Poolside – Seasons Change mix

The last band I expected to hear from this fall/winter was Poolside. Their Pacific Standard Time album was so perfectly suited for the sunshine that it would seem perverse for them to go wintry, but that’s just what they’ve done with their Seasons Change mix, which the LA-based duo said they put together while driving through the Northeast in October. Listen below. On initial scan, it actually sounds pretty similar in spirit to their other album’s moody electronics, making you realize the power of suggestion. Also it sounds great no matter when you put it on.

The Fresh & Onlys Film “What’s In My Bag?”

SF garage-pop greats The Fresh & Onlys filmed a “What’s in My Bag?” feature with Amoeba, and we have it up to stream now. Check out their album Long Slow Dance if you haven’t yet, one of my favorite rock ’n’ roll records released this year.

On Lonesome Dreams, Lord Huron’s Ben Schneider creates a soundtrack for travel. Opener “Ends of the Earth” finds him telling his lover “There’s an island where everything is silent/I’m gonna whistle a tune,” among other evocative lines about getting the hell out of dodge. From there his Americana-fueled journey touches on hints of the exotic — the clanging percussion of “Time to Run” calling to mind the East while he sings concurrently about finding a life way out West. Along the way he discovers the loneliness of wide-open space on the spare title track; harmonicas haunt him on “The Ghost on the Shore,” hinting at nostalgia born from hitting the edge of the land and looking back. The whole thing gallops along with country jangle, nightsky atmosphere and Schneider’s throaty, impassioned vocals, and it’s nearly impossible not to get swept in its romanticism.

The whole thing could be thought of as a travelogue for Schneider’s own journey out west, travelling from his home in Michigan to New York, around the world and eventually to Los Angeles, where while pursuing a career in visual arts, his Lord Huron project took off. Comprising songs he recorded back in Michigan at Lake Huron, where he formatively would strum the guitar in his youth, his first EP Yours, Truly gained traction in the blogosphere, and Schneider formed a band to begin playing live in 2010. His debut record, Lonesome Dreams, is out now via IAMSOUND. Lord Huron play Amoeba Hollywood Monday Nov. 19 at 7:00 p.m. I took a minute to speak with Schneider about his journeys, musical and otherwise.

Amoeba has teamed with Goldenvoice to present a number of upcoming shows, starting with John Cale and Cass Mccombs at the El Rey Theatre Dec. 11. Tickets for that show are $30 (plus a $2 service fee). Then on Dec. 19, Amoeba presents Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs at the Fonda Theatre; tickets are $22.50 (plus a $2 service fee).

Tickets are limited to quantities on hand, until they sell out. Amoeba stops selling tickets for a show at 5 p.m. on the day of that show. Please call the store at 323-245-6400 for current availability or to purchase/hold.

See a full list of tickets available for sale at Amoeba Hollywood here.

John Cale at Amoeba Hollywood Oct. 26, 2005

Famed Welsh singer, songwriter, viola player and former member of The Velvet Underground John Cale is performing in support of his latest release, the adventurous Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood. That album finds Cale trying on a number of new guises, occasionally augmenting his baritone voice with autotune and building out his futuristic love songs with electronic production and lyrics about vampires and other strange beasts. He’s also recently been playing songs off of his classic Paris 1919 record.

Album Picks:

Crystal Castles – III

CD $12.98

LP $17.98

Early interviews about Crystal Castles' stunning third album have seen frontwoman Alice Glass discussing oppression at length with Bono-ish fervor — not something typically associated with an image-conscious electronic duo known more for its antagonistic records and brawling live shows than its politics. But Glass and synth stud Ethan Kath can have it both ways, as III is another visceral attack of a record from Crystal Castles that ups the meaning behind their furor, both explicitly and implied, without losing any of their hedonistic attitude. In fact, III, while lacking some of the shock value of the first two records, is Crystal Castles’ most consistent statement to date. Tracks like “Plague” and “Wrath of God” still pack walloping beats, but they are more of mood pieces than, say, something like II’s “Baptism,” full of moody, heaving passages that draw you in and keep you rapt across the record. III is also smartly paced, keeping some of its more crowd-pleasing moments for later in the record, whereas previous albums were front-loaded. The fourth song in, “Affection,” shares a chord-scheme with MGMT’s “Kids,” though its warped vocals sound like they’re echoing from an abyss — not exactly radio-friendly material. Glass quits whispering and unleashes her trademark echoed yelps on the spare “Pale Flesh,” sure to be a live favorite, while “Sad Eyes” charges forth with unabashed club glee and hard-hitting beatwork. The album’s final quarter features some of its most remarkable moments, full of seedy club bangers, while its last song, “Child I Will Hurt You,” is a typically gorgeous closer from the band, layering Goblin-style keyboards over Glass’ haunting vocals, which often sing of pain inflicted upon the vulnerable, echoing the statement of that album cover, calling to mind suffering and comfort in equal doses. That concept isn’t as overt as it could have been, but when it does come through, as when Glass sings “I’ll protect you from all the things I’ve seen” on “Kerosene,” Crystal Castles create the aural equivalent of gunfire and a helping hand.

As with Record Store Day, the list of exclusive releases this year for Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, typically the biggest shopping day of the year) is staggering. A list of the available titles is here. I’ve pulled out 10 releases that are particularly interesting — to me, and perhaps to you. Show up at Amoeba Nov. 23 for your chance to own any one of these.

Lee Hazlewood – You Turned My Head Around: Lee Hazlewood Industries 1967-1970 (11 x 7 box set)

Named after an awesome duet ’60s psych-folkie Lee Hazelwood did with singer/actress Ann-Margret, this set collects forgotten records issued on Hazelwood’s label, Lee Hazelwood Industries. The singer-songwriter was also a notable producer, perhaps most famously writing and producing Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made For Walkin.’” The set includes 11 45s from such artists as Suzi Jane Hokom, Honey Ltd., Kitchen Cinq and Hazlewood himself. From psych to country-pop, the set offers a view of Lee as an aesthetic director of sorts, setting forth a cultish sound that would come to be oft mimicked and appreciated far greater in later years than during its initial run.

Captain Beefheart – Abba Zabba; Plastic Factory; Upon The My-Oh-My