Today's "it" girl, Ms. Lana Del Rey, performed on Tuesday evening at Amoeba Hollywood to a packed house of excited fans who had been waiting for hours to see her.

Lana Del Rey soundcheck

Lana Del Rey Born To Die Interscope

Earlier in the afternoon, Lana Del Rey jumped on stage to do a quick soundcheck. She seemed relaxed and happy in her jeans and Ferrari team racing jacket as she dipped in and out of a few songs from her new album, Born To Die. Her voice sounded crystal clear and stopped some shoppers still as they looked on.

She smiled and joked with a few fans from the stage, and once she was done with the soundcheck, she spontaneously jumped down to talk to a small crowd of fans which had gathered. They were thrilled of course, and she chatted with them for a few minutes, hugged them and took pictures before she slid out to the Green Room to get ready for the show. 

The February auction at Amoeba Hollywood was a great success and helped raise a lot of money for The Pepper Foundation, a non-profit animal rescue organization that rescues mostly special needs and senior animals from high kill shelters and gets the animals rehabilitated and adopted into loving homes. 

The auciton was hosted by first-time-on-the-Amoeba-soundboard-stage auctioneer Jason Boggs!  Jason quickly garnered a small crowd who were entranced by his warmth and smile (and the wry inside jokes). The Pepper Foundation brought in a tiny crooked-jawed chihuahua which made the whole thing even MORE worthwhile when the bidding started.

Here are some of the highlights:

Smashing Pumpkins 7" Box and photos $10.00
Roger Corman DVD package $20.00
KISS collectible pack $20.00
Trader Joe's Gift Certificate and I Dream of Jeannie Lunchbox $55.00
Lauryn Hill Tickets $70.00 !!
Ozzy Color Litho thingy $25.00
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Signed Book and Poster $25.00
Laemmle Movie Passes $50.00 !!
Bob Marley Package $15.00
Record Store Day 45 Pack $40.00
CocoRosie Tickets $35.00 (after a furious 3-way bidding war.....)
Madonna Ray of Light Promo 
Henna Tattoo Kit with Lady Gaga Discoball Keychain $20.00

All together, we raised $340 during the auction, but more than a few people kicked in EXTRA cash above and beyond their bids, so the total raised on Saturday was $380. With our matching dollar for dollar, we raised a total of $760 for the special needs pups. 

As part of the celebration of 20 years of the Noise Pop Music Festival, the Noise Pop Film Series
will feature nine amazing new and essential films focused on music. Each film approaches the subject with a distinct voice and fresh perspective. With screenings at the Roxie and the Artists Television Access (ATA), each show is sure to be an event to remember. 

This year, you can check out all of the films (many featuring Q&A's with the directors and other special guests) for just $30 by getting the new Film Series Pass! It's quite a deal...just check out this schedule:

RE:GENERATION MUSIC PROJECT (Feb. 16 & Feb. 23, 8pm)
AMC LOEWS METREON 16
Five DJs turn the tables on the history of music. Follow DJ Premier, Mark Ronson, Skrillex, Pretty Lights, and The Crystal Method as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music. From the classical perfection of the Berklee Symphony Orchestra to the bayou jams of New Orleans jazz, these five distinctive DJs collaborate with some of today's biggest musicians (Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Nas,Trombone Shorty and more) to discover how the musical past is influencing the future. Directed by Amir Bar-Lev, 95 minutes.


BOB AND THE MONSTER (Feb. 22, 7pm)
Q&A with Director Keirda Bahruth & Producer Rick Ballard after the screening
ATA
Bob and the Monster is about a guy everybody wanted to be around until he became the guy everybody assumed had died. In the 1980s, Bob Forrest’s band, Thelonious Monster, was at the center of a music scene that included the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction. The band’s raw sound, wild shows and deeply personal lyrics appealed directly to the young Los Angeles punk crowd. So did the drugs. Bob and the Monster transcends the stereotype of heroin addicted rock star and reveals a more personal message. Bob’s story is a living testament to the heights of human courage and the ability to shape your own destiny. Directed by Keirda Bahruth, 85 minutes.

As he did for the NAMM 2010 & NAMM 2011 conventions in SoCal, once again my man Shing02 has filed a report on the this year's annual NAMM 2012 convention exclusively for the Amoeblog.  The renowned Japanese producer/emcee/multi-instrumentalist/all round hella great guy headed to the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA music gear/tech convention a couple of weekends ago (January 19th - 22nd, 2012) to file this report (video above, text & photos below) with help from host Yamato Kaneko in which they visit DJ TechTools, STOKYO, Teenage Engineering, Vestax, AKAI, Tiptop Audio, McDSP, KORG, KDJ-One, RANE, Emulator, SlipmatsOnline.com, Vintage Vibe, NORD, Slaperoo and some other booths too. Thanks Shing02!


The annual NAMM convention in Anaheim showcases a convention center full of eye-candy for the gear geeks, and 2012 proved no different. Although the music and recording industry seem to be stuck in an age of meticulously fine-tuning software with no big leaps in ideas and technology, some brands still managed to stand out. My personal favorite was the OP-1 synthesizer by Teenage Engineering from Sweden, which was introduced last year at NAMM, but came back stronger with upgrades. In essence, OP-1 is a synth / drum machine that feels more like an old-school game than a modern machine, which creates a fun learning curve to create unique grooves. (It actually has a game-mode built into it!)

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 March 2nd from 5-10pm for a live performance from Zola Jesus and EMA, KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Chuck P, and guest lectures from Dr. Mike Brown ("Why Pluto Had to Die") and Doug Pearlstein ("The Evolving Universe").

Find out more HERE!

Watch Zola Jesus live from Amoeba Hollywood:

EMA - California (Official Video) from Souterrain Transmissions on Vimeo.