British electronic musician Bonobo (aka Simon Green) released The North Borders this week, his highly anticipated follow-up to 2010's Black Sands. Bonobo stopped by Amoeba Hollywood recently to do some record shopping. He picks up a few world music albums, the Jim O'Rourke project Loose Fur, two LPs for potential sampling featuring harps and folk instrumentation, the new Toro y Moi LP, Anything in Return (which I'm also loving right now), and a few more things.

My favorite moment from this video happens right at the end. He selects the new Johnny Marr album, The Messenger, in part because he saw Mr. Marr's episode in which he bought Bonobo's album. (Johnny Marr actually came into Amoeba that day looking to buy Black Sands and we coincidentally had it playing in the store.) Fast forward a few years, now we have Bonobo, having seen Johnny Marr buy his album in the same store, on the same series, and Bonobo is returning the favor. The WIMB circle of life, or as one person on YouTube called it, "the What's In My Bag Karma game." Pretty cool!

Andre Royo is famously known for his role as "Bubbles" on the hit TV series, The Wire. If you are a fan of the series then you know that Bubbles keeps it real! If The Wire's not your thing, you've probably seen Royo on other television shows including Third Watch, Party Down, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fringe, Key & Peele, Prime Suspect, and most recently Elementary.

In this "What's In My Bag?" episode Royo keeps it very real and drops an impromtu Hip Hop history lesson, giving us a few of his classic picks. He also shares the story of how the ultimate '80s boxer flick, Rocky, inspired him to become an actor. Andre also does a little shopping for his daughter, grabs a few Rock & Roll LPs, and tells us about his "first introduction to white people." The dude is funny, see for yourself!  

Jovanotti is easily Italy's most notable pop star. He sells out stadiums across Europe and has over 1 million followers on Twitter. With an impressive career spanning 25 years of dominating the charts in Southern Europe, selling millions of records and collaborating with everyone from Sergio Mendes to Pavarotti, including combating worldly issues with the likes of rock royalty Bono, the Italian mega star has set his sights on the ears of the American public. What better way to introduce himself  to American audiences than to perform on the stage of the world's greatest record store?! Jovanotti brought his brand of World/Hip Hop/ Funk  to a very enthusiastic crowd of fanatic Italians at Amoeba Hollywood. He wowed the crowd with selections from the ATO Records U.S. release of Italia 1988-2012, a reworking of songs from his lengthy career, plus four new ones.     

Jovanotti also took time to do a little shopping at Amoeba and shared some stories with us about the music that inspired him to become a rapper and his lifelong connection with dance music. (Hint: even the grandparents do it.)

The legendary British rocker Paul Weller (The Jam, The Style Council) dropped by Amoeba Hollywood for some record diggin'. Weller has been crafting classic songs since he was a teen back in the '70s and he's still at it. His most recent album, Sonik Kicks (2012), debuted at #1 in the UK.  At age 54, The Modfather is still bringing it!

In this episode, Weller digs deep for some late '60s Brazilian tropicalia, classic jazz, and experimental avante-garde music from Germany.

Yep Roc Records Announces Paul Weller Box Set
This year for Record Store Day (April 20, 2013) Yep Roc will release a limited edition Sonik Kicks Singles Box Set. This awesome piece of art is packed with 5 singles on colored vinyl,
an autographed Sonik Kicks poster and 2 unreleased songs.

Here's a video of the 4th in a series of 45RPM Paul Weller singles being released:

In support of her latest release, Is Your Love Big Enough? (Nonesuch), British singer/songwriter Lianne La Havas charmed an Amoeba audience with just her voice and a 1964 Danelectro Silvertone guitar. Given the warehouse sized building that is Amoeba Hollywood, Lianne did a superb job of creating an intimate feel for her performance. She played semi-acoustic versions of new songs including, "No Room For Doubt,"  "Age" and "Forget."  La Havas proudly declared on stage, "It's always been a dream of mine to make a record and for it to be sold in this store and to play in this store. I think it's probably the best shop in the world."  Yes, it is Ms. La Havas! We at Amoeba throuroughly enjoyed the tunes and are happy to be a part of your dreams. Thank you! 

Lianne La Havas is back in Los Angeles March 19 & 20th to play The El Rey Theatre. Make sure to catch her as she will be backed by a full band! You can purchase tickets for this show and many others at Amoeba Hollywood. For those of you in the Bay Area, you can catch Lianne at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The tour will also roll through the Pacific Northwest with stops in Portland and Seattle.