1) Curren$y Weekend at Burnie's (Warner Bros)

2) Shabazz Palaces Black Up (Sub Pop)

3) Pete Rock/Smif-n-Wessun Monumental (DuckDown)

4) Philthy Rich & Messy Marv Neighborhood Superstar Part 3 (Town Thizzness)

5) Matthew Shipp/Beans/William Parker/Hprizm Knives From Heaven (Thirsty Ear)

6)  Raashan Ahmad For What You've Lost (PID)

Big ups to Luis at Amoeba San Francisco for this latest hip-hop chart that includes in the number one slot the anticipated new release from one of hip-hop's most buzzed about (albeit under the radar) artists these days, New Orleans's underrated rap talent Curren$y and his sixth studio album, Weekend at Burnie's. The album, which is named after the 1989 comedy movie of the same name, is Curren$y's second full length for Warner since his exit from Def Jam. A fuill decade in the rap game Curren$y has the distinction of being simultaneously incredibly well known by a large segment of the hip-hop community (who've followed his career via the free mixtapes and official releases he's been dilegently cranking out) but relatively unknown on a mainstream level. This could all change with Weekend which packs a lot of crossover ready material.

Over the last few years, Amoeba Music Hollywood has stocked a slew of obscure but quite excellent and endlessly exciting limited-edition vinyl reissues of DIY European and North American dark and minimal analog synth-based music from the 1980’s -- all thanks to the stellar underground label Minimal Wave. Originally these recordings were released in ridiculously small quantities either on cassette or vinyl by the bands themselves or by equally-unknown labels local to the band. Albums by the likes of Spanish Industrial pioneers Esplendor Geometrico, the Belgian Linear Movement (featuring Peter Bonne of New Beat progenitors A Split Second), and French New Wavers Martin Dupont have all recently seen the light of day on quality vinyl pressings via the loving care of the Minimal Wave label.

Minimal Wave’s label head/überfan Veronica Vasicka struck a deal late last year with Peanut Butter Wolf’s Stones Throw label to issue a series of “best-of” compilations featuring choice cuts from the MW roster and beyond. Recently, the popularity of new minimal synth-based bands like Cold Cave and Xeno & Oaklander has heightened, making this the perfect time to issue the first in the series of Minimal Wave/Stones Throw team-ups, The Minimal Wave Tapes, Volume One (available on CD and 2LP). It is a wonderful thing to hear these rescued gems and decades-old transmissions mostly recorded in isolated bedrooms miles away from any bustling cityscapes. Volume One very much invokes a familiar nostalgic feeling, like a mixtape would from your way-cooler friend or older sibling did in your formative years. Vasicka functions here as that cooler friend or sister and thankfully, she doesn’t mind spreading her cool around -- making us ear-opening mixes from her even-cooler record collection.

2) Andy Allo UnFresh (Allo Records)

3)  Peanut Butter Wolf 45 Live (Stones Throw)

4) John Forte StyleFREE: The EP (Theory 7)

5) V/A Definitive Jux Presents 4 (Def Jux)

6) Blue Scholars Bayani Redux (Duck Down)

7) Trick Daddy Finally Famous: Born a Thug, Still a Thug (Dunk Ryder Records)

8) Lil Boosie Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz (Asylum Records)

9) Cage Movies for the Blind (High Times Records)

10) Beastie Boys Hello Nasty (Capitol)

Super special thanks to the ever knowledgable Luis @ the hip-hop department of Amoeba Music San Francisco for always being so down to supply the Amoeblog with up to the moment news on what's popping at the SF store, new music- wise. For the second week in a row Luis has provided us with a Top Ten due to the wealth of releases (both new and reissues) dropping recently. Above you can see the chart in video and text forms, while below are a series of videos by several of the artists in this latest Top Ten chart.

Coachella was bananas! It was packed, hot and full of unexpected moments. Love was in the air...or, maybe I should say, infatuation was in the air. Oh, young love. The plethora of emotions evoked from this weekend was like something out of a Fellini flick. Between the sea of screaming fans, dancing nomads, empty liquor containers, blazing balls of fire, earplugs, lawn smoochers, unfortunate mishaps, and broken dreams, I’d have to say people got their money's worth. Looking back at who I was most excited to see and who, I felt, gave me that tingle after watching their set, I realized just how hard it is to put on a show of that caliber and pull it off with rave reviews. Golden Voice did a pretty superb job at making sure fans would leave with enough awwww and ew moments to fill a thick book. I made a list of my favorite and not so favorite moments from Coachella ’09. I had some unfortunate mishaps of my own, so I missed a few key players, but the journey is what counts. So, here in no particular order, are the highlights:

The Black Keys, who I was so amped to see, were something else! The blues rockers really know how to bring it. Fearless. There was enough thick smoke in the air to make me assume viewers from every angle were enjoying themselves plenty. Their set was flawless, from start to finish. They didn’t disappoint. It was like watching a baby Jimi Hendrix and mini Buddy Miles up there. Superb!