YOKO ONO CUT PIECE by TECHNOLOGOS

I love being in a song's clutches, whether it's a new single by an established band or the first track from a new artist I've never heard. I know a song has grabbed me when I hit repeat immediately after its final notes wafted through my ears. I especially love it when this happens with artists with whom I wasn't familiar before. It makes me want to dig into the rest of their music, learn a bit about their history, find out where they've been all this time and why haven't I heard of them until now?

This happened with quite a few tracks I first discovered this year in the Free Downloads section of Amoeba.com. Since it's the season of "Best Of" lists and looking back at 2011, I wanted to share some of my favorite discoveries (in alphabetical order):


2 Hearts and Chemicals - "Coming Home"

2 Hearts and Chemicals is a bi-coastal band featuring childhood friends Eli Lhymn (who is based in LA) and Stephen Biebel (who is based in NYC). Through the magic of the Internet they exchanged tracks created in their individual studios to produce the Coming Home EP. The title track is an ‘80s synth meets ‘90s shoegaze pop soundscape featuring female background vocals by Iameve.

XD Records released Coming Home on November 11, 2011. Download "Coming Home" by 2 Hearts and Chemicals.





Aeroc - "For Sake"

by Sally
Davey Havoc pic by Audra, all other pics by Kaitlin.

Every year Record Store Day just gets bigger and bigger, and the craziness grows! Here in SF before we opened the line was INSANE outside our doors and the first person in line had been there since 6am! That's some dedication! Even more astounding, customers were calling Friday night and asking if they could camp out for prime spots on the big day!

At 10:30am on the button, the doors were opened and people swarmed into the treasure-laden vinyl aisles of Amoeba SF. There were hoardes of people packing the rows and surrounding the 7"s. Watch an awesome video below shot by Audra of the line and the vibe before the doors were flung open!

Well, aw shucks, San Francisco stalwart Kelley Stoltz has a new album of his particular brand of melodic pop, To Dreamers, coming out on Sub Pop this Oct 12! To get the buzz going, Sub Pop has released this fun little video with Kelley, following him around our fine city, recording, playing, buying tape out in the Avenues...etc and being his always charming self. Check it out below:

I have been a big fan of Janeane Garofalo for years -- ever since I saw her in Reality Bites in 1994, when she played Vickie Miner. She reminded me of my friends; she was somebody that I would hang out with. I fell in love with her all over again in Romy & Michele's High School Reunion in 1997. She has showed up in tons of TV shows over the years. SNL, Larry Sanders, Seinfeld, Ellen, The Ben Stiller Show, West Wing, Strangers With Candy, Law & Order, & Dr. Katz! She is currently filming a new version of Criminal Minds. She has also just released a new stand up DVD this week called If You Will. It was filmed live in Seattle, the perfect place to see her. Janeane is busy filming her new show so I only managed to get an email interview out of her, but I was excited to meet her...via email, anyway. Here is our email conversation...

Brad: Hey Janeane! Thank for doing this interview for the Amoeba blog! I have been a big fan of you for years. You tend to work a lot on television. Do you prefer it to working on films? I know that SNL is one of your least favorite shows you have worked on, but what is your favorite? Felicity, Larry Sanders Show, 24, West Wing?