Here’s a new feature where every so often I’ll pick out my favorite used LPs from recent finds. It should go without saying I got all of these for like, an average of five bucks a piece. So here it goes.
 
OMD – Dazzle Ships (link to original issue CD)
 
I always liked OMD enough for their singles, especially “Enola Gay,” but I never really delved into their albums until this one, a mini masterpiece of whirring industrial synthesizers and indelible pop melodies. Some of OMD’s catchiest songs (“Genetic Engineering,” “Telegraph”) are interrupted by bits of shortwave broadcast played over oceanic synthesizers that lend the whole thing an eerie ambiance. It feels like listening to the radio on a submarine. There’s also a young band called Dazzle Ships; they’re really cool too.
 





The Beach Boys – Sunflower (new LP)
 
Sunflower is maybe the last classic the Beach Boys made and is all the more ripe for rediscovering because its songs haven’t been played to death (it wasn’t a hit in the U.S.) and its tastefully layered production sounds great today on harmony-driven songs like “Forever” and “Cool, Cool Water,” fun ’70s rocker “Slip on Through” and, especially, “All I Wanna Do,” which may have helped invent shoegaze.
 

One of my greatest joys when I was picked to write a blog for Amoeba was that I was able to write about music that I truly loved. It was within my first few blogs that I wrote about my love for the music of Luis Alberto Spinetta. Sadly, Spinetta passed away today. A few months back he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died with pulmonary cancer complications. He had just turned 62.

My love for Spinetta’s music grew with my relationships with customers and some fellow employees who encouraged me to delve deeper into his music. Once I did, I found myself doing the same with others. Although a legend in Argentina and for that matter, with most Latin American rockers, he was still a bit of an unknown in mainstream society. I often wondered why other Latin American rock & psychedelic artists got more hipster cred when Spinetta’s volume of work was far superior to others.

His early groups, Almendra, Pescado Rabioso, Invisible and Spinetta Jade where some of the best rock, psyche, progressive rock and folk ever to come out of Latin America. As a solo artist, he released over twenty albums, all of them relevant to the time it was released. To be fair, not all of the solo albums were great but he never wallowed in nostalgia. He attempted to be contemporary without sounding like a dinosaur. If anything, sometimes he was too far ahead of the pack and people needed time to catch up to him.

As a well-read musician, his lyrics were both profound and abstract. I imagine even the most literary Spanish language types needed time to stop and analyze his lyrics. He was inspired by the works of Arthur Rimbaud, Carl Jung, Freud, Nietzsche, Carlos Castaneda and Antonin Artaud, which inspired his greatest album in my opinion, Artaud. Fellow music enthusiast, Gustavo Delanuca, described Spinetta as, “Hip, ahead of his time and never an old man trying be young”

       

This morning Metallica announced that they will throwing a two-day Metalica headlined festival titled Orion Music + More in Atlantic City NJ this summer when, joined by approx two dozen of their favorite artists, they will play their self titled 1991 album, better known as the Black Album in its entirety. Joining them in this festival, planned for June 23rd and 24th in the New Jersey seaside casino/resort town at an abandoned airport space, will be such acts as Modest Mouse, Arctic Monkeys, Gary Clark Jr. Avenged Sevenfold, Fucked Up, The Gaslight Anthem, Roky Erickson, Cage The Elephant, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, Lucero, The Black Angels, The Sword, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Liturgy. There will also be some non-music entertainment including several comedy acts. Above is a video containing parts of their UStream announcement of the festival from earlier today. Ticket prices range from $125 for two days general admission to $225 for the two day "Met Club Ultra Pass." For tickets, which go on sale Saturday Feb 11th, and more info, including updates on more to be announced acts, go to the OrionMusicAndMore website. Below is a live version of "Enter Sandman" from the band's Black Album from the same year it was released.

Today's "it" girl, Ms. Lana Del Rey, performed on Tuesday evening at Amoeba Hollywood to a packed house of excited fans who had been waiting for hours to see her.

Lana Del Rey soundcheck

Lana Del Rey Born To Die Interscope

Earlier in the afternoon, Lana Del Rey jumped on stage to do a quick soundcheck. She seemed relaxed and happy in her jeans and Ferrari team racing jacket as she dipped in and out of a few songs from her new album, Born To Die. Her voice sounded crystal clear and stopped some shoppers still as they looked on.

She smiled and joked with a few fans from the stage, and once she was done with the soundcheck, she spontaneously jumped down to talk to a small crowd of fans which had gathered. They were thrilled of course, and she chatted with them for a few minutes, hugged them and took pictures before she slid out to the Green Room to get ready for the show. 

The February auction at Amoeba Hollywood was a great success and helped raise a lot of money for The Pepper Foundation, a non-profit animal rescue organization that rescues mostly special needs and senior animals from high kill shelters and gets the animals rehabilitated and adopted into loving homes. 

The auciton was hosted by first-time-on-the-Amoeba-soundboard-stage auctioneer Jason Boggs!  Jason quickly garnered a small crowd who were entranced by his warmth and smile (and the wry inside jokes). The Pepper Foundation brought in a tiny crooked-jawed chihuahua which made the whole thing even MORE worthwhile when the bidding started.

Here are some of the highlights:

Smashing Pumpkins 7" Box and photos $10.00
Roger Corman DVD package $20.00
KISS collectible pack $20.00
Trader Joe's Gift Certificate and I Dream of Jeannie Lunchbox $55.00
Lauryn Hill Tickets $70.00 !!
Ozzy Color Litho thingy $25.00
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Signed Book and Poster $25.00
Laemmle Movie Passes $50.00 !!
Bob Marley Package $15.00
Record Store Day 45 Pack $40.00
CocoRosie Tickets $35.00 (after a furious 3-way bidding war.....)
Madonna Ray of Light Promo 
Henna Tattoo Kit with Lady Gaga Discoball Keychain $20.00

All together, we raised $340 during the auction, but more than a few people kicked in EXTRA cash above and beyond their bids, so the total raised on Saturday was $380. With our matching dollar for dollar, we raised a total of $760 for the special needs pups.