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.

We all know that vinyl was supposed to be long dead by now. But it ain't; far from it in fact. Neither CDs nor MP3s managed to kill off records like we were told that they would. Rather demand for, and sales of, vinyl has grown increasingly in recent years. The Nielsen Company reports that in 2010 US vinyl sales reached 2.8 million units while in 2006 they were only at 900,000 units - a significant increase that is continually growing. 

Just recently Nielsen reported that vinyl sales for 2011 are already up nearly 40% over the same time period for last year. Not surprising then Amoeba Music has been expanding its vinyl sections accordingly to accommodate this increasing demand for records. Recently the vinyl section at the Hollywood Amoeba store grew by about 20% to make room for both used collectible albums (a hot commodity) and the influx of new LP pressings and re-issues of older music.

Similarly to the misguided pronouncement of vinyl's demise, the more recent premature talk of how physical books are fast becoming an obsolete medium - replaced by Kindles and iPads and other digital devices to read E-Books on - is also proving to be an incorrect prediction. Yes it's true that, like with music before it, digital downloads of books are the preferred format for the masses. But, as with music in a physical format vs a digital one, the rapid growth of E-Books is actually helping create a new demand for books and a new smaller, specialized niche market for them; especially certain types of books like reference books, art books, music history books etc. - the sort of book that one likes to pore over its pages. Again Amoeba Music is responding to this new growing niche by slowly but steadily increasing its book sections. At the Hollywood Amoeba the book section (new and used) is gradually expanding and deepening its genres (art, culture, politics as well as music related books) and Amoeba is encouraging more of its customers to bring their cool music and art and film books to sell or trade for this growing new wave of book appreciators.

If the late great hip-hop producer & famed crate digger J Dilla were alive today he would have been the first in line at Amoeba Hollywood (or first online at the Amoeba.Com store) to scoop up the endless extremely rare vinyl gems that make up the absolutely amazing, treasure trove of "library music" recently acquired by Amoeba. This very rare specialized record collection is of interest to producers, DJs, and avid crate-diggers eternally looking for that never before discovered, perfect beat or sound to sample or manipulate in the mix.

Quietly unveiled a little on June 17th both online and in the Hollywood Amoeba store (in the main room "sampler" aisle + a full bin's worth in the back jazz room) word has not yet really gotten out on this unprecedented collection that will make any true crate digger salivate for days. So there's still time to unearth lots of golden finds among the close to 2000 different vinyl records from this collection that is so rare that Google searches will only lead to data on about a quarter of these rarities that found their way to Amoeba Music care of a Canadian distributor / collector who had been sitting on this rare collection for three decades.
 
Amoeblogger Mr. Chadwick recently described this "music library" collection as; "These LPs contain music produced and owned by production music companies, who licensed the music to film, television, radio, record producers, and other composers. The music was produced with the most accurate attention to a generic style or context, so that it would fit with any precise musical needs of the user." Extremely limited in their respective vinyl pressings the companies who made these sound library collections include the likes of Colorsound, Hibou, Spectrum, Intersound, Telemusic, and Intl. SFX, and boast rare titles like Commercial Music Bed Series by Interwestern Production Music Corp.

Amoeba Music will be one of the many vendors at today's big record collector's swap meet in Culver City, CA. The West Side Record Show, produced by Record Collectors News, happens from 10am sharp this morning until 3:30pm this afternoon.  According to the organizers, the show typically promises a lot of rare vinyl finds. Jim Kaplan, who runs the Record Collectors News website that tracks all of the vinyl swap meets across the country, told me that typically vendors "have some very rare collectors items of all genres. There are guys that usually have funk and hip-hop, and a lot of Northern Soul too; usually some very rare stuff." He added that Amoeba Music Hollywood actually plays a major role in the SoCal vinyl collecting world. "Amoeba is such a positive part of the scene here and I don't think Amoeba gets enough credit for the amount of interest and dedication they have generated towards record collecting!"

As both an Amoeba employee and an Amoeba shopper I totally agree. But then, I love digging for vinyl anywhere and everywhere, from record shops to swap meets, and from yard sales to old thrift stores. I also love just visiting fellow vinyl fiends' homes to thumb through their lovingly compiled collections and talking music and record collecting. Interestingly, every record collector has their own way of filing and storing their music depending on what the focus of their collection is or whether they actively use their records to play on the radio or out in clubs. Not everyone files strictly alphabetically. I divide mine by sub-genres of hip-hop such as Bay Area hip-hop, turntablism (including battle records), Miami bass, old school, etc. Some collectors divide by years or decades of release while others divide theirs into genres and subgenres, but everyone has their own unique take.

When you think of the typical retro RnB / soul revival type group, you tend to think of a well meaning musical ensemble who may earnestly attempt to recreate their favorite bygone musical era, but rarely match the sound and vibe of their soul heroes. Milwaukee's ten piece Kings Go Forth, who last Tuesday released their debut album The Outsiders Are Back on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, instantly break that stereotype. Their sound, as witnessed on this all-killer, no-filler 10 track album, is a refreshing recreation of a 70's soul/funk vibe served up in an all new sound, pitch perfectly arranged, with crispy clean production, and infectious dance rhythms aplenty.

The group's name is drawn from the title of a 1958 Frank Sinatra/Tony Curtis film, and was founded six years ago by bassist Andy Noble and vocalist Black Wolf (a respected figure on the Milwaukee music scene since the 70's who was once part of The Essentials). The rest of the ensemble includes Dave Wake (keyboards), Dan Flynn (guitar), Jeremy Kuzniar (drums), Cecilio Negron Jr. (percussion), Jed Groser (trumpet), Dave Cusma (trombone), Dan Fernandez (vocals), and Matt Norberg (vocals & rhythm guitar).