Why the record boxes? Why the art work? Why the hell don’t I write more about dumpster diving? Many questions are piling up here on the ol’ TV tray…
The theory goes: Disorder increases with record collecting because we measure collecting in the direction in which disorder increases.
Any theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it, no matter how long you may scream into somebody’s contrarian ear, or pound your fist into a table or a disagreeing face. And no matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time around the result will not contradict your precious little theory. But as 
philosopher of science Karl Popper has emphasized, a good theory is characterized by the fact that it makes a number of predictions that could in principle be disproved or falsified by observation and survive.
philosopher of science Karl Popper has emphasized, a good theory is characterized by the fact that it makes a number of predictions that could in principle be disproved or falsified by observation and survive.For example, each time a new box of records with distinctive artwork is observed to agree with the predictions, like selling quickly, that’s a good thing. The theory, ‘art covered record boxes are cool', not only survived but found revival. Hallelujah and pass the collection plate! Our confidence is increased! But if a new box, covered in great artwork, is put out on the floor yet contains only random, scratched, dusty and chipped records, sprinkled with rat poop, the resulting observations may be a bit negative. We may feel obligated to abandon or modify the theory, 
even though this collection of records didn’t match the usual criteria. Nevertheless the theory of ‘artwork on record boxes’ is still solid. However, amending our assumptions is not out of the question, especially if we have to deal with irate customers and a significant berating by management. A slight re-adjustment in the theory might conclude that the art work is just the carrot, and yes, you can lead a record geek to water, but without any water in the 45 box to wash down that rat poop stuck in his throat … well, you know … anyway, next time around we should just toss those ruined, scratched records in the dumpster and note; disorder increases because we tend to measure in the direction in which disorder increases.
even though this collection of records didn’t match the usual criteria. Nevertheless the theory of ‘artwork on record boxes’ is still solid. However, amending our assumptions is not out of the question, especially if we have to deal with irate customers and a significant berating by management. A slight re-adjustment in the theory might conclude that the art work is just the carrot, and yes, you can lead a record geek to water, but without any water in the 45 box to wash down that rat poop stuck in his throat … well, you know … anyway, next time around we should just toss those ruined, scratched records in the dumpster and note; disorder increases because we tend to measure in the direction in which disorder increases.
Forget about Groundhog Day, Walpurgis Night or Guy Fawkes Day... for a real good time you HAD to be at Amoeba Music for Record Store Day! Folks across the nation had a wonderful time celebrating these sometimes underappreciated bastions of culture and Manic Panic hair dye that we call independent record stores... but celebrating it at Amoeba is like being in Times Square for New Year's Eve! It's pretty much ground zero! We had more fun and hotter action than we've had in a bit, and hardly anyone left without a big smile on their face. We had exclusive vinyl releases, celebrity DJs, crazy rock stars hanging out, t-shirt silkscreening... lemme tell you all about it!
While founded in 2007, last year was the first-ever Record Store Day that we at Amoeba celebrated, and a couple of artists and labels decided to put out exclusive vinyl releases that were only available in actual record stores on that day. This year, about a hundred more bands jumped on the bandwagon and SO, there was a hotly anticipated lineup of exclusive releases... so many we could hardly keep track of them! We frantically received all this stuff last week, and the phones rang off the hook with demands for this or that 7" single or LP, and it all developed into a tsunami-like wave of insanity that hit the shore at 10:30 Saturday morning, when we opened our doors and a mad rush of people poured in looking for this stuff! There were 7" records by everyone... Sonic Youth, Beck, Jack White, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Depeche Mode... a live LP by Pavement... reissues by the MC5, Stooges, and the Smiths... a Wilco DVD... and much, much more! We set up all sorts of special displays for this stuff, and it was basically a shark-like feeding frenzy as folks desperately dug for those limited edition releases from their favorite bands. Even with a one-per-customer limit, we sold completely out of practically everything... by noon! Exclusive vinyl isn't all there is to Record Store Day, but it IS really neat that all those bands and artists appreciate record stores so much (surely having worked and shopped in them for many years themselves) that they would skip the internet and go straight to the stores with all these awesome releases. The result was surely exactly what anyone could hope for... a bunch of record store geeks gathering in their favorite spot to happily shop for limited, one-of-a-kind rarities. It was fun and frantic and everything went fast!
Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya! It's carnival time again!
Mardi Gras is always a wonderful time at the old Amoeba, but this year the festivities were truly "marmalade!" More people attended than ever before, the floats were crazier, the music was funkier, and the Mardi Gras spirit was so strong some folks still haven't recovered. I saw a guy stumbling down Cahuenga covered in beads two days later... if it ain't the real thing, it's the closest you can get outside the French Quarter. If you were there, we love you; if you weren't, we wanna see you next year!
As usual, it snuck up on us again... we were still coughing from the flu and getting soaked with weeks of rain when we realized it was coming up on the calendar. Preparations kicked into high gear! We decorated the store in purple, gold and green, and then we redecorated it, and then we decorated it so much it was ridiculous. The PURPLE NURPLE krewe flung itself headfirst into float-making... the Yellow Submarine float made a battered but beautiful return, a sphinx & purple pyramid was set in motion, a tribute to recently deceased punkabilly pioneer Lux Interior of the Cramps (1948-2009), as well as an inexplicable float involving a space chicken surfing on a huge Dali-esque piano... at the last moment Karen dropped off a giant psychedelic timbale which this chicken was made to play like Tito Puente, and the floats were complete!
MEANWHILE... secret preparations were underway for the first ever Amoeba Irregular Marching Band! Led by Kim Pryor on trumpet and avant-garde sax player Becca, this motley ensemble worked up the spookiest, freakiest version of "When The Saints Go Marching In" we've ever heard! Augmented by the banjo of Matt Polley, a wheelchair-riding accordionista (Jada) and a second line anchored by Tom Wunder, Kris Konrad and Edythe, a truly celebratory zu-zu sound was pounded forth! It was left only to the Witch Queen of New Orleans, Mama Elicia, to howl wildly through a homemade megaphone and several feet of aluminum tubing and the sound was "ice cream."
