Some know San Francisco’s Westerfeld Mansion as the “Russian Embassy,” the site of an infamous brothel run by Czarist Russians in the 1920s. Some know it as a ramshackle boarding house for Fillmore district jazz performers of the 1950s. Most remember it as the magical crash pad of 1960’s counterculture luminaries that inspired Tom Wolfe, Janis Joplin, Ken Kesey, Anton LaVey, Bobby Beausoleil, and Kenneth Anger alike to fly their freak flag from the turrets of this Victorian palace.For all of us who have wanted to know what mysteries
are contained within the walls of this Alamo Square manion, F for Fake Pictures brings you House of Legends, a feature-length documentary that explores the making of a legend by investigating the history and the myths behind San Francisco's Historical Landmark #135. 123 years in the making, the Westerfeld Mansion has a brilliant story to tell through many of its famous, infamous, and colorful inhabitants and visitors over the past 12 generations.
Bay Area city guide SF Station is gearing up for a second eddition of their local music showcase, The Lineup! This time they've partnered up with Oysterfest to offer the winning local band a a three-song set at the festival in Golden Gate Park and the top three bands will perform at a showcase at Brick & Mortar Music Hall on June 13th.
SF Station introduced The Lineup up in Fall of 2011 to promote emerging local bands. The first showcase drew a capacity crowd to BAMM.TV’s studio in SoMa with performances by Plastic Villians, Outlaws & Preachers, and Seatraffic.
Submit your band HERE before Friday, May 4th! DO IT!
SF Station introduced The Lineup up in Fall of 2011 to promote emerging local bands. The first showcase drew a capacity crowd to BAMM.TV’s studio in SoMa with performances by Plastic Villians, Outlaws & Preachers, and Seatraffic.
Submit your band HERE before Friday, May 4th! DO IT!
We are honored to announce that the Tipitina’s Foundation is inducting Amoeba Music into The Tipitina’s Foundation Wall of Fame tonight in New Orleans during their annual event, Instruments A Comin’!
The Tipitina's Foundation was founded before Hurricane Katrina (in 2003), and is committed to preserving Louisiana culture and musical heritage. Of course when the storm ravaged most of the city, the need for resources for displaced musicians and a community place became even more crucial. The Tipitina's Foundation continued to serve unemployed musicians, as well as raise money to replace instruments, and keep the spirit of Louisiana culture alive and well and in the hearts of all New Orleans residents.
In 2005, Amoeba began hosting regular charity auctions to raise money for Gulf relief efforts post-Katrina. In addition to the money raised during the auctions themselves, Amoeba has matched the winning bids dollar for dollar, doubling the money for the Tipitina's Foundation. We also share our love for New Orleans with a Mardi Gras party each year, complete with beads and a parade.
Music is an integral part of New Orleans culture and a huge part of the spirit of one of the most beloved American cities. Keeping that spirit alive and thriving is a huge focus of the Tipitina's Foundation and we are humbled and thankful to be a part of that community.
Today happens to be International Jazz Day, and one of the richest American cultural exports is jazz music. American jazz and blues are the foundation of our cultural heritage---so we celebrate that today.
The Tipitina's Foundation was founded before Hurricane Katrina (in 2003), and is committed to preserving Louisiana culture and musical heritage. Of course when the storm ravaged most of the city, the need for resources for displaced musicians and a community place became even more crucial. The Tipitina's Foundation continued to serve unemployed musicians, as well as raise money to replace instruments, and keep the spirit of Louisiana culture alive and well and in the hearts of all New Orleans residents.In 2005, Amoeba began hosting regular charity auctions to raise money for Gulf relief efforts post-Katrina. In addition to the money raised during the auctions themselves, Amoeba has matched the winning bids dollar for dollar, doubling the money for the Tipitina's Foundation. We also share our love for New Orleans with a Mardi Gras party each year, complete with beads and a parade.
Music is an integral part of New Orleans culture and a huge part of the spirit of one of the most beloved American cities. Keeping that spirit alive and thriving is a huge focus of the Tipitina's Foundation and we are humbled and thankful to be a part of that community.
Today happens to be International Jazz Day, and one of the richest American cultural exports is jazz music. American jazz and blues are the foundation of our cultural heritage---so we celebrate that today.
Death Grips "Guillotine (It goes Yah)" (2012)
Amoeba Music San Francisco Top Five Week Ending April 29th, 2012
1) Death Grips The Money Store (Epic)2) Nicki Minaj Pink Friday...Roman Reloaded (Cash Money)
3) K-Rek No Roads Can Hold Me (Dyverse Productions)
4) E-40 Block Brochure Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3 (Heavy on Grind)
5) Odd Future The OF Tape Vol. 2 (Odd Future)
Thanks to Suzanne at the San Francisco store for this latest Amoeba Hip-Hop Top Five chart that features (with a bullet) in the number one slot the anticipated brand new release from Death Grips. Released last Tuesday The Money Store , which is one of two 2012 releases from the Sacramento, CA trio, is a raw in your face release that at once presents Death Grips' unique spin on the horrorcore rap subgenre. Sure its on a major label but you would never know from its lo-fi raw punk rock meets hip-hop sound and accompanying cover art. Think Brotha Lynch Hung meets Flipper with appeal for fans of (fellow chart entrants) Odd Future. As Amoeba.com recently wrote of this release "Death Grips sound like little else around, combining early hip-hop energy with futuristic industrial noise bursts and grimy beats, courtesy of Andy Morin and Zac Hill (the latter being the hyper-intense drummer from Hella and Marnie Stern). Stefan Burnett’s guttural spitting cuts through and then takes to the background when it needs to, getting cut up and spliced into the mix, remaining both viscerally appealing and intellectually stimulating. Songs like the dubsteppy “Lost Boys” and head-spinning electro-rap of “Get Got” feel like putting your ear to a wormhole into the future of several genres." But really talking/writing about music is not the same as simply listening to it. So I suggest - if you have not already heard Death Grips - that you check out the above low, low-budget video (looks like it was done in ten minutes including editing and uploading to YouTube!) for "Guillotine (It Goes yah)" to get a good idea of the band's unique sound. Also below is a band promo video along with videos from the other Amoeba Top Five Chart entrants this week including newcomer K-Rek from San Mateo, Odd Future in San Francisco, and a fan video of E-40 from Saturday night (4/28/12) of his concert in Santa Cruz.
The Natural History Museum and Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography's map of South LA's Westside
In one week I found myself heading to the Exposition Park neighborhood in South LA’s Westside to visit the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County – a stately structure built in 1913 with Romanesque and Beaux Arts elements that film and TV-viewers might recognize it from such films as A Lot Like Love, Bonfire of the Vanities, Buddy, Clean Slate, Continental Divide, Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Madhouse, Mame, No Place to Hide, Pretty Woman, The Monster Squad, Spencer’s Mountain, Spider-Man, The Three Trials and Two Minute Warning. It’s also appeared in episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and How I Met Your Mother. On TV's Bones it’s the fictional Jeffersonian Institute.
Monday, April 30, 2012 is the first annual International Jazz Day and to celebrate we're screening a documentary about Herbie Hancock, who, in addition to being a legendary, talented musician, is also the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for International Jazz Day. Join us for a FREE screening of Herbie Hancock: Possibilities at Space15Twenty in Hollywood on 4/30 at 8pm. We'll have a video message from Herbie Hancock to kick it off!
Watch part of our conversation with Herbie Hancock recently at Amoeba Hollywood. He spoke with us about the first International Jazz Day and the legacy of Jazz throughout the world.
Herbie Hancock: Possibilities
Ordinary music soars to extraordinary heights as gifted keyboardist Herbie Hancock joins forces with a variety of well-known music superstars to offer a completely original listening experience. As Hancock collaborates with such artists as Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Sting, and Brian Eno, the cameras are permitted into the studios and behind-the-scenes to show just what happens when some of the greatest music minds of a generation converge.
Monday, April 30 at 8pm
Space15Twenty courtyard
1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Part of our Monday Movies series - a neighborhood collaboration between Amoeba and Space15Twenty and a great way to celebrate Monday night in Hollywood…and it's FREE!
This Friday, April 20th was the kick off for the 14th annual Los Angeles Film Noir Festival @ the Egyptian Theatre. Opening night's Alad Ladd double played to a full house and for good reason! The newly restored print of the long lost Great Gatsby was a delight as was seeing the classic This Gun For Hire. Night number two , Naked Alibi / Suddenly, was given an interesting analysis by Charles Reece in his most recent posting, click here to check it out. Sunday's triple, featuring Cornell Woolrich based films, topped off one of the best weekends of film that I've had in many years. There was a bonus showing of Suddenly on Sunday for those who had been disappointed with the lousy digital projection the night before. 
Week number 2 starts off with a Arlene Dahl pairing in Scene Of The Crime / Reign Of Terror. Norman Lloyd will be on hand to discuss his part in Scene of the Crime. A Mid 50's take on the trials and tribulations of life on the Manhattan docks is offered on Saturday. Actress Julie Adams will be on hand to discuss her adventures in making Slaughter on 10th Ave. Sunday offers a gangster double featuring Dick Powell & George Raft, Wednesday brings us a great "corrupt cop" double and Thursday packs a pre-code punch with a couple of "proto-noir" gems.
Best Coast Covers Fleetwood Mac’s “Storms”From Pitchfork, dad-rock loving duo Best Coast has covered a song by their beloved Fleetwood Mac, “Storms,” from their underrated 1979 album Tusk. For now, you have to track to about 58:10 in this edition of BBC Radio 6’s Radcliffe & Maconie show.
Here’s the cool part: You can get the cover on a 7” that comes with The Only Place at independent record stores. Preorder your copy of The Only Place here at Amoeba and you’ll get a copy of the 7” with the moody and beautiful “Storms,” which shows off Bethany Cosentino’s growing confidence as a singer of uncommon power.
Ty Segall & White Fence – “Time”
I interviewed Ty Segall a while back about his collaboration with White Fence, called Hair, a match made in garage-pop heaven that was released this week — pick it up here. Here’s a fun psychedelic video of their song “Time” recorded for Room 205.
To check out extensive LP label and price guides plus cover art, head to the Vinyl Beat website!
78s were totally discontinued in the States by 1960, but not so in other parts of the world. Unbelievably, many Beatles 78s were released in the Philippines and India from 1963-1965, mainly for juke box plays. There were also a few titles released in South America in Columbia and Argentina. The site Cool78s features all known issues, including 17 from the Philippines and 24 from India. Beatles collectors pay from $500 - $1,200 each for these sides depending on condition and scarcity. Tell your Pilipino and Indian friends to check with their music loving relatives to see if they have a goldmine stashed away in their attic.
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78s were totally discontinued in the States by 1960, but not so in other parts of the world. Unbelievably, many Beatles 78s were released in the Philippines and India from 1963-1965, mainly for juke box plays. There were also a few titles released in South America in Columbia and Argentina. The site Cool78s features all known issues, including 17 from the Philippines and 24 from India. Beatles collectors pay from $500 - $1,200 each for these sides depending on condition and scarcity. Tell your Pilipino and Indian friends to check with their music loving relatives to see if they have a goldmine stashed away in their attic.
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Country music legend George Jones posted the above YouTube video to his website two days ago in which in the first half he thanked his fans for their continued support and their well wishes during his recent
respiratory infection that hospitalized him for a week last month and resulted in him having to cancel concert dates. But then in the second breath the 80 year old singer accused his 41 year old daughter Georgette Lennon and "her new husband" of telling lies and spreading bad rumors about him "on the Internet and Facebook." These "bad things" that his daughter (whose mother was the late country star Tammy Wynette) was allegedly saying about him, and reportedly are at the heart of a two decade old family feud, were "all about money" he said.His daughter responded telling the Associated Press that she is "completely devastated" that her father would take their family business public in such a manner. Indeed the fact that an elderly man at age 80 & facing health issues would be bothered to care about what anyone may or may not be saying on Facebook seems a little silly to say the least. And since the topics he covers in the short video message tackle betrayal, money, family, substance abuse & rehab, and his quote "I am not the person they claim I am" have all the earmarks of a classic country song it's too bad the Country Music Hall of Famer didn't just write & record a song about his troubles instead of posting a YouTube rant. But maybe he still will or else maybe someone will AutoTune it - country style.
What's In My Bag? with Res & Talib Kweli of Idle Warship (2012)
I love how both Res and Talib Kweli of super-duo Idle Warship are genuine music fans and true
supporters of their fellow artists as proven in the above What's In My Bag? video recently shot at Amoeba Hollywood. In this latest What's In My Bag? segment Res (pronounced Reese), who confided that whenever Talib releases a new CD that she cops six copies of it, picked up such releases as Nikka Costa, Crosby Stills & Nash, and female vocalist Havana who she got turned onto it after hearing it been played over the Sunset Blvd. Amoeba sound system. Meanwhile Talib Kweli, who was clearly quite pleased with his Beatles "Yellow Submarine" poster find, picked up a grip of music including some late 2011 releases he was catching up on - the latest releases from his "friends" The Roots (Undun) and Common (The Dreamer/The Believer) stressing how it is important for him to support music since he asks others to do so of his music. And you can support Idle Warship by buying their November release Habits of the Heart directly from Amoeba. And for more artists shares of their goodies found at Amoeba check out the numerous other videos in the series What's In My Bag?
I get the scoop on the future of this Los Angeles band.
TakeOff in Van Nuys is one of those great DIY spaces that comes about out of necessity. In an otherwise dreary part of Van Nuys, near the airport, the small warehouse space is a gulp of fresh air, offering Valley kids an all-ages concert venue, self-screen-printed T-shirts, cassettes and records from local bands, new and used clothing — “pretty much anything that has to do with music, art and skateboarding,” according to Jordan Espino, the young entrepreneur behind the space, along with longtime friend and co-owner Luis Castillo.“Luis and I decided to open TakeOff when we needed a new practice space,” Espino explains. “When we found the spot, we immediately decided we should have a little store front because of the size and weird industrial location. We do all the booking and pretty much keep the space running.”
The space is celebrating a full year of existence with a benefit show April 26 at the Smell in Downtown L.A., featuring a number of great local artists: Dunes, David Scott Stone, Cat 500, Protect Me, Mutations, Stripper Pussy, Parallaxscroll and DJ Zen Mafia.
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When they opened the venue last March, Castillo said it was to have a headquarters for all of their projects, whether it was their band, silk-screening or hosting local skate sessions.
“After a couple of months, we started realizing that kids around the valley DID want a space and DIDN'T want to drive all the way to L.A. for it,” he said. “We hope we can stay open, continue to have shows and break the stereotype that people have on The Valley.
TakeOff Fest starts at 8 p.m., is $8 and is all-ages, with a limited number of free TakeOff mix CDs. The Smell is at 247 S Main St. in Los Angeles.
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Take Off is located at 15100 Keswick Street #A Van Nuys, CA 91405. Email them at takeoffvn@gmail.com for show info and store hours. More info at takeoffstore.blogspot.com.
UPDATE 5/25: Two-day passes are now $10 off at Amoeba Hollywood! Weekend passes are now $25 (plus $2 service fee).
The schedule for the 2012 Silver Lake Jubilee has been announced! The festival takes place on Memorial Day weekend in Los Angeles and features two days of music, comedy, food trucks, vendors, beer gardens, and more.
You can purchase two-day passes to the Jubilee at Amoeba Hollywood for $37 (this includes a $2 facility fee).
The schedule for the 2012 Silver Lake Jubilee has been announced! The festival takes place on Memorial Day weekend in Los Angeles and features two days of music, comedy, food trucks, vendors, beer gardens, and more.
You can purchase two-day passes to the Jubilee at Amoeba Hollywood for $37 (this includes a $2 facility fee).
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Saturday, May 26: 12 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. |
Sunday, May 27: 12 p.m. to 10:00 p.m |
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KINKY Autolux La Santa Cecilia Las Cafeteras Letting Up Despite Great Faults FIDLAR Matthewdavid Allah-Las Virtual Boy XBXRX La Vampires Soft Metals Moses Campbell Catwalk Dunes JJAMZ Leech Leslie Stevens & The Badgers Robert DeLong Wildcat! Wildcat! Threeway Black Boots Public School Rocks |
Aloe Blacc Family of the Year La Sera The Soft Pack Abe Vigoda Maya Jupiter LAKE Princeton Eastern Conference Champions TEARIST Incan Abraham Gangi Chasing Kings Summer Twins Heatwave Contact Field Orchestra Manhattan Murder Mystery Batwings Catwings The Mormons The Dharma Bums Bright Beast Little Guy Silverlake Conservatory of Music |
Today is the 57th birthday of X Minus One, a science fiction anthology that debuted on NBC radio on 24 April, 1955.
It began as a sort-of revival of pioneering sci-fi program, Dimension X and the first fifteen episodes were remakes from that series. The remainder of the episodes were originals from staff writers Ernest
Kinoy and George Lefferts as well as their adaptations of new works by the likes of A. A. PhelpsJr., Alan Nourse, Algis Budrys, Arthur Sellings, Clifford Simak, Donald A. Wollheim, Evelyn Smith, F. L. Wallace, Finn O'Donovan, Fletcher Pratt, Frank M. Robinson, Frank Quattrochi, Frederic Brown, Frederick Pohl, Fritz Leiber, Gordon R. Dickson, Graham Doar, H. Beam Piper, H. L. Gold, Isaac Asimov, J. T. McIntosh, Jack McKenty, James Blish, James E. Gunn, James E. Gunn, James H. Schmitz, Katherine MacLean, L. Sprague de Camp, Mark Clifton, Milton Lesser, Murray Leinster, Ned Lang, Peter Phillips, Phillip K. Dick, Poul Anderson, Ray Bradbury, Richard Maples, Richard Wilson, Robert Bloch, Robert Heinlein, Robert Sheckley, Robert Silverberg, Ross Rockland, Stephen Arr, Stephen Vincent Benet, Steven Tall, Theodore sturgeon, Tom Goodwin, Vaughn Shelton, William Tenn, and Wyman Guin.
Each episode began with announcer (variously Ben Grauer, Bill Rippe, Don Pardo, Fred Collins, Jack Costello, Kenneth Banghart and Roger Tuttle) intoning:
Countdown for blastoff... X minus five, four, three, two, X minus one... Fire! From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future; adventures in which you'll live in a
million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds. The National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with Street
and Smith, publishers of Astounding Science Fiction presents... X Minus One.
As a result of renewed interest in Old Time Radio, Robert Silverberg wrote a new episode "The Iron Chancellor" in 1973 but did not result in a revival.
NBC was infamous for not showing much interest in their radio programs -- especially as radio waned and TV waxed -- and Dimension X suffered from being bounced around between Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and barely received any promotion. However, they didn't skimp on the writing and sound effects budget and the results were frequently amazing.
Ultimately the series ran for 124 episodes (plus the audition). Its last episode aired 9 January, 1958. Almost all episodes have been preserved and most can be listened to here. They also appear on CDs and Audio DVDs, which can sometimes be found at Amoeba. NB: the ongoing popularity of X Minus One has led to some unscrupulous folks splicing together various previously existing material from different sources to create "newly discovered" episodes. Special thanks to the folks at the Digital Deli Too for their hard work in the name of preserving OTR. Consult with them before splurging.
On Sunday, May 6th, Amoeba will be at one of the Southland's biggest and
best record swap meets, the Pasadena City College's Flea Market and Record Swap. With over 500 vendors, the Flea Market features antiques and collectibles, records, tools, clothes, toys and much more, not to mention food and good company. And admission is always free and parking is $2.The Flea Market and Record Swap is from 7am-3pm. Look for the Amoeba booth located in the Bonnie St. parking structure (Lot 5) on the third Level. We always have a great selection of vinyl, from dollar records to collectibles in every genre. Come out and enjoy your
Sunday with us!The LA Weekly calls the show “the best source for used records in all of Southern California.”
More info HERE.
Amoeba fan Maddy, writer of the blog Vinyl is Forever, shares what's in her bag after an action-packed Record Store Day at Amoeba San Francisco! Thanks, Maddy!
By Spensaur Cooper
Photos by Spensaur Cooper & Gene Bae
The 5th Annual Record Store Day provided Amoeba Berkeley with a reminder that the East Bay loves its
music. An hour prior to open on that beautiful Saturday morning, folks had already created a line that passed Cafe Mediterranean, and for good reason too.Record labels big and small released hundreds of titles specifically for Record Store Day this year. In Berkeley, we seemed to have more titles than we ever had before so instead of our normal corral set up, we provided a few different stations in the center of the store to accommodate the overflowing of new releases. Highlights from our shipments included The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends LP, Phish's Junta Deluxe (Pollock Version) LP, Devo's Live in Seattle 1981 LP, Lee Hazlewood's The LHI Years LP, The Pharcyde's Bizzarre Ride II, as well as countless others.
As the line from outside poured into our RSD aisles, things got hectic but customers worked together,
handing albums to others who could not reach and looking out for their fellow record enthusiasts. Beginning at noon we kicked off our afternoon of DJ sets with Mike Schulman, head honcho of Slumberland Records, who played everything from cheery reverberant pop, to darker 80's post-punk and even some rocksteady ska to round out his hour.
As you probably already heard/read, Record Store Day Saturday was off the hook everywhere across the US including at the three Amoeba Music stores. At the Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood stores it was the way a record store should be: supercharged, intense, energy from music fans celebrating music and music collecting. Among the music fans that happily packed Amoeba for Record Store Day were a lot of DJs and a lot hip-hop music collectors who were digging for such Record Store Day 2012 exclusive releases as the 3 sided, 10" Rhymesayers picture disc, or the James Brown live at the Apollo 7" single, the Childish Gambino red vinyl 12" single, or "Bizzare Ride II The Pharcyde: Singles Collection 7" box set, and a Shabazz Palaces live at KEXP 12." According to hip-hop section specialists Rob and Trey at Amoeba San Francisco the hottest item was the Pharcyde seven inch box set. "We had ten and they went right away," reported Audra from the Haight Street Amoeba. E-Lit who was kept mad busy all day Saturday at the Berkeley Amoeba store reported that, "Record Store Day was busy as all hell once again this year! Lines around the block, customers clamoring for the exclusives, and lots of happy faces. 30 minutes in and the Pharcyde "Bizarre Ride II" 7" boxes were sold out (we actually have a few more coming in, shhh...). The Rhymesayers Atmosphere/Uncluded picture disc was the next to fly out of stock, followed by Danny Brown's XXX LP with Record Store Day exclusive 7," Death Grips' "The Money Store" LP and Childish Gambino's 12." Lots of awesome buddies of mine stopped by to shop around as well. It was an awesome day!" For full in-depth Record Store Day reports at Amoeba, including lots of photos and videos of all the craziness and fun for what was the biggest and best Record Store Day to date, check the series of Record Store Day 2012 Amoeblogs here.
It's film noir festival time again at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. First up for me was a Sterling Hayden double-feature.
Hayden plays a totalitarian-minded chief detective whose brutal methods are currently being investigated by bureaucrats intent on making crime easier and policing harder. Dwelling in the loopholes of law and order, these hobgoblins are always the real villains in films with the ultimate goal of undermining what namby-pamby liberal types call checks and balances that are supposed to keep our country from being a police state: elected officials, lawyers and, of course, the press. Against the knee-jerks, the film suggests that the chief's mind is like a vast differential engine, intuiting the deterministic equations in the chaos of criminality where a wavering eyebrow inevitably leads to multiple homicides -- imagine a cross between Harry Callahan and the precogs from Philip K. Dick's The Minority Report. When he tries to explain how he knows that a church-going, family-oriented baker is a copkiller despite having solid character witnesses, airtight alibis and no priors, a fellow detective looks about as comprehending as a neanderthal hearing the obelisk play Ligeti for the first time. Rational deduction becomes mystical, a voodoo conjuring best left to the professional witchdoctors. The audience is assured of the chief's preternatural acumen when Gloria Grahame shows up as the baker's girlfriend in a border town. Anyone who's watched enough film noir knows that dating her means you're guilty of something and will soon die for what you've done. Had this film been made today, it most likely would've been about police brutality and the dangers of trusting those in power, but because it has Joseph Breen's stamp of approval, the "criminals" had to be punished and "cop" was mutually exclusive to "evil." Which means that'll you'll enjoy the film if you tend to wax nostalgic for 1930s Italy or lean left with a masochistic sense of humor.
Hit So Hard is the pull-no-punches portrait of the hell-and-back life of Patty Schemel, the drummer of Courtney Love’s seminal rock band Hole during its peak years. An unprecedented and unflinching look at one of the ‘90s most crucial and controversial groups, Hit So Hard (directed by P. David Ebersole) shows Patty as a true Gen X survivor.
Catch this one-of-a-kind documentary at San Francisco's Roxie Theater April 27th - May 3rd! Director P. David Ebersole, Patty Schemel, and Eric Erlandson (Hole) will introduce the 7:15pm and 9:30pm screenings on Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28! They will also hold a Q&A after the 7:15pm screening on both days!
One Day on Earth the music video - by Cut Chemist from One Day on Earth on Vimeo.
Happy Earth Day 2012 which is being celebrated all over the globe today (April 22nd) including in NYC at the United Nations General Assembly late today (invite only) where LA DJ/turntablist/producer Cut Chemist is slated to play the UN for the premiere of the film One Day On Earth after recently receiving a much coveted invitation to perform. In support of the documentary Cut Chemist recently compiled the above music video mixing/editing and blending in individuals from all over the world performing their native instruments on the same day. Tomorrow (Monday April 23rd) in NYC the DJ will be spinning a set of all 45s seven inch singles at The Bowery Electric.
Record Store Day 2012 has been tremendous so far, and we're not done yet! The store is humming with excitement for the exclusive Record Store Day releases, and an outpouring of love for indie record stores in general. It's been an incredibly busy, wonderful day here at Amoeba Hollywood. Amoeblogger Billy Gil gave us the highlights from Record Store Day morning and below, in photos and video, is the afternoon.
Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene, Cookie Duster)
Shaun Lopez (Far, Crosses)
Chino Moreno (Deftones, Crosses)
Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene, Cookie Duster)
Shaun Lopez (Far, Crosses)
Chino Moreno (Deftones, Crosses)
Record Store Day 2012: Hectic from Amoeba in Cali to the East Coast at spots like NYC's Good Records
New York City: As reported here on the Amoeblog today by Billy Gil at the Hollywood Amoeba, Record Store Day 2012 has been hectic with folks lining up outside the Sunset Blvd. store from 2:30am this morning, eight long hours before Amoeba would open its front doors. Up north in the Bay at both the Berkeley Amoeba and the San Francisco Amoeba a similar scenario was playing out with folks showing up long before doors opening for their chance to snag some of the much coveted Record Store Day 2012 
exclusive releases. Of that long list of exclusive releases among the top most sought after items was a release by the group Phish which was what the folks first in line outside the San Francisco Amoeba wanted as reported on the Amoebog YouTube posting earlier this afternoon. Back here in NYC shoppers were also hot to track down Phish. "All day we got calls for the Phish and Flaming Lips records," Jonathan Sklute who owns the East Village Good Records store told me this afternoon, adding that. "A friend of mine I was talking to over at [nearby] Other Music said that they got about 700 calls for Phish but they didn't have near that many copies to satisfy that level of demand."
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| All photos by Kaitlin Layher |
With a line forming around the block, through the McDonald's parking lot and down Waller Street, Record
Store Day 2012 today (April 21st) at Amoeba San Francisco was the best-attended one yet! As we discussed before, Record Store Day is not taken lightly amongst discerning music collectors and Amoebites alike, and this year we all felt the rosy glow of the True Meaning of Record Store Day as the doors were flung open to the excited crowd at 10:30am. As you'll see in these accompanying photos and the video below, special limited edition releases were what brought these souls together, but the instantly-made friendships between like-minded Amoeba patrons spoke to the higher purpose of RSD.Also in the spirit of giving (and collecting limited edition stuff!), Free Gold Watch was on the Amoeba
stage screen printing the two winning designs from our first-ever design contest! The shirts went FAST, but we still have a few tote bags at the registers. If you are interested, act fast before they are gone! Proceeds of t-shirt sales will go to the kids at SF Rock Project, because children are our future! Donate well and let them show the way.
Official Record Store Day T-Shirts are now being printed until 4 p.m. in Hollywood! Donate $5 to The Silverlake Conservatory of Music to pick one of four RSD designs. The prints come from our friends at Junk Food Clothing, Family Industries, and Anti-/Epitaph Records.
Record Store Day 2012 is upon us. The devoted started lining up at Amoeba Hollywood as early as 2:30 in the morning for a chance at picking up a number of exclusive releases, with doors opening at 10:30 a.m. The line outside stretched around the block all morning, with customers cooling themselves off with Amoeba fans and the Coffee Bean providing free coffee and goodies for those in line. Amoeba is silk screening the winning designs of its Record Store Day T-Shirt Contest, and at 1 p.m. Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning will begin DJing (see a full list of the day's events here). Though some releases have already sold out, a number of high-profile releases were still up for grabs as of 11:15 a.m. (including the much-touted new release from The Flaming Lips, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, featuring Bon Iver, Ke$ha and a whole lot more folks in between). There's still time to come in and grab any number of Record Store Day releases. Come in, hang out, buy some records, get a gift bag, get an exclusive T-Shirt, and hang out and listen to DJs spin. (Click here for a full list of releases; check out my picks here.) And if you can't make it out, follow Amoeba on Twitter for ticket giveaways, and check Amoeba.com tomorrow when leftover Record Store Releases will be put up for sale — can't guarantee you'll get what you want, since these things are going, going fast today.
Attention party-people! Smack some color on those lips, forget about fastening those top two buttons and get ready kick off your high-heel sneakers 'cause this Saturday night Uni & her Ukelele will be taking the stage early for a sunset (show begins at 5, Uni goes on around 6:30pm) show at Amnesia in San Francisco to promote the release of her latest album Lover's Cliché - an infectious pop record full of heart and heady hooks that is, I can personally guarantee, the only thing missing from the Springtime of your life if you are not bumping it right now. Get into the barrage of choice Uni & her Ukelele visual stimuli that follow and be ready to shake it with Uni at Amnesia this Saturday. This hard-working show pony is the very model of a self-made professional musician and when she brings it, it is just too much good. DING!
Verbal Assassinz, who are among performers at today's 4-20 The Smokeout "Highliday" Hip-Hop Fest, along with Young and Greedy on the song "That Good" - brand new video uploaded this week
Sure 420 (today's date, April 20th) may not be an official holiday but it sure seems like one to the legions of medical (and non-medical) marijuana advocates out there who have for many years been treating this date
like any other important annual holiday with 420 events organized around today's date. This so-called "highliday" has also become closely intertwined with hip-hop music and culture, especially on the Left Coast, as witnessed by the number of weed themed hip-hop events happening today. I personally only first became aware of 420 back in the mid nineties when I was over in Amsterdam reporting for the SF Bay Guardian on the High Times sponsored Cannabis Cup when, at exactly 4:20pm every afternoon, everyone would stop what they were doing to spark one one up. But weed-lore has it that the time of 4:20 to celebrate goes all the way back to the early 1970's when, somewhere in NorCal near Humboldt, a group of friends some folks chose that time of the day to light up, take two, and pass Since then the time morphed into the date of April 20th as a celebratory time.Fast forward to April 20th, 2012 and this year's 420 has evolved into almost a national holiday with this year, it seems, having even more events planned around it than any previous year, especially hip-hop related ones, and especially in California where medical cannabis laws are more progressive than most states - even despite the recent confrontations with the Feds under the Obama Administration that Richard Lee and his Oaksterdam University endured (read more here c/o Huffington Post). Of course anyone who listens to hip-hop can tell you that with hip-hop music, just like with reggae, it seems like every other song has some reference to the sticky icky, and that since even before the early nineties blunted hip-hop craze hip-hop/rap had readily embraced weed culture dating all the way back to its roots in the Boogie Down Bronx.
In honor of 420, 2012 I've listed a few of the hip-hop and other music themed 420 events happening today and tomorrow, in the Bay Area. Additionally below I have posted some weed inspired hip-hop music videos - a few classics from over the years. This evening starting at 7pm, including a free BBQ until 9pm, is The Smokeout with RBL Posse's Black C (who will do the classic RBL "Don't Gimme No Bammer" at least once), 11/5 (who will do "Garcia Vegas"), Dru Down, Young Dru, M-Dash, Illa Sevearr, Verbal Assassinz (see their brand new video above), and reggae act Tom Slick & Sofa Kin Tight. 21+ $10 At Time Out at 1822 Grant St. Concord, CA. Billed simply as 4/20 tonight at SOM Bar on 16th in the Mission district of SF is a reggae, dancehall, and bass music DJ night with sets from the South Rakkas Crew (Mad Decent - DJ Set), DJ Daneekah, DJ Sep, Kush Arora, Bootklap, Manitous vs Matt Haze, and U9Life live. 21+ 9pm - 3am. $5 before 10:30pm, then $10. More details here.
Record Store Day is great for any number of reasons — supporting record stores and the music community, hearing DJ sets from the likes of Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning. But in the end it’s all about the exclusive and new releases. Here are 10 picks from the many releases coming out April 21. (Read a more comprehensive list here, and download the full list here.)
Animal Collective – Transverse Temporal Gyrus
Ripped from elsewhere on the Amoeblog: In March 2010, Animal Collective and visual artist Danny Perez put on an installation called "Transverse Temporal Gyrus" at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. For the audio, each member of the band made individual sounds and songs. Over the course of two 3-hour performances, the basic tracks were fed into a computer program that randomized the track order, and sometimes randomly combined stems from one track with stems from another. The program also panned the music in various directions around a 36 channel surround sound system that ran through 36 speakers set up from the top of the Guggenheim's ramp to the bottom. The music on this 12" is a collage made consisting of the original tracks, as well as live recordings made inside the Guggenheim before the doors were opened to the public. It will be the only physical format on which any of the music will be released.
Plus it’s new Animal Collective!
Arcade Fire – Sprawl II
Arcade Fire’s Blondie-ish “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” was undoubtedly the highlight of The Suburbs and showed the band still has some tricks up its sleeve. The Soulwax remix included here tastefully gives it the dancefloor feel it calls for without just throwing a house beat over the song and calling it a day.
Animal Collective – Transverse Temporal GyrusRipped from elsewhere on the Amoeblog: In March 2010, Animal Collective and visual artist Danny Perez put on an installation called "Transverse Temporal Gyrus" at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. For the audio, each member of the band made individual sounds and songs. Over the course of two 3-hour performances, the basic tracks were fed into a computer program that randomized the track order, and sometimes randomly combined stems from one track with stems from another. The program also panned the music in various directions around a 36 channel surround sound system that ran through 36 speakers set up from the top of the Guggenheim's ramp to the bottom. The music on this 12" is a collage made consisting of the original tracks, as well as live recordings made inside the Guggenheim before the doors were opened to the public. It will be the only physical format on which any of the music will be released.
Plus it’s new Animal Collective!
Arcade Fire – Sprawl IIArcade Fire’s Blondie-ish “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” was undoubtedly the highlight of The Suburbs and showed the band still has some tricks up its sleeve. The Soulwax remix included here tastefully gives it the dancefloor feel it calls for without just throwing a house beat over the song and calling it a day.
Swedish garage rock quintet The Hives visited Amoeba Hollywood today for a What's In My Bag? video on their way to the desert for Coachella weekend #2. This is the band's second time playing Coachella (their first was in 2003) and, after last weekend's performance at the festival, they were excited to be heading back for another show. Their new album, Lex Hives - their first album in five years - is out June 5 on band's Disques Hive label.
At the end of the shoot, the band was joined by honorary Hives member and unofficial Amoeba mascot CASH the dog!
At the end of the shoot, the band was joined by honorary Hives member and unofficial Amoeba mascot CASH the dog!
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All the hype leading up to Record Store Day 2012 is beginning to resemble a giddy night-before-Christmas-ish itch. Thankfully it's on the brink of being scratchable what with the big to-do coming up this Saturday, April 21st. And let me tell you: it's going to be a frenzy! I've put together a little list of titles I'm looking out for - don't forget to compile your own and head on down as early as you can Saturday morning to ensure getting your paws on your prizes. Get more news about the super duper limited Record Store Day releases available at Amoeba Music here, see a full listing of our Record Store Day events here, and check out the winning entries of our first ever Record Store Day t-shirt design contest here, they're so boss!
As for me, my number one pick of the Record Store Day 2012 releases is (drumroll, please):
The Mynah Birds
"It's My Time" b/w "Go On and Cry"
How about a little oldies for your soul courtesy of Messrs Rick James (before he was Rick James, bitch) and Neil Young (way before the Harvest) recorded circa 1966 only to be shelved indefinitely by Motown due to James AWOL U.S. Navy status and subsequent arrest. The remaining Mynah Birds went on to found Buffalo Springfield and play in Steppenwolf. All that rock 'n' roll history aside, this solid single made by some young dudes before superstardom carved them anew is a must have for my collection. Oh, yes - it will be mine!
As for me, my number one pick of the Record Store Day 2012 releases is (drumroll, please):
The Mynah Birds
"It's My Time" b/w "Go On and Cry"
How about a little oldies for your soul courtesy of Messrs Rick James (before he was Rick James, bitch) and Neil Young (way before the Harvest) recorded circa 1966 only to be shelved indefinitely by Motown due to James AWOL U.S. Navy status and subsequent arrest. The remaining Mynah Birds went on to found Buffalo Springfield and play in Steppenwolf. All that rock 'n' roll history aside, this solid single made by some young dudes before superstardom carved them anew is a must have for my collection. Oh, yes - it will be mine!
other noteworthy selections (that, purportedly, do NOT include DNA evidence of their makers) are:
Amoeba is delighted to present Sweet Hearts featuring Priscilla Ahn and Charlie Wadhams at LA’s
Bootleg Bar on April 29th!
Ahn, who recently released two albums for Blue Note (When You Grow Up and A Good Day) has a warm, welcoming voice. Wadhams songwriting was just featured in the film Walk Hard.
Please join us for this great night of music! More info HERE.
“Together, they sound like Belle & Sebastian -- minus the twee." - Huffington Post
Bootleg Bar on April 29th!Ahn, who recently released two albums for Blue Note (When You Grow Up and A Good Day) has a warm, welcoming voice. Wadhams songwriting was just featured in the film Walk Hard.
Please join us for this great night of music! More info HERE.
“Together, they sound like Belle & Sebastian -- minus the twee." - Huffington Post
influential MC, born Keith Elam and who was only 43 when he passed in April 2010, appropriately stood for "Gifts Unlimited Rhymes Universal" which perfectly summed up the artist. GURU will always be remembered most for his Gang Starr recordings. Yes he did a lot of other work with artists over the years including the ambitious Jazzmatazz series with Branford Marsalis, Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers and Ronny Jordan but it is his Gang Starr recordings/catalog that will forever remain in the hearts & heads of music fans and the general hip-hop consciousness.There have been, over the years, countless club nights whose names have been taken directly from GURU lyrics, and/or Gang Starr song/album titles. Dave Paul of BOMB Hip Hop once had a party called Step In The Arena. Additionally GURU's fondness for confrontational, battle style lyrics were tailor-made for DJs to utilize in battle scenarios. As UK DJ/producer Pete Sasqwax so accurately noted today on this sad anniversary, "So many quotables & without him, how different DJ battles would've been over the years. I believe there was a significant period of time whereby it was mandatory to use a Guru dis in your DMC [DJ battle] routine otherwise you would automatically fail to progress." Above and below are videos to some of my personal all time fave Gang Starr cuts. Rest in peace GURU - your music keeps you alive forever!
It's time again for First Fridays! Once a month, Los Angeles's Natural History Museum stays open late and features live music, exciting
scientific discussion, and behind-the-scenes curatorial tours as part of the First Fridays program. Amoeba is excited to sponsor this fabulous series of live music, discussion, concessions, tours, DJs, and more.
Join us on May 4 from 5-10pm for live performances from AA Bondy and Father John Misty, KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Valida, and a guest lecture with Amy Stewart on “Wicked Bugs–Fearsome and Ferocious Creatures in Your Backyard and Beyond.”
Find out more HERE!
scientific discussion, and behind-the-scenes curatorial tours as part of the First Fridays program. Amoeba is excited to sponsor this fabulous series of live music, discussion, concessions, tours, DJs, and more.Join us on May 4 from 5-10pm for live performances from AA Bondy and Father John Misty, KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Valida, and a guest lecture with Amy Stewart on “Wicked Bugs–Fearsome and Ferocious Creatures in Your Backyard and Beyond.”
Find out more HERE!
Pepe Bradock
Imbroglios 1-4 12”
Atavisme
Pepe Bradock adds another 4-tracker to his unparalleled run of marvelous releases on his Atavisme imprint. A glorious synopsis of his unmistakable style fusing snippets of jazz, film soundtrack and eccentric humor and a huge atmospheric range from spooky to buoyant, often changing in seconds but always keeping that instantly-recognizable, quirky swing. This is the first part out of four.
Purchase Imbroglios 1 here:
Jimmy Edgar
This One’s For… 12”
Hot Flush
Two slices of erotic robo-pop and future sleaze, plus an instrumental of the title track "THIS ONE'S FOR THE CHILDREN", from this Detroit producer already well known on the underground with full length albums released on WARP and !K7. A sampler for his forthcoming "MAJENTA" album.
Purchase This One's For... here:
Vakula
Leleka 002 12”
Leleka
Thanks to getting an advance copy of Philadelphia hip-hop artist Lushlife's brand new album Plateau Vision, which arrived in Amoeba yesterday in both CD and vinyl formats, I have had the opportunity to really listen repeatedly to it and can confidently predict, only a third of the way into the year, that it will be making my Top Five best-of 2012 list. It's that good! It's also something that the super-talented MC/producer has been working hard on for the past two years: meticulously assembling the richly layered production to deliver a unique hip-hop release that serves up some intelligent, thought-provoking rhymes over a refreshing production backdrop that is accurately described by his label Western Vinyl (who normally do indie rock, not hip-hop) as such: "Plateau Vision expertly incubates ‘60s psych eccentricities, and gauzy low-fi production techniques with ’96-era hip-hop swagger." Indeed! That was what first grabbed me about the album: how it had this mid nineties NYC hip-hop feel to it but yet was uniquely new forward feeling too.When I caught up with the self-described "bedroom composer" a few days ago, fresh back from doing shows in Massachusetts and Canada with the likes of Shabazz Palaces, he agreed that his production at times evokes that aforementioned mid-nineties hip-hop feel. "That's a fabric of what I do," he readily agreed but insisted that he shouldn't be pigeonholed as "one of those guys that just rehashes jazzy golden era beats. So when you listen to the record I like to think that it kind of emotes that feeling but that it still has something progressive and new about it. But that nineties stuff is the core of me." Born and raised in New Jersey the 30 year old artist, born Raj Haldar and making beats since high school, settled in South Philly seven years ago after having, "spent time in London and New York." Compared to those two major (and notably more expensive) metropolitan centers Philly was the perfect fit for him as an artist. "I was able to live and breath there [Philapelphia] and not get caught up in just trying to pay the bills," he said echoing the sentiment of many other artists who've happily settled in the city 90 minutes south (with light traffic) of the Big Apple.
While Lushlife has been making music for several years ("I'd been dabbling in a lot of lo-fi and textural sounds in hip-hop," he said) it was only last year that he began to get really noticed. That was when he released straight-to-cassette mixtape No More Golden Days which, despite it's limited run ("I only pressed 200 copies," he laughed) got noticed by such credible tastemakers as Okayplayer, Stereogum, and the New York Times. That all lead to his record deal and the heralded release this week of his debut album. While
Lush ably oversees mic & production duties throughout Plateau Vision, he also invited some other talents on board including Styles P, Shad, Heems of Das Racist, Cities Aviv, and Andrew Cedermark. Standout album tracks include "Magnolia," Gymnopedie 1.2 (ft. Shad)," "Anthem," and "Big Sur." I asked the artist if his song "Big Sur" was written about the beautiful California coastline area south of Monterey? Yes and no, he replied. "It's all like my imagined sense of Big Sur. But I have never been there," he said with a chuckle adding that, "A lot of the sub context of the stuff on Plateau Vision is kind of imagined America that I have never visited."
Amoeba Music is pround to sponsor Cal Students for Hip-hop's 16th Annual Hip-hop in the Park, Saturday May, 5th noon - 5pm! This FREE Hip-hop festival in Berkeley's People's Park features music, live graffiti art, and more!
Check out this all-star line-up:
Dumbfoundead
Gift of Gab of Blackalicious
Ladies First: Raw G, Aima the Dreamer, Persia, Maya Songbird, and DJ Pam the Funkstress
Ameish and the Society
Jnatural
Understudies vs Candlespit
DJ Platurn and Jern Eye will be hosting part of the breakdance cypher!
People's Park is located in Berkeley between Haste and Dwight off of Telegraph.
We had the pleasure of interviewing the legendary Herbie Hancock at Amoeba Hollywood for a What's In My Bag? episode and to talk about his role as the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for International Jazz Day (April 30). During the shoot, Mr. Hancock told us about his Sony 4K 3D projector and his obsession with watching 3D Blu-ray movies.
Born in Chicago in 1940, Mr. Hancock was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. He began playing jazz in high school, and cultivated a passion for electronics and science, double-majoring in music and electrical engineering in college. Over the course of his five decade career, his music has influenced musicians across genres, including jazz, soul, and electronic. As the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mr. Hancock will kick off the festivities in Paris on April 27, then flying to New Orleans and New York for events in both cities on April 30.
We're screening a documentary about Mr. Hancock called Herbie Hancock: Possibilities for FREE on Monday, April 30 at Space 15Twenty (across from Amoeba Hollywood). More info.
Born in Chicago in 1940, Mr. Hancock was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. He began playing jazz in high school, and cultivated a passion for electronics and science, double-majoring in music and electrical engineering in college. Over the course of his five decade career, his music has influenced musicians across genres, including jazz, soul, and electronic. As the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mr. Hancock will kick off the festivities in Paris on April 27, then flying to New Orleans and New York for events in both cities on April 30.
We're screening a documentary about Mr. Hancock called Herbie Hancock: Possibilities for FREE on Monday, April 30 at Space 15Twenty (across from Amoeba Hollywood). More info.
This is a joke and NOT really the lineup for next year's Coachella Festival in SoCal. The hilariously funny (in my opinion) fake "Coachella Exclusively Hologram Lineup" flyer above surfaced late yesterday online in response to the much talked about Tupac Shakur hologram appearance during Dr. Dre with Snoop Dogg's closing set on Sunday night last - and takes to a funny extreme the theory I predicted in the Amoeblog (Will Realistic Tupac Hologram Performance @ Coachella Signal A New Era Of Famous Deceased Artists in Concert?) I wrote in the hours following the end of last weekend's closing performance concert by Dr Dre. Note that weekend two of Coachella 2012 happens this Friday, Saturday, & Sunday (April 20, 21, & 22) with the same lineups as last weekend including Dr. Dre with real and hologram guests. Find details here.
This Friday, April 20th is the kick off for the 14th annual Los Angeles Film Noir Festival @ the Egyptian Theatre! The schedule lists 15 double and triple features running through May 6th and guests include actors Norman Lloyd, Julie Adams and Marsha Hunt as well as the late Geraldine Fitzgerald's son Michael Lindsay-Hogg.
Opening week highlights include the elusive Alan Ladd version of The Great Gatsby, Gloria Grahame's seldom seen Naked Alibi paired with controversial Sinatra crime pic Suddenly, a Cornell Woolrich penned triple Phantom Lady / Black Angel / The Window and a prison break pairing Caged / Big House USA. If you are unable to make it out to the theater for any of these screenings, our film noir DVD section has many of these titles as well as tons of other great noir gems.
Friday April 20th The Great Gatsby / This Gun For Hire
Saturday April 21st Naked Alibi / Suddenly
Sun 22nd Phantom Lady / Black Angel / The Window
Wednesday April 25th T-Men / Strange Impersonation
Thursday April 26th Caged / Big House USA
Sun 22nd Phantom Lady / Black Angel / The Window
Wednesday April 25th T-Men / Strange Impersonation
Thursday April 26th Caged / Big House USA
14th Annual Film Noir Festival @ the Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028-4605
(323) 466-3456
Members of the press were recently treated to a preview of the historic Rancho Los Alamitos, in Long Beach. The public re-opening will take place on June 10 although special events will afford interested parties an opportunity to enjoy the site before then.
Rancho Los Alamitos is a deeply significant historic site – home to a 19th century homestead that today offers a 7.5 acre oasis in the middle of a densely-populated urban area -- and the ancestral birthplace of Los Angeles’s Tongva people. For most of its existence it belonged to the prominent Bixby family before it was donated to the City of Long Beach in 1968, when it was apparently converted into a corny tourist trap. In 1986, the Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation took over and this grand re-opening is the culmination of a quarter century’s worth of their restoration efforts.
Under Long Beach’s watch, the barn area buildings on the site were rearranged in a semi-circle, effectively turning the once-proud site into a Harbor Area answer to South Dakota’s 1800 Town. A “Wisteria Walk” was added. Grass was put in and visitors got to make candles. It may’ve all been good fun to the grade-schoolers who visited at the time but it probably wasn’t the ranch’s most dignified era. When the Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation took over and pursued a different approach, there were predictably grumblings. This is SoCal, after all, and Southern Californians are very serious about kitsch.
AMOEBA ART SHOW 2012
Friday, May 4th
6pm - 11pm
2928 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA
MAP
In what has now become a Bay Area tradition, Amoeba Music throws killer annual art shows to exhibit
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HEY BAY AREA! OMG, as the kids used to say last week. By the looks of that countdown widget above, Record Store Day 2012 is nearly upon us! What's Record Store Day, you say? Where have you been since 2008?! Under a rawk?
Record Store Day is our Chrismukkah! It's our Gay Days at Disneyland! It's better than Shark Week.
It might even be better then Werewolf Day, if there was such a thing. Officially, "Record Store Day is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music." And how! Special vinyl and CD releases are made exclusively for this holy day! This stuff is LIMITED and is destined to go up in value (for people who value limited, exclusive, amazing stuff). Find out just what sort of exclusive stuff I'm talking about by viewing, downloading, or having tattooed on your soul this RSD EXCLUSIVE RELEASES PDF! Print it out and bring it with you. Share with neighbors. But the spirit of RSD isn't just about what you can buy (although that's pretty great). It's also about what you can DO at each of our Amoeba locations! We've got all manner of fun awaiting you...and it starts the minute our doors open!
Dregs One's "Pushin'" video was shot at Amoeba SF Saturday, edited yesterday, & released today
With the release today of his Leo Docuyanan filmed video for "Pushin'" San Francisco hip-hop artist Dregs One is the latest in a long line of hip-hop artists to feature the San Francisco Amoeba Music store in their music videos - a list that includes such hip-hoppers as Drake and Equipto to name but a couple. But unlike those and most others who typically feature quick shots/edits of Amoeba in their music
videos Dregs One's entire video is shot on location at Amoeba SF - both inside and outside the Haight Street, San Francisco store. Today I reached out to the talented young MC/producer to ask him about the video shoot; how long it took and how the experience was shooting at Amoeba? "Well basically I shot the video on Saturday, edited it on Sunday [yesterday], uploaded it on Monday [today]. The entire filming process took about 10 minutes, we only did one other shot before the one we used in the video," said Dregs One of the incredibly fast turnaround in this production, noting that. "All the staff was real cool about us filming in there, and I've been going to that store since I was a kid so it was an honor for me to be able to do a video at Amoeba."
While, as seen in the opening shots of the video above where he is digging in the Amoeba CD hip-hop section, Dregs One's music is available for sale at Amoeba this song "Pushin" is actually a free giveaway track on the free download The Inspiration mixtape from here: http://www.mediafire.com/?6225tj96e6ydkyu or here http://dregs1.bandcamp.com. As for what lies ahead in 2012 for the always productive Dregs One who was interviewed here on the Amoeblog over the past year on two occasions here and here, he told me that, "Right now I'm planning to go on a benefit tour where proceeds from each show go to a local nonprofit organization in each city. That's going to start in late May. I don't want to say too much about my next project but I'm planning on doing an EP with a very special producer and putting it out for free download and vinyl." Stay tuned for updates here on the Amoeblog. Meantime follow Dregs One via his Facebook page and.or on the Dregs1 website.
Never got to see Elvis Presley, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott, Gang Starr's Guru, Wu-Tang Clan with ODB, Bob Marley, Biggie, J-Dilla, Mac Dre or 2Pac in concert when they were alive? No worries. Now you can, or likely will soon be able to, see any deceased artist "live" in concert via the latest advanced,
almost lifelike use of holograms if the success of last night's Coachella 2012 Festival is any indicator. During the SoCal festival's closing set last night by Dr Dre when, using state of the art high-tech 3D images of the deceased rapper, the late great Tupac Shakur (aka 2Pac) performed both a song by himself and then a collaboration on stage with Snoop Dogg.Now while holograms are not new - even their use in big concert settings has already been done like last year when hologram technology was utilized by Mariah Carey who simultaneously did five different concerts across Europe - the profound impact of last night's lifelike Pac appearance is bound to have a major impact on use of the technology in concert settings.
As seen in above video the eerily lifelike hologram image of Shakur, who was gunned down dead 16 years ago, was simultaneously brilliant and spooky. The projected hologram was extremely realistic (even more so when you see it in person and not via video) right down to every little mannerism of the famous murdered rapper that it was like he was really there - and you could tell from the howls of the crowd that the audience members were really feeling it too.
[This essay originally appeared as part of a roundtable over at The Hooded Utilitarian.]
Reading Daniel Clowes' Ghost World again got me to thinking about John Barth’s nihilist novel, The End of the Road. The latter begins at a bus station; the former ends at a bus stop. And much like Barth’s protagonist, Jacob Horner, Enid spends the duration of the story searching for an identity, but only succeeds in finding what she’s not. Horner is a middle-aged academic type who’s managed to think himself into a hole, not seeing any potential action as better grounded than another -- sort of an infinite regress of self. Thus, he’s sitting in a bus station in a state of existential paralysis, not able to even come up with a good reason to get on a bus and leave his former (non-) life behind. The abiding gloom that pervades all of Ghost World's vignettes -- undercutting Enid’s hipper-than-thou detachment from those around her -- is a sense that she’s headed to the same destination as Horner: nowhere.
I figure there must be some consilience here, since kinukitty’s main reason for not liking Clowes’ book -- that it’s neither real nor funny -- reminds me of Barth’s prefatory defense of his story:
Jacob Horner […] embodies my conviction that one may reach such a degree of self-estrangement as to feel no coherent antecedent for the first-person-singular pronoun. […] If the reader regards [this] egregious [condition] (as embodied by the [narrator]) as merely psychopathological -- that is, as symptomatic rather than emblematic -- the [novel] make[s] no moral-dramatic sense. [p. viii]
I realize that if one has to defend something as funny, it’s never going to make it so to those not laughing. This is particularly true of existentialist humor, since it’s kind of the obverse of prat falls, namely only funny when it happens to me. So I’m going to stick to the reality of Enid’s predicament. The End of the Road is a bit abstract, where Horner goes through a series of fanciful psychotherapeutic treatments in search of a cure (the search is, of course, at the insistence of a psychiatrist). The most relevant of these is mythotherapy, which involves acting in a chosen character role with the purpose of having it stick
through habituation -- an irrational solution to a rational psychosis. Clowes treats the identity formation of teenagers in much the same way, but with a recognizant teen who, like Horner, can’t ignore the ontological arbitrariness undergirding the whole process. Just because teens regularly slip into an adult role without much of a hitch doesn’t mean that there’s not a good deal of truth in her depicted inertia. 
Thursday April 19th
Tumbe' 2 Year Anniversary at The Virgil (formerly Little Temple)
I will be joining my friends and resident DJs Mando Fever & Jose Marquez to celebrate their 2 year anniversary of their monthly party called Tumbe'. Also joining us will be the awesome Cumbia/Merengue/Punta group, Buyepongo. Lots of hot Afro-Caribbean action for a Thursday!
Tumbe' happens every 3rd Thursday at The Virgil
4519 Santa Monica Blvd L.A. 90029
9pm-2am/21 & Over
&5 before 10/$7 afterwards
Thanks to all who listened to my radio show, Discos Inmigrantes last week as we explored the Chicano influence around the world. On April 24th, Discos Inmigrantes returns for another edition as we continue explore the Chicano influence on the rest of the world with a special guest from Japan. Shin Miyata is the owner of Barrio Gold Records in Japan and is responsible for bringing Chicano cultura to Japanese people. He will play some great Chicano gems from his vast collection of 7" singles
You can hear Discos Inmigrantes live on April 24th from 8pm-10pm PST on radiosombra.org
Henry Rollins was our guest DJ at last year's Record Store Day and gave this impassioned speech about the significance of Record Store Day and supporting independent record stores. Testify, Henry, testify!
Record Store Day 2012 is April 21!
Record Store Day 2012 is April 21!
Amoeba Music Berkeley Hip-Hop Top Five Week Ending 04:13:12
1) De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 present First Serve (Duck Down)
2) Georgia Anne Muldrow & Madlib Seeds (Epistrophik Pea)
3) Obie Trice Bottoms Up (Ingrooves/Black Market Ent.)
4) Pep Love Rigmarole (Hieroglyphics Imperium /Clear Label)
5) J Rawls presents Liquid Crystal Liquid Crystal Project 3 (Green Streets Int )
Thanks to E-Lit for the video above (shot earlier this week) in which he runs down all the brand new and recent hip-hop releases at Amoeba Music in Berkeley where new releases include Obie Trice's Bottoms
Up (with an Eminem cameo), Nicki Minaj's new 19 track CD Pink Friday...Roman Reloaded, Pep Love's Rigmarole via the Hieroglyphics Imperium's Clear Label, and the latest installment in the J Rawls presents Liquid Crystal Liquid Crystal Project 3 on Green Streets. Meanwhile the top two sellers this week are the new De La Soul side project (second week in a row) by the legendary hip-hop crews Plugs 1 and 2 titled Plug 1 & Plug 2 present First Serve and released on the mighty Duck Down Records label. In close second place is yet another title to add to the hard working Madlib's already long discography - a collaboration with singer/musician Georgia Anne Muldrow - Seeds via Epistrophik Pea - which is described here on the Amoeba website as "a psychedelic wonder of an album with Muldrow’s sensual and swooping vocals backed by Madlib’s sick backdrop of processed samples, with underwater basslines, Stax guitars and devilish beats. It’s a match made in psych-soul heaven, as Muldrow weaves the human thread keeping swirling songs like the title track from floating 
away." No wonder it sold out and had to be reordered at the Berkeley store!
Mr. Little Jeans – Runaway (Wavves remix)
Mr. Little Jeans’ electro-pop ditty “Runaway” was already a pretty sweet Spring surprise of a song, but the L.A.-by-way-of-London rising star has been remixed by So. Cal. in human form Nathan Williams aka Wavves. I have to say I’m digging this remix even more than the original, and I’m not really a remix guy. Williams slows down and reverbs out her vocals to sound like they’re whispering through seafoam, while adding heavy drums and, I’m gonna say, naughty Nuggets organs. I think I like this remix so much because it’s like a big welcome to L.A., stripping a song of its cosmopolitan cool and washing it in sonic warmth. We’re happy to have you, Mr. Little Jeans.
New Beach House song “Lazuli” — I don’t care that they’re not from L.A.
Does the new Beach House song “Lazuli” sound like Enya? Do I love this new Beach House song? Does this new Beach House song sound like Enya but is still somehow amazing? Do I love Enya? Do I kind of like Enya sometimes? What is a lazuli? Does Beach House spend a lot of time researching things like rare bright blue stones that sound cool and mysterious for sick song titles? (Preorder the new Beach House album Bloom now! And come to Record Store Day April 21 to buy the "Lazuli" single!)
Desert Daze
Coachella needs me to hype them like I need to hear that terrible Fun. song again (thanks, Chevy!), but there’s still time to make it to Desert Daze, a festival that started yesterday and runs through April 22. Today the biddies at L.A. Record along with Blundertown and Burger Records are throwing a massive show with Bleached, Audacity, Pangea, Lovely Bad Things and so many more L.A. goodies. The show is only a $5 suggested donation. It takes place at a secret location near Dillon’s Roadhouse in North Palm Springs; email moonblockmotel@gmail.com to book a room. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if there are any rooms left available, but email them and find out before it’s too late! Unless it already is.)
Highlights from the rest of the festival:
Saturday: Moving Units, Gangi, Dante vs. Zombies (ALSO: see them live for free at Amoeba Hollywood tonight at 7 p.m.),
Monday: Allah Las, Driftwood Singers, Pool Honeys
Tuesday: The Fresh & Onlys, Crystal Antlers, Babies on Acid, Henry Clay People (hear their newly released jam “25 For the Rest of Our Lives,” courtesy of Buzzbands.la)
Wednesday: Breakestra, Funky Sole DJs Miles and Clifton
Saturday: Dead Meadow, Spindrift, Dirt Dress
Sunday: Akron/Family, Here We Go Magic, The Entrance Band
Mr. Little Jeans’ electro-pop ditty “Runaway” was already a pretty sweet Spring surprise of a song, but the L.A.-by-way-of-London rising star has been remixed by So. Cal. in human form Nathan Williams aka Wavves. I have to say I’m digging this remix even more than the original, and I’m not really a remix guy. Williams slows down and reverbs out her vocals to sound like they’re whispering through seafoam, while adding heavy drums and, I’m gonna say, naughty Nuggets organs. I think I like this remix so much because it’s like a big welcome to L.A., stripping a song of its cosmopolitan cool and washing it in sonic warmth. We’re happy to have you, Mr. Little Jeans.
New Beach House song “Lazuli” — I don’t care that they’re not from L.A.
Does the new Beach House song “Lazuli” sound like Enya? Do I love this new Beach House song? Does this new Beach House song sound like Enya but is still somehow amazing? Do I love Enya? Do I kind of like Enya sometimes? What is a lazuli? Does Beach House spend a lot of time researching things like rare bright blue stones that sound cool and mysterious for sick song titles? (Preorder the new Beach House album Bloom now! And come to Record Store Day April 21 to buy the "Lazuli" single!)
Desert Daze
Coachella needs me to hype them like I need to hear that terrible Fun. song again (thanks, Chevy!), but there’s still time to make it to Desert Daze, a festival that started yesterday and runs through April 22. Today the biddies at L.A. Record along with Blundertown and Burger Records are throwing a massive show with Bleached, Audacity, Pangea, Lovely Bad Things and so many more L.A. goodies. The show is only a $5 suggested donation. It takes place at a secret location near Dillon’s Roadhouse in North Palm Springs; email moonblockmotel@gmail.com to book a room. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if there are any rooms left available, but email them and find out before it’s too late! Unless it already is.)
Highlights from the rest of the festival:
Saturday: Moving Units, Gangi, Dante vs. Zombies (ALSO: see them live for free at Amoeba Hollywood tonight at 7 p.m.),
Monday: Allah Las, Driftwood Singers, Pool Honeys
Tuesday: The Fresh & Onlys, Crystal Antlers, Babies on Acid, Henry Clay People (hear their newly released jam “25 For the Rest of Our Lives,” courtesy of Buzzbands.la)
Wednesday: Breakestra, Funky Sole DJs Miles and Clifton
Saturday: Dead Meadow, Spindrift, Dirt Dress
Sunday: Akron/Family, Here We Go Magic, The Entrance Band
Despite his deep resume and extensive, impressive body of work, revered & highly accomplished Chicago born, Oakland based graphic novelist Daniel Clowes, whose work is defined by its dark humored focus on the underdog, is finally getting the kind of exposure he has long deserved but for some reason eluded - until now.That successful & prolific career spans two-plus decades in the alternative comic book arts world racking up such accolades as several prestigious Harvey Awards for his pioneering comic Eightball, his work appearing in the New Yorker, a 2011 PEN career achievement award for the darkly fun The Death-Ray (about an orphaned teen named Andy who discovers that, when he smokes cigarettes, he morphs into a superhero with special powers), plus the 2001 Oscar nomination for the film adaptation of his book Ghost World.
Six years ago his Art School Confidential was adapted to film and reportedly a film version of his book Wilson is currently in the works. But it is only now in 2012 that Daniel Clowes is finally getting his due with a large scale retrospective of his life's work at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) that opens this weekend and runs there for four months.
With the exception of a (smaller scale compared to OMCA) solo show that Los Angeles' Richard Heller
Gallery hosted for Clowes nine years ago, this OMCA retrospective will be Clowes first large scale, major museum exhibition focusing solely on his art and in great depth. Titled Modern Cartoonist, it opens this Saturday (April 14th) and runs through August 12th and will exhibit one hundred different pieces of the artist's work spanning the past 23 years.
Amoeba Music and CIIS Public Programs & Performances present G.S. Sachdev and Swapan Chaudhuri on May 5th
at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
8:00PM
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
$25/$35/$50/$65
415.392.4400
Group discounts available for 10 or more!
More info HERE!
“…haunting performance…the sound of his flute rings with an indescribable purity”
– New York Times
G.S. Sachdev is recognized worldwide as one of the premier performers of the bansuri, the traditional Indian flute. The depth of emotion he evokes from a simple length of bamboo is truly awe-inspiring. This music is handed down from master to student, generation to generation. With Sachdev's superb technical artistry, powerful devotion to the Indian Classical idiom, and profound love for his instrument, he has carved out a place for the bansuri as a beautiful exponent of Indian music. Swapan Chaudhuri started learning tabla at the age of five. Chaudhuri’s music is the spontaneous expression of his powerful emotions and his deep knowledge of tabla. It is undoubtedly through his clarity and elegance of performance, both as an accompanist and as a soloist, that he has achieved such notoriety throughout the world as a true master of tabla.
Don't miss your chance to see this dynamic group!
at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.Saturday, May 5, 2012
8:00PM
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
$25/$35/$50/$65
415.392.4400
Group discounts available for 10 or more!
More info HERE!
“…haunting performance…the sound of his flute rings with an indescribable purity”
– New York Times
G.S. Sachdev is recognized worldwide as one of the premier performers of the bansuri, the traditional Indian flute. The depth of emotion he evokes from a simple length of bamboo is truly awe-inspiring. This music is handed down from master to student, generation to generation. With Sachdev's superb technical artistry, powerful devotion to the Indian Classical idiom, and profound love for his instrument, he has carved out a place for the bansuri as a beautiful exponent of Indian music. Swapan Chaudhuri started learning tabla at the age of five. Chaudhuri’s music is the spontaneous expression of his powerful emotions and his deep knowledge of tabla. It is undoubtedly through his clarity and elegance of performance, both as an accompanist and as a soloist, that he has achieved such notoriety throughout the world as a true master of tabla.
Don't miss your chance to see this dynamic group!
The Urban Legends Public Art Exhibition (4/27- 5/26 at LA Mart Design Center) is a first-of-its-kind show celebrating 45 years of global public art from the mid-1960s through today! Illustrating how this
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| Shark Toof, Nature Will Always Win. |
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| Herakut, street art |
The exhibition features works for sale and auction, and two fun-filled opening events to kickstart the run of the show:
Friday, 4/27: VIP Preview, Exhibition Opening and Auction
Press and VIP Preview: 6:00pm -7:30pm
Exhibition Opening: 8:00pm-11:00pm
Saturday, 4/28: PUBLIC Exhibition Opening
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Public Opening Night Highlights:
- Select artists in attendance
- Preview of all works for sale
- DJ’s
- Food trucks
Record Store Day is just around the corner! View the full list of the day's events for all three stores. The list of exclusive RSD titles just for indie record stores is pretty big, so we wanted to highlight some of them and give you the chance to view/print the entire list (PDF) so you can be prepared on April 21, 2012. Just a heads up that the stock may differ between the three stores.
We will hold exclusive RSD releases behind our front counters. Line for RSD titles will form on Ivar no earlier than 8 a.m. on Saturday. Product is limited to stock on hand and available on a first come, first served basis. Limit one per title per customer. Store opens at 10:30 a.m and there is no wait to enter for the store's festivities.
Huge Turntable Sale at Amoeba Hollywood! All turntables in stock 20-40% off! April 20-22 only. Limited to stock on hand.
All headphones and lamps are 20% off (4/21 only)!
We will feature exclusive RSD releases on our sales floor. Product is limited to stock on hand and available to customers on a first come, first served basis. Limit one per title per customer. Stores open at 10:30 a.m.
Los Angeles band VUM has a brand new video for "Savage" from their album, Night Sun (out now on Secret Lodge Recordings) and we have the pleasure of premiering the video! You can also grab "Savage" as a free download on Amoeba.com.A former Amoeba Home Grown artist, VUM is Jennifer Pearl (ex-Lion Fever, Lost Kids) and Christopher Badger (Grand Elegance). Directed and conceived by Michael Frost, who has been working with the duo since he fell in love with their first album Strange Attractor, the video features Pearl as a prism-beast radiating different images while Badger guides her through the LA canyons and into some trippy make out action (bodysuits and optical illusion included).
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Night Sun (LP) Secret Lodge Recordings  |
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 Free MP3 of "Savage" by VUM. |
VUM's latest album, Night Sun, was recorded between LA and the South Pacific, where singer/guitarist Pearl was living for a time. The duo calls their unique sound "cinematic noir," capitalizing on Pearl's deep, powerful vocals, psychedelic guitars, dark wave synths, and thumping Suicide-esque drum machines. Intertwined throughout are field recordings from the jungle.
Good news for Bay Area Radiohead fans who can't make it down to the upcoming big Coachella Festival
2012 to see Thom Yorke and group perform. Radiohead will be playing at San Jose's HP Pavilion this evening, Wednesday April 11th before heading down to Coachella to perform along with a slew of other acts including the their two fellow headliners The Black Keys (who'll play Oakland's Oracle Arena May 4th) and Dr Dre. At the ever expanding annual Coachella Festival in SoCal - now a two weekend event that essentially repeats itself - happening this weekend and the following, April 13 - 15 and April 20 - 22, Radiohead will headline the two Saturdays - April 14th & April 21st. More info on Coachella tix here. So in anticipation of both Radiohead's Bay Area concert tonight (Tix info) and their two Coachella sets below are some Radiohead
videos, spanning their rich career. Included are "Fake Plastic Trees" from 1995's The Bends, "Paranoid Android" from 1997's OK Computer, "Everything In Its Right Place" from their fourth studio album, 2000's Kid A (still my personal favorite Radiohead album), and "Lotus Flower" from their eight studio album and their most recent album, last year's The King of Limbs which, while maybe not their strongest work, is not bad at all. All of these Radiohead releases are available to buy at Amoeba in the three stores or online by clicking on bright blue font on the title from the Amoeba.com Shop where you will find tons more Radiohead items for sale including non album releases and vinyl versions of their albums. Click here to see full Radiohead list of releases for sale from Amoeba online..
In advance of tomorrow's lecture at Cogswell College by Daniel Nazer on copyright law and Fair Use, the organizers at the Bay Area college pose this copyright law scenario: "Could you put a real person--say Bill Gates--in a computer game? How about a comic book? In both cases, it would be risky to do so without permission from Gates. But what if you transformed Bill Gates into a half man/half worm creature? Strangely, you could probably do that without paying Gates a penny. This doesn't make much sense. Why should transforming Bill Gates into a worm creature make the difference? This weird rule is the result of a test from copyright law--transformation--colonizing other areas of the law." Titled "Transformation, Copyright, and the Right of Publicity in the Digital Age" the lecture promises to address issues surrounding the all important topic of fair use in this digital age where so information is freely passed around by so many. According to Dr. Alexander Sigman (Adjunct Professor of Digital Audio Technology and Digital Entrepreneurship), who is
event organizer & instructor of the course associated with the lecture series. at Cogswell , "In copyright law, something is more likely to be fair use if it somehow "transforms" the original work. Similarly, in right of publicity cases, courts are increasingly looking to whether the depiction of a celebrity is somehow "transformative."" Sigman says that in his lecture Nazer will argue that this transformation test is applied in a way that threatens free speech in the digital age.
This is part four in the ongoing guest Amoeblog series with Dave Paul called How I Got Here that has already featured interviews/profiles on Robbie Kowal of SunsetSF promotions company, Michael Krouse of the Madrone Art Bar in San Francisco, and Dave Paul himself. The series profiles various folks in the entertainment industry ranging from doormen, DJ’s and promoters to venue owners and others. Upcoming interviews will include Nic Adler from The Roxy in LA, Anthony Sanchez of Runaway Productions in Portland, LA based Arizona DJ Z-Trip, and SF DJ/promotor Ren Salgado of True Skool. This latest interview is with Michael Maietta of NYC based CEG Presents (Creative Entertainment Group) who as band manager and concert promoter has some engaging insights on the music business including his story on the reason for the success of the always booked band Badfish who work with promoters and club owners rather than what he sees as the "more common working relationship of band vs promoter." A must read for anyone who puts on shows whether big or small.
We had another great auction on Saturday, April 7 at Amoeba Hollywood hosted by the hilarious Bob Odenkirk. It was great to have him back again and he was funnier than ever in his return engagement as guest host auctioneer.
Many folks came out to support and to see Bob Odenkirk in action making something hard look really easy. A lot of folks bid on several items and it was one of the most supported auctions we have had...
With his first item up for bid (a Lana Del Rey signed 7" single) he had all of the fans and onlookers in stitches. He was on fire and drove up the bids for 826LA, an amazing organization founded by Dave Eggers and the McSweeney's crew.
Here are a few of the highlights:
- Mr. Show DVD set - $30.00
- Jimi Hendrix coasters - $10.00
- Elvis Pack - $23.00 ("truth is the rumors about elvis still being alive are completely false---truth is he was NEVER alive and it has only been a string of impersonators all these years...." :)
- Limited edition Record Store Day 45s and Bag - $30.00
- Urban Outfitters Gift Cart - $55.00
- McSweeney's Art Book - $65.00
- Larry Sanders Gift Pack - $85.00
- Ben Stiller DVD - $27.00
- Spelling Bee Celebrity Poster (signed) - $65.00
- Art Books - $17.00
- Melvin Goes to Dinner DVD (directed by Odenkirk) - $37.00
- Spelling Bee DVD - $65.00
- Trader Joe's Gift Card and Lunchbox - $75.00
- Breaking Bad DVD Set (signed) - $55.00
- Sharon Van Etten 45 - $10.00
- Michael Jackson Trading Cards Packs - $6.00
- Amoeba VIP In-store Certficate - $50.00 for ONE and $85.00 for the other!!
- Mayer Hawthorne Tickets - $25.00
- Spiritualized Tickets - $36.00
- Doctor Who DVD Set (signed) - $57.00
- Gift Bag from the 826LA Echo Park Time Travel Store - $45.00
- KISS Collectibles and Bag - $23.00
- Judd Apatow Pack - $45.00
- Cool Vintage Art Books from 826LA - $34.00
All together Bob raised more than $955.00 for a TOTAL with our matching of $1,910.00 for the 826LA group. GOOD STUFF!!!
World Book Night is a celebration of reading and books! Tens of thousands of people will share books
with others in their communities across America, spreading the joy and love of reading on April 23rd.
Join us at Amoeba Hollywood as we will distribute FREE copies of
the Maya Angelou classic I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, beginning at 10:30am. Just ask for your copy at the info counter on the main floor. Quantities will be limited, so it's first come, first served.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s first memoir, published in 1969 is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Additionally, April 23 is UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen due to the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death. A worthy date indeed.
with others in their communities across America, spreading the joy and love of reading on April 23rd.Join us at Amoeba Hollywood as we will distribute FREE copies of
the Maya Angelou classic I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, beginning at 10:30am. Just ask for your copy at the info counter on the main floor. Quantities will be limited, so it's first come, first served. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s first memoir, published in 1969 is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Additionally, April 23 is UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen due to the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death. A worthy date indeed.
[This essay originally appeared as part of The Hooded Utilitarian's roundtable on Jean-Luc Godard here.]
To begin with, a generalization: Godardians really don’t like Quentin Tarantino. But, fear not, this post isn’t going to be about the latter, only the reasons expressed by the Godardians for their contempt. Wasn’t it Jean-Luc Godard himself who argued against a clear distinction between the fictional film and the documentary? For him, being even more opposed to naïve realism than Andre Bazin, the camera always had a perspective, a position, or as Colin MacCabe puts it: “there is not reality and then the camera – there is reality seized at this moment and this way by the camera.” [p. 79] It was this foundational belief that led to Godard’s dismissal of the anti-aesthetic implicit within cinema vérité, that reality comes from letting the film roll. Yet, Jonathan Rosenbaum (and I might as well mention Daniel Mendelsohn and HU’s very own Caroline Small) condemns Inglourious Basterds for “mak[ing] the Holocaust harder, not easier to grasp as a historical reality,” because “anything that makes Fascism unreal is wrong.” Evidently, contrary to Godard, fascism is just there waiting to have a camera pointed at it. No truth could possibly come out of a fantasy involving Nazism.
Dimension X debuted on NBC radio on this day (April 8), 1950. The first thirteen episodes were performed live whilst the remainder were pre-recorded. It was directed by Fred Wiehe
and Edward King. The narrator and announcer was Norman Rose, who began each program with the introduction, "Adventures in time and space- told in future tense..." before "Dimension X!" boomed and echoed.Dimension X wasn't the first adult science-fiction anthology program (2000 Plus debuted a month earlier on the Mutual network) but it was, perhaps, the best - drawing from writers like Clifford D. Simak, Donald A. Wollheim, E. M. Hull, Fletcher Pratt, Frank M. Robinson, Fredric Brown, Graham Doar, H. Beam Piper, Isaac Asimov, Jack Vance, Jack Williamson, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, L. Ron Hubbard, Murray Leinster, Nelson Bond, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Bloch, Stephen Vincent Benet, Villiers Gerson, and William Tenn. Most episodes were adapted from pre-existing works by Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts but the two also provided original
works.
It was first auditioned as Out of This World, which it was originally auditioned as on February 23, 1950. Though one of the best sci-fi series ever, the famously clueless folks at NBC never gave it proper promotion or care, bouncing it around to various slots on four different days of the week.
It was first auditioned as Out of This World, which it was originally auditioned as on February 23, 1950. Though one of the best sci-fi series ever, the famously clueless folks at NBC never gave it proper promotion or care, bouncing it around to various slots on four different days of the week.
Amoeba Music Berkeley Hip-Hop Top Five Week Ending 04:07:12
1) Pep Love Rigmarole (Hieroglyphics Imperium /Clear Label)
2) Opio Vultures Wisdom Vol 2 (Hieroglyphics Imperium /Clear Label)
3) Phesto Dee Background Check (Hieroglyphics Imperium /Clear Label)
4) V/A Self Sacrifice (Mello Music Group)
5) De La Soul's Plug 1 & Plug 2 present First Serve (Duck Down)
Shout-out to E-Lit (the man) at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store for again supplying the new Top Five hip-hop chart and running down (in video above) all the exciting new hip-hop releases at Amoeba this week. So much good stuff that it's hard to keep up with it all. Leading the pack in the number position is Pep Love (one of three members of the longtime mighty Hieroglyphics hip-hop collective out of Oakland with chart entries this week) and his first solo release in over a decade (since since 2001's Ascension) - the anticipated new full-length Rigmarole on his collective's thriving indie label the Hieroglyphics Imperium's Clear Label imprint which has also released the new joints from fellow Hiero crew (and Souls of Mischief) members Opio and Phesto (aka Phesto Dee) who have just released the albums Vultures Wisdom Vol 2 and Background Check respectfully.
Among those in Bay Area battle DJ and turntablist circles there has been a real buzz lately as this weekend sees the return of the prestigious DMC to the Bay Area after six years. The DMC has not held a regional battle in the Bay Area since 2006 which is a little shocking to many followers of the turntable arts since the Bay Area has long been considered one of the main centers of turntablism and battle DJing, giving the world such hip-hop turntablist legends as QBert, D-Styles,Mixmaster Mike, DJ Quest, Apollo, and Shortkut to name but a few.But now thanks to the efforts of such folks as Charles Angeles (aka Inbituin of Spintronix & Thud Rumble) along with the support of the DMC USA's tireless CEO, DJ battle coordinator, and all round hip-hop culture ambassador Christie Z-Pabon tomorrow, Saturday April 7th at 4pm at 330 Ritch in San Francisco, the 2012 Bay Area DMC regional battle will be going down!
And it should be a good one since there are twenty DJ contestants ready to battle it out on the turntables. The event will be hosted by Fran Boogie and the judges will include DJ Quest, DJ Apollo, DJ Cue, Jazzy Jim, DJ Shortkut, and myself. There will also be some excellent DJ showcases, following the DJ battle portion of this all-ages event that ends at 10pm sharp, from 4oneFunk's Mista B (2008 DMC West Coast Champ and
regular DMC showcase artist), Snayk Eyez (2000/2001 DMC US Supremacy Champ), La Femme Deadly Venoms (Deeandroid & Cellskiii, plus Lady Fingaz), and the aforementioned hard-working iNBiTuiN (Spintronix / Thud Rumble). Later on there will be after party DJ sets from Goldenchyld of The Bangerz (2011 SF Red Bull Thre3style Champ), Cutso (The Bangerz - formerly Finger Bangerz), and The C.M.E. (Good Musik))
I am always very nostalgic about music from the decades past. But I have been even more nostalgic than normal the last couple of months. I really dove head first back into the '90s. I feel like I was obsessed with the '80s for most of my time during the '90s. I did obviously live through the '90s but I have really been appreciating it so much more this last couple of months. I have been dissecting the '90s down to all of its genres and making mix CDs for '90s indie, britpop & shoegaze, freestyle,r&b, hip hop and dance music. It has been a ton of fun and I will be soon posting some of my favorites of the '90s on the blog soon I hope. But it has really also got my thinking of the year we are currently living in. Because there really is still a ton of amazing music coming out this year. You might think that every band name and every type of song has already been written. But this really is not the case. I suppose there will be some day when I stop liking new music. But at this point in my life I am both obsessed with the bands from the last 30 years but also super excited about what lies around the corner. I am still amazed every week when I fall in love with some new song or some new band. I am so happy that I lived through the '80s and '90s. But I am really so happy to be living in this moment of time as well! The Shins are finally back with a new album for us to enjoy. This band has been around now for over 15
years. This is their fourth album. And what a fantastic album it is. It has been five years since their last album, Wincing The Night Away. I was a bit worried since this is their first album after leaving Sub Pop. James Mercer is still of course the voice behind The Shins. But the band has a whole new set of members other than James. That James Mercer has one of those amazing voices that can just do no wrong. I was never really obsessed with this band. But I did always like them. A certain ex-boyfriend of mine was obsessed. And it did wear off on me a bit. That tends to happen. I was starting to get really excited for this album. And now I can't get enough of it. It is the perfect album to put us all in the mood for summer. My favorite tracks on the new album are "No Way Down" and "40 Mark Strasse." Those are the songs that keep making me come back for more.
Having made their major debut in 2008, Stereopony has gained a great deal of notoriety by having their songs featured as themes for various commercials, television shows and anime series, most notably their fifth single "Tsukiakari no Michishirube" doing double time as the opener for Darker Than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini. Employing catchy melodic rock hooks reminiscent of the whole high school à la Brat Pack zeitgeist met with more than a dash of mid-to-late 1990's pop-punk angst (i.e. their live sets sometimes reveal a Green Day cover) it's impossible to imagine a
Check out the video below for "Hanbunko" to see what all the fuss is about and don't forget to grab a copy of Stereopony's latest release, More! More!! More!!!, when you drop by for the live Stereopony in-store performance at Amoeba Music's SF location on Monday, April 9th. That's right folks, Amoeba Music is the place to see live music, why? Because it's always fab and always free of charge, no tickets required; did it on'em.
Cold Showers – “I Don’t Mind” video
Local goodies Cold Showers have a new video of their reverb-tastic track “I Don’t Mind” via Room 205/Incase. The shadowy textures cast across the band members look almost like they’ve been painted and match the dark undertones of their dreamy post-punk. OK guys, we’ve been drooling over you for a while now, it’s time for a full-length.
Nick Waterhouse – “The Streets Are Ours” (cover)
Garagey doo-wop firebrand Nick Waterhouse has been winning hearts here in L.A. for some time now, but his recent SXSW shows have won him a host of new fans. Check out this cover of the Richard Hawley gem “The Streets Are Ours,” for which the word “swoon” was invented, recorded for Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe Sessions. I’m not sure if this would make you want to listen more or less, but “The Streets Are Ours” was once my MySpace song.
Pitchfork Yours Truly Vids – Princeton, Nite Jewel, Julia Holter
A number of wonderful L.A. artists have been appearing on Pitchfork’s Yours Truly lately. In fact, three of the last four videos are from L.A. artists — indie-pop group Princeton, noir dance songstress Nite Jewel and heady keys maestro Julia Holter, who recently played a kickass show at Amoeba Hollywood. (Check out the latest albums by Nite Jewel and Julia Holter at Amoeba!)
Local goodies Cold Showers have a new video of their reverb-tastic track “I Don’t Mind” via Room 205/Incase. The shadowy textures cast across the band members look almost like they’ve been painted and match the dark undertones of their dreamy post-punk. OK guys, we’ve been drooling over you for a while now, it’s time for a full-length.
Nick Waterhouse – “The Streets Are Ours” (cover)
Garagey doo-wop firebrand Nick Waterhouse has been winning hearts here in L.A. for some time now, but his recent SXSW shows have won him a host of new fans. Check out this cover of the Richard Hawley gem “The Streets Are Ours,” for which the word “swoon” was invented, recorded for Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe Sessions. I’m not sure if this would make you want to listen more or less, but “The Streets Are Ours” was once my MySpace song.
Pitchfork Yours Truly Vids – Princeton, Nite Jewel, Julia Holter
A number of wonderful L.A. artists have been appearing on Pitchfork’s Yours Truly lately. In fact, three of the last four videos are from L.A. artists — indie-pop group Princeton, noir dance songstress Nite Jewel and heady keys maestro Julia Holter, who recently played a kickass show at Amoeba Hollywood. (Check out the latest albums by Nite Jewel and Julia Holter at Amoeba!)
This week David Lynch released his self-directed music video for "Crazy Clown Time," the title track from his first solo album. Lynch describes the setting for the video as “an intense psychotic backyard craziness, fueled by beer" which is a pretty perfect summation. With the mood set, Lynch's sing-speak twang provides the narration for the events unfolding in the video.Crazy Clown Time, released in November 2011 on Play It Again Sam, was recorded over a period of several months at Lynch's personal studio near Mulholland Drive with engineer and collaborator Dean Hurley. As you might expect from the director of Erasherhead, Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks, his music - much like his video for "Crazy Clown Time" - is echoey, weird, repetitive, foreboding, hypnotic, and fascinating.
Watch David Lynch's video for his single "Crazy Clown Time":
Watch our interview with Mr. Lynch when he visited Amoeba Hollywood in 2008 for the release of David Lynch The Lime Green Set DVD box set:
Tonight (Thursday April 5th) at SOM Bar in San Francisco, along with DJ Quest, Marc Stretch, & DJ Stef, I am going to be spinning an all Miami Bass booty-shaking DJ set as part of a one-off all Miami Bass night that should be a lot of fun. Free before 10pm. $5 thereafter at the Mission District club. All four of us DJs have a passion for this music that originated (as its name implies) in Miami, Florida in the latter half of the 80's and continued to proser into the 90's. An 808 drum machine driven music, with layers upon layers of booming bass (some records even carried "speaker warning" stickers), it was geared for both booty shaking (dancefloor) and bass booming speakers (the club and the trunk of the car - such as L'Trimm's "Cars That Goes Boom" off their 1988 album Grab It. )
Miami Bass or "booty bass" took hold in Miami Florida and was a direct continuation of NYC's early 80's electro funk hip-hop in much the same way as the 1980's LA electro hip-hop similarly took its cue from Afrika Bambaataa and the other New York City electro pioneers from earlier in that decade. But, as distinct from West Coast and the original NYC electro, Miami Booty Bass music had its own unique identity. Rather than
being political or Afro-Centric with tales of ancestry of Egypt, Egypt or even early gangsta rap - the music from Miami was more simple, chant along, and in many cases much more sexually explicit - as proven by the most popular of the Miami bass groups who became prominent nationally in the latter 80's - The 2 Live Crew. With explicit lyrics laced songs like "We Want Some Pussy," the 2 Live Crew had a major influence on this music - both lyrically and in choice of samples. Most Miami Bass, a singles driven genre, was released on small indie labels with majors selectively picking up the songs that had proven to be regional hits and hence likely to become commercial national hits.With a few, shining exceptions (Blind Date, COPS, ElimiDate, Jersey Shore, Joe Millionaire, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Shahs of Sunset, The Bachelor, The Real World seasons 1and 2 (true stor-ay!), and maybe a couple dozen others, tops) I hate reality TV. To me most reality shows are endurance-defying and totally depressing in a consumerist dystopian way. My aversion to most reality TV is not really out of some moral disapproval of schadenfreude nor a principled dislike of unscripted entertainment. No, I usually just find them painfully boring and unpleasant. I remember first hearing about Survivor and was rather excited by the concept, hoping for naked castaways with no common language forced to fight tooth and claw just to stay alive. Imagine my disappointment upon finding out it involved little more than people unpleasant from the get go undertaking a series of challenges for prizes in a tropical setting and talking about alliances. Yawn. The good reality shows (as determined by me) offer anthropological thrills, exposing the strange mating rituals of exotic subcultures and paint portraits of people in a way rarely seen in the stylized fictions of the day.
One of the earliest reality programs was on the radio, Night Watch. It was preceded by the hidden camera prank TV show Candid Camera which debuted in 1948 but, though both reality shows, could scarcely be more different. Night Watch debuted on CBS on April 5th, 1954, a few years after the popularity of TV exploded, threatening film and radio's dominance. To compete with TV's popularity, film offered things not available on TV like widescreen, technicolor, married couples sharing a bed, and
black people. Old Time Radio ultimately died out in 1962 but in its last days offered other things in short supply on TV, namely adult content, intelligence and exploitation that would never pass muster on the beloved family idiot box. Radio programmers seemed to be OK with a bit of gore and tawdriness since it all took place in the mind and because it was at least packaged as a cautionary public service rather than the exploitation which it really was. The first time I heard it was an episode involving a suicide attempt (there were several) and I was hooked.
JUST ADDED: Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo is performing at Amoeba San Francisco on Thursday, April 12 at 6pm! He'll play songs from his new album, Between The Times And The Tides (out now on Matador Records).
Recorded with longstanding Sonic Youth producer John Agnello, Between The Times and The Tides is a shimmering and melodic tapestry of rock sounds. Ranaldo’s trademark alternate-tuning guitar work is at the forefront; it is amplified by brilliant guitar work from Wilco’s Nels Cline on almost every track. The all-star lineup also includes Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums, Alan Licht on guitar, and John Medeski on keyboards. There are also cameos from former Sonic Youth cohorts, drummer Bob Bert and producer/instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke.
You can also see him later that night at Brick and Mortar.
Recorded with longstanding Sonic Youth producer John Agnello, Between The Times and The Tides is a shimmering and melodic tapestry of rock sounds. Ranaldo’s trademark alternate-tuning guitar work is at the forefront; it is amplified by brilliant guitar work from Wilco’s Nels Cline on almost every track. The all-star lineup also includes Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums, Alan Licht on guitar, and John Medeski on keyboards. There are also cameos from former Sonic Youth cohorts, drummer Bob Bert and producer/instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke.
You can also see him later that night at Brick and Mortar.
Recently we held our first-ever design contest for our 2012 Record Store Day T-shirt. We were blown away by the creativity and effort everyone put into the contest...not to mention the sheer volume of entries! We received over 200 designs! It was a really tough decision but after much deliberation we are proud to reveal the two winning designs by Adam Thiesen and Erika Themaras!
You can pick up your limited edition T-shirt on Record Store Day, April 21st, at any Amoeba store. We'll be silk screening the shirts live at Amoeba Hollywood and Amoeba San Francisco thanks to our friends at Junk Food Clothing, Family Industries, Anti- / Epitaph Records and SF's Free Gold Watch!
See our full list of Record Store Day events.
You can pick up your limited edition T-shirt on Record Store Day, April 21st, at any Amoeba store. We'll be silk screening the shirts live at Amoeba Hollywood and Amoeba San Francisco thanks to our friends at Junk Food Clothing, Family Industries, Anti- / Epitaph Records and SF's Free Gold Watch!
See our full list of Record Store Day events.
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Design by Adam Thiesen. |
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Design by Erika Themaras. |
Outernational "The Beginning is Here!" (2012)
Refreshingly outspoken Brooklyn, NY based band Outernational kick off their new tour, titled after their brand new album 'Todos Somos Ilegales: We are All Illegal' tonight (April 4th) in the border town of Brownsville Texas at Galeria 409. That fitting border town location was chosen in the same vein as the setting for their new Jessica Habie "The Beginning Is Here" video above - by the band whose message is "torque una revolución sin baile no es una revolution" - a revolution without dance, isn't revolution! The band's excellent new bi-lingual album addresses the issues and meanings of the border, the policies of the US government, and it directly questions a system that they see as criminalizing those who create the wealth it rests upon. The tour will travel along Texas border towns and onto the IM Festival in South Padre, TX with Los Amigos Invisibles/Nortec Collective. It will then travel to Arizona (the hot spot of immigration and border issues) with a highly anticipated April 12th show at Arizona State University. The band also have numerous California dates a big one on May Day at The Echo in Los Angeles.
On Monday, Fiona Apple revealed the artwork and tracklisting from her upcoming fourth album, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, due out June 19, 2012. It's been seven years since her last album, Extraordinary Machine (Epic/Clean Slate), and I'm anxious to hear the new music. I've waited seven years, what's a few more months?
She has been playing a few shows, including South by Southwest last month, but alas no West Coast dates have been announced yet. As of now, her only listed show date is June 24 in New York at the Governors Ball Music Festival.
UPDATE 4/9: Fiona has added tour dates for June and July! She's coming to LA July 29, playing The Hollywood Palladium. Tickets go on sale 4/27 at 10am. Woo hoo!
Watch her perform two songs from the new album during recent shows:
She has been playing a few shows, including South by Southwest last month, but alas no West Coast dates have been announced yet. As of now, her only listed show date is June 24 in New York at the Governors Ball Music Festival.
UPDATE 4/9: Fiona has added tour dates for June and July! She's coming to LA July 29, playing The Hollywood Palladium. Tickets go on sale 4/27 at 10am. Woo hoo!
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Tracklisting:
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Watch her perform two songs from the new album during recent shows:
Mastodon "Dry Bone Valley (Live in Brixton)" (Feb 11th, 2012)
Mastodon have just unveiled a brand new video that captures the much-revered metal band in their best setting - live in concert and killing it on the song "Dry Bone Valley" which is the second single from the band's critically acclaimed Mike Elizondo-produced album The Hunter - the band's fifth studio album that was released by Roadrunner Records via Reprise/Warner in late September.This is the second video for this song: the first been the Tim Biskup created music video (see below). The above live video of the song was recorded at the Atlanta, GA band's recent sold-out show at London's Brixton Academy on February 11th. The new video arrives just in time for diehard Mastodon fans (and there are many of those!) who have been anxiously awaiting their anticipated 2012 North American tour that kicks off this week featuring the super-skilled hard rock ensemble's Troy Sanders (bass guitar/vocals), Brent Hinds (guitars/vocals), Bill Kelliher (guitars), and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals).
The new US/Canada tour begins tomorrow night (04/04) in Portland, ME and ends on May 12th in Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately for Cali fans the hectic tour, with co-headliners the
Swedish progressive metal band Opeth plus opening act Ghost (who are well worth checking out), includes only two Golden State dates so if you don't already have them, so get tickets now. Those two Cali dates are just three weeks away: Thursday April 26th in LA at the Gibson Amphitheatre and the following night (Friday April 27th) at the Fox Theatre in Oakland. Pick up Mastodon's The Hunter in each of the three Amoeba Music stores on directly from the online Amoeba.com shop. 
Amoeba is proud to team up with Berkeley's Moe's Books for a reading and acoustic performance with
Eric Erlandson! Eric will be performing and reading from his book Letters To Kurt on Wednesday, April 25th at 7:30pm.
Erlandson is best known as co-founder, songwriter, and lead guitarist of the band Hole, which he formed with Courtney Love. Their albums Pretty on the Inside, Live Through This, and Celebrity Skin achieved international recognition and success. Live Through This was named one of the top 100 albums of all
time by Time magazine. Since the breakup of the band in 2002, Erlandson has been involved in a number of musical and literary projects including Letters to Kurt, an anguished, angry, and tender meditation on the octane and ether of rock and roll and its many moons: sex, drugs, suicide, fame, and rage. It's part Dream Songs, part Bukowski, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, and the Clash. Rants, reflections, and gunshot fill these fifty-two prose poems. They are raw, funny, sad, and searching.
Eric Erlandson! Eric will be performing and reading from his book Letters To Kurt on Wednesday, April 25th at 7:30pm. Erlandson is best known as co-founder, songwriter, and lead guitarist of the band Hole, which he formed with Courtney Love. Their albums Pretty on the Inside, Live Through This, and Celebrity Skin achieved international recognition and success. Live Through This was named one of the top 100 albums of all
time by Time magazine. Since the breakup of the band in 2002, Erlandson has been involved in a number of musical and literary projects including Letters to Kurt, an anguished, angry, and tender meditation on the octane and ether of rock and roll and its many moons: sex, drugs, suicide, fame, and rage. It's part Dream Songs, part Bukowski, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, and the Clash. Rants, reflections, and gunshot fill these fifty-two prose poems. They are raw, funny, sad, and searching.
Céu has been the darling of the farmers' market-shopping, Starbuck-drinking, Tom Schnabel-listening set since 2007. Despite that, I always liked her work. Céu’s music has been a guilty pleasure of mine. Her latest release, Caravana Sereia Bloom, is her best work to date. In just over forty-minutes (the ideal length of an album, in my opinion), Céu pulls all her influences together into a cohesive, short-but-sweet collection of songs. Bits of nostalgia bring to mind some of the great Brazilian artists over the years, such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jorge Ben, and Os Mutantes. Yet what I like about Caravana Sereia Bloom is that Céu also recalls her lesser-known Brazilian contemporaries such as Nação Zumbi and DJ Dolores who, much like her, use their Jamaican influences as a base. The result is that the Tropicalia- influenced “Falta De Ar” and 70’s groovy Samba “Contravento” feel right at home with the Jaimaican Rocksteady of “You Won’t Regret It” and “Asfalto E Sal.”I’m not sure to what extent producer Gui Amabis influences Céu’s music, but he seems to give her room for her imagination to run. The instrumentation is organic and there is less of that laid-back, Electro-Brazilian fusion that people living in Los Angeles have dubbed “The KCRW sound” (although there are a few moments). Caravana Sereia Bloom has exposed everything that I loved about Céu’s voice and music, and guilt-free.
If you happen to be driving in the Bay Area today with the radio on and you tune into 89.7FM expecting to hear the usual excellent alternative radio programming of beloved South Bay college radio station KFJC in Los Altos Hills but instead hear Sting or Phil Collins or a drop for "The New KFJC + plus" format of "The Hits of the 80's, 90's, and Today" and you think: A) you're losing your mind, or B) the
award-winning station out of Foothill College has followed the tragic path of University of San Francisco radio station KUSF and had their license sold out from under them to make way for some generic commercial entity, fear not. Don't even let the Geico or Cialis commercials or the above elaborately customized "new" KFJC format homepage catch you off guard. The "new" format is merely the latest elaborate April Fools' Day prank by the ever-innovative radio station that a few years ago on April 1st switched broadcast signals with WFMU New Jersey for the day.
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Amoeba and the Amoeba Music mark and logo are trademarks of Amoeba Music Inc.
The views and opinions expressed in Amoeblog are those of the individual bloggers and not necessarily those of Amoeba Music.