We were delighted to have singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Valerie June visit Amoeba San Francisco for a What's In My Bag? episode. A native Tennessean, June found some classic records by artists from her home state, including Big Star. "They say sometimes that music coming out of Memphis can only make it so far," she told us, "and that story kind of became a thing with them. To me they're (as) big as The Beatles." Not only does she feel connected to the music, but she also has recorded at Ardent Studios, where Big Star recorded some of their most beloved tracks. June had much to say about all of her eclectic choices, making for an insightful and sincere video. 

Valerie June began her music career at the age of nineteen. Based in Memphis, she first attracted attention through her solo work, which draws on elements of gospel, Americana, blues, folk, soul, country, and bluegrass. In 2010, she recorded the Valerie June and the Tennessee Express EP with the help of Old Crow Medicine Show. She launched a Kickstarter to fund the album that would become her breakthrough, 2013's Pushin' Against a Stone. The LP was recorded with assistance from The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and record producer Kevin Augunas.  

"Jazz is a big thing in my life, and a big thing in my kids' life, and also in my dad's life," says Lars Ulrich, drummer for the legendary metal band Metallica. Holding a copy of The Jazz Image: Masters of Jazz Photography, he brings up his father's days growing up in Copenhagen, Denmark, and being around the European Jazz scene. "Some really cool, atmospheric portraits," he comments, "lots of people smoking. Don't smoke at home, kids, it's bad for you." Ulrich had lots to say about his varied, interesting, and sometimes unexpected picks on his recent visit to Amoeba Hollywood.

Metallica formed in 1981 when Lars Ulrich posted a "musicians wanted" ad in a Los Angeles area newspaper and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield responded. The group's first LP, 1983's Kill 'Em All, brought them underground attention but it wasn't till their third LP, Master of Puppets (1986), that Metallica won commercial success. The band's first major label release, Puppets charted at number 29 on the Billboard Top 200 and was the first thrash album to be certified platinum. Metallica received their first Grammy nomination in 1989, for their fourth studio album, ...And Justice for All.

Two years later, Metallica released their highest-selling album, a self-titled LP often referred to as "The Black Album." On their next release, 1996's Load, Metallica moved away from their thrash roots and towards a hard rock aesthetic; the album immediately landed at number 1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for four weeks. Their follow-up LP, Reload, also debuted at position number 1 on the Top 200. The band continued to tour and record regularly. In 2011, Metallica teamed up with Lou Reed for Lulu. After a lengthy break between Metallica studio albums, the band released Hardwired...to Self-Destruct in 2016.

If you're searching for the perfect holiday gift for the post-punk completist or the music fan who has everything, never fear! We've compiled a roundup of some of the most impressive, comprehensive, and just straight up awesome slash interesting rock box sets to hit our stores this year. Many of these releases have never been on vinyl before. Some had been on vinyl long ago, back in the day, and were going for crazy prices on the resell circuit -- until these reissues dropped. From alternate takes to oral histories, here's why we think these box sets will make delightful gifts for the music lovers in your life.

	XTC - Skylarking This comprehensive box set features two 200-gram vinyl LPs plus two CDs, a booklet with song notes from the band, a lyric sheet, and two record sleeves -- the original proposed design and the iconic Skylarking design.
	New Order - Singles Continue reading...

     

Lou Reed "never liked the Beatles.” In fact he strongly disliked them. “I thought they were garbage," said the Velvet Underground singer/writer with a BA in English who shared how he always had, "wanted to write the great American novel but I also loved rock and roll." All of these quotes (and more) come from a rarely heard March 1987 interview Reed, who died of liver disease in October 2013, conducted with journalist Joe Smith that was found in The Joe Smith Collection at the Library of Congress. Conducted almost exactly 28 years ago the interview was recently acquired by PBS who animated it and published it to YouTube earlier today as the latest installment in their ongoing Blank on Blank series - published under the title Lou Reed on Guns & Ammo | Blank on Blank. In the audio interview, in which Reed comes off as mostly grumpy and pretentious, he says that in addition to hating the Fab Four that he also hated some of his adoring fans - especially those who made the mistake of tracking him down to his "out of the wilds of nowhere" New Jersey home address at the time and trekking out to it in the hope of meeting their music hero. "I got out with my shotgun. This is hunting country out there. You better run" - he warns.  Elsewhere in the audio interview, that as well being animated was also subtitled, Reed expresses his disgust of The Doors ("stupid") while maintaining that the goal of Velvet Underground was steadfastly to, "elevate the rock and roll song and take it where it hadn’t been taken before" - adding that no other group came close to the VU's level in his opinion ("The other stuff couldn’t come up to our ankles"). The animated interview is above while the full original audio interview is free via iTunes from the Joe Smith Library of Congress page - here where it was initially made free to the public last April, and where other interviews by Joe Smith include one with Paul McCartney and another with George Harrison who, it should be noted, do not talk shit on Lou Reed or the VU.

Upon hearing the incredible, engaging new single "Bag A Gear" from the Dublin, Ireland-based rapper Tommy KD (formerly known as Man & The Machine) on the topic of his former heroin habit that he is grateful to have finally kicked, I was reminded of the numerous songs tackling the topic of the highly addictive opiate.

I have put together a Top 20 Songs About Heroin list - some seemingly pro but most definitively con. These songs (with accompanying videos) are culled from different genres and different eras but all share views on the same topic - one that has destroyed way too many great musicians' careers and lives over the decades. Just as there are countless terms and nicknames for heroin (horse, smack, H, skag, junk, dirt, brown sugar, golden girl, hell dust, white nurse, thunder, etc. etc.) there are also seemingly endless songs about the drug. This subjective top twenty list could easily be extended into a Top 100 or Top 200 list, so feel free to post any songs on the subject of heroin that you think should have been included. Since I tried to keep it down to 20, I had to cut out duplicates by artists included and did not include such greats as "Ain't it Fun" by both The Dead Boys and Guns N' Roses.