Laura Marling visited Amoeba Hollywood May 20, on the eve of releasing her latest album, Once I Was an Eagle. Appearing solo, she demonstrated the range and power of her deep, droning strum and her voice, which she wields magnificently, going from a high, quavering coo to deeply intoned phrases that land like a dull arrow to the heart. "Damn all those people who don't lose control" she sang in passionate monotone on her extended opening track, "You Know," immediately drawing in the sizable crowd gathered to see her. She pulled out bluesy riffs for "Master Hunter," which spurns a would-be lover by turning around a key Dylan phrase — "if you want a woman who can call your name, it ain’t me, babe."

Her next song belied its sweet melody and charming country arrangement with dark lyrics about depression and loneliness ("I couldn't get out of bed, I was all in my head" she sings before warning her paramour, "just don't go bleedin' me dry"). Marling expressed her excitement about playing Amoeba, saying it even surpassed playing L.A. for the first time, at acoustic music haven Hotel Cafe, and said she'd bought a psychobilly comp at the store. Her next song, a languid, prairie ballad saw her calling to mind Emmylou Harris-style heartbreak. On her closing track, Marling took listeners on a more serene journey, chanting "pray for me" over a steady jangle, channeling quiet pain into exquisitely lovely music.

Black Lips ripped through songs across their catalog March 21 at the El Rey Theatre. The band clearly was having a great time without a recent album to support (the most recent being 2011's excellent Arabia Mountain, which saw the band trading some of their trademark scuzz for Mark Ronson production while retaining their essential sound). They began as loudly and reverby as usual, tearing through Arabia Mountain's "Family Tree" and old favorites "Dirty Hands" and "Not a Problem" from 2005's Let it Bloom. By the time they got to the whirlwinds of "O Katrina," the crowd and pit was worked up into a froth — one girl jumped onstage with Black Lips written on her ass cheeks. They played a new song which was hard to make out — they gave the disclaimer that they were still working out the kinks on it. For the most part, they stuck to playing the jams — "Raw Meat," "Boomerang," "Buried Alive." Toilet paper came a-flyin' during "Modern Art," while another girl jumped onstage around the time they played "Bad Kids" to kiss guitarist Ian Saint Pe, who quickly obliged, after having flung a beer all over himself that had been thrown onstage. Cohorts Jared Swilley, Cole Alexander and Joe Bradley mostly stayed well-behaved during the show, minus Swiley's air-humping while playing bass and Alexander licking the mic stand (sorry, no penis this time). The band was set to play Burgerama the next day with Bleached, Nick Waterhouse and others at the Santa Ana Observatory, but they also have a documentary about their trip to the Middle East in the works. It's seeking funding via Indiegogo. Check out the trailer below. I love seeing them play politely in Erbil while onlookers tap their feet and one man holds up his baby. Looks amazing. See photos from their past three Amoeba performances here, here and here.

photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

I had the amazing good fortune to be among the audience at the Hollywood Palladium last night to witness Justin Timberlake's return to the stage after a far-too-long absence from music (it's been nearly six and a half years since his sophomore solo album, Futuresex/Love Sounds [RCA, 2006]). But nothing in his set, his performance or his voice, gave any indication of just how long it had been since he'd put on a show like that. 

Starting just after 11:30pm, he opened with "Like I Love You" and continued to play songs from his two previous albums, as well as a handful of new ones from the forthcoming album, The 20/20 Experience (due out March 19 on RCA, but available as a pre-order now on Amoeba.com in both CD and LP formats). He even worked in two cover songs, most surprisingly "I Need You Tonight" by INXS. I never would have thought of that song choice for him, but he pulled it off and made it his own. Given his background in soul music, his other cover, "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" by The Jacksons was the type of song I would have expected him to perform. I don't intend that to disparage the choice - far from it - but rather to highlight the pleasantly surprising INXS pick. It would be amazing to hear a recorded version of that cover (hint, hint Mr. Timberlake!).

Robert DeLong taught a master class in how to construct electronic music live, on the fly, during his performance at Amoeba Hollywood Feb. 5.

He began by building layered vocal loops and electronic drum beats before singing along to a bass-heavy programmed backbeat. DeLong demonstrated his strongest points early on: his high energy and ability to combine densely layered EDM songs with the feel of a live rock band.

The songs hit hard — I felt like my skull was rattling from the bass. DeLong made up for his just so-so voice by manipulating it when necessary and singing earnestly as well, taking the Ben Gibbard heart-on-sleeve approach. “Global Concepts” best exemplified his Postal Service meets Skrillex approach to making music, combining visceral dance music with emotional delivery.

The busyness of DeLong’s music only occasionally got the best of him when his vocals would fail to rise to the occasion while he inexplicably played a maraca egg at the same time, for instance, or when the mic would drop out, perhaps overloaded with effect. The best part of the show by far was when he ditched the singing and electronic instruments to do their thing on their own while he played live drums along to the backing music. That was the moment when he did indeed make everyone “fucking dance,” as “Global Concepts” claims. Side note: Besides the novelty value of his playing drums in a one-man band setting, DeLong’s a pretty great drummer.

L.A. art-punk band Savage Republic have always existed on the fringe, but they've managed to hold on to that fringe well past their '80s supposed heyday. They reformed to release 2007's fine 1938 album and now have released Varvakios, recorded in Greece using field recordings, traditional Greek instruments and the band's own apocryphal noise.

The band's show at Amoeba Hollywood Jan. 30 showed just how much fervor the band has, tearing through "1938" with its ominous opening lines "Wave of destruction, a wave of aggression, it's 1938 all over again" over searing, reverbed guitars and tribal drum beats. The band's percussionist/singer Ethan Port bumped into me from behind on his way to the stage, playing maracas over the din. Port banged on a tin-sounding box that added a desolate thump to the songs, beating it like he was leading a viking ship. The band traded instruments and vocal duty, with guitarist/bassist Thom Fuhrmann handling deeply intoned vocal declarations and Port barking like a barbarian. They played the Ceremonial record's gorgeous "Year of Exile," which led into the chaos of Furhmann beating his bass in unison with drummer Mark Erskine's rumbling roar before going back to the song's rubbery bassline. The band thanked Amoeba for having "a bunch of old guys" play, but they rocked like dudes half their age.

See all the photos from the in-store here.