We lost a good friend and a good man yesterday and we are all sad.

We will miss you, Lee.

The break room stories, your ENDLESS well of music knowledge and passion, your genuinely warm spirit and kindness that you brought every day.

We were lucky to have the time we had with you.

SO glad you and Joe came and celebrated this last FAT Tuesday with us. You left us with the echoes of Ernie K. Doe, Lee Dorsey, and the Meters...and your smile.

Lee Gordon---you were a man of many layers. From the ASTOUNDING performance as IGGY on the Amoebapalooza stage, to the warmth and kindness you showed all of us every day, to the customers who would wait two hours or more for you to start your shift---simply because "there's no one like Lee...." Most certainly there wasn't and there never will be.

We won't know til next time... but we keep topping it every year at Amoeba LA! Just when you thought it couldn't get any wilder and crazier, Mardi Gras 2010 blew the roof off! Maybe it had something to do with the nice weather, or the Saints' Super Bowl win, or all the kids and families that joined us this year, or Doc playing that cello, but something about it was the best darn party jam this side of the Mississippi. If you haven't experienced Mardi Gras at Amoeba, check out these pictures and see what you're missing! And then join us next year!


Mardi Gras at Amoeba always involves a lot of preparation. We spent days decorating the store and hanging more and more shiny purple, green & gold stuff up until it looked like a meltdown at a Brazilian nuclear reactor, which is the effect we desired. We here at Amoeba are very inspired and in touch with the folks and the music in New Orleans and we are proud to pay them as much tribute as we can. For us Mardi Gras is one of the truly great holidays and it deserves some extreme visual expression. Next came the music and the food... we started rockin' the tunes on the stereo first thing in the morning, lots of classic jams from Dr. John and the Meters, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (check out their new CD with lots of special guests here). It's hard not to get in the mood when the sun is shining and some second line funk is jumpin'... and when all your co-workers are banging on tambourines and honking on party horns too. Sometimes it takes a while to get all the Amoebites in the Mardi Gras mood... this year folks were into it from the get-go. Just about everyone I saw was sporting ridiculous amounts of beads and crazy party hats. At least one pretty straight-laced floor guy wore a mask all day long! Now THAT is what you must do when you go to the Mardi Gras! And we were helped along by some yummy red beans and rice catered by Chef Marilyn from her fabulous soul food restaurant down on Crenshaw and Adams, which I heartily recommend after tasting this grub.

Yvonne Prinz is a co-owner of A m oeba Music who also happens to have written a new book geared toward teens called Vinyl Princess. The book chronicles a summer in the life of 16 year old vinyl infatuated Allie while she works at the fictional Bob & Bob's Records on Telegraph and blogs about her love of music.

Yvonne will be signing books at Booksmith on Haight Street in San Francisco February 18th! There will also be a musical performance at the signing by Matthew Edwards of The Music Lovers (who has a song on the mix cd that comes with the book) and accordianist Isaac Bonnell. You can also check out her Vinyl Princess blog!

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Do something good for the world...by buying the latest from your favorite artists!

How?!

For the month of February, Amoeba will be offering some insanely low prices on hot new releases, and matching all online sales dollar for dollar, with the money going to Doctors Without Borders to help the people of Haiti. Pick up any of a select group of bumpin' new releases online from Amoeba, and help out a very important cause at the same time! It couldn't be simpler. For a full list of titles, please click here.


You know you wanted that new Charlotte Gainsbourg where she's working with Beck that everyone's talking about or the new Beach House, Teen Dream! You know you were drooling over Robert Pattinson in New Moon and Twilight, so you must have Little Ashes, where he takes his acting chops to new levels playing Salvador Dali! Stop Making Sense is out on Blu-Ray! What better way to celebrate the release than to both get it and also give back? Sade's brand spankin' new, highly anticipated Soldier of Love is obviously gonna blow it up, and now you can get it and do good simultaneously! Help out your record collection and people in desperate need in one fell swoop!

Three of Amoeba's most rabid Oscar fans make their predictions before the nominations are announced this Tuesday, Feb 2. Read on to hear our thoughts about who will be nominated, who will win, how the hosting will go, the new policy of naming 10 Best Picture nominees and, of course, who will make the best and worst dressed lists!

Sally: First of all, what kind of hosts do you think Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin will be? Can they do a great job? I feel kind of weird about how having them is just an advertisement for their film, It's Complicated, but at the same time, I genuinely like both dudes and think they are talented. They have potential to be very funny. We'll see. I just hope they are cutting when necessary and also don't bloat the show with excess that is not necessary. Know what I mean? Oh, and if pressed, I would definitely rather see them do a comedic musical number than Hugh Jackman's last year, but maybe that's just me. I say bring back Jon Stewart! Continue reading...