As you've no doubt already read, vinyl sales are up so to meet the accompanying increase in demand for turntables Amoeba Music recently began selling various turntable models. As outlined in the excellent recent Amoeblog about buying a turntable at Amoeba Music, the three Amoeba stores each have a really good selection of turntables for sale.  Recently I stopped into the Berkeley Amoeba store to talk a bit with turntable expert Brendan about the variety of turntables to choose from at the Telegraph Avenue store. Note that the San Francisco and Hollywood Amoeba stores may each have a slightly different array of turntables to chose from. Call ahead to your local Amoeba (scroll down for phone numbers) to double check on which models are available. 

As outlined by Brendan in the video interview clip above, the Audio-Technica model on display is a wonderful hands-on, easy to operate, sturdy model that comes with a good quality, built-in cartridge (so you don't have spend any extra time and money getting the needle cartridge) for only $129.98. This exact same model - including the extra feature of a USB connection that is geared for folks who, as well as listening to their records, want to dub off their vinyl into a digital format to have on the go in their iPod and other mp3 listening devices -- sells for $179.98. A great deal if you plan on doing a lot of digitizing of your vinyl collection is the Numark TTUSB model with USB compatibility, on sale for just $149.98. As Brendan says in the video clip, this belt-driven model is "a really solid design for 150 bucks!" It also comes with pitch control, which is perfect for DJs and anyone who wants to increase or decrease the speed of the record being played.

From the mezzanine level of Amoeba Music in Hollywood, one could count over 400 damp heads (it was unfairly hot in L.A. this past Saturday) eagerly awaiting a performance that could get even the most dehydrated youngster dancing. The Growlers, a band formed in Long Beach in 2006, performed a last minute in-store show after the cancellation of Sunset Junction, where they were originally scheduled to play.

Dressed in suspenders, jeans, sneakers, and oxfords, the six-piece group leaped into action and opened up with the song “Drinking the Juice Blues.” The full playlist was comprised of 11 songs that ranged across their first album, Are You In Or Out?, the 10” EP Hot Tropics, and their Record Store Day 7” Gay Thoughts. As hundreds sang along to favorites such as “Something Someone Jr.” and “Wandering Eyes,” the group matched the enthusiasm of the crowd with excellent chemistry and seamless effort.

If you were close enough to the stage, you could admire their unabashed and quirky offness: a large mass of foil draped over the drum kit, a hand-painted image on a guitar, a rustic pair of conga drums that had been spray-painted. To top it off was the charming vocalist Brooks Nielsen, dancing and swerving without shyness as one might do when they’re alone in front of a mirror. The group’s lo-fi sound, a blend of surf and garage with psychedelic nods, clash rewardingly with their lyrics, which reference displacement, morbidity, and the strangeness of the self.

The vaguely menacing charm of vintage postcards.

When on vacation, I am a social snob. It breaks down this way: If you are a resident of where I’m vacationing or its surrounding area, I’ll love to talk with you. Whether banal chit-chat, deep, psychological explorations, or wildly unfounded and ignorant political positioning, I love hob-knobbing with a local of Anytown, Planet Earth.

However, if you are a tourist like me, every second I spend in your presence is like chalk being scrapped down my gutted and exposed spine. Ever seen the movie Somewhere in Time? There’s a moment where the hero discovers a reminder of where he comes from, and it shatters the paradise he’s discovered. That’s what another tourist’s face is to me: a shinny penny sucking me into a loveless present where the only escape is death.

“What do I do for a living? Apparently, I suffer fools gladly. And you?”

Make no mistake: I am not proud of this. It doesn’t come from a sense of elitism, rather, a jealous and desperate need for freedom from the burden of self-identification. I am often exhausted being me, and vacationing offers a rare moment where I get to be a different fellow. If I’m constantly having to re-establish myself to others as “a writer from Los Angeles,” etcetera, it won’t matter that I’m fiendishly clever and dashingly handsome – I’ll still be sick of my effing face.

The boyfriend doesn’t have this problem. Though technically an introvert, according to the Keirsey Temperament Scale, he can navigate most any social situation with aplomb. A master at multi-tasking, he’s capable of satisfying endless rounds of small talk by using them as an opportunity to gather useful information and think about what he needs to do at the office the next day. I, on the other hand, am locked into whatever conversation I’m having, heart and soul – so if it’s small talk, I start to suffer from claustrophobia.

One of the most tragic victims of the past week's London riots, and one very close to our hearts here at Amoeba, was the devastating warehouse fire that resulted in the costly destruction of the PIAS distribution center warehouse, which housed the inventory of countless indie labels including WARP, Ninja Tune, XL Recordings, Beggars, Domino, Wall Of Sound, Sunday Best, Big Brother, and Finders Keepers (link to complete list of indie labels). The direct result of the arson of this sprawling 215,000 square feet warehouse, which was located in the Enfield district of outer London and was owned by SONY but occupied mainly by the indie collective PIAS, is that thousands upon thousands of independent label records, CDs, and DVDs (both brand new releases and classic titles still in print by these indie labels) have all been completely and senselessly destroyed, leaving the already-struggling labels and their artists high and dry.

What this fire means is that collectively all of these small, quality independent record labels have just taken a most incredible financial blow, resulting in the majority of their stock (source of income/cash flow) being wiped out overnight. What about insurance? Well it's likely that the individual small labels didn't have specific coverage for such an event. Meanwhile it looks like the PIAS warehouse is not covered either since, according to the British 1886 Riots (Damages) Act, if the damage is caused by a rioting mob (and it was; it was reported today by Billboard that three rioters were arrested for arson) then the insurers are not the ones liable but rather the police authorities. Hence the likelihood of getting compensated anytime soon, if at all, is slim. In other words these labels and the artists that they presented to the world are in serious trouble. Now most of these labels, especially the smaller ones, face being forced out of business forever and the artists on their rosters are equally screwed.
 
We at Amoeba ask you to consider any way that you might be able to help out these hard-hit, indie labels. You can either make donations to the labels or support the inevitable upcoming slew of benefit concerts and events. Formed over the past few days, the UK-based Label Love organization is both accepting donations on behalf of the victims of the fire, and listing many of these benefit events and other channels set up to directly help these labels. You can also reach this organization directly with any other ways you think you can help via ther email:  Labellovebenefit@gmail.com.

Starting Thursday, August 18th, tune in to Mutiny Radio for the Amoeba Music Request Show!

The Amoeba Music Request Show is programmed by YOU!
Just come into Amoeba Music San Francisco and drop your requests in our submission box.
(Requests received by Monday evening will be on Thursday's show!)
Then listen to Mutiny Radio every Thursday from noon to 2pm!

The show starts Thursday, August 18th, but you can start making your requests at Amoeba SF now!