams in the Rat House is due out May 21 on Hardly Art. Listen or download for free from Amoeba. Check ’em out at Amoeba San Francisco Thursday May 23 at 6 p.m.!

 

 

 

Honeymoon – “Sure Stuck”

Honeymoon is an Australian-born, L.A.-based production duo whose upcoming album is said to be an update of ’60s/’70s psychedelic pop. It sure sounds that way from “Sure Stuck,” the second song they’ve released from the upcoming album. Think a more electronic Tame Impala. Honeymoon’s one to keep an eye on.

Make Music Pasadena returns June 1, and Amoeba is proud to be a sponsor of the event. We’ll be on hand with music for sale, and we’ll be giving away swag at the Amoeba booth (near the Old Pasadena Indie Rock Stage, on Colorado Blvd. near Raymond Ave.) as well as at the LA Weekly booth on the other side of the event. Stop by to pick up a free fan — it’s hot in Pasadena.

Robert DeLong performing live at Amoeba Hollywood

Make Music Pasadena is hailed as the West Coast’s largest free music event. There will be more than 150 bands, including electro-pop bands Yacht and Tanlines; indie-EDM star Robert DeLong; L.A. indie pop band Hunter Hunted; indie rock stalwarts We Are Scientists; world-folk band Taken By Trees (which features Victoria Bergsman of Concretes/“Young Folks” fame); local dream-pop acts Superhumanoids and Haunted Summer; afro-Mexican folk band Las Cafeteras; KCRW’s DJ Valida; experimental pop duo High Places; and more.