One day at Amoeba Hollywood I proclaimed that Aztec Camera's 1983 release High Land, Hard Rain was one of the best records of the '80s. This single statement eventually led to over 200 Amoebites ranking their top 10 favorite albums from the ‘80s.

From the beginning we realized that it was impossible for most of us to condense our favorites from all genres into a tiny top ten list. So, we limited our lists to Rock/Pop and its sub-genres like punk, metal, goth, and new wave. Even so, it was a difficult selection process because not only are there hundreds of amazing records to consider, there is also the added dynamic of time.

The '80s were a long time ago and the music has had many years to gestate. We have a deep sense of nostalgia and sentiment with these albums as our fondest memories are associated with them. These are albums we LOVE.

- Henry Polk

Frankie Delmane
The Wipers – Over The Edge (1983)
Black Flag – My War (1984)
Fang – Landshark (1982)
The Clash – London Calling (1980)
Redd Kross – Neurotica (1987)
The Chills – Brave Words (1987)
The Go-Betweens – Liberty Belle & The Black Diamond Express (1986)
Greg Sage – Straight Ahead (1985)
Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales (1984)
The Lotus Eaters – No Sense Of Sin (1984)

Coachella, Coachella, Coachella. Figure if I say it enough times it’ll eventually get old but it never does. Every year it comes around the same time and every year I get equally as excited, like I'm some sort of frat boy exploring his inaugurate freedom. The thought of a mini vacay alone sounds appeasing to me; it's high time for celebration. Take that, social eruption and enough music to runneth my cup a gazillion times over, and I’m there. I’d clone myself if I could to double my pleasure, that’s just how I feel about it. We're skimming the surface here -- we haven’t even gotten to the line-up yet; the line-up this year is the cherry on top. Wanna talk goodness: It could be just another plain dusty ol’ donut or it could be a sumptuous, glistening glazed donut, but it’s still a donut, still edible, still sweet. This year it’s a mammoth jelly filled, chocolate glazed donut with sprinkles and powdered sugar on top. I’m geeked, your mom’s geeked, everybody’s geeked, it's one big geek feast. Yaaa for Coachella's line-up 2010! Bummer side note: I might not be going... don't wish to bore you with the details really, will just say 'keep you posted for now'. Ah, pooh.
 
None the matter, I'm still just stuck on stupid over the cast of characters this year. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been on this new kick: “new beginnings, first times,” taking the leap into the unknown whenever I feel so inclined. So far it's working out nicely for me, took my first trip to Thailand (awesome), twisted my thumb for the first time while trying to ride a motorbike for the first time, got my arm pits waxed for the first time (never again) and I also dyed my hair for the first time—since high school—but the color didn’t hold, so you can’t tell, no one notices. Cut the mumbo jumbo and you get whatever goes, that’s my plan for Coachella: whatever goes—if I go. No game plan, just roaming fields. Too many good acts; Gil Scott Heron could be playing in one tent, Grace Jones could be performing in the next tent, then pop one tent over to catch the end of 2 Many DJ’s set and then and then and then... Just putting it on destination: cruise control. I’ll spare you the farcical dissertation on the art of music and cut straight to my short list…Part 1:

Imagine having your own Michael Des Barres or Stevie Wonder mask for Halloween this year! You have to click on the images to see the masks on couple of these covers, but it's worth the effort...

My personal goal for about a year now has been to watch all the Harry Potter movies. I had resisted for a while and since I missed the first couple in the theater, I felt like I could never catch up in time. But when the Half-Blood Prince got delayed, I figured I finally had a chance to watch the first 5 so I could see the sixth one in the theater. Of course, the months went by and all of a sudden it was July and I only had a couple of weeks to watch them all -- still, I knew I could do it. I was not sure if I was going to become obsessed with the movies like everyone else had, but I figured I would at least enjoy them. I did probably have time to read all the books as well, but I have been reading about 5 books the last couple of months all at the same time, so I didn't think I could both read the books and see the movies. I also thought I might enjoy the movies more without reading the books. It has been very rare to actually end up liking a movie version of one of my favorite books. I get really attached to the characters in the book and how I feel they should be portrayed. And turning a long book into a 2 hour movie is always hard. You always have to cut stuff out, it is just impossible not to. So I ended up having the benefit of going into the films not really knowing much about them or having any interest in how the books or characters were portrayed. I knew Harry Potter was some sort of magical British wizard that went to some boarding school type school for young wizards. Other than that I really didn't know what to expect. I sort of have a weird dislike for British children in movies, and I wasn't really excited to see them flying around with capes and wands, which is part of the reason I had stayed away from the series...But I couldn't resist any longer. It was too big a piece of pop culture for me to miss out on. 

So I finally sat down and watched all 5 movies in about 7 days and ended the run by seeing the sixth movie in the theater last week. I watched them with a big fan of the books and the movies and I tried to find out what happened in the movies before it actually happened but he wouldn't tell me and left me in suspense. It was nice to have someone there to fill in the blanks when I tried to figure out what had just happened after the movies ended. The last couple of movies were my favorites. I like when they started to get darker and I loved the introduction of Helena Bonham Carter's character, Bellatrix. Almost every British actor seems to pop up in one of the movies, and there are a lot of my favorites. I love Gary Oldman, who plays Sirius Black, and Emma Thompson, who plays Sybil Trelawney.  Miranda Richardson is also brilliant as always, as Rita Skeeter. And of course, Maggie Smith is perfect as Minerva McGonagall. The best thing about these movies is really the cast. It really is a perfect cast in all the movies. Two of my favorites of the younger cast are Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood, and Shirley Henderson, who plays Moaning Myrtle. I wouldn't say that I am now an obsessive Harry Potter fan, but I am for sure a fan. The movies are really fun for people of all ages. I wouldn't mind going back and reading all the books at some point. I have heard they are really fun to read. Maybe my goal can be to read all the books before the last 2 movies come out in 2010 and 2011. I think I can find the time.