CD sales are down but  record sales are up. Vinyl, long written off by the industry as obsolete, has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts over the last several years, with vinyl sales on the increase, steadily building in momentum over the past few years. In 2007 there was an estimated 15% increase in sales of new records just from the year before.

And it's not just DJs who are buying records these days. Nor is it just fans of hip-hop/rap and electronic/dance music -- the two genres most associated with vinyl -- but fans of other types of music, including different sub-genres of rock and experimental, among other genres. Additionally a lot of music fans, especially young fans who are tired of MP3s, are discovering the superior warmer analog audio quality of vinyl pressings -- be it on a 7" single or full-length 12" album.

In some cases artists or labels are pressing up vinyl-only releases, often as a way to beat the current rampant free-downloading of MP3 files. But even with a lot of vinyl releases, the record label includes free MP3s such with the new Cornelius vinyl copy of his Gum 12" EP on Everloving/Warner which comes with a printed card in its jacket containing information on the link to MP3 versions of the same songs on the vinyl just purchased.

"A lot of people appreciate the whole aesthetic of vinyl. There is something permanent about the LP format that they really like.  With MP3's, even with CDs, there is a disposability with the format," offered Chris Curtis of Hollywood Amoeba Music, where he is a vinyl point person between the floor and warehouse -- overseeing many smaller genres but getting a good overall grasp of the state of vinyl in 2008 with music fans. "To kids that were born after 1990, the LP was dead," said Chris, "but you see a lot of kids coming in to buy vinyl. I think there is a certain coolness connected with it."

Tomorrow: Friday, Jan 18th @ 6PM at Amoeba Music, San Francisco - the promising new Bay Area hip-hop trio 40Love, who recently dropped their strong & well-rounded debut album Advantage, will be performing as part of Amoeba's Homegrown in-store series.

I recently caught up with emcee G-off from the group, who also works at Amoeba Music on Haight Street in addition to putting in time across town at the A&R department of San Francisco's OM Records, to ask help introduce the uninitiated to 40Love.
 



AMOEBLOG: Can you give a brief history of your group for those who don't know?

G-OFF: 40Love is a hip hop group from San Francisco which features emcee/vocalist Haze, producer & emcee MIkos, and myself, an emcee, G-off.  Our first album "Advantage"  features Jern Eye of Lunar Heights, The Genie, plus Malik of Aquarius and HBO Def Jam Poetry. In early 2007 we were signed to a two year deal with DJ Qbert's manager and even had a track with DJ Qbert on the album. However, because we are 19 and new to the industry, they wanted us to hold back on the release of the album to a later date. This resulted in us opting out of our contract and to follow the infamous Bay Area tradition of being completely independent artists.

         

 
You know, James Dean is dead.
But don't worry or get upset or anything, He's been dead for a long time
But a week after he died he received more fan-mail than any other living American actor,
Which is weird right?   'cause he's dead, he's not gonna read that shit
But still, people felt inclined to write him

I think that's the first sign about what's happening with the entertainment industry today,
Especially with music:
I mean, you're gonna make more money dead, have more fame dead
And more people are going to hear your message dead, than ever would've alive. And that's weird

I mean, no one cared about Nick Drake until they put his song in that Volkswagen commercial and now everyone loves Nick Drake....
He died man, he died poor and alone and no one gave a crap.
2Pac, Biggie, sure they were big in their lifetime but how many albums did they put out after they died...?    Man that's fucked up!

Stop messing with peoples legacies like that!
Stop jumping on the bandwagon the second somebody dies and then make a movie about them.
Go out and find that music right now 'cause there are people out there right now working, living, and creating to help make this world a better place and if we don't help them now, or wait until after they're dead, what point is there to being an artist?  What point, what point is there?

Stop doin' that shit, stop ridin' shotgun for the industry and jump in the car with us cause we're going to Weinerschnitzel, then maybe later we can have some muffinz

          - 4AM from the track "Ridin Shotgun" off the new Dopestyle 2CD set
                         "The Little Happy/Fool's Pool" (Daly City Records)

 HARLEY

Harley  - a Black Labrador Retriever is almost four years old. She is best pals with Lori who works as manager at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store.  The two start everyday by going up to Lake Chabot for an invigorating morning walk/run.  "My other dog Cody passed away and someone who worked at Amoeba put me in touch with someone whose dog had just had a litter. All seven of the litter were girls" recalled Lori.  "Organic dairy farmers out in Cloverdale  - so we went out there and saw her at 4 weeks and then at again at  7 weeks old when we picked her up."  Lori notes that Harley has a good "dog friend" in a fellow AmoebaDog. "I share an office with Naomi and Harley and Liebchen (scroll down to see her profile) get along really well together," she smiled. 





KAHLESS

Kahless (rhymes with Payless) is an Australian Cattle dog breed and is the best friend of Paul Vasquez who works in the world music section of Amoeba Music Hollywood. Recently Paul recalled that fateful day three years ago when he and Kahless first crossed paths. "It was one afternoon  in April 2004, I was looking for a dog at the animal shelter in Pomona. I looked at plenty of animals, but none of them really caught my eye.  On the way out, I saw a picture on a bulletin board of a dog with beautiful eyes and super crazy spots. I looked to my left, and there he was in his little cell. I went to him and knelt down to see his reaction. No barking, no weirdness, just eye contact and a wagging tail. All of a sudden he put one of his paws through the bars onto my knee. That was it. I chose him and he chose me. We've been best friends ever since."

Another great band that I learned of thanks to Amoeba Music, where they've long had their music for sale and where they've also performed at, is the super- talented San Francisco group Deerhoof who in my opinion defy categorization. Anyway Deerhoof  have just posted an entire album free for downloading on the Kill Rock Stars website. Now (as of Thursday late afternoon PST) available by clicking on this link the thirteen songs come with this suggestion from the band members: "I don't know how long we can keep these up here, I might recommend downloading now and asking questions later."  So in other words Deerhoof fans: get busy ye'all.   Also on that same Deerhoof ChooChooChooChooBeepBeep page of the Kill Rock Stars website are some great photos, videos, and lots of recommended reading about such things as their firsthand experience of opening for Radiohead (diehard fans of Deerhoof) including at the Berkeley Greek Theater show (see excpert on video footage below).