Listing 25-32 of 45

ROBBIE SIMON
I really like Segways and “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys

Favorite New Bands
Times New Viking - Rip it Off
TNV’s third album continues their work using the studio as an instrument of destruction and what a glorious racket it is! Like dropping your cheeseburger in the sand and finding that it tastes even better! This is the scruffiest of pop music.

Blank Dogs - On Two Sides
Highly prolific and mysterious, one Mr. Blank Dog has spent the last year holed up in a
bunker (but not really), creating a really great deconstructed psyched out post punk sound, staying true to the Messthetics ideology every step of the way. You’ll find plenty of synths, echoed vocals, and gritty guitars here. First full length, after a slew of impressive 7” and 12”s, is due out on Troubleman Unlimited. Check the Myspace tracks if this sounds intriguing.

Highly Anticipated Reissues on
Radio Heartbeat Records

Milk’n’Cookies - self-titled + bonus tracks
Bubble Gum Glam perfection recorded in 1974. In a meeting of all things adorable, the lead singer of Milk’n’Cookies used to go get ice cream with Johnny Thunders in Long Island- which is actually a pretty good indication of how they sound and how great it is! Rabbits make love!!!

The Quick – Mondo Deco
More amazing Bubble Gum Glam, this time coming from the west coast. Recorded in 1975 and produced by Kim Fowley (definitely one of his better moments), these kids were the perfect mixture of the quirky brilliance of Sparks and the Kasenetz Katz world of pop. Instantly loveable, and impossible to forget. A perfect pop record.

Favorite Recent Discovery
Pink Fairies
So what do you get when some of the wildest drug addled degenerates of London’s late sixties psych scene start a band intended to appeal to Nazi bikers? The band with toughest name in town, The Pink Fairies. Most times they’re like a no bullshit Hawkwind- serious riffage drives big hooks and drums as thunderous as you would expect. But every few songs they’ll throw you a curve ball. Start with Never Never Land and then give a Kings of Oblivion a try. The Snake just wants to come inside…

LYNNE BRADY
Amoeba’s Top-Secret Invisible Employee, who does what she does with all that the Lord hath given her.

Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow
Michio Kurihara et al, eviscerate my soul with these guitars, gut me like I am a pig, swinging upside-down on a hook, in utter denial, pretending to be a dying and thinking human. Boris, Boris: you are the life that is my glue, my weight, my ponderous heartbeat, you are and yet you echo the sludge that is the thick unholy blood, that which clogs my vital organs and refuses to let them take flight with my human and faulty soul.

Lucinda Williams - West
“Anoint my head with your sweet kiss, my joy is dead; I long for bliss.”

Patti Smith - Twelve (plus the two song 7” if you can get it)
This release, the Amoeba Hollywood in-store, plus the concert at the pier in Santa Monica all conspired to give me the wherewithal to endure 2007 and rat-a-tattat type up this list in 2008: the year I deem the best year of my life. Let us make it so.

Gram Parsons & the Flying Burrito Brothers – Live At the Avalon Ballroom 1969
I did not see it coming, the wounds it would reopen, a mauling with sharp teeth – that of a dog you’ve loved forever that suddenly and inexplicably attacks you and tears out your throat. Which means I was lying to myself before and trying to not look the songs straight in the eye. The quality of this recording is stunning, for I almost can never stand live music, especially something dusty and found in a vault. But it was in no regular vault, was it? Thanks to all.

Alcest - Souvenirs d’un autre monde
“Les sourires timides et douloureux – Sur l’autre rive je t’attendrai.”

Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
A loose reflection of the waves of noise in my head, drowns out the world while taking me to a place far away from this planet, this cold dead place.

Sentimental reissue:
Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (Deluxe Edition)
“... I know this world is killing you.”

In closing: 2007? Lose almost everything you own, go totally broke through no fault of your own, then end up having to buy ancient junk vehicle (since you lostyour down payment on the thing that has awesome clean emissions and MPG) ... and be happy. How can this be so? Because then you will discover that which your new dashboard demands: cassettes, baby. After fumbling with delicate CDs for years and their sunglare fl ash ‘n blinding, after years of tinny crap sounding mp3s? Cassettes are rich! Cassettes are easy! You can hold them in your mouth while you answer your phone at the toll gate! (kidding, jesus) Best of ALL: you can get tons of them at Amoeba for about a dollar. MAGIC. You’re welcome.

LOREN “FOLKLORE” CONE
Bi-polar Vault

Redman - Red Gone Wild
Following a failed attempt at domestication [see Fox’s half-baked fi asco Method & Red], Redman has been re-released into the wild with his sixth collection of transcendental medications...err, meditations. The Noble one funks your head up in parliamentary off-kilter oft-nonsensical regalia, coat tailed by his Gilla House band of merrymakers: Saukrates, Ready Roc, Icadon, et al. Contributing producers Erick Sermon, Timbaland, Pete Rock, Rockwilder, and DJ Clark Kent provide an ornamental frame, which Red canvases with a potpourri of lush witticisms from his colorful palette. Ideal for the couch or the car.

Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
If life and art imitate each other, then why aren’t they the same? Why listen to anybody if they lack conviction? Do I lack conviction? These are the types of things I ponder while listening to Brother Ali, Gentleman and Scholar. There’s a reason Rakim handpicked Ali to tour with him. There’s a reason I’m gonna start calling him Blastmaster Ali [who wants what?]. He doesn’t need to impress you, but he does need to buy clothes for his son. Support honesty.

Florida Funk: Funk 45s from the Alligator State, 1968-1975 - various artists
I hereby reserve an annual top-five slot [go-go gadget hyperbole] for whatever subsequent earthy sediment Now-Again might dig up–or license for domestic release, as UK imprint Jazzman Records (also responsible for the Midwest and Texas Funk compilations) did the actual excavating. Confused? Me too. What’s that savory aroma wafting from the cauldron? It’s a hearty goulash of chunky grooves, salty guitar licks, and saucy spit valves from the sticky croc pot that is Florida. Enjoy the original sultry, stripped-down version of Gwen McCrae’s consummate “90% of Me is You” as performed by Vanessa Kendrick—producers Clarence Reid and Steve Alaimo fi rst recorded the bittersweet sizzler with a young Kendrick in Miami in ’72. Reid’s ribald Blowfly persona also makes an appearance as he helms the instrumental “Blowfl y Theme,” anchored by James Knight & the Butlers. Such information is provided by an extensive liner-notes booklet—which people used to read--featuring bios, photos, and personnel accounts. Mosquito spray not included.

El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
The ego simultaneously high-fives itself and stabs itself in the back. I appreciate your company, but I can do without the high-fives, Goose. How’s that for brevity?

Oh No! - Dr. No’s Oxperiment
Madlib’s sibling slices up more smoked Turkey slabs than Pepperidge Farm, administering a tryptophan-rich heap of eastern-European cold cuts, the likes of which would make Dom DeLuise blush – or comatose [note: He’s actually still alive]. Greece, Italy, and Lebanon also get the treatment, resulting in a pastiche of rarities more difficult to anticipate than the butterfly effect (the theory, not the movie), yet it remains cohesive. Oh No certainly has the cumulative body in mind, generally opting to transfuse his selections with healthy rhythm cells, rather than altogether transform them. Most of the samples employed are likely esoteric to all but international rare groove sleuths save Turkish folk-rock-funkpsych-fucking amazing artist, Selda, whose mid-’70s catalog recently saw some light courtesy of UK label Finders Keepers.

Check also:
Oh No - Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms

MED - Push Comes to Shove.

Honorable Mention:
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights

Percee P- Perseverance

J.J. Brown [& Ludacris]- Re-Release Therapy (www.5gproductions.com)

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass

DJ Muggs vs. Sick Jacken - Legend of the Mask & the Assassin

Royce 5’9” - The Bar Exam mixtape

Copywrite - The Jerk, Vol. 0 mixtape

AZ - Memphis Sessions: The Remixtape

Blockhead - Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book

Guilty Simpson - Ode to the Ghetto

For more information regarding the practical applications of quantum physics, visit: www.myspace.com/folklorelegend.

BRIAN MCCALL
Electronica

William Basinski - El Camino Real CDR (2026)
Heard this for the first time while on BART. Haunting, melancholic, and disintegrating tape loops.

Tim Hecker - Atlas 10” (Audraglint)
Wow! Richer, more nuanced departure from his last album.

Oren Ambarchi - Lost Like a Star LP (Bo’ Weavil Recordings)
My first experience listening to this guy, and I am very impressed. Similar to Hecker 10” in scope.

Machinefabriek - Music for Intermittent Movements: Soundtracks For Films by John Price CD (Decca All- Star Records)
For fans of anything dark, melancholic, and cinematic. This guy is in peak form now. All his new stuff is wonderful.

Studio - West Coast LP/CD (Information)
Let me be very honest here: everyone needs to hear this album on a sunny, warm, black sand beach like I did last year.

JOE GOLDMARK
Roots Music Maven

Love Is the Song We Sing – San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 - various artists
Hats off to Rhino and Alec Palao for producing the definitive box set of the San Francisco Sound. They got it right, and I know because I arrived in S.F. in 1966 and soaked it all up. This four CD set is really an entertaining 120 page book of photos and remembrances with music as the theme. The first CD covers the birth of the sound and features some cool early alternate versions, like “Section 43” from the Country Joe EP. Disc 2 covers all the San Jose and suburban bands, like Syndicate of Sound and Count Five. Disc 3 is titled “Summer of Love,” and is the cream of the psychedelic sound with the Dead and Big Brother. The last disc covers bands that took off in the late ‘60s like The Sons of Champlin and Blue Cheer. A real entertaining and well done set.

Dr. Dog - We All Belong
This is a great album from a very surprising band. They’re very loose, but have great catchy songs. They’re like a weird cross between Wilco, The Band, and the Beach Boys. Although they’re not terrific singers, they put their hearts into their vocals, and their melodies and arrangements are wonderful. I like this whole album, but haven’t been able to get into some of their other recordings.

Brandi Shearer - Close To Dark; Gram Parsons - Live At the Avalon 1969
This is shameless promotion time. Having been closely involved in the making and production of these albums, I’m very biased. However, I’m proud to say that Amoeba’s initial foray into label land has yielded a couple of very cool albums. Brandi’s voice is world class, but it’s her surprisingly evocative songwriting that makes this album special. My favorites are Lullabies, Yes Yes Yes, Heaven, and My Boy’s Coming Home. Joni Mitchell’s producer (and ex-husband), Larry Klein, added his mixing magic to really make this album shine. The best part of the Gram project for me, was getting to see the legendary Grateful Dead vaults. Dead archivist David Lemieux pulled out boxes of tape that hadn’t been played in almost 40 years, stuck them on a recorder, and mystical sounds jumped out and engulfed us. We were truly opening up time capsules. This 2 CD set puts you inSan Francisco at the Avalon Ballroom 1969, with strobe lights blinking, hippie dancing, tie dyes and cosmic cowboy music. This is the birth of country rock music, and you can feel it in every note.

JAMES AARON DILLON
33 + 45 = 78

Joe Higgs - Life of Contradiction
One of my all time favorite albums. A highly personal account of the struggle of life and what lies beyond. A humble, subtle, work of brilliance. From the man who helped to teach Bob Marley how to sing. I am so glad that pressure sounds has re-released this album. Featuring the Now Generation Band.

Luie Luie - Touchy
Luie Luie plays his intimate music beyond the keyboards, past the drums, outside the trumpet. His galaxy of instruments cannot contain him. His garrulous guitar strings spelllbind you into space. Luie Luie projects meaningful music to tenderly touch your soul. You will thankfully draw a deep breath and relax comfortably wherever you are. We have a champion. The greatest single act in the world. I have never heard anything like it.

Victrola Favorites - various artists
The Climax Golden Twins have complied one of the greatest collections of music ever assembled. 2 cd’s of 48 songs from the ‘20s to the ‘50s from their extensive 78 collection. Beautifully housed in a 144 page clothbound book containing nothing but amazing artwork from old 78 records from around the world. (Worth it for the Goebble Reeves track alone.) This is a music lovers dream. Also check out the Black Mirror 78 collection and anything else on the Dust to Digital label.

Annea Lockwood - Early Works
Featuring The Glass World which is another one of my favorite albums and is comprised only of sounds made from glass in its various forms. She used to perform this live in the sixties. She has also released The Sound Map of the Hudson River and also did a series of piano installations with old pianos buried in the ground that would be played by whoever came upon them. I love her.

Actionable Offenses - Indecent Phonograph Recordings
Featuring 19 cylinder recordings of obscene material from 110 years ago. Not for everyone, but the fact that these recordings have survived is enough for me. A friend once said that she was into music so obscure that it does not exist. Well this is probably that album. Nominated for two Grammys this year. Buy this and anything else on the Archeophone Records label for recordings from the 1890’s and beyond. Also check out the Lost Sounds Collection and anything by the great Burt Williams.

Lee Perry - Chicken Scratch
18 hot shots from the man responsible for many important musical innovations of the 20th century. In his spare time he also slew the devil and legalized marijuana globally. Creator, innovator, and dubulator, these are his earliest works form his time spent at Studio One, sometimes referred to as Jamaica’s Motown. Featuring the Skatalites and others, this release has been expanded and features many single mixes that differ from the original issue. Heartbeat Records is doing it right once again. Check out any of other titles that they released. Especially “Forever Version” by the great Dennis Alcapone. It will put a smile on your face that you can never erase. You will not be disappointed. Liner notes by the man called Dave Katz, author of People Funny Boy, the Genius of Lee Scratch Perry and Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Jamaican Music. A great addition to any library.

Godzilla - King of the Monsters DVD
Of course I have nostalgia for this film from my childhood. I first watched it on Creature Features hosted by Bob Wilkins on KTVU Channel 2. But it suffered from bad dubbing and inserted Raymond Burr scenes. The original Japanese version of the1954 film is a very moving and powerful story. But it suffered from a very loud and sarcastic Castro Theater audience upon its American re-release in 2004. But Classic Media has remedied all that because all of their Godzilla releases feature the rare Japanese versions along with the American ones we remember. One of the greatest monster movies of all time. Another fine Toho picture.

Chinese Buddha Machine – various artists
This is the deluxe Buddha Machine featuring 13 songs and chants for meditation. It has a backlit spinning picture of Buddha. The perfect gift. Amoeba Music has managed to secure a limited supply of these. Get yours today! Batteries included.

Tip: If you want to buy some amazing handcrafted goods from around the world, check out etsy.com. I sell buttons and magnets www.potatopotato.etsy.com. Look at my photos www.flickr.com/photos/potatopotato. That’s all!

KAITLIN
It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out…

High on Fire - Death is this Communion
This is the best album of last year. I think I listened to it for 3 weeks in a row. Solid, fierce and tight. The 9 string guitar blows my mind! See them LIVE if you have the chance.

Re-issues:
Burning Witch - Crippled Lucifer

Carpathian Forest - Black Shining Leather

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures, Still & Closer
All worth checking out whether it’s for the added material or just cause you need to hear it!!!!

Metalocalypse - Season 1 on DVD
This is the best damn show in TV. BEST, I SAY! And that’s in the midst of the amazing Adult Swim line-up of comedy cartoons.

And don’t forget EARTH’S new album The Bee Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull out soon. I saw them on New Year’s Eve. They kick my ass every damn time. Bill Frisell plays with them on this album.

LEAH
dj I’m in love with a ferengi

Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks

Cloak/Dagger - We Are

Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

Kinski - Down Below its Chaos

Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men

Triclops - Out of Africa