Once again Amoeba Music has been immortalized in song. This time it is courtesy of the brand new album Show You The World by Cali hip-hopper The Grouch (out tomorrow, April 8, when he and the whole Living Legends crew will perform for free at Amoeba Hollywood @ 7PM).   Amoeba Music is name-checked in the song "The Bay To L.A." that features fellow Living Legends crew emcee MURS. The song -- off the 15-song new album from the LA artist with deep Bay Area history, not to mention Amoeba history, since we were the first store to carry the once struggling mid-1990's young hip-hop collective -- includes the lyrics, "the Bay to LA, like Amoeba player" - and with its distinctly Bay Area- flavored, synth-drenched infectious beat and catchy lyrics, "The Bay To LA" is the hit of the summer of 2008 just waiting to happen. I bet money on it. 

Also on the recommended new album from The Grouch is the observantly sharp & witty song "Artsy" (with lots of LA references) which has an equally great video (shot reportedly for just $3000), which you can see above. And the new Grouch album, his first since his collab with Zion I two years ago and his first solo in five years, is influenced greatly by the 2006 arrival in his life of his young daughter Rio, who is featured both on the album's cover art (see left) and on the new release's intro track.  The album and also the Living Legends new hip-hop collective project, The Gathering, are both on Legendary Music and are both dropping tomorrow (April 8th). To celebrate the two new releases, the entire collective will perform a free show at Amoeba Music Hollywood at 7PM which will be streamed (audio/video) live via this website. Don't miss it!

He may have "killed a man" as he freely 'fesses here in this exclusive tell-all Amoeblog interview but Job O Brother is one hell of a gifted writer and his Another Witty and Unnecessary Blog contribution to this Amoeblog section of amoeba.com is always guaranteed to be must-read material;  the type of prose that leaves the reader fiending for more of its consistently engaging, well-written, and witty insights and observations on life - Job's life.

In fact Job O Brother's refreshing conversational writing style allows his readers an inside look at the personal details of his life - including life with boyfriend Corey and his workmates at Amoeba Hollywood-- is so natural and free-flowing that he makes it all seem really easy to write. But as anyone who has written a short story or blog will attest, to accomplish such results a writer must put a lot of time and energy into their craft. 

"Job is a born writer, truly gifted," offered Brady of Amoeba's Bay Area Crew - one of the regular readers of Job's Another Witty and Unnecessary Blog. But who really is this Job O Brother? Does he write for other outlets besides the Amoeblog?  Is he independently rich and only puts in time at Amoeba to get material for his writing? And did he really kill a man?

If you read Job's official Amoeblog bio we are told: "Mr. Brother was born into one of the wealthiest royal families in Europe. Having been raised in luxury only known to 1% of the world's population, he studied in the greatest schools and with acclaimed private tutors until he reached maturity, at which point he decided he "really, really wanted to work in a record store," which is what he's been doing and will continue to do until the demands of tradition force him to rule as King over his country or they hire him at "Donut Time" on Santa Monica and Highland. 'Which ever comes first,' he says." 

It should be noted that Job penned this bio and, like some things he says, you never quite know if it is truth or fiction--nor do you care when the writing is so entertaining.  So to find out a little bit more about Amoeba Music Hollywood employee Job O Brother I set up an interview with the man, deliberately conducting it via email since this way I figured I could get him to write/type out his answers which I guessed would be as witty and entertaining as his Amoeblogs always are.  I wasn't disappointed. Scroll down and read on...........

 
AMOEBLOG:  Exactly when and how did you end up working at Amoeba? Was it something to do with them hiring you before Donut Time on Santa Monica & Highland had responded to your application?

JOB O BROTHER: Confession time: A few facts in my Amoeblog profile are not entirely true. Yes, I am heir apparent to a powerful, European dynasty, but I’ve never actually applied for work at Donut Time.   When I first moved to LA (a little over three years ago) I assessed the work market and decided that Amoeba Music was the ONLY place I wanted to work.  I wasn’t sure when they would hire me, so I also applied to other places, but ONLY establishments that were soulless, corporate chains which I would feel no guilt quitting even after one week of employment, so that I’d be ready for when Amoeba called me. I even applied for a job at (insert f-word here, plus the suffix ‘ing’) Jamba Juice.

As reported in the Sunday Fashion & Style section of The New York Times, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova got in a little shopping at Amoeba Music while in Hollywood, in the days leading up to the Oscars. The musicians/actors and stars of the Irish indie film Once,  won an Oscar last night in the Original Song category for the film's moving composition "Falling Slowly"  --  which they also performed live at the televised event (see clip below). 

The picture above, courtesy of the New York Times'  Emilio Flores, shows the couple shopping at Amoeba Music on Sunset where they reportedly spent time shopping for DVDs (Amoeba prices are way better than back home in Dublin) and talking to fans of the indie success film Once, fans who were pleasantly surprised to see its two stars in the aisles of Amoeba Music.

Personally I was so happy Once won because not only did I fall in love with the film when I first saw it last March, but I saw it under the best possible circumstances: on the big screen in Dublin, Ireland, not far from where much of the film was shot.  And I saw it with two of my favorite people, my dad and sister, who both loved it and its soundtrack as much I did-- so much so that the next day, inspired by the film, we decided to take a short drive south of the city to Killiney, to that beautiful location overlooking Dublin Bay and the Irish Sea where the two main characters in the movie go on their memorable motorbike ride.