Tonight at Arclight Cinemas Hollywood catch THE BEST movie of the year with a special Q&A with producer Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) & electrifying new star John Boyega following the 6:10 Saturday screening! Get your tickets HERE!
Amoeba-Gaga!
Hundreds of people lined up early as early as 4am Thursday near Hollywood & Highland in the hopes of getting just a glimpse of Lady Gaga. The Amoeba Army was there too, having a blast and giving out goodies in the proce
ss!
The pop diva, along with her two guitarists and several dancers, performed live on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Show and gave the thousands that later turned out a show of shows.
Gaga played five songs from her new release Born This Way.
Hundreds of people lined up early as early as 4am Thursday near Hollywood & Highland in the hopes of getting just a glimpse of Lady Gaga. The Amoeba Army was there too, having a blast and giving out goodies in the proce
ss!The pop diva, along with her two guitarists and several dancers, performed live on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Show and gave the thousands that later turned out a show of shows.
Gaga played five songs from her new release Born This Way.
Amoeba Music Hollywood Hip-Hop Top Five: Week Ending July 29, 2011
1) DJ Khaled We The Best Forever (Cash Money/Universal)
2) Tyler the Creator Goblin (XL Recordings)
3) Eminem Recovery (Aftermath)
4) Aesop Rock Labor Days (Definitive Jux)
5) Lil Wayne I Am Not A Human Being (Cash Money/Univ.)
The top selling hip-hop release at the Amoeba Hollywood store this week is the fifth studio album and the major label debut from DJ Khaled. This latest from the established DJ/producer/radio personality is titled We the Best Forever - so titled after his own label We The Best - and it features some of the best known in the rap game these days. The album's packed guest list includes such heavyweights as Kanye West, Nas, Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Chris Brown, Keyshia Cole, Cee Lo Green, Rick Ross, Birdman, Lil Wayne, T.I., Akon, Drake and Nicki Minaj. The first single "Welcome to My Hood" which features cameos from Rick Ross, Plies, Lil Wayne and T-Pain became a major radio hit and grabbed everyone's attention when it dropped earlier in the year to help build anticipation for this release which debuted at number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week. This anticipation for We The Best Forever has been further fueled by the other 3 singles (yes four singles total for the
album that is only just out!); “I’m On One” featuring Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne, “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over” featuring Mary J. Blige, Fabolous, and Jadakiss (video below), and (the fourth and latest, about to drop) single “Legendary” featuring Chris Brown, Keyshia Cole, and Ne-Yo.
I'm diggin' this list of Banned / Removed / Altered cover art. A subject that comes up every once in a while on the floors of Amoeba. (Totally in chronological order, 52 so far!) view the full list here!
via Matador Records /WFMU
via Matador Records /WFMU
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#41 - The Beautiful South - Miaow - 1994 Evidently The Beautiful South were threatened with a lawsuit by HMV for this cover for using "their dog". The cover was replaced by a cover of 4 alsation dogs stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. |
#4 - Moby Grape - S/T - 1967 Columbia realizes too late that a certain middle finger is showing. Efforts to airbrush out the finger don't quiet the controversy. |
#6 - The Bob Seger System - Ramblin' Gamblin' Man - 1969 |
..for i can offer no other explanation.
Props to Too $hort and all the other Bay Area rappers who are volunteering their collective talents and time to an upcoming benefit concert to aid cancer-stricken South San Francisco toddler Juliana Pena. Back in April, right after celebrating her second birthday, the young girl (pictured left) was diagnosed with neuroblastoma - a rare form of cancer that arises in immature nerve cells and affects mostly infants and children. Juliana is in stage 3 as the tumor has spread in her body. She has already undergone five rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and numerous hospital stays. Next she will have to have a bone marrow transplant - all part of the costly twelve to fifteen months of treatment the young girl will need to undergo. Then, even after all that treatment, Juliana’s faces a 40% to 60% odds that the neuroblastoma will not reoccur.
After getting word of her devastating (and costly) plight Too $hort and fourteen other Bay Area hip-hop artists, including Hugh EMC, San Quinn, Rappin 4-Tay, Big Rich, Roach Gigz. Equipto, Napalm, Gold Toes, Baldhead Rick, Voice, Young Mind, Gullie, DJ Lazy Boy, Epicenter Sound, and CoBlooded the Great, all agreed to perform in a special benefit concert on the Labor Day Weekend to raise money for Juliana's rising health care costs. Luckily her father, Jesus Pena, is good friends with SF rapper CoBlooded the Great who took it upon himself to organize and produce this worthy benefit concert. “When I saw the pain she was suffering and the toll on the family, I knew I had to help,” CoBlooded said, noting how, despite the bad rep that rap artists so often get, that this is another example of positivity within the Bay Area rap world. “We can show you that these rappers are doing positive things in the community,” he said of the benefit show that is the Labor Day Shakedown and will take place at Space 550 in San Francisco.
I became obsessed with Pictureplane about two years ago. I had not planned on it. It just sort of happened. His lastt album, Dark Rift, came out in August of 2009. I didn't really know what to expect. But I loved the album. It was not the kind of album that everyone would love. This guy will never be extremely popular. But he obviously loves what he is doing. And so do I. Pictureplane is Travis Egedy. He mixes up the styles of 90s dance music into his own unique sound. Imagine Radiohead 
mixed up with Taylor Dayne. The Girls mixed up with some Atari Teenage Riot. It is that good. Or that bad. Just depends on the listener. I just sort of figured that he wouldn't be making a second album. But I knew I would always have his first and possibly only album to go back to. So I was pleasantly surprised to learn of his new album. Lovepump United has just released Thee Physical. They also put out his last album. The artwork is simple and perfect. It could easily be the cover of a Soft Cell 12". It also reminds me of the great Ministry album With Sympathy. I didn't think that I could actually like this new album as much as I did that last album. Another one of my favorites from a couple of years ago was the debut album from The Teenagers. I am still waiting on that second album. It has been way too long. But I sort of doubt that it can really be as fantastic as that first album. I do love the new album by Pictureplane. The new album might even be a little more accessible than the last album.. It is still weird and all mixed up. But the songs seem to flow a little better. I am posting the video for "Post Physical" below. This is one of the best tracks on the album. Another one of my favorite songs on the album is "Trancegender." The song features vocals by the great Zola Jesus. If you have not already checked out the amazing albums of Zola Jesus. I suggest that you do so now. These are the kind of records I love for the summer months. They are still dark and weird. But they are also fun and dancey. This is pop music. Just not your normal pop music. I am very happy to have Pictureplane back in my life. This album is helping me get through the summer.
check out the video for "Post Physical" by Pictureplane from the new album Thee Physical...
check out the video for "Real Is A Feeling" by Pictureplane from the new album Thee Physical...
I also recommend that you check out the new album by Prurient. I am not usually a fan of noise records. I really was not even a fan of this band. But they just released Bermuda Drain on Hyrdrahead. And I kind of love it. It reminds me of Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly and all the industrial bands of the 80s and 90s. I imagine that this new album might not be liked by fans of the earlier Prurient albums. But they now have me as fan. Prurient has taken the direction of Cold Cave and managed to create a beautiful sort of dark synth album. Don't worry too much. There are still some noisy and obscene parts of the album. But there are also some beautiful moments. My favorite track on the album is probably "There Are Still Secrets."
Check it out below if you want....
also out 7/19...
Again & Again by Brilliant Colors
Two-Way Mirror by Crystal Antlers
Timez are Weird These Days by Theophilus London
Black Static by Lost Sounds
Mayhem by Imelda May
Thee Physical by Pictureplane
Bermuda Drain by Prurient
also out 7/26...
Beilied by Bohren & Der Club of Gore
Cerebral Ballzy by Cerebral Ballzy
Ritual Union by Little Dragon
Come Back To Us by Release the Sunbird
Pioneering New Orleans rapper Tim Smooth died yesterday (Tuesday 26th 2011) at the young age of 39, after a long battle with cancer.
Though not a household name outside of New Orleans and circles of New Orleans Rap fans, he was one of the undisputed pioneers in the city's scene. Like a hip-hop Zelig he seemed to exist in the eye of the city's musical storm, never to break out nationally but always respected by musicians around him. In a violent era that saw many of New Orleans' musical talents cut down at a young age, Smooth collaborated freely and frequently with members of warring camps, always appreciated and always relevant. It was with especially cruel irony that Smooth, a rapper gifted with both lyrics and flow, was felled by cancer of the mouth and tongue.
Tim Smooth was born Timothy Smoot west if New Orleans in the Kennedy Heights area of Waggaman, on the West Bank in Jefferson Parish. He took the title “the Knight from Kennedy Heights.” and began
rapping as a student at Marrero's L.W. Higgins High School. In the '80s, rap from anywhere but the east and west coasts was a regional thing. New Orleans produced Ninja Crew, New York Incorporated, Warren Mayes, MC J' Ro J', 39 Posse and Tim Smooth. When labels were interested, it was usually other southern labels like Dallas's Yo! Records and Ft. Lauderdale's 4 Sight. If the major labels were aware of southern rap, they certainly kept quiet about it.
While putting together selections for the Carolina Beach Music set I and my southern kin contribute every summer to Amoeba SF's in-house DJ series we like to call MANDALA! I suddenly got all misty-eyed for the Swayze and his winsome ways. Though it's been almost two years since his untimely passing, his performance as Dirty Dancing's heart-throbbing, summer fling mambo outlaw Johnny Castle will always have my heart. Whether it's been a while since or you've never basked in the glow of this, one of the best sound-racked coming of age summer flicks, tempt your senses with a trailer re-cut in the style of David Lynch by clicking here and come on out to the Amoeba SF stage tonight from 6-7:30 to kick off your shoes and dance with me while I spin choice cuts of pure Carolina Beach Music realness.
There's a ton of great music out to there to compile your own personal beach mix-tape style compilation soundtrack for a summer's day down at the shore - songs like the Embers' beach music classic "I Love Beach Music" or the Beach Boys' "Surfin USA." Below are a bunch of randomly chosen videos of songs for the beach (most of them - not all - shot down at the beach) including the aforementioned Beach Boys at a later career stage when they teamed up in the 80's with the Fat Boys for a rock/rap version of "Wipeout." Also below are LA's brilliant Surf Punks and their song "My Beach" which had several video versions including the one in the 1982 music documentary Urgh! A Music War. The one below is the video that was shot a bit later in 1983 for the KABC Los Angeles' video show "Goodnight L.A." Other videos below include Swedish duo Air France's "Beach Party" (although only a small part shot at the beach), Washington DC's Slickee Boys' 1983 summer anthem "When I Go To The Beach," The Wavves' "King of the Beach" (unofficial fan made video by YouTuber CuppinNuggets), and one of two video versions of "Boys On The Beach" by UK satirical fictional (but very entertaining) rap character MC Devvo.
The Embers "I Love Beach Music"
I've also included the video for NorCal group the Surf MCs who were signed to Profile Records for a minute back in the 80's and marketed as a rap/rock surf/skater ensemble. This song and video, which could fall under the so-bad-its-good category, came out in 1987 and the video, while not shot at the actual beach, conveys the feeling of being down at the beach on a summer's day like today.
SOUTH BAY, SOUTH SOUTH BAY -- THE SOUTH BAY
Although the nickname "The Bay" is often employed (rather self-centeredly, I might add) is often used by North Californians in reference to the San Francisco Bay, California actually has many bays, including Anchor Bay, Bodega Bay, Emerald Bay, Estero Bay, Granite Bay, Half Moon Bay, Meeks Bay, Morro Bay, Soda Bay, San Pedro Bay… you get the idea. And I'll admit, in Starship's "We Built this City," when the DJ says "the city by the bay, the city that rocks, the city that never sleeps," as a naive teenager in Tampa I thought they were celebrating Tampa Bay… the city that was built by Death Metal - God's honest truth.
Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Map of LA County Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Map of the South Bay
OK, I'm getting sidetracked. LA's South Bay refers to the region bordering the Santa Monica Bay south of LA's Westside. The Harbor borders to the southeast and north of thought, along most of the South Bay's easter edge is the Westside of South Los Angeles. It's one of the most ethnically, economically and racially diverse regions in LA County. The population is roughly 40 % white (mostly Canadian, English, German, Irish and Persian), 27% Latino (mostly Mexican), 16% black and 14% Asian (mostly Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese).
Some things are great only in concept while others work perfectly both in concept and in practice. Such is the case with the Wugazi mashup project which melds the music of legendary DC post-hardcore band Fugazi with the music of iconic Staten Island hip-hop crew The Wu Tang Clan. The inspired rock/rap mash-up project which is titled Wugazi: 13 Chambers is described by its two producers, Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy, as "a labor of love" and involved the pair spending a full year hard at work "cutting up every imaginable Fugazi record and trying out every Wu-Tang acapella" that they could get their hands on. The project's title is a combo of Fugazi's 1990 album 13 Songs (the cover art resembles it too) and the Wu's 36 Chambers. It includes such Wu Tang acapellas as "C.R.E.A.M." (aka "Cash Rules Everything Around Me") from their aforementioned landmark 1993 debut album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) which becomes "S.C.R.E.A.M." as in "Sleep Rules Everything Around Me." And it also includes solo Wu member acapellas too such as Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" which becomes "Forensic Shimmy." Both songs, as well as "Suicide Surprise," are below to play back. For more info and to download Wugazi: 13 Chambers visit the Wugazi website.
Wugazi - "Suicide Surprise" (2011)
For all you jocks, sports fans and closet sports fans.
Amoeba Music and SF Station have teamed up to offer a $50 Amoeba gift certificate!
Here's what ya do:
1. Just go to Facebook and “like” SF Station.
2. Then post a picture of yourself taken at Amoeba San Francisco OR wearing Amoeba gear on your Facebook wall and tag @SF Station in the photo.
The photo with the most “likes” by noon on Monday August 8th wins!
One runner up will be chosen as “Best Of” as selected by Amoeba and SF Station, not by Facebook “likes.”
You can submit up to 5 entries. If you submit more than 5 you may be disqualified.
The grand prize winner will be determined by having the most likes and following contest rules.
Good luck and may the best photo win!
Read about the contest on the SF Station blog!
"Like" SF Station on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sfstation
Read about the contest on the SF Station blog!
"Like" SF Station on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sfstation
Amoeba is proud to once again sponsor the Treasure Island Music Festival!
Head over to www.treasureislandfestival.com for full details
or buy your two-day pass HERE:
http://www.
Today, Monday July 25th at 6pm, the amazing group Battles will be doing a free, all ages performance at
Amoeba Hollywood in support of their latest, recently released album by the trio, Gloss Drop which features collaborations from such artists as Gary Numan and Matias Aguayo. In fact when the NYC group played in LA a couple of months back at Echoplex Aguayo jpined them onstage for a live rendition of the album track (and current single/video) "Ice Cream." I missed that previous LA show but heard from folks who went that it was off the hook. I caught them in NYC a while back and they totally lived up to their rep as a great live band. They were mesmerizing. Loved them! Naturally then today's Amoeba set at 6pm (PST) promises to be a goodie. And if by chance you are not in the LA area or simply unable to make it to the Hollywood Amoeba store at that time today, the good news is that the special in-store set will be streamed live on Amoeba.com where you can also mail-order Gloss Drop for just $10.98 on CD and for $18.98 on LP version (both versions ship free to anywhhere in the US)
Bituaya’s first show in Los Angles wasn’t met with much fanfare. Roughly sixty people came to their show Saturday at Tropical De Nopal gallery, hosted by Eclectica deejays Reyes and Glenn Red. After their seventy five minute set briefly stalled by power outages and a complaining neighbor who called the police, I can gladly say that I was there to witness one of the best shows I’ve seen this year, if not in the last few.
Bituaya hails from Venezuela, a country known by most Americans more for their oil, baseball players and of course, their leader Hugo Chavez, who is overly hated by the right and overly loved by the left. Venezuela has a rich music history, from the Joropo music that reminds me of Mexico’s Son Jarocho, to Latin Pop stars Richardo Montaner and Jose “El Puma” Rodriguez. In recent years people all over the world have been getting down to the alterna-house sounds of the legendary Los Amigos Invisibles. Venezuela also has a rich history of great Salsa artists such as personal favorites, Oscar D’Leon, Federico y Su Combo, Los Dementes and La Dimension Latina. One cannot deny the influence of Caribbean music on Venezuelans or for that matter, on Bituaya as a band. Bituaya continues the trend of recent Latin America artists perfecting the mixture of Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia, Reggae, Hip-Hop and Electronica effortlessly and without sounding contrived.
The six -piece group consists of two rappers, a singer/multi-instrumentalist, a percussionist, keyboardist and one of the smallest deejays I have ever seen, no joke. This guy had to stand on a box just to use the deejay table! From their first song they got everyone up and started dancing, as they played tracks from their ElectroCaribe release. Right away you can tell that these guys are well trained in music. These aren’t guys stumbling through genres; these guys have studied the various styles they play. It’s not shocking to find out that Bituaya are linked to many community-based art programs in Venezuela. Each song seemed to get better than the next. I especially like the mixture of Joropo and Hip-Hop, with Aquiles Rengifo playing the cuarto underneath the Dub Reggae samples the solid flow of Miqueas “Piki” Figueroa. It’s something that I hoped that Son Jarocho groups would do more of, but it seems to be met with a lot of resistance. Bituaya made it seem so easy. In fact, every song came out so easily. Their Salsa was pure, the Merengue pulsed and the Cumbia/Reggae hybrids felt natural, all with that electro-sheen and Hip-Hop mentality that makes the music relevant. The night ended with a long jam, which included Raul Pacheco from the O.G. genre-bending band, Ozomatli, on guitar along with various Venezuelan nationals joining in on percussion and flute.
I had the daunting task of following the group with a deejay set. I tried my best but with the sound turned down due to noise complaints and an audience exhausted by Bituaya, I couldn’t do much besides play background music to the people trying to talk to the band. I would have to if I weren’t behind the turntables. I really enjoyed the band. Sometimes when I witness a band that is that good, I want to leave the show halfway through so nothing tarnishes the feeling that I am having at the moment. Because of the deejay set I was forced to stay and I’m glad I did because Bituaya did nothing tarnished that feeling. I guarantee just by word of mouth of the people that were at that show that Bituaya will play to a larger audience the next time around.
Wanna get their CD, ElectroCaribe? It is now available at Amoeba Hollywood for the low, low price of 7.98!
Joe Johnston's Cap is a symbol of America, but more of our foreign policy than domestic issues:
As Steve Rogers, he starts off small and frail ("a 90 pound asthmatic"), but unwilling to back down from bullies. One pummels him in the alley, but he just keeps getting up to be hit again until his virile buddy Bucky Barnes chases the bully off. Adolf Hitler is a bully, and Steve won't back down from him, either, nor should America. Thus, America is never the bully, only the bullied or the defender of the weak from the bullies.
Steve might be weak, but what's really important to his status as a hero is his heart and soul. Not just anyone could've been made into the superhero Captain America through the injection of the super-serum formula. It took someone with a truly good heart, intrinsically anti-bully, to wield all that superpower in the correct, moral direction. The Red Skull was injected with the same formula, but look how ugly he turned out. That is, America is a benevolent superpower (and better looking than our enemies), intrinsically deserving of our power over others, since it's not our nature to use force wantonly.
Steve repeatedly lies, but only for a just cause, to get himself in the military to serve his country and vanquish evil. Despite his 4-F status, he's sure that his country needs him to fight as a man, not as a scientist or with some other skill set that doesn't involve muscle. Dr. Abraham Erskine, the German inventor of the formula, recognizes the determination of Steve in his willingness to lie for a just cause and enters him into the super soldier program. Realpolitik might make lies necessary, but that's not a problem as long as you remain true to yourself and your cause is just. We lie for good reasons, our ends are justified, and we are necessary for those ends to be realized. When the time comes, we'll jump on the grenade to protect you.
Finally, Cap is pure and innocent. He's never had sex. Even when he's on a double-date with Bucky, all he really cares about is being able to fight. The girls will recognize his greatness once he's proven himself on the battlefield. And they do begin to recognize his sex appeal after he's rescued 400 soldiers from Hydra. The scientifically altered pecs probably don't hurt, either. Yet, he gets frozen before trying out his least utilized super-enhancement and wakes up 70 years later still a virgin. The others (women, foreigners) will recognize our rectitude in time, receptive of our truth. The film reassures us that this acceptance isn't purely a matter of power: the British agent Peggy Carter begins to fall for Steve even before he gets transformed, right around the time he falls on the aforementioned grenade.
Captain America is about as incompetent as big budget films get. Working for the Nazis (although there's barely a mention of them and no swastikas in sight), the Red Skull (never named that, just Johann Schmidt) is attempting to do something with the cosmic cube (again, never called that), such as powering a bunch of laser rifles that aren't any more effective than our boys and their rifles. He also plans on sending many airplanes that look like bombs to a bunch of the major cities in the States (which we know because they're labeled). Along the way he captures the Howling Commandos (never named) and tortures Bucky for no reason other than to give Cap something to do (how he knows where they're imprisoned is never explained). The action, when it occurs, is on a par with Chuck Norris' Delta Force. After waiting and waiting for Cap in costume, the majority of the fighting is told in a montage sequence to be filled in at a later date (i.e., flashback sequences in the sequels). You'd think that the one thing the special effects team could get right with CGI is the throwing of the shield, but mostly it flies off screen and re-enters as Cap captures it over his head -- Johnston isn't much for framing anything more than the characters on the screen. Thor throws his hammer, Hulk smashes, Iron Man flies and shoots out beams -- how hard is that to grasp? That's primary, everything else is just icing.
Probably the best thing about the film was the trailer for the new Spider-Man movie, which is a great example of the first person camera eye, which should only be enhanced by 3D.
The Sight BelowGlider 2LP
Ghostly
There’s a beating heart buried in the cold landscape of Glider, a warm 4/4 pulse that enervates the album’s echoing, looped drones and pulls the listener swiftly through the snow. By pinning barely-there electronic beats to his wisps of guitar melody, the Seattle-based producer turns ambient music into a hybrid strain of breathtakingly intimate, small-scale dance music. There’s a separation of elements in The Sight Below’s songs that’s almost meteorological in nature: Tendrils of treated guitar trail lazy patterns in the sky like the Aurora Borealis (“At First Touch”), flicker in the distance like heat lightning (“Dour”), or expand and contract like time-lapse cloud formations (“Life’s Fading Light”); running along beneath, nearly obscured by the airborne phenomena, is an ever-present beat, which ranges from the mud-puddle throb in “Without Motion” to the tiny, insistent high-hats in “A Fractured Smile.” The tracks evolve at a deliberated pace, but as the tones overlap and the rhythms build, time oozes to a halt and hangs in blissfully frost-bitten suspended animation. With Glider, The Sight Below has created a work of vertiginous sonic depth and exquisite melancholy: techno music for a dark, brooding night.
Purchase Glider here:
Iron Curtis
Goma EP– San Soda / Mano Le Tough 12"
Kolour
Johannes Paluka delivers this fresh soulful deep house EP where the title track holds a nice smooth groove with a pitched down vocal bit. To follow is a stunning remix from SAN SODA. On the flip, "YOU'RE (WAY MUCH MORE THAN JUST) MY CHOICE TONIGHT" is a downtempo number & gets a MANO LE TOUGH remix.
Purchase Goma here:
Levon Vincent
Man Or Mistress 12”
Novel Sound
Levon Vincent returns with another quality 3 track ep. Limited vinyl only release "MAN OR MISTRESS", "MAKING HEADWAY" and "NO REGRETS" are all varied in style, typical LV bass heavy tracks sitting nicely between both house and techno.
Purchase Man or Mistress here:
John Beltran
Kassem Mosse & Sven Weisemann Selection Remixes 12"
Delsin
In addition to John Beltran's Ambient Selections 1995-2011 (DSR 088CD) compilation, Delsin presents this special 12" featuring remixes by Kassem Mosse (with studio mate Mix Mup) and Sven Weisemann.
Purchase Selection remixes here:
Try To Find Me
Vol. 3 12”
Golf Channel
The 3rd installment in JUSTIN VANDERVOLGEN's "TRY TO FIND ME" series. "I'M A DANCER" is a huge peaktime club jam with big thundering drum beats and "more than a whiff of leather". B/w "NEEDS ENDING" a dreamy fx laden song with a whispery vocal that people are going crazy for.
Purchase Try To Find Me 3 here:
MilesFacets EP
Modern Love
Miles' Facets EP brings together different ends of his production style, unifying elements of the house and techno he's most commonly released as MLZ together with the more broken production signatures usually reserved for Millie and the darkened tribalism of Demdike Stare. "Flawed" opens with a Linn loop from the archives, stretched and slowed down with an intoxicated aesthetic that's somewhere between house and dub, before "Lustre" re-configures source material originally keyed in by label-mate Andy Stott with a nice line in squashed percussion. "Primer" extends from a Demdike Stare outtake and veers off into an analog drum machine workout, before "On The Fly" ends the set with a recording made straight to mixing desk from an array of mis-wired and malfunctioning drum boxes, contact microphones and samplers. Thirty minutes long, mastered and cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Limited to 700 copies for the world.
Purchase Facets here:
Snuff Crew
Basement Jams Pt.1 12”
Skylax
These Berlin based producers have released music on labels like RUSH HOUR, GIGOLO, PLAYHOUSE, etc and now have landed onto SKYLAX! Here they bring 4 cuts of heavily influenced Chicago-style old school house. Includes "LIKE THE WIND", "DREAMER", "DO THE SNAKE", and "SIGNALS".
Purchase Basement James Pt 1 here:
Cos-Mes & Chida
12 Inches For Japan 12”
ESP Institute
In an effort to help friends in Japan, ESP INSTITUTE presents part 1 in a ltd edition red vinyl stash. COS-MES brings a triumphant theatrical vocal stomper w/ HEY YAH & ENE label boss CHIDA dropping a dark dubby pumper on the flip. Proceeds go to relief efforts. No repress.
Purchase 12 Inches For Japan here:
Chicago Skyway & Dcook -LAGER EP 12”
Kenny Hawkes/GREEN GRASS 12”
Various/HIPSTERS VOL 2 LP
Marvin Zeyss/THE REMIXES-TEVO HOWARD 12”
AFMB: In My Life (feat. Geraldine Roth) 12"
MITZI: Vinyl Versions 12"
JON DASILVA (FEAT. DONALD WAUGH): Love Is All We Need 12"
JONA: This Time 12"
LOVEBIRDS/LEIF: The Beast/Almost Invisible 12"
FORMAT #1: Solid Session 12"
MANIK: Armies Of The Night Vinyl Sampler 12”
SAN PROPER, SAN: Shook 12”
RECLOOSE: Saturday Night Manifesto 12"
BRAILLE: The Year 3000 12"
MAXI MILL: To The Next/Sun Rays 12"
Bulb/STILL THERE 12”
Colman Brothers/BREATHING WITH DG 7"
Dense & Pika/BAD BACK 12”
EC33/I GOT THAT FEELING 12”
Funkineven/ROLAND'S JAM 12”
Excision & Downlink/HEAVY-SKISM RMX 12”
Jon Dasilva/LOVE IS ALL WE NEED 12”
Smoove & Turrell/ECCENTRIC AUDIO LP
Bulb/TENDERNESS 12”
Mat Chiavaroli/WAR OUTSIDE 12”
Johnwaynes/HOOMBA HOOMA 12”
Lord Of The Isles/HOT BLOBS EP 12”
Machinedrum/ALARMAA 12”
John Heckle/THE SECOND SON DLP
Various/10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PT.2 12”
Jam City/WATERWORX EP 12”
Istanbul 70/PSYCH DISCO EDITS VOL 2 12”
Istanbul 70/PSYCH DISCO EDITS VOL 3 12”
Tony Lionni/TAKE ME HIGHER EP 12”
Kastil/DUSTY EDITS VOL. 1 12”
Javeon McCarthy/LOVE WITHOUT A HEART 12”
Phil Weeks/IN THE MOOD - PHIL ASHER 12"
Mighty Mocambos & Friends/ZULU WALK 7”
Tobor Experiment Disco Experience/ST LP
Subb-An & Anomaly Jonez/MISLEADING 12”
Anagram Jam/ANAGRAM JAM LP
Randa & The Soul Kingdom/THINGS RMX 12”
Los Charlys Orch/THE GROOVE 12”
Sharmaji/HOW TO MOVE 12”
Jaybird/WHAT DA FUNK!?6BLOCC REMIX 12”
Alexis Raphael/KITCHENS & BEDROOMS 12”
Youandewan/1988 12”
Frankie Knuckles/I'LL TAKE YOU THERE 12”
Xxxy/YOU GOTTA DO YOU 12”
Memoryman aka Uovo/SOUL DROPS EP 12”
Kuba Sojka/BERLIN NEWS 12”
Miguel Migs/RED & DREAD 12”
Various/YELLORANGE HISTORY 12"
Amy Winehouse "Valerie (live)"
According to several sources published over the past hour Amy Winehouse has died. These reports are based on a press release from the Metropolitan Police in London who wrote earlier today that, "Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square NW1 shortly before 16.05hrs today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased. On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene. Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the death. At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained." While sadly not a total surprise this is still such tragic news. Another great talent who never got a chance to reach her true potential and live her life. Only 27...damn! Rest in peace Amy Winehouse.Amoeba Music Berkeley Hip-Hop Top Five: Week Ending July 22, 2011
1) Beastie Boys
Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
(Capitol Records)
Claiming the #1 spot for God-knows-how-many-weeks and counting is the new Beastie Boys' album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two which continues to rope in old fans and new fans alike with its lo-fi old school aesthetic and prominent guest features. About as popular as new rap records get, and pretty dang good to boot!
2) Vakill Armor of God (Molemen Inc.)
Resurfacing after a 6 year absence from the game is one of Chicago’s finest MCs Vakill, who ropes in Jake One and his long-time affiliates the Molemen for his grand return. Vakill is known for penning vicious punchlines
so intricate that it takes the average listener more than three rewinds to figure them out, but Armor of God finds Vakill mellowing out on the battle raps a bit and focusing more on stories of the street and hardships in the Chicago rap scene. It’s the sound of a veteran who knows the streets of Chicago like the palm of his hand sitting back and examining the beauty and the tragedy of it all. Strong album.
Have you ever sat slumped at your miserable computer at your excruciating job, staring blankly at an Excel spreadsheet that mocks your very existence but really secretly hoping that a heavy metal band would come and whisk you away to a magical land of booze and Satan? Sure, we all have.
Thursday, July 21st, office drones of San Francisco had their rockin’ prayers answered as the band Live Evil drove throughout the city in their Mexican party bus named Lola, picking up stray souls from their jobs for the third annual Walk Out To Rock Out. Whether you call it a public service or a public nuisance, Walk Out To Rock Out is a load of fun and Live Evil is the musical equivalent of a barrel of monkeys. Frontman Laurent Martini (who comes across like the love child of Nikki Sixx and Serge Gainsbourg) and his band of merry party animals strive to be the earthly incarnate of the spirit of rock & roll. Turning private nostalgia into performance art, all Live Evil songs were actually written by Martini during his teen years. This band’s mission of prolonged adolescence brings home the message that rock & roll, at its very core, is about divine youth. That and we’re never too old to rock.
Live Evil’s party bus started at the bar Zeitgeist at 9:00am. From there they picked up people on street corners and from office buildings, stopping at Union Square’s historic Gold Dust Lounge for a spontaneous show full of mayhem, madness, and confused tourists. They departed the Gold Dust at 2:00pm for The Hotel Utah where they played till 8:00pm.
I caught up with Live Evil’s Walk Out To Rock Out at the Gold Dust Lounge. Enjoy the mayhem and get on the bus!
~audra~
The Smiths "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Today"
Why do we love those sad songs so much? What is It with songs that help us wallow in our misery? Those 
post break up anthems, or songs about loss and depression that just seep of sadness yet draw us like a moth to a flame. Why do people love Morrissey and the Smiths' sad songs about been miserable? Because - like hot tea on a hot day that fights fire with fire - so too do sad songs quell the sadness in our collective hearts. Some say that we like sad songs of others' tales of despair because we can indulge in their suffering from a safe distance. Like in the comic strip above we love/hate those sad songs so much we have to hit replay. "Please Mr Please" don't play B 17. I don't ever want to hear that song again," sang Olivia Newton John on the weepy Bruce Welch & John Rostill penned 1975 international hit - but you know she secretly indulged in hearing B17 again despite the sadness it aroused in her tortured soul. Of all the pop hits over the past several decades Elton John's Bernie Taupin penned hit "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" sums up our need for sad songs: "It's times like these when we all need to hear the radio.`Cause from the lips of some old singer we can share the troubles we already know. Turn them on, turn them on. Turn on those sad songs when all hope is gone!" and the song's 
clincher line, "it feels so good to hurt so bad"
post break up anthems, or songs about loss and depression that just seep of sadness yet draw us like a moth to a flame. Why do people love Morrissey and the Smiths' sad songs about been miserable? Because - like hot tea on a hot day that fights fire with fire - so too do sad songs quell the sadness in our collective hearts. Some say that we like sad songs of others' tales of despair because we can indulge in their suffering from a safe distance. Like in the comic strip above we love/hate those sad songs so much we have to hit replay. "Please Mr Please" don't play B 17. I don't ever want to hear that song again," sang Olivia Newton John on the weepy Bruce Welch & John Rostill penned 1975 international hit - but you know she secretly indulged in hearing B17 again despite the sadness it aroused in her tortured soul. Of all the pop hits over the past several decades Elton John's Bernie Taupin penned hit "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" sums up our need for sad songs: "It's times like these when we all need to hear the radio.`Cause from the lips of some old singer we can share the troubles we already know. Turn them on, turn them on. Turn on those sad songs when all hope is gone!" and the song's clincher line, "it feels so good to hurt so bad"
Amoeba is excited to help sponsor the largest independent design show in the country!
Attendees get the rare chance to meet and shop directly from over 250 hand-selected designers and artists. The exciting two-day shopping event makes it easy for you to buy local and support LA’s economy, discover great design and deals, join in community, and have a blast!
At the Barker Hangar (3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA).
More info. http://uniquela.com
On Sunday, August 7, Amoeba makes a repeat appearance at one of the Southland's biggest and best record swap meets, Pasadena City College's Flea Market and Record Swap. With over 500 vendors, the Flea Market features antiques and collectibles, records, tools, clothes, toys and much more, not to mention food and good company. The Flea Market and Record Swap is from 8am-3pm. Look for the Amoeba booth located in the Bonnie St. parking structure (Lot 5) on the 3rd Level. We'll have a great selection of vinyl, so come out and enjoy your Sunday with us!
The LA Weekly calls the show “the best source for used records in all of Southern California.” Come on out and enjoy your Sunday with us! More here.
WHOLETRAIN trailer (2010) the film screens Saturday @ MOCA as part of Art In The Streets
Art in the Streets - the engaging ongoing presentation of graffiti and street art on exhibit at Los Angeles' Museum Of Contemporary Art (aka MOCA) - that opened in April is drawing to a close in a couple of weeks but before its August 8th last day it still has some new special events planned, including some one-off events. These include an "art talk" by Chaz Bojorquez tomorrow only (July 21st) at 6:30 PM in which the legendary L.A. graffiti artist will discuss his rich body of work as he leads a group walk through MOCA where his art is currently on display. As he does will discuss his and LA's graffit in context of the overall global street art movement of the past several decades which is the theme of Art In The Streets which was fully previewed by the Amoeblog back in April. Bojorquez's lecture is free with general admission to the musuem and no reservations are required.
said that it took him six years (five years longer than projected) to complete the film due to constant opposition due to its illegal art subject matter.
When I heard Omar Souleyman was playing in Los Angeles, I knew I had to go. Not only do I love his music but also how many times do you have a chance to see anyone from Syria perform in the U.S.? All those who cry about what a disappointment the Obama administration is can thank their liberal visa policies towards international artists. Do you know how many artists’ visas were denied during the Bush administration, especially if they’re from a country deemed a threat to the U.S.?
Truth be told, there are many places you can hear music like Omar Souleyman across the Los Angeles area. In various Arabic restaurants in Glendale, Alhambra and the West Hollywood you can find someone like Souleyman’s collaborator Rizan Sa'id on a couple of keyboards playing behind a group of belly dancers or at a wedding reception. However, comparing Souleyman to those restaurant musicians is the equivalent of comparing Junior Kimbrough to some hack wearing a fedora playing slick Chicago-style blues. Sure, they both play blues music, but with Kimbrough, you felt the blues.
I had a feeling what an Omar Souleyman audience would look like: The hipster boys who travel to places like Indonesia and buy cassettes of local artists with their ambiguously ethic girlfriends? Check! Arabic people, mostly Syrian nationals, checking out a guy from their home country? Check! The “way too cool” musicians and deejays, who never say anything to you even though you see them everywhere you go? Check! Aging hipsters, still on the brink of discovering something new? Check! Ok, we can proceed.
From the first beat people were ready to dance. The Syrians and the new and older hipsters, all lost it when Soulyman hit the floor. Dabke, the Syrian party music in which Souleyman and Sa'id are famous for, is a mixture of high-energy Arabic music that sounds like gritty house music mixed with echoed vocals. Souleyman, dressed in jalabiya with sunglasses, looked like he stepped right out of the desert night and onto the stage. I wondered if he looked at the sold out crowd and thought, “What the f*^k? Who are these people?” Even the various Middle Eastern people, who went to dance on stage and spoke to him in Arabic, were far more westernized than they would like to think, at least compared to Souleyman.
In the end the show was perfect. Syrians may go all night but the L.A. audience just started to lose steam right about the time they stopped. This show reminded me of Konono No 1 first show in Los Angeles a few years back. A show that was mixed bag of Africans, hipsters and the aging World Music enthusiasts, all dancing till the very end, but barely hanging on compared to the Congolese who can go all night.
Truth be told, there are many places you can hear music like Omar Souleyman across the Los Angeles area. In various Arabic restaurants in Glendale, Alhambra and the West Hollywood you can find someone like Souleyman’s collaborator Rizan Sa'id on a couple of keyboards playing behind a group of belly dancers or at a wedding reception. However, comparing Souleyman to those restaurant musicians is the equivalent of comparing Junior Kimbrough to some hack wearing a fedora playing slick Chicago-style blues. Sure, they both play blues music, but with Kimbrough, you felt the blues.
I had a feeling what an Omar Souleyman audience would look like: The hipster boys who travel to places like Indonesia and buy cassettes of local artists with their ambiguously ethic girlfriends? Check! Arabic people, mostly Syrian nationals, checking out a guy from their home country? Check! The “way too cool” musicians and deejays, who never say anything to you even though you see them everywhere you go? Check! Aging hipsters, still on the brink of discovering something new? Check! Ok, we can proceed.
From the first beat people were ready to dance. The Syrians and the new and older hipsters, all lost it when Soulyman hit the floor. Dabke, the Syrian party music in which Souleyman and Sa'id are famous for, is a mixture of high-energy Arabic music that sounds like gritty house music mixed with echoed vocals. Souleyman, dressed in jalabiya with sunglasses, looked like he stepped right out of the desert night and onto the stage. I wondered if he looked at the sold out crowd and thought, “What the f*^k? Who are these people?” Even the various Middle Eastern people, who went to dance on stage and spoke to him in Arabic, were far more westernized than they would like to think, at least compared to Souleyman.
In the end the show was perfect. Syrians may go all night but the L.A. audience just started to lose steam right about the time they stopped. This show reminded me of Konono No 1 first show in Los Angeles a few years back. A show that was mixed bag of Africans, hipsters and the aging World Music enthusiasts, all dancing till the very end, but barely hanging on compared to the Congolese who can go all night.
I wasn't much of a fan of this other major creation, The Brady Bunch, but I wasted a whole lot of my summer
vacations watching Sherwood Schwartz's Gilligan's Island (for which he wrote the theme song's lyrics).
I just learned of his death. He was 94.
Programmed by George Chen, [email protected]: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA is a three-part summer series is sponsored by Amoeba Music.
The series kicks-off on Friday, August 5th:
C. Spencer Yeh / David Horvitz
Friday, August 5, 2011
Doors 5:00 PM / DJ (Matt Thompson) / Performance 7:30 PM
Tickets available at the door - $7
Join us for an evening of sonic exploration and social engagement with artists C. Spencer Yeh and David Horvitz. Brooklyn-based Yeh (who also performs under the long-running identity Burning Star Core) is a solo artist and improviser who uses violin, voice, and electronics. He has collaborated with Tony Conrad, New Humans with Vito Acconci, Thurston Moore, and Jandek among many others. Yeh will be performing solo improvisations on violin and voice utilizing the open space of BAM/PFA’s Gallery B. Horvitz, also based in Brooklyn, is a photographer and performance artist whose activities include the 241543903 project, A Wikipedia Reader, and guided food tours. In the prankster tradition, he stages surprising interactions that replicate the online experience. His absurdist social-practice approach to art making will take full advantage of BAM/PFA and the [email protected] audience.
More info: http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/late080511
Facebook invite: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203129313073278
"A Hierophant is a person who deciphers arcane knowledge. On this album Casual's wordplay demands your attention while his vocabulary inspires thought," is the accurate description of the word Hierphant that inspired the title of talented longtime Oakland emcee (and high profile Hieroglyphics member) Casual's highly recommended new album The Hierophant - according to the official website for the artist's latest release in a career spanning almost two full decades - releasing his debut album Fear Itself back in 1994 following hot on the heels of his much acclaimed, most impressive cameo appearances on albums by fellow Hieros Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Souls of Mischief.
Casual "You Like That" from The Hierophant (2011)
Legowelt
Sark Island Acid EP
L.I.E.S
Always telling stories with his songs the prolific Danny Wolfers' latest offering the ''Sark Island Acid'' EP once again brings the listener into his shadowy world where the sounds of Chicago and Detroit meld with a demented dreamworld in which woodland creatures attempt space travel, lonely middle-aged men cast off by society perform circuit bending experiments in their parents suburban basement and autistic fans of late night talk radio call in from the outer-reaches to discuss world politics. Three tracks with the A-side being the bubbling, subduded and beautiful title track Sark Island Acid and the B-side containing the smudged out 808 ghetto compression of Backwoods Fantasies and the epic piano driven Sea of Nuhuhu. Strictly limited!
Sark Island Acid EP
L.I.E.S
Always telling stories with his songs the prolific Danny Wolfers' latest offering the ''Sark Island Acid'' EP once again brings the listener into his shadowy world where the sounds of Chicago and Detroit meld with a demented dreamworld in which woodland creatures attempt space travel, lonely middle-aged men cast off by society perform circuit bending experiments in their parents suburban basement and autistic fans of late night talk radio call in from the outer-reaches to discuss world politics. Three tracks with the A-side being the bubbling, subduded and beautiful title track Sark Island Acid and the B-side containing the smudged out 808 ghetto compression of Backwoods Fantasies and the epic piano driven Sea of Nuhuhu. Strictly limited!
Newworldaquarium
Dead Bears 2LP
NWAQ
Reissue of the highly-acclaimed The Dead Bears double LP from Dutch producer Newworldaquarium, originally released in 2007. Covers a wide spectrum from obscure, ultra-fat discofied house tracks to spaced-out ambient soundscapes. Thick thick!! Enter the world of Newworldaquarium. Comes with lovely Delta artwork.
BPos "Dope" (2011)
Above is the Strive Films produced video for the new track "Dope" by underrated Bay Area hip-hop crew BPos which is dedicated to the late great Dub Star (aka Rick Flare/Kwanz/K-Dub) of Bored Stiff fame (fellow Bored Stiff member Equipto is among the many folks making cameos in the above video). "Dope" is
the first of a series of music videos off of the San Francisco group's' brand new album Pos Tapes Vol. II. It is available as a free download but the crew's Vincente Goodword tell the Amoeblog that. "We will have some 45's in Amoeba for it in a couple months." And on Sunday, July 17th, BPos will be performing at Clux Six (60 6th st (@ Mission St.) at Hip-Hop, Hope & Harmony - the official SF AIDS Walk after-party! The $10 door ticket gets you both entrance to the event a copy of the benefit CD with proceeds going to SF AIDS Walk Foundation. General club info & ticket info for event and for general info on BPos including how to download latest free mix album.Serengeti's anticipated new album, Family & Friends on Anticon, had its release date pushed back to August 9th when both CD and vinyl versions of this excellent album will arrive in Amoeba. Look for an Amoeblog interview with the unique Chicago area emcee on that same date. Also coming next month is a hot new collaborative project called Flash Bang Grenada which is the combined forces of LA alternative MC Busdriver and Low End Theory MC Nocando. Their 10 track album 10 Haters will drop August 23rd and should be a popular item with fans of underground hip-hop. As well as production from such Low End regulars like Nosaj Thing, Free The Robots, and Shlohmo there will be guest mic spots from Del the Funky Homosapien and Open Mike Eagle.
JUST LIKE MIDTOWN TRAFFIC -- MIDTOWN
A detail of Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography's map of LA County showing Midtown's location
Midtown is a small but bustling area of Los Angeles surrounded by the larger regions of Hollywood to the north, the Westside to the west, South LA to the south and the Mideast side to the east. As the crossroads of Los Angeles' population, the once whites-only region has long been one of its most ethnically and economically diverse areas, not only home to the largely Jewish Fairfax District and the ethnic enclaves of Koreatown and Little Bangladesh; it's also LA's only African-American enclave, Little Ethiopia.
The loosely-defined districts within Midtown include the areas of Mid-City, Mid-City West, Mid-Wilshire and Wilshire Center. Within them are numerous and distinct neighborhoods of varying sizes and character that collectively define Midtown's diverse nature. Sometimes Midtown is referred to as Wilshire, after Henry Gaylord Wilshire, the father of Midtown.
DEVELOPMENT OF MIDTOWN
A detail of Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography's map of LA County showing Midtown's location
Midtown is a small but bustling area of Los Angeles surrounded by the larger regions of Hollywood to the north, the Westside to the west, South LA to the south and the Mideast side to the east. As the crossroads of Los Angeles' population, the once whites-only region has long been one of its most ethnically and economically diverse areas, not only home to the largely Jewish Fairfax District and the ethnic enclaves of Koreatown and Little Bangladesh; it's also LA's only African-American enclave, Little Ethiopia.
The loosely-defined districts within Midtown include the areas of Mid-City, Mid-City West, Mid-Wilshire and Wilshire Center. Within them are numerous and distinct neighborhoods of varying sizes and character that collectively define Midtown's diverse nature. Sometimes Midtown is referred to as Wilshire, after Henry Gaylord Wilshire, the father of Midtown.
DEVELOPMENT OF MIDTOWN
I first heard Seek Magic by Memory Tapes at the end of 2009. I was immediately hooked. I suddenly couldn't imagine how I had lived my life without Memory Tapes. The album was that good. At least I thought so. Combining all my favorite elements of dream pop and shoegaze and electronica. This guy knew the way to my heart. Memory Tapes created some amazingly catchy pop songs for this album. He captured an early 90s sound but somehow made it refreshing and like nothing I had ever heard. I was in love with Memory Tapes. All you need to do is listen to the song "Bicycle." You will immediately fall in love with this song. There seriously must be something wrong with you if you don't like this song. Memory Tapes is Dayve Hawke of New Jersey. He had also released music as Memory Cassette and Weird Tapes. He decided to combine the two into Memory Tapes. His new album is called Player Piano. The second album is always risky undertaking. Especially when you really like the first album. When that first album plays a big part of your life and is listened to over and over again. It is sort of scary to first check out that second album. I worry that I will not like it. I really want to like it. I respect the artist and want to like where they are going with the second album. But it doesn't always work out. Sometimes you are just never going to have that same experience with a second album. The new Memory Tapes album does not disappoint. Another one of my favorites from the last couple of years is Washed Out. I really loved that first album. But the jury is still out on the new album released this week. I like it. But not sure if I am ready to fall in love. But I am not giving up on it yet. I fell in love with the new Memory Tapes album immediately. This new is worth your valuable time.
You should of course start with Seek Magic if you are new to Memory Tapes. However sometimes it works better the opposite way. I know I have said this before. But sometimes it is good to start with that second album. If you end up liking the new album then you are guaranteed to love the first one. Sort of like reading a book before you see the movie. If the book is really good, then you may not end up liking the movie. Rarely can a movie be as good as a book. But if you love the movie first. You can often end up going back and loving the book second. But it is a great feeling to read a book for the first time. To be learning everything for the first time as you turn the pages. "Wait in the Dark" is one of my favorite tracks from the new album. It is the first real song on the album following a short instrumental introduction. My favorite track on the album is probably "Trance Sisters." The album flows together perfectly. It is all very dream like and could easily put you under its spell.
There have already been a ton of great albums this year. It is really turning out to be a great year for music. I hope you feel the same way. Maybe it is just me. But I feel like all of my favorite bands are putting out great albums this year. The year got off to a great start with awesome new albums from Wanda Jackson, Puro Instinct, and Adele. I am still loving the new albums from PJ Harvey, The Kills, Raveonettes, Explosions in the Sky, Okkervil River, Gang Gang Dance, Black Lips, Zombi and TV on the Radio. Many of these albums will be competing in my top ten at the end of the year. Craft Spells, Holy Ghost, Cold Cave, Kurt Vile, Det Vackra Livet, Acid House Kings, Bon Iver, and John Maus are all close to the top. The albums keep coming out too. The new Sons & Daughters album is awesome. I still think they are a very under-appreciated band. I really like that last album but this new one is really working for me. Mirror Mirror is out this week on Domino. Domestic versions of Tame Impala and Hercules and Love Affair are finally being released in the next couple of months. I am also liking the new albums by Zomby and SBTRKT. They are both new electronica albums released in the last couple of weeks. The new Crystal Antlers album is out next week on July 19th. And I don't like them just because they are from Long Beach. This new album is fantastic. And they just filmed an episode of What's In My Bag. So be on the lookout for that! New albums by The Horrors and Little Dragon are out July 26th. New Dom album 8/9. New Active Child & Stephen Malkmus albums out 8/23. New Beirut and CSS album out 8/30. New album by The Rapture out 9/6. New St. Vincent, Wooden Shjips, Teen Daze, and Wild Flag out 9/13. New Dum Dum Girls and Bjork out 9/27. There will be something for everyone. New M83 and Girls albums are also out this year! But what I am most looking forward to are those new albums that I don't even know about. They are just lurking around the corner waiting for us to discover. I can't wait...
Watch the video for "Bicycle" by Memory Tapes from the album Seek Magic...
Listen to Wait in the Dark by Memory Tapes from the new album Player Piano...
also out 7/5...
Rainforest by Clams Casino
I Love You Dude by Digitalism
Drums Between the Bells by Brian Eno
Gardens & Villa by Gardens & Villa
Player Piano by Memory Tapes
Pleasure by Pure X
Devil's Music by The Teddybears
also out 7/12...
I Want That You by Middle East
Mirror Mirror by Sons & Daughters
Within & Without by Washed Out
Dedication by Zomby
You should of course start with Seek Magic if you are new to Memory Tapes. However sometimes it works better the opposite way. I know I have said this before. But sometimes it is good to start with that second album. If you end up liking the new album then you are guaranteed to love the first one. Sort of like reading a book before you see the movie. If the book is really good, then you may not end up liking the movie. Rarely can a movie be as good as a book. But if you love the movie first. You can often end up going back and loving the book second. But it is a great feeling to read a book for the first time. To be learning everything for the first time as you turn the pages. "Wait in the Dark" is one of my favorite tracks from the new album. It is the first real song on the album following a short instrumental introduction. My favorite track on the album is probably "Trance Sisters." The album flows together perfectly. It is all very dream like and could easily put you under its spell.
There have already been a ton of great albums this year. It is really turning out to be a great year for music. I hope you feel the same way. Maybe it is just me. But I feel like all of my favorite bands are putting out great albums this year. The year got off to a great start with awesome new albums from Wanda Jackson, Puro Instinct, and Adele. I am still loving the new albums from PJ Harvey, The Kills, Raveonettes, Explosions in the Sky, Okkervil River, Gang Gang Dance, Black Lips, Zombi and TV on the Radio. Many of these albums will be competing in my top ten at the end of the year. Craft Spells, Holy Ghost, Cold Cave, Kurt Vile, Det Vackra Livet, Acid House Kings, Bon Iver, and John Maus are all close to the top. The albums keep coming out too. The new Sons & Daughters album is awesome. I still think they are a very under-appreciated band. I really like that last album but this new one is really working for me. Mirror Mirror is out this week on Domino. Domestic versions of Tame Impala and Hercules and Love Affair are finally being released in the next couple of months. I am also liking the new albums by Zomby and SBTRKT. They are both new electronica albums released in the last couple of weeks. The new Crystal Antlers album is out next week on July 19th. And I don't like them just because they are from Long Beach. This new album is fantastic. And they just filmed an episode of What's In My Bag. So be on the lookout for that! New albums by The Horrors and Little Dragon are out July 26th. New Dom album 8/9. New Active Child & Stephen Malkmus albums out 8/23. New Beirut and CSS album out 8/30. New album by The Rapture out 9/6. New St. Vincent, Wooden Shjips, Teen Daze, and Wild Flag out 9/13. New Dum Dum Girls and Bjork out 9/27. There will be something for everyone. New M83 and Girls albums are also out this year! But what I am most looking forward to are those new albums that I don't even know about. They are just lurking around the corner waiting for us to discover. I can't wait...
Watch the video for "Bicycle" by Memory Tapes from the album Seek Magic...
Listen to Wait in the Dark by Memory Tapes from the new album Player Piano...
also out 7/5...
Rainforest by Clams Casino
I Love You Dude by Digitalism
Drums Between the Bells by Brian Eno
Gardens & Villa by Gardens & Villa
Player Piano by Memory Tapes
Pleasure by Pure X
Devil's Music by The Teddybears
also out 7/12...
I Want That You by Middle East
Mirror Mirror by Sons & Daughters
Within & Without by Washed Out
Dedication by Zomby
The line up for this year's bigger and better, eight edition of the Decibel Festival (full name Decibel
International Festival of Electronic Music Performance, Visual Art and New Media) happening at several venues around Seattle September 28th through October 2nd, has just been announced with advance tickets now available. Performers in this year's ever expanding annual festival include Amon Tobin, who will be performing his latest piece/current seventh album ISAM (see concert trailer above) Moby, Ladytron, Bonobo, Zomby, Quantic, Mad Professor, Holy Fuck, Martyn, Motor City Drum Ensemble, DJ Krush, Green Velvet, Araab Musik, Ulrich Schnauss, Chateau Flight, Girl Unit, Bok Bok, Atlantic Connection, Egyptrixx, Blondes, Matthewdavid, Salva, and many more.
This year's expanded variety of venues will include The Paramount Theater, The Showbox Market, The Crocodile, Fred Wildlife Refuge, The Baltic Room, Sole Repair, and The Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya. For more details and tickets for the 2011 Decibel Festival, visit here.
Recently uploaded on Facebook and YouTube under the description Want to buy a record with Mel Blanc at Wallichs Music City / "Vinage Los Angeles" on Facebook the above 1951 promotional film (half-hour in length) reportedly was never shown to the public until now, been used six decades ago for promotional use only among record executives. Check it out if you are an avid record collector or fan of the recording industry's history including the record pressing process, or if you are interested in seeing some classic Hollywood landmarks from sixty years ago including Capitol Records (the producers of
thepromotional film) and Sunset Blvd. Amoeba Hollywood fans and regulars will recognize that the opening segment was shot about a block down the street from the current site of Amoeba Hollywood on Sunset.As noted in the YouTube description Mel Blanc, "plays a record dealer who is desperately trying to sell anyone a record at the corner of Sunset & Vine streets in Hollywood, California while pestering several people, (including Yogi Yorgeson!!). Billy May approaches playing a regular guy walking down the street, Mel takes him into his record store, (Wallichs Music City) & proceeds to pitch everything in the store to him. In the end Billy won't pay the 85 cents for a record & Mel decides to show him exactly how records are made! They go over to the Capitol Records recording studios on Melrose Avenue & meet with Alan Livingston who takes them on a tour, here is where they run into several famous folks while getting into a little bit of mischief along the way! We get to see rare footage of Dean Martin in the studio actually recording one of his hit records! they run into Les Paul and Mary Ford, a vocal group, a country & western singer (Merle Travis?), and even Bozo the Clown!"
Mastodon's anticipated fifth album The Hunter may not be released for several more months but the ever popular Atlanta heavy metal band's label Reprise/Warner have just unveiled the forthcoming album's arwork (above) which was by done by contemporary American folk artist AJ Fosik. Still in production the band has announced that new album tracks will include the songs "Blasteroids," "All the Heavy Lifting," "The Octopus Has No Friends," "Stargasm," and "Curl Of The Burl." Slated for a late Summer/early Fall 2011 release The Hunter is the follow up to their March 2009 studio album Crack the Skye and their CD/DVD live concert package Live At The Aragon which was released in March this year.
The members of Mastodon are longtime fans of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. In 2007 they performed the opening song ("Cut You Up with a Linoleum Knife") of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, and more recently they contributed to the Adult Swim the previously unreleased song "Deathbound." The song, which is from the Crack The Skye sessions, can be found for free download on adultswim.com. The Mastodon track as well as the video clip is part of the ten week, 2011 Adult Swim Singles Program. This summer the band is part of the Sonisphere Festival touring Europe. For more touring and general band info visit the Mastodon website. And below is the just released official album trailer video featuring the new album track "Black Tongue."
Amoeba Hollywood's new Directors Section, located on the mezzanine level, gathers directors from across the world in one convenient place. America, Latin America, Asia and Europe are all strongly represented by some of their most praised filmmakers. The genres captured there include horror, drama, comedy, action, cult, documentary, and animation, just to name a few. F
rom A to Z you can find a everything available from director Woody Allen to Zhang Yimou, with cards that list their complete filmography.
We realized that people are more than just curious about the works of certain directors; some look to their work for a distinct and consistent vision that caters to their tastes and standards. In film criticism they call this the "auteur theory." Certain directors have developed a reputation and a prestige that transcends generations. Many see directors as a film's primary artist, using an assemblage of talented cinematographers, musicians and editors to bring their image to the screen. And while some may disagree with the concept, opting to praise a screenwriter or producer instead, who can deny the feeling one gets from a certain director's work? We recognize that film is a collaborative process, but we'd also like to recognize many directors whose technique and style has influenced more than just cinema.
Horror
For horror aficionados there's plenty to discover and revisit. Saturated colors, Giallo influences and dizzy scenarios can be found in practically every Italian horror film. The Directors Section is home to many influential Italian horror directors who inspired several genres of film. Dario Argento is arguably the most popular among them. His films Suspiria and Deep Red were groundbreaking for '70s horror, and the violent surrealism of all his work remains a comparative staple in the genre. Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci are two other Italian directors who share a similar style, though Fulci has a heavy emphasis on gore and Bava, eroticism.
rom A to Z you can find a everything available from director Woody Allen to Zhang Yimou, with cards that list their complete filmography.We realized that people are more than just curious about the works of certain directors; some look to their work for a distinct and consistent vision that caters to their tastes and standards. In film criticism they call this the "auteur theory." Certain directors have developed a reputation and a prestige that transcends generations. Many see directors as a film's primary artist, using an assemblage of talented cinematographers, musicians and editors to bring their image to the screen. And while some may disagree with the concept, opting to praise a screenwriter or producer instead, who can deny the feeling one gets from a certain director's work? We recognize that film is a collaborative process, but we'd also like to recognize many directors whose technique and style has influenced more than just cinema.
Horror
For horror aficionados there's plenty to discover and revisit. Saturated colors, Giallo influences and dizzy scenarios can be found in practically every Italian horror film. The Directors Section is home to many influential Italian horror directors who inspired several genres of film. Dario Argento is arguably the most popular among them. His films Suspiria and Deep Red were groundbreaking for '70s horror, and the violent surrealism of all his work remains a comparative staple in the genre. Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci are two other Italian directors who share a similar style, though Fulci has a heavy emphasis on gore and Bava, eroticism.
There is a tradition in the Latin section that doesn’t exist in the rest of the store. It’s the autographed bin cards. The bin cards are the separators between the CDS, DVD, and LPS that help you find your favorite releases. When I started working at Amoeba Hollywood several years ago, there was only one autograph bin card. It was from Alex Lora from El Tri. Legend had it he came into the store before a show and some fans recognized him and started a mini-ruckus in the Latin Rock and Pop section. A former co-worker and Amoeba favorite, Joyanne Troutman, decided to get Alex to autograph the bin card. Although being mobbed, he thought it was funny to be asked to autograph his bin card, so he did. That’s how it started.
We now have over two-dozen autograph bin cards throughout the Latin section, most of them, acquired by Paul Vasquez, World Music employee since 2006. I asked him a few questions about why and how this happened.
What was the first autograph bin that you had signed?
It was Rodrigo Y Gabriela. They did an in-store performance and I thought they were so cool that I wanted an excuse to talk to them. By then we had a few autograph bins that Joyanne and other World Music employees have gotten so I told them it was a tradition, which it is now.
How do you get the autographs? Are they all from in-store performances?
Some are, but most of them come from the artists themselves shopping at the store or people they are with introduce us to them. For instance, a friend of Los Tres Reyes introduced the members to me while they were shopping at the store. I love their music but I wouldn’t have recognized them.
Was there anyone that refused to autograph the bin card?
No, but there were some awkward moments. When Enrique Bunbury came into the store, I tried my best to communicate our tradition but he looked at me blankly. I think it was a language barrier thing, with me not speaking Spanish and him not speaking English or maybe he thought I was a random fan jacking the bin card to get his autograph.
Speaking of which, has anyone ever stolen an autograph bin card.
Yes. We had and autograph bin card from Roco from Maldita Vecindad and someone stole it. Now we have security tags on all the autograph bins.
Has anyone ever offered money for the bin cards?
One guy offered me a hundred bucks for the Enrique Bunbury bin card. I had to tell them it was not for sale.
So why just the Latin Music artists? Why not other artist from other sections?
Partly out of tradition and partly that many of the touring Latin Music artists make a stop at Amoeba while on the road. Almost all the artists that sign the bin cards say how much they love the store and wish their was something like Amoeba in their home city or country.
Below are a few more autograph bin cards. Among others are Ozomatli, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Benny Ibarra and many more.
We now have over two-dozen autograph bin cards throughout the Latin section, most of them, acquired by Paul Vasquez, World Music employee since 2006. I asked him a few questions about why and how this happened.
What was the first autograph bin that you had signed?
It was Rodrigo Y Gabriela. They did an in-store performance and I thought they were so cool that I wanted an excuse to talk to them. By then we had a few autograph bins that Joyanne and other World Music employees have gotten so I told them it was a tradition, which it is now.
How do you get the autographs? Are they all from in-store performances?
Some are, but most of them come from the artists themselves shopping at the store or people they are with introduce us to them. For instance, a friend of Los Tres Reyes introduced the members to me while they were shopping at the store. I love their music but I wouldn’t have recognized them.
Was there anyone that refused to autograph the bin card?
No, but there were some awkward moments. When Enrique Bunbury came into the store, I tried my best to communicate our tradition but he looked at me blankly. I think it was a language barrier thing, with me not speaking Spanish and him not speaking English or maybe he thought I was a random fan jacking the bin card to get his autograph.
Speaking of which, has anyone ever stolen an autograph bin card.
Yes. We had and autograph bin card from Roco from Maldita Vecindad and someone stole it. Now we have security tags on all the autograph bins.
Has anyone ever offered money for the bin cards?
One guy offered me a hundred bucks for the Enrique Bunbury bin card. I had to tell them it was not for sale.
So why just the Latin Music artists? Why not other artist from other sections?
Partly out of tradition and partly that many of the touring Latin Music artists make a stop at Amoeba while on the road. Almost all the artists that sign the bin cards say how much they love the store and wish their was something like Amoeba in their home city or country.
Below are a few more autograph bin cards. Among others are Ozomatli, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Benny Ibarra and many more.
Check out last year's gallery here.
SHOOTING THE PIER -- HUNTINGTON BEACH
This blog entry is about Huntington Beach, a beach city in North Orange County. To Huntington Beach's southwestern edge is the Pacific Ocean. To its north are Seal Beach and Westminster. To the east is Fountain Valley. North and east is the Little Saigon area. To the southeast are the towns of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.
It's the largest beach city in Orange County. Accompanying me on this installment was a mysterious new traveling companion and HB resident known only as Bao. As is usual, we being with a bit of history.
EARLY HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
The area that now constitutes Huntington Beach was for thousands of years a border territory shared by the seafaring Tongva people to the north and the smaller Acagchemem nation to the south. At the time the area was an isolated mesa surrounded by a soggy expanse of bogs and shallow marshes fed by estuaries and artesian wells. At the western foot of the bluff was a large tidal lagoon.
This blog entry is about Huntington Beach, a beach city in North Orange County. To Huntington Beach's southwestern edge is the Pacific Ocean. To its north are Seal Beach and Westminster. To the east is Fountain Valley. North and east is the Little Saigon area. To the southeast are the towns of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.
Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Map of Huntington Beach
It's the largest beach city in Orange County. Accompanying me on this installment was a mysterious new traveling companion and HB resident known only as Bao. As is usual, we being with a bit of history.
EARLY HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
The area that now constitutes Huntington Beach was for thousands of years a border territory shared by the seafaring Tongva people to the north and the smaller Acagchemem nation to the south. At the time the area was an isolated mesa surrounded by a soggy expanse of bogs and shallow marshes fed by estuaries and artesian wells. At the western foot of the bluff was a large tidal lagoon.
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.
Amoeba Music San Francisco Hip-Hop Top Six Week Ending 07:08:11
1) Curren$y Weekend at Burnie's (Warner Bros)
2) Shabazz Palaces Black Up (Sub Pop)
3) Pete Rock/Smif-n-Wessun Monumental (DuckDown)
4) Philthy Rich & Messy Marv Neighborhood Superstar Part 3 (Town Thizzness)
5) Matthew Shipp/Beans/William Parker/Hprizm Knives From Heaven (Thirsty Ear)
6) Raashan Ahmad For What You've Lost (PID)
Big ups to Luis at Amoeba San Francisco for this latest hip-hop chart that includes in the number one slot the anticipated new release from one of hip-hop's most buzzed about (albeit under the
radar) artists these days, New Orleans's underrated rap talent Curren$y and his sixth studio album, Weekend at Burnie's. The album, which is named after the 1989 comedy movie of the same name, is Curren$y's second full length for Warner since his exit from Def Jam. A fuill decade in the rap game Curren$y has the distinction of being simultaneously incredibly well known by a large segment of the hip-hop community (who've followed his career via the free mixtapes and official releases he's been dilegently cranking out) but relatively unknown on a mainstream level. This could all change with Weekend which packs a lot of crossover ready material.
Around 6:30pm on an incredibly warm 4th of July a yellow school bus pulled up on the Cahuenga side of Amoeba Hollywood, ready to take about 40 Amoebites on our third field trip to the Hollywood Bowl.
Our first Amoeba field trip to the Bowl was back in 2007, also to see Hall and Oates, and it became the stuff of legend around the store.
See photos from that inaugural trip to the Bowl. Our second trip was to see Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings open for Feist in 2008 (kind of an odd pairing musically, but still a fun trip). This trip to the Hollywood Bowl was set for the 4th of July and included the LA Philharmonic and a fireworks spectacular. In other words, it was going to be a really fun Independence Day!
Amoebite Tuna brought some blue face paint to help us get into the 4th of July spirit. By the time the bus pulled up to the Bowl, most of us had shiny blue paint somewhere on our faces. An unintended, but pleasant side effect of the paint - it helped us identify each other in the sea of people entering and leaving the bowl. Look for the blue paint! Tuna even befriended the people in the rows around us, painting their faces blue as well.
Hall & Oates performed most of their classic hits, opening the show with "Maneater" and closing it with "Private Eyes" accompanied by the LA Philharmonic. We danced, we sang, and we danced some more.
And then there was the fireworks show - most definitely a spectacular, as the Bowl promised. Set off directly behind and on top of the Bowl itself, everyone in the ampitheatre had a fantastic view of some pretty fabulous fireworks.
Our first Amoeba field trip to the Bowl was back in 2007, also to see Hall and Oates, and it became the stuff of legend around the store.
See photos from that inaugural trip to the Bowl. Our second trip was to see Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings open for Feist in 2008 (kind of an odd pairing musically, but still a fun trip). This trip to the Hollywood Bowl was set for the 4th of July and included the LA Philharmonic and a fireworks spectacular. In other words, it was going to be a really fun Independence Day!Amoebite Tuna brought some blue face paint to help us get into the 4th of July spirit. By the time the bus pulled up to the Bowl, most of us had shiny blue paint somewhere on our faces. An unintended, but pleasant side effect of the paint - it helped us identify each other in the sea of people entering and leaving the bowl. Look for the blue paint! Tuna even befriended the people in the rows around us, painting their faces blue as well.
Hall & Oates performed most of their classic hits, opening the show with "Maneater" and closing it with "Private Eyes" accompanied by the LA Philharmonic. We danced, we sang, and we danced some more.
And then there was the fireworks show - most definitely a spectacular, as the Bowl promised. Set off directly behind and on top of the Bowl itself, everyone in the ampitheatre had a fantastic view of some pretty fabulous fireworks.
New 12"s @ Amoeba Hollywood 7/7 - John Beltran, Move D, Nicolas Jaar, John Tejada, Jason Fine & more
John Beltran
Ambient Selections 1995-2011 3LP
Delsin
Delsin is proud to present this best-of ambient compilation by one of their all-time producer heroes, John Beltran. The 16 tracks presented here include "Collage Of Dreams," as featured on HBO's Six Feet Under series, and other material from his sought-after albums originally released on Peacefrog and R&S. Beltran is a staple of the Detroit techno scene, releasing records on the Retroactive label that would later develop into his trademark contemplative, melodic style. Includes cuts from Earth & Nightfall (1995), Ten Days Of Blue (1996), Moving Through Here (1997), Going Home (2006), The Sky EP Series No. 2 (2000), his Placid Angles release The Cry (1997) his self-titled Indio release (1999), Americano (2002) and Human Engine (2006). With extensive liner notes from the artist himself.
Purchase Ambient Selections 1995-2011 3LP
Move D
Workshop 13
Workshop
Crafty upbuilding disco.esquer house EP from the Hardwax camp.
Purchase Workshop 13 here:
Nicolas JaarPépé Bradock & Dave Aju Remixes 12"
Circus Company
Here is the first volume in a series of remixes of tracks off of Nicolas Jaar's Space Is Only Noise (CC 009CD/CCS 055LP) album. Pépé Bradock presents two versions of "Too Many Kids Finding Rain In The Dust." His Blind Pig mix features Balkan strings while the "Train Fantôme Poke" version features grinding industrial scrapes and psychedelic whispers. Dave Aju turns the title track into a late '80s dancefloor workout Martin Hannett would have been proud of.
Purchase Nicolas Jaar remixes here:
Jason Fine
Menage At Trois / Jack Yo Bodda 12"
FXHE
Jason Fine returns to Omar S’ FXHE label with two jackin’ house tracks
Purchase Menage At Trois here:
Virgo Four
It's A Crime Remixes 12”
Rush Hour
"It's A Crime" is taken from Virgo Four's Resurrection (RH 113CD/BOX) album, which is now available as a single with remixes from Caribou and Hunee. Caribou reworks "It's A Crime" into an 8-minute epic dancefloor bomb. His mix starts out with an intimate vocal groove, but before long it explodes into a monstrous, acid-driven workout. Hunee goes for a more classic approach. And then there is the original mix -- a Chicago classic that never was.
Purchase It's A Crime remixes here:
Various
Love Edits Vol. 2 12”
Love Edits
Part 2 in this mysterious series of Love Edits.
Purchase Love Edits 2 here:
John TejadaParabolas LP
Kompakt
The Kompakt family welcomes one of America's most celebrated producers in dance music, John Tejada! Born in Austria, he relocated to his current home of Los Angeles at the age of 8 and, following a brief career in hip-hop, found his home in electronic music. If you're even the slightest fan of the genre, you'll be hard-pressed not to have heard his music over his decade+-long career. Whether on his own Palette Recordings, Poker Flat, or Plug Research -- plus a Fabric mix CD under his belt, it's thanks to a steady stream of massive releases that he remains a mainstay in the charts of Beatport and uncountable DJs. He is also half of the long-standing City Centre Offices act, I'm Not A Gun (together with Takeshi Nishimoto). As Tejada himself explains: "I wanted to experiment with some longer phrases again and to step away from the analog sequencers more and get back to using my hands to create the melodies. I also feel for the first time in quite a while I've made an album of songs for myself without worrying about the usual pressures." Kompakt presents his extraordinary new album Parabolas. Resident Advisor called Tejada "one of the most notoriously meticulous producers around" -- an unmistakable proof lies within these recordings. Genres collide and combine with an unraveling of blissful layers. The opening track, "Farther & Fainter," offers a musicality today's techno and house often lacks -- an accomplishment that resonates throughout the album. Tracks such as "Subdivided" and "Unstable Condition" reflect the wondrousness of Aphex Twin's Polygon Window project, something that could only be re-animated and brought to 2011's standards by Tejada. Parabolas is a true highlight in John Tejada's deep catalog -- bold words indeed for a producer who is known for unexpected variation and tremendous musical imagination.
Purchase Parabolas here:
DJ MADD: Dub Marine 12"
DJ MADD: Blank Space 2x12"
GUMMIHZ: Head Rush 12"
RADIO SLAVE: K-Maze (youANDme & Rhauder Rmxs) 12"
DJ PHONO: Welcome To Wherever You're Not 2LP
CARTE BLANCHE: White Man On The Moon 12"
JUSTICE: Civilization 12"
SAM A LA BAMALOT: A Bird's Leg 7"
GLENN, JEREMY: New Life 12"
TIYISELANI VOMASEVE: Votswelani 12”
TSHETSHA BOYS: Anidyi Nyama 12"
PANDA BEAR: Surfers Hymn (Actress Primitive Patterns Extended Mix) 12"
DOP: After Party 12"
COLUMBUS: Hubble 12"
BURNT FRIEDMAN: Zen'Aku 12"
ADA: Meine Zarten Pfoten LP + 7"
WOLFRAM: A Thing Called Love 12"
JIN CHOI: Full Range 12"
FURESSHU: Downstate 12"
JAMES BRAUN: Massacre 12"
CRACKBOY: Vivid Innocent 12”
JOAKIM: Forever Young 12”
MARCUS GEHRING: On A Trip 12”
KRS-One at Amoeba Hollywood, July 2010
My interview with KRS-One this time last year at the Hollywood Amoeba has just recently been edited and uploaded (above) to the Amoeba video archives. The interview and audience Q+A session that followed at Amoeba was based around KRS-One's book The Gospel of Hip-Hop which you can buy in store or online from Amoeba.com for just $9.99. The in-depth book, whose full title is The Gospel of Hip Hop: First 
Instrument presented by KRS One for the Temple of Hip Hop and is published by Powerhouse Books, was written over several years by the veteran hip-hop artist, activist, educator, and author. After spending even a short time in the company of KRS you quickly realize that the man lives and breathes hip-hop culture. His famous line, "rap is something you do, Hip Hop is something to live," are truly words that he lives by. In conversation he mentions Hip Hop (his spelling of the words) continually and clearly never stops thinking about it and its ramifications.
"I think Hip Hop is the savior of American society; Hip Hop itself brings cultures together because it gives people a chance to talk and to really see what the other guy is thinking and in a peaceful way," he told me when I asked about the real meaning of Hip Hop as a culture and a lifestyle in the six-part series of The Gospel of Hip Hop According to KRS- One Amoeblogs with him leading up to the in store interview above. A regular on the lecture circuit KRS-One was never a loss for words or opinion during the unique Amoeba instore (usually artists perform music not talk). And afterwards he stuck around for quite a while signing copies of his book, posing for photos and chopping it up with folks who wanted to talk to the man known as The Teacha. Below is the What's In My Bag video of KRS-One shopping for music with his son Lil Kris aka DJ/producer Predator Prime. Pick up The Gospel of Hip Hop online for only $9.99 while supplies last.
Aloha, bitches! The boyfriend and I have just returned from a luxuriously lengthy leisure-time in Moku’āina o Hawai’i – specifically, the islands of Maui and Moloka’i. What will follow, over a course of weeks, is my travelogue. SPOILER ALERT: I survive to write this paragraph you’re reading.
Thursday. June 16, 2011.
Nothing makes me wistful for days gone by like traveling by plane. I’m old enough to remember a time when you could escape your reasonably comfortable seat for a small, smoking lounge and make small-talk with other passengers. Meals were included and expected, complimentary playing cards were practically forced on you, and bathrooms were more than one square inch larger than my skeleton.
Traveling by plane was a luxury, like taking a limo, pre-ordering a soufflé, or soaking in salt crystals made from blood diamonds. There was an implied dignity – it was something to look forward to: to be seated and be served.
Before the terrorists won.
Cut to: me and my boyfriend frantically racing to gut our backpacks and pockets of anything shiny and throwing them in large, grey tubs – Will my lip balm set off the alarm? Better throw it in, just in case…; stripping ourselves of shoes and spectacles, praying to a God that doesn’t exist we aren’t targeted to be put through the x-ray, knowing we’d refuse and have to succumb to the most unfulfilling massage imaginable; finally making it to our gate to find the two flights before us have been delayed since dawn, so the terminal is as absolutely packed with weary bodies, looking like some alternative concentration camp where people actually gained weight.
If you plan on attending the fun & satisfying-to-the-palate, all day LA Street Food Fest - The 2nd Annual Summer Tasting Event, happening Saturday July 16th on the grassy fields of the Rose Bowl, do yourself a favor and don't eat beforehand. And when you arrive at this foodie's heaven, pace yourself as you taste your way through the cuisine of over 65 street food vendors of all styles and culinary delights. Presenting food from every corner of the globe there will be old school carts, hot gourmet food trucks & stands manned by both under-the-radar kitchen talents plus celebrity chefs from some of LA’s finest restaurants.
The day long (10am to 10pm) event also features several fun sessions throughout the day. These sessions include the all ages, family friendly Picnic in the Park and the Family Fun Day respectively from 10am to 1pm & 2pm to 5pm, and the 21+ Date Night from 6pm to 9pm. Each of these events are limited to 1500
attendees max to ensure a nice controlled environment. The Gourmet Trucks section will include the Border Grill Truck whose specialty is quinoa fritters, the Dim Sum Truck whose specialty is pork and shrimp shu mai + “baked potato” dumpling, and the Great Balls on Tires truck whose specialty is billed as "Ballywood Indian meatballs on rice."Brian Eno & Rick Holland "Glitch" from Drums Between the Bells (Warp, 2011) - released today
There are very few artists who four full decades into their careers are still consistently making riveting
relevant music that still matters to fans old and new alike. Brian Eno is one of those rarities. Eno, who got his introduction to the music world at the start of the 70's as the keyboardist for Roxy Music before soon after going solo, has consistently evolved as an artist (and music theorist) singularly crafting new production styles and musical sounds (creating the genre of ambient music), as a producer (U2, Devo, Talking Heads, Coldplay), and selectively collaborating alongside with such notable artists over the years as Harold Budd, Robert Fripp, David Bowie, John Cale, and David Byrne. Even 30 years after its release Eno and Byrne's landmark My Life in the Bush of Ghosts sounds as fresh as the day it was released in 1981.Not surprisingly Eno's artistic output and his approach to music continues to influence generation after generation of new electronic artists. So it makes sense that for Eno's latest release, Drums Between the Bells, that the electronic music innovator should again join
forces with Warp Records - a label, since its formation 22 years ago has become known for always finding and advocating adventurous new electronic music. Last year Warp released Small Craft on a Milk Sea, Eno's excellent collaborative composition with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams. I don't know why the Farrelly brothers' Hall Pass wasn't more successful. It's no worse than Kingpin or There's Something About Mary and is about the same thing: men trying to get it up. If you found the previous efforts funny, then there's a recommendation. It was, for me, like spending two hours with a couple of pot-bellied sports radio listeners in a Dallas elevator. Not that I have to like the protagonists in a story, but I do have to find them interesting in some way. And there's nothing interesting about the particular strain of the bourgeoisie know as the sports aficionado. I moved thousands of miles to get away from him. To their credit, I guess, the Farrellys have captured, with a cinéma-vérité authenticity, this khaki-clothed repressed memory of mine ("the 'Boys are back in town": shudder), and without ever explicitly discussing sports. They do, however, frequently turn the camera to old pictures of the leads, Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis), in their glory days as high school football stars to reinforce the effects of domesticity on male potency: use it or lose it. The husbands aren't getting enough from their respective wives, Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate), which regularly erupts in pornographic disquisitions on what they'd be capable of if not for the ball-and-chain.
After hearing their husbands natter on about sexual defilement one time too many, the wives grant them hall passes at the suggestion of a psychiatrist friend. For one week, the men can pretend not to be married without any repercussions for whatever might happen while the women are away on vacation. For most of the week, the husbands drink with friends and continue to dream about molesting young women while young men are actually flirting with their vacationing wives. If you've seen any romantic comedy about infidelity from the past 80 years, you'll recognize Hollywood's reduction of the hedonic calculus to a ratio: cheating isn't bad so long as (1) the betrayed lover is an asshole, (2) the jilted one is given a replacement, or, as in Hall Pass, (3) both parties are equally unfaithful. Marital bliss (a.k.a. love conquers all) is defined through parity: Rick and Maggie resist the temptation to cheat, while Fred and Grace both give in (but feel awful for doing it afterwards), with both couples renewing their vows by the end. What's perverse about this resolution is that it isn't some satirical undermining of romantic love using utilitarianism, but a moronic conflation of utilitarianism with romantic love. These couples are the libertarian base, supporting any candidate who romanticizes capitalism as naturally just.
The film is little more than a diversionary fantasy for the kind of man who can afford to have a mid-life crisis, so probably will. The comedy isn't based on any critique of the kind of fucked-up views that might lead to such crises (such as the strength of marriage bond being seen as the equality of each spouse's exchange value in the free market), but always in support of bourgeois ennui as being as good as it gets. We're supposed to root for Rick, laugh with him, not at him. Thus, his moment of self-realization comes when he tells off the bohemian barista at the local coffee shop. He points out that he might be square, but it's his type that owns the businesses, so good luck ever getting a job (a real job) with those counter-cultural views. He then goes on to steal the barista's object of desire, a hip, curvy blond co-worker with the line that she gets a chance to sleep with a married man. No, really, so appealing is his status that his kids' winsome, college-aged babysitter regularly tries to seduce him, too. The beatnik barista turns out to be a mama's boy (what else could a commie be living in capitalist abundance?) and homicidal, trying to kill Rick for taking his girl (sane people surely can't be skeptical of capital). Hell, even his wife decides not to cheat on him because there's just too much there to value (by other potential buyers). Just as Rick suspected: he could fuck young girls if he wanted, his wife is still hot enough to attract other guys, but chooses only him, and he has enough wealth that he should feel superior to cynical hipsters. What started off as a fear of impotency has now been reframed as freedom. Now, that's ideology.
(Sidenote: Surprisingly, I ran across one conservative, Carl Horowitz, who'd likely agree with me here, only with a positive spin: "Hollywood does have a reigning political sensibility. It’s called libertarianism, or more accurately, individualist libertarianism." Anyway, it's a good essay.)
“It’s refreshing not to hear the juvenile whining that’s so prevalent in alt rock…”
To check out extensive LP label and price guides, head to the Vinyl Beat website!
I realize that country music doesn’t resonate with everyone. The primary reason for that is because mainstream country has been pretty vapid for the past thirty years. Country radio caters to the lowest common denominator, and insults our intelligence while abusing our musical standards. And if that isn’t enough, the twang of the older better stuff is difficult to deal with if you weren’t raised with it. I understand the barriers. In fact, when I was a kid my friends and I thought that “Buck Owens” was about the funniest name we’d ever heard.
All that withstanding, it was country rock music and steel guitars that caught my ear a few years later and lead me on a quest to find the “real” stuff. I found a goldmine. For some obvious starting points, try Haggard’s honky-tonk music, Bill Monroe’s bluegrass, Hank Williams country blues, Bob Wills’ western swing, George Jones’ white man’s soul and Ray Price, Patsy Cline and Waylon Jennings. If that works for you, delve a little deeper and dig Johnny Bush, Wynn Stewart, The Derailers, Wanda Jackson, Porter Wagoner, Laurie Lewis, Johnny Paycheck, The Texas Troubadours and many more.
This is adult music with themes such as drinking, marriage break-ups and truck driving. It’s refreshing not to hear the juvenile whining that’s so prevalent in alt rock. There’s also hot picking, great harmonies and cool western attire. And as an added bonus, any idiot can dance the “two step” and join the party. For the uninitiated, this is not line dancing, it’s an easy couples dance. But, I digress.
Country records are extremely undervalued. Yes, there’s many rare records, but not too many people are looking for them. You can still build a nice low cost collection from finds at record stores, swaps, garage sales and thrift stores.
There’s also many sub genres to collect such as alt country, rockabilly, bluegrass, West Coast and Bakersfield, truck driving songs, western swing, Texas shuffles, and cowboy songs which were originally the “western” in C&W.
Happy hunting.
Foreign Legion "Travel Lite" (extended video version) (2011)
Care of the always self-effacinging funny rap duo of Foreign Legion (witty & talented Oakland emcees Prozack Turner and Marc Stretch) comes the above latest extended version video for "Travel Lite" from the pair's recommended current album Night Moves - on Hunger Strike Records/Quality Control and available at Amoeba Music. Without even trying Marc and Zack are just naturally funny and, unlike so much of hip-hop these days, do not take themselves seriously by any means as they trade quips, one liners, and so corny they're funny jokes. Included in the deliberately silly (including canned laughter) clip are such jokes as Stewardess: "Have you ever been in the Navy?" Prozack: "Well.. I used to work at Old Navy." Ba-da-boom!
And below is the brand new video for "The Hex" by Random Axe, the latest outing from the rap supergroup comprised of Sean Price, Black Milk, and Guilty Simpson. The song is one of the many audio treats found on the new fifteen track CD simply titled Random Axe that is available at Amoeba and is featured in the new Hip-Hop Top Five found immediately below the video
. Random Axe "The Hex" (2011)
Conrad Schnitzler
Live ’72
Further
Fantastic Live recording from the Cluster founder.
Beautiful handmade gatefold sleeve.
Purchase Conrad Schnitzler Live '72
Holger Zilske
Acid Test 04
Absurd Recordings
Part 4 in the “ACID TEST” series from ABSURD RECORDINGS drops from Berlin’s HOLGER ZILSKE. “A pure analog jam using just a 303, 101 and a 808″ its a slow pulsing bass heavy acid work out. Comes with remixes from JOHN TEJADA and Stockholm’s AXEL BOMAN. Initial pressing comes with download codes in handpainted sleeves.
Purchase Acid Test 04
Deadbeat
Drawn And Quartered 2LP
BLKRTZ
Scott Monteith aka Deadbeat releases an album for his own label BLKRTZ. It has been 12 years since Monteith quietly launched his Deadbeat music project with an unassuming performance on the street outside a Montreal café as part of the first edition of the city's now internationally-lauded MUTEK festival. And while the venues and audiences have grown steadily and seriously in the years since, the crackling dub sonics, deep grooves, and rumbling bass which characterized that performance have remained a constant in his live and recorded work, and earned him a substantial number of devoted followers the world over in the process. Having worked with a virtual who's-who of the most respected labels in the industry over the last decade, Monteith now takes the plunge into the murky depths of labelhood, launching his BLKRTZ imprint with no less than a full album of new material. "When I received the news a few months ago that ~scape was officially closing its doors, I was incredibly sad to hear it." says Monteith from his new home in Berlin. "Though I hadn't worked with them in a few years, I always saw ~scape as the natural home for a very important part of my work. Not necessarily the more listening side of things per se, but certainly the most unconcerned with genre or function, from a creative standpoint the most free, I guess. Barbara and Stefan worked very hard to promote a great deal of quite marginalized material over the years and did a lot to help me and many other artists out personally who otherwise would have had a much harder time of it. Though I'll be concentrating on my own work for the first few releases, it's my hope that BLKRTZ can serve a similarly honorable purpose in the years to come." In celebration of the label's inaugural release, Monteith has teamed up with long-time friend and world renowned video artist, Lillevan, to create an immersive audio/visual performance quite unlike any other.
Purchase Drawn And Quartered
Anthony Collins
Don't Look Down Now 12"
Curle
This is Anthony Collins' fourth release on Curle already, if you don't count the Nina Kraviz & Los Updates remix EP. Fans of "Another Lonely Night" will most definitely also dig "Don't Look Down Now," although it's a little deeper and more minimal, maybe. But the surprise on this release is without a doubt the 9'+ remix from Roman Flügel. This release, my friends, is going to be a summer anthem.
Purchase Don't Look Now
Omar-S
Here’s Your Trance – Shadow Ray remix
FXHE
Stellar remix from Shadow Ray of one 2011’s top tracks.
Purchase Shadow Ray remix
Marcus Worgull
Long Way/Coppa 12"
Innervisions
It has taken quite some time for Marcus Worgull to deliver his third EP for Innervisions. We won't blah blah about the music. You better just listen to it. But there is one piece of decisive information that shouldn't be withheld from those who never read the credits: "Long Way" has additional instruments, beats and even vocals (!) by Mr. Prins Thomas.
Purchase Long Way/Coppa
Sebastian Mullaert aka MinilogueÄlva EP 12"
Mule Electronic
Mule Electronic welcomes back more of Sebastian Mullaert's solo work. "Älva" is dubby, psychedelic house, sounding like a more techno version of Omar-S. This track will be a great DJ tool for everyone. On the B-side, "Lyssna Då Björkarna Viskar" is peaceful ambient house with the sound of birds singing, discordant piano, trippy synths, etc. -- perfect music for the morning in the club.
Purchase Älva EP
Stefan GoldmannEmptying the Vaults Vol.1 12"
Victoriaville
Number 1 in a series of 3 EPs unraveling unreleased classic house tracks by Stefan Goldmann. Victoriaville continues its research into Stefan Goldmann's sweet back catalogue with the world premiere of a triple vinyl series of never before released house material. Revisiting the years 2000 - 2005, Emptying The Vaults highlights the era of Stefan Goldmann's "UK years." Restored from the original master tapes and cut by D&M's Rashad, here's some startling evidence of how deep the roots of house actually were in Berlin years before the hype set in. "Cirque Mecanique" is a throbbing groove workout with a dark edge, while "Warm Rush" brings sweet AND pure deepness. "True Dub" is an unreleased alternative version to 2002's "True" single -- no vocals, just bass.
Purchase Emptying the Vaults 1
Art Department
WE CALL LOVE 12”
Crosstown Rebels
"WE CALL LOVE" is a deviant classic for the futuristic age. ART DEPARTMENT collide with SOUL CLAP & OSUNLADE in an exclusive collaboration that brushes shards of early Chicago house with a magnetic pop infused sheen. Also has a synth house mix from DJ HARVEY & jazzy electro mix from DAPHNI.
Purchase We Call Love
Lovefingers & Nitedog
BLACK DISCO 10 12”
Black Disco
BLACKDISCO return with straight up fun party jams for 4 different moments in the night starting with LOVEFINGERS pumping macho disco "AMERICA". NITEDOG's "MARTIAL ARTS" is a mid-tempo bassline bobber. LOVEFINGERS "SLIM JIM" is a funky Eastern guitar stomp & "PRIMATES" a funky warm burner.
Purchase Black Disco 10
MARK E: The Day 12"
Inxec + Leks/HOW CAN I FEEL 12”
The Chain/LOSTWITHIEL EP 12”
Proper Heat/THE MOVE 12”
RAMON TAPIA: Talk To Me 12"
RAY OKPARA: Abellio 12"
RONAN PORTELA & ARIL RODZ: La Floresta 12"
GEL ABRIL: Angola/Changes 12"
GREGOR TRESHER: Lights From The Inside Part One 12"
GREGOR TRESHER: Lights From The Inside Part Two 12"
MULLER, JURGEN: Science Of The Sea LP
SEBASTIAN: Total 2LP+CD
AEROPLANE: My Enemy 12"
T.W.I.C.E: Dubbing Of My Soul 12"
ALEX JONES: Disappointing Dancefloors Since 2005 12”
AGORIA: Impermanence 2LP
PIERRE LX: Out 1 2LP
VA: Kitsune Maison Compilation 11- The Indie Dance Issue 2LP
PUNKS JUMP UP: Blockhead 12"
THE SUBS: Don't Stop 12"
MUMBAI SCIENCE: Lotus 12"
HIGHBLOO: Bro Code 12"
MAURIZIO VITIELLO: MusicOn 12"
PETAR DUNDOV: Tenth Plateau 12"
KID CULTURE & THOMAS ROBSON: So Addictive 12"
SEUIL: Ultravision 12"
REMERC: Just A Bards Tale EP 12"
OPTIONAL FEAST: Porro 12"
PHANTOM & HOLD: Glass Heart 12"
PHASE: Transantarctic 12"
ZZT (ZOMBIE NATION & TIGA): Zzafrika Remixes 3x12" BOX
Fracture & Neptune/CUSTOMTONE 12”
Joshua Moses & S Bengamin/PRETTY GIRL 7”
Disco Deviance/#20 ONUR ENGIN 12”
Benoit & Sergio/PRINCIPLES 12”
Daniel Kyo/SUPERSTITION EDIT 12”
Fantastics/SOMEWHERE FINALLY 12"
Shaolin Afronauts/FLIGHT OF ANCIENTS Heartbreak Sound/EP 1 12”
Danny Daze/YOUR EVERYTHING 12”
Ill Skillz/FACE THE MUSIC 12”
Need For Mirrors/TRIANGULATION DELTA 12”
Bassfort/MOON SHADOW - MOON LIGHT 12”
Deadmau5/RAISE YOUR WEAPON-STIMMING 12”
Various/MAGIC WAND VOL. 3 12”
Max Essa/HOW DO YOU FEEL 12”
Camo & Krooked/ALL FALL DOWN 12”
Bushwacka/WEST SIDE - ENERGY 12”
Aquasky/TAKE ME THERE REMIXES 12”
ASC/BRAINSCAN 12” Downlink/FACTORY 12”
Dodge & Fuski/AEROPHOBIA 12"
Benton/HAVING FUN 12”
Tuccillo/MATHEMATICS EP 12”
Cosmic Boogie & Andy Ash/THE FEEL IT 12”
DJ Madd/BLANK SPACE EP D12”
Silkie/CITY LIMITS VOL. 2 3LP
J Majik & Wickaman/THE RITUAL 12”
Only Children/DON'T STOP DON'T STOP 12”
Girl Unit/WUT-CLAUDE VONSTROKE RMX 12”
Various/KNIGHTS OF THE PLAYBOY... DLP
Soundspecies/BAMANA PROJECT 12”
Tumblack/TUMBLACK LP
Keytars, Organs, Moog, Casio, Roland, Sequential, Modular & More!
Rheingold "Fan, Fan, Fanatisch"
