Here’s a new feature where every so often I’ll pick out my favorite used LPs from recent finds. It should go without saying I got all of these for like, an average of five bucks a piece. So here it goes.
 
OMD – Dazzle Ships (link to original issue CD)
 
I always liked OMD enough for their singles, especially “Enola Gay,” but I never really delved into their albums until this one, a mini masterpiece of whirring industrial synthesizers and indelible pop melodies. Some of OMD’s catchiest songs (“Genetic Engineering,” “Telegraph”) are interrupted by bits of shortwave broadcast played over oceanic synthesizers that lend the whole thing an eerie ambiance. It feels like listening to the radio on a submarine. There’s also a young band called Dazzle Ships; they’re really cool too.
 





The Beach Boys – Sunflower (new LP)
 
Sunflower is maybe the last classic the Beach Boys made and is all the more ripe for rediscovering because its songs haven’t been played to death (it wasn’t a hit in the U.S.) and its tastefully layered production sounds great today on harmony-driven songs like “Forever” and “Cool, Cool Water,” fun ’70s rocker “Slip on Through” and, especially, “All I Wanna Do,” which may have helped invent shoegaze.
 

Talk about a highly anticipated & long delayed release! Brian Wilson and Beach Boys fans are no doubt rejoicing today with the arrival in Amoeba Music of the 2 CD  set The Smile Sessions. Released by Capitol/EMI the new release is culled from what was originally supposed to be released as the Smile album back in the latter half of the sixties as the follow up to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Ofttimes spelled with the typeset SMiLE (based on the original artwork by Frank Holmes) the new release is  culled from the long lost legendary 1966/67 Smile sessions.

As is long part of music lore, the master tapes for Smile got shelved due, as most report, to Wilson's deteriorating mental state and the album never saw the light of day. Well not exactly; it never got released as originally intended by its creator Wilson at the time. Portions of the project have surfaced as bootlegs, snapped up by diehard Wilson/Beach Boys fans, over the decades since its initial intended release date. Additionally many of the original songs found their way onto various other official Beach Boys releases. But then eight years ago the Smile project was brought back to life by Wilson himself who went about rerecording it as he had intended. That fully completed version was released in 2004.

But The Smile Sessions released today, which features a reconstructed version of the album pieced together from those original '66/'67 studio recordings, is definitely one to have for any true Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan. Vinyl collectors will be happy to know that there is an LP version of The Smile Sessions also available from Amoeba. As well as the reconstructed album Smile the new 2 CD  version of the collection (see image of contents right) includes a lot more gems from the vaults; early song drafts, alternate takes, vocal only & instrumental only mixes of songs, as well as snippets of studio banter between the band members. Also included is a 14.5" x 20" poster of the Frank Holmes cover art, and a 37 page booklet with liner notes by Wilson. There is also a collectible one inch scale Smile button included.

Photos by Kaitlin Layher and Ryan Stark
Words by Spenser Russell-Snyder

At 8am on Saturday, April 16th, crowds began to line up in front of the Berkeley store. They came to get their hands on the hundreds of new and exclusive records released on this year's 4th Annual Record Store Day.

In the first hour of being open, the "Broadway" aisle of the store was jam packed with people picking up 7-inches, LPs and even select 10-inches from the likes of 13th Floor Elevators, Big Star, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Grinderman, Phish, Wild Flag, The Beach Boys, as well as countless more from the hottest names in music, past and present.

But Rock 'N' Roll wasn't the only thing Amoeba Berkeley brought to Record Store Day this year. We also debuted a GIGANTIC used Jazz collection, filled with near mint original pressings from Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and literally thousands more! No matter what kind of music you were into on Saturday, we had what you wanted!

Amoeba was THE destination for Record Store Day events as well! At noon we had the legendary Al Jardine from the Beach Boys play a few songs and tell a few stories about the old days recording Smile and Pet Sounds. Al brought with him an exclusive 7-inch record to benefit the Red Cross' Japan relief effort. He ended up raising over $1,000 for the organization and thrilled long time fans by signing copies!