A little while ago, I blogged about a new release from Leaving Records and Stones Throw Records called Dual Form, a cassette-only compilation of Leaving Records artists to kick off Stones Throw serving as a distributor for Leaving Records. The cassette is on sale now at various LA record stores including Amoeba Hollywood, and a few lucky buyers of the Dual Form cassette will get a golden ticket for an exclusive Leaving Records mixtape! The LA labels are throwing an all-cassette DJ night tonight to celebrate the release at The Virgil (4519 Santa Monica Blvd.), hosted by Leaving Records co-founder Matthewdavid and Dublab's Frosty. If you get the golden ticket, you can redeem it there. It starts at 9 p.m. and is free, though it's part of Dublab's Proton Drive, so donations are welcome. The event will be streamed live at Dublab.com.

Read more about Dual Form here, which includes The Cyclist's "Visions."

Amoeba Hollywood has started regularly selling tickets to local shows, with the added bonus of charging low service fees (if you're into saving money and who isn't really?).

All tickets can be purchased at the registers (while supplies last) for a $2 service fee. We take cash and credit cards for all ticket sales.

Please note that on the day of the show, we will stop selling tickets for that show at 5pm.

If you have a question about whether we've sold out of a specific show, please call the store at 323-245-6400.

On Saturday, November 3 we were all excited to have the inimitable Billy Calhoun step up to the mic and charm the dollars out of the peeps....and....he....DID ! :) Billy did an amazing job of being funny, sincere, and charming while reminding people WHY we do this and what it means---and how each dollar is matched so it feels good. He was also gracious enough to donate several cool, kitschy vintage items from his own collection to spice it up even more. This month's recipient was a new partner for us, Good Neighbors, and they do amazing work around the world. Billy made sure to educate us about the works they do as he was auctioning off Dennis Rodman dolls (with switchable heads, no less! :). So it is even better since we are happy to be involved with what these guys are doing.

 Here are some of the highlights, which are especially impressive since there was a small crowd this time around. Several people overbid and doubled their own bids---which was just the spirit we needed:

 
** Pee Wee Herman Vintage T-shirt and Button Pack  -- $17.00

** Cat Power Concert Tickets and Signed CD -- $30.00

** Patti Smith Signed Horses CD and Poster -- $17.00

** Steve Martin T-shirt -- $5.00

** Monkees Concert Tickets -- $40.00

** Urban Outfitters Gift Card -- $45.00

** Lana Del Rey Signed 45 -- $25.00

** Dolly Parton Doll -- $30.00

** Minus The Bear Concert Tickets -- $25.00

** Gene Simmons Mask -- $25.00

** Amoeba VIP In-Store Pass -- $35.00

** Signed Doctor Who Blu-ray -- $40.00

** Trader Joe's Gift Card with Lunchbox -- $55.00

Minneapolis transplant Thavius Beck has been making music here in LA for the past 15 years or so, first as Adlib, rapping and producing for hip-hop collective Global Phlowtations and releasing several solo albums as Adlib before releasing his first album as Thavius Beck, Decomposition, in 2004, while working at Amoeba Hollywood. His glitched-out hip-hop sound led him to production work for the likes of Saul Williams and Busdriver and a remix for Nas. He’s worked alongside Trent Reznor and Zack De La Rocha and released several more albums over the years, the most recent of which is the instrumental electronic record The Most Beautiful Ugly. Thavius Beck returns to Amoeba Hollywood this Friday Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. to perform. I spoke to Beck a bit before his performance.

PST: It’s impressive that you produced a full album and then had a mixtape of outtakes that was also both strong and coherent as its own set. About how much music do you typically produce before whittling it down for an album?

Kim Free started her set at Amoeba Hollywood Oct. 24 with a quick violin piece before leaving it to loop while she picked up the bass to play “I Don’t Know Why,” from her album Angel Shadow. Free builds the song beginning with its simple, Cure-style bassline, allowing that to loop while she sings hauntingly over it and adds harmonic bass notes here and there. Her “Breaking Spells” recalled the close intimacy of early Liz Phair, sans the snark and loaded with romanticism. Upon that song, she left her bass standing to unload exquisite violin, teaching a master class in the power of looping as she built towers of melody standing alone. She smiled as she quickly faded the song into a wintry violin piece, at once aching and dreamy, building a shuddering backdrop upon which she could solo with emotional precision, before fading it to a deep pool of bass and whispery vocal. The song shifted back to violin for its stunning conclusion. She then played “Ease Into Piece,” a lighter oceanic piece that allowed her to mellow out without having to shift to violin until the song's baroque climax. She closed the set with a quick, heartfelt song, the composition of which showcased one of the most endearing features of Free’s music — its combination of immediate simplicity with Free’s classical training as a violinist. See more photos of the show here; read my interview with Free here.