Amoeba Hollywood's next Sidewalk Sale is coming up, and this time it's all about VINYL. On Saturday, April 13th, from 12 - 5pm, we'll have a huge assortment of goodies, including:

- 45s

- Hip-Hop and Dance 12" records

- Full-length LPs from from $1 and up

- Classical LPs

In addition, we'll have our usual DVD deal — buy three, get one free — sales on DVD box sets (two for $10), CD bargains, and more, including toys and collectibles.

For those who can't make it out to the sale, shop our Clearance section online for some sweet finds.

All sidewalk sales are final. Store credit cannot be used to purchase items from the sidewalk sale.

 

 

Record Store Day 2013 takes place April 20, featuring new releases, reissues of out-of-print albums and other rarities. I’ve pulled out 10 titles or sets of releases that jumped out to me personally. If it’s anything like last year, you’ll have to get here early to get those in-demand releases (check out last year’s coverage here).

You can view a listing all of the releases that will be made available that day here and find more information on Record Store Day's official site. Check out my picks below.

The Bats – By Night

The debut release by The Bats, part of the Flying Nun clan of New Zealand jangle-pop bands. The Bats are fronted by Robert Scott, sometime bassist of The Clean, a band whose cult infamy has helped lead to their brethren being rediscovered by a new generation. I haven’t heard By Night, but having quite enjoyed 1987’s Daddy’s Highway, I’m sure their debut is just as chockfull of jangly delights. Seriously, I want to just jump on an airplane slash time machine and live in New Zealand in the ’80s and listen to awesome bands like The Bats, though they’re still around making fine records today.

Album Picks:

Wavves - Afraid Of Heights

CD $13.98

LP $22.98

Wavves’ latest album album mostly ditches the “King of the Beach” surf-punk notions of previous releases for a big, warm, alt-rock embrace that does wonders to highlight the quality of Nathan Williams’ songwriting. “Sail to the Sun” starts out with sparkling synths and moves into a thumping, surging rocker. “Demon to Lean On” is built for rock radio, with a catchy, two-note riff leading into its soaring chorus. It’s reminiscent of mid-’90s radio gems from the likes of Weezer and their brethren, but it’s also smartly built, with watery guitars and castanets seeping beneath the surface of its Pixies-inspired, quiet-to-loud dynamics and Nathan Williams’ paranoid lyrics. After starting out boldly, the album takes dark turns that should please fans of Wavves previous work, including the lo-fi attack of “Mystic,” which buries Williams under stacks of distorted sound before engaging with a singular synth riff. But he always brings it back to some of his hookiest songs yet, like the soaring title track, which makes use of backup vocals by Jenny Lewis and delivers another instantly recognizable, could-be radio hit from 1996. If only all pop-punk, surf-alt or what have you was this catchy, smartly written and unafraid of hooks! Afraid of Heights succeeds as Williams’ clearest bid yet for crossover success, yet it doesn’t sacrifice his essential slackery appeal. File it next to your Dookie, Blue Album and Doolittle records and embrace the fuzzy pop of Afraid of Heights.

Black Lips ripped through songs across their catalog March 21 at the El Rey Theatre. The band clearly was having a great time without a recent album to support (the most recent being 2011's excellent Arabia Mountain, which saw the band trading some of their trademark scuzz for Mark Ronson production while retaining their essential sound). They began as loudly and reverby as usual, tearing through Arabia Mountain's "Family Tree" and old favorites "Dirty Hands" and "Not a Problem" from 2005's Let it Bloom. By the time they got to the whirlwinds of "O Katrina," the crowd and pit was worked up into a froth — one girl jumped onstage with Black Lips written on her ass cheeks. They played a new song which was hard to make out — they gave the disclaimer that they were still working out the kinks on it. For the most part, they stuck to playing the jams — "Raw Meat," "Boomerang," "Buried Alive." Toilet paper came a-flyin' during "Modern Art," while another girl jumped onstage around the time they played "Bad Kids" to kiss guitarist Ian Saint Pe, who quickly obliged, after having flung a beer all over himself that had been thrown onstage. Cohorts Jared Swilley, Cole Alexander and Joe Bradley mostly stayed well-behaved during the show, minus Swiley's air-humping while playing bass and Alexander licking the mic stand (sorry, no penis this time). The band was set to play Burgerama the next day with Bleached, Nick Waterhouse and others at the Santa Ana Observatory, but they also have a documentary about their trip to the Middle East in the works. It's seeking funding via Indiegogo. Check out the trailer below. I love seeing them play politely in Erbil while onlookers tap their feet and one man holds up his baby. Looks amazing. See photos from their past three Amoeba performances here, here and here.

Jeremih & Shlohmo – “Bo Peep (Do U Right)”

Shlohmo DJing live at Amoeba Hollywood

Producer Shlohmo and R&B singer Jeremih have collaborated on a song that melds the styles of both artists, with Shlohmo’s dreamy beatscapes becoming harder-edged and Jeremih singing lushly, breathily while still singing those come-ons acrobatically (“I’m gon’ do you” he repeats, just slightly tamer than his track “Fuck U All the Time,” which Shlohmo has also remixed). It was recorded for Adidas’ “Songs from Scratch” series. Amoeba Presents Shlohmo with Jeremih at the Henry Fonda Theatre April 6; tickets are $20 (plus a $2 service fee), purchasable in-store. Read more here.

Young & Sick – “Continuum”

Example of Young & Sick's artwork

Young & Sick’s “House of Spirits” was a sad little piece of electronic R&B in which the L.A. based music, fashion and art project lived up to its name, with lyrics about drowning in a car with the one you love. “Continuum” is no less obsessed with drowning, but it is less directly influenced by R&B, instead spinning out ethereal soul somewhere between likeminded acts How to Dress Well and Rhye. As much as I like the song, the story of how they released it sort of takes precedence — they released it via the Tor underweb, a sort of black market of the Internet that makes Craigslist seem like the Pennysaver, with killers for hire and all sorts of unspeakable porn. That and apparently they turned down six figures to do it their way and remain anonymous. They sure have their values in check! Read all about it in Forbes — Forbes, for crying out loud.