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.

Since the NY State of Mind Amoeblog #29, in which I previewed a bunch of the concerts and events (mostly outdoor and mostly free) over the coming months in New York City, was posted a couple of weeks ago, several more concerts and events have been announced for the fun summer season ahead. These include the lineup for the concerts in Prospect Park and the Rooftop Films series, which just kicked off last weekend and runs through August with a non-stop program of great movies screened on rooftops round the city. The mission statement of the oft-lauded non-profit who present the Rooftop Film series is "to engage diverse communities by showing independent movies in outdoor locations" and this they do each weekend to everyone's enjoyment. This weekend, for example, they'll screen the New York premiere of the Reuben Atlas-directed documentary Brothers Hypnotic about the collective lives of the eight members of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble who will perform a live set following the 9pm screening. This free event happens Friday night (May 17th) at Outdoors at MetroTech Commons, Bridge Street & Johnson Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The following night (also in Brooklyn but only two subway stops from Manhattan) will be New York Mayhem - a series of short underground films by local filmmakers about their city. Unlike the previous night however there is a charge for this one of $13 general admission. Saturday, May 18th between 8pm and 1am at The rooftops of Industry City, 220 36th Street at 3rd Avenue, Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY 11232. For more information, visit the Rooftop Films website.

Meanwhile, the Prospect Park concerts will include such outdoor shows as Big Boi, Phony Ppl, and D-Nice on June 20th, The Tiger Lillies on July 18th, and The Waterboys on July 19th. Most are 7pm shows and free or charge a minimal (few bucks) entrance fee. More info here. In Prospect Park this weekend, but not part of the aforementioned concert series, is the music, food, and drink weekend festival known as the Great GoogaMooga. The outdoor weekend-long event includes performances from hometown funk/soul heroes Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, The Darkness, Jovanotti, Matt & Kim, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many more acts who will provide musical entertainment between all the food and drink (beer and wine primarily, but they have whiskey and some other hard liquor too) being served up from the likes of such participating restaurants as Brooklyn's Pork Slope and Manhattan's Pig and Khao. For full eatery information, concert schedules, and tickets click here.