Gonzo goes to Amoeba Music

I've just returned from a trip to San Francisco. While my primary purpose in visiting was a conference and catching up with old friends, I was also stoked to visit the legendary Amoeba Music.


This is actually one of three stores Amoeba has in California, the others being in Berkeley (the original) and Hollywood. Amoeba consistently ranks in those "Best Records Stores" lists, and I've heard years of personal testimony. I never doubted, but now I can confirm that Amoeba Music is a) worthy of such praise b) really fucking big and c) totally overwhelming.

(Note: this image does not include the video department, the 45s, or the new releases).

Prior to entering, a long-time friend, music geek and current SF resident said "it's better if you have a list. Otherwise you'll get overwhelmed pretty easily." I did not have a list, and yes, I was overwhelmed. I would browse for a bit in one section, then think of something to look for somewhere else, rinse, wash repeat.

The prices seemed fair, but not incredible deals nor overpriced (I admit, my price-gauge on vinyl has been immensely spoiled by Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh). I did find some gems, however. It's rare anymore that I come across Prince 12 inches that I either don't have or are out of my price range (limited promos and such). But I filled two gaps there ("Diamonds and Pearls" and "Black Sweat"), as well as a remix 12" for MJ's "You Rock My World" - featuring Jay-Z! Didn't even know that existed. I also found a bunch of nuggets in the clearance bins, which are easy to miss. Mostly funk and r&b stuff (filling many Earth Wind and Fire gaps). The coolest thing that I found was a recent release of an old New York Dolls show:


The label touted it as the best-available recording from the era, plus you got a cd copy with the 180-gram vinyl. Count me in! I listened to the cd on the way home from the airport, and it is pretty great (though Johannsen's vocals are mixed a little low). It's not exactly a bootleg release, but from what I can gather it's a Russian company putting out some excellent reissues and previously unreleased gems from all over the musical map - the Dolls, the Cure, the Who, Stevie, Can, Bob Marley and many more. Something to keep an eye on.

Fortunately, my friend found me amidst the bulging aisles and gestured that we should leave. "I've found it unwise and financially unsound to spend more than an hour in here." Which is probably good reasoning (I did leave my place in line to check for one more thing).

Anyhow, if you're ever in Cali, Amoeba is a must. I can't imagine that being my local record store, though. Living in California is expensive enough as it is!

Weekend Recap

I don't usually delve much into my personal goings-on here, but Saturday was filled with music, and I'm still kind of reeling from it. So I shall share.

One of my best friends from college came to visit and we set off on a record shopping excursion. My plan was to use this as an excuse to check out a bunch of Baltimore records stores that I haven't gotten around to yet. In this sense, the mission was a failure, as after only two stops, we both had to stop for fear of our bank accounts going belly up.

But it was absolutely a successful trip.



Consider this a plug for a tiny record store tucked away on Aliceanna St. in Fell's Point. I'd passed !El Suprimo! many times on my long runs, each time thinking "I really need to check this place out some day." I wished I had gone sooner. !El Suprimo! is a small shop, possibly the size of an average bedroom. Despite this spatial limitation, the racks are PACKED with great finds, AT GREAT PRICES. I know that this sounds like a commercial, but it's true. Being a Pittsburgh native, I'm fairly spoiled by Jerry's Fine Used Records, where discs average between $3-$6. Because of this, I often find things that I want when I'm shopping other places, but am resistant to paying say, $10, $15, $20 for a single disc (unless of course it's something that warrants such cost).

ANYHOW, upon exiting !El Suprimo!, I said to my friend, "It's like a little Jerry's." By this I meant that I found a bunch of gems (roughly 12 discs) and paid about $30 for the whole lot. SCORE! Their funk/r&b section is particularly tasty. So check them out if you're ever in the area.

And, they're conveniently located near what I would say is Baltimore's landmark record store, The Sound Garden.



The Sound Garden is much more expansive in terms of space. The bulk of the store is devoted to CDs and DVDs, but within the last year, they've opened a vinyl room that is pretty dope. The bulk of the vinyl is new (and newISH) releases and reissues. So you might not have luck finding that original pressing of Zen Arcade, but you will find modestly priced hip hop, indie rock and electronica discs. I picked up two discs that have been on my list (2008's releases from Portishead and Love is All), which set me back about $35. Not bad.

But what has gotten me and my friends in trouble at Sound Garden in the past is their used CDs. Prices aren't exceptional here, but are about the standard you'll find in any used CD joint. However, they somehow manage to bring in pretty high quality discs, especially newer releases. It's well worth taking the time to sift through the used bins, for sure.

So that was my Record Store Day. Given the occasion, I justified my purchases as fighting the good fight for indie record stores. A good deed, if you will.

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We topped off the day with what I hear is an annual event, the Prince vs. Madonna vs. Michael Jackson dance night at the Ottobar, conveniently within stumbling distance of my apartment. Well worth the $6 cover, which I paid as "Joy in Repetition" played.

Overall, a killer night. The place got pretty packed, and pretty much everyone was dancing. How could you resist with the triumvirate of 1980s pop royalty? They played far too much 21st century Madonna, for some reason, but that's my only real complaint. There wasn't much in the way of deep cuts, but I think that's to be expected when your covering three huge artists. There were a few unexpected tracks though, such as Madonna's "Gambler" (from the Vision Quest soundtrack), Prince and Sheila E.'s "A Love Bizarre," and one of the hottest jams in my book, "Hot Thing." Beyond that, other highlights for me included "Pussy Control," "Erotic City" (duh) and "Remember the Time." The latter was amazing purely because I was on stage dancing next/with a dude that knew the song as well as I did, and I think we were both floored that each of us knew all of the ad-libbed lyrics in the break. It was "a moment."

But the kicker was the end of the night. The DJ announced this was the last track, when I heard Casey Kasem's voice. Of course, hearing Kasem always makes me think of
Negativland's take on "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". But no, Casey was here to tell me that the number one song of the week was Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson with "Say Say Say." I have to admit that I did NOT see (hear?) that coming, and it blew my mind into a million pieces. Needless to say, the place danced everything they had left into that song, and it's been in my head for the last 48 hours. I even dusted off the 12" a friend picked up for me a few years ago, which I have share for the ridiculous cover art:



So Saturday was kind of epic in my little music geek world. And for now, I'll leave you with the video. It always creeped me out a bit that Latoya was MJ's love interest here. But that's beside the point, I guess (???).

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson - Say, say, say

RECORD STORE DAY

This comes last minute, sorry. But tomorrow is Record Store Day. Lots of independent stores across the country are holding special events, giveaways, etc. Check out the official website. Coincidentally, I was already planning an afternoon of record shopping, so this is rather serendipitous. Music geeks: we're in synch.

forthcoming doc: "I Need that Record!"

oh lawd...

I saw it coming, but it's finally happened. I'm officially out of LP storage space. I don't have the wherewithal to go through and get a count, but I'd estimate I'm somewhere around 600 LPs at this point. A respectable, though I'd like to think not excessive collection. (But really, a geek like me is unlikely to call any collection "excessive.")

Thus begins another media storage crisis. Two years ago it was books and files. Got that taken care of. Last year it was cds. I was able eventually find a storage unit to match the two I already had. Now this. It isn't a pressing issue. For now, they're cozy, and I don't plan on doing any serious record shopping until my next Pittsburgh visit in May. And I will likely not purchase any new storage until after I move in August. But I've started to look.

I found this great blog/website, Living With Music. Informative reviews and links to a lot of great products, but most are European, and out of my price range. I love my music, but I'm not interested in spending $1000+ on storage. I've found Gothic Cabinet Craft, which looks to be domestic, quality and affordable. I can put this on the backburner for now, but it's on my mind. The current storage (which is actually an old bookshelf into which I attached supports) will do just fine for the remainder of my time here. But I'm curious - what do y'all use for LP storage?

I think my record collection has grown most significantly in grad school. This is curious, as the wrecka stows in Iowa City are crappy. But I of course make a point to spend a good deal of time and money every time I visit Jerry's Fine Used Records in Pittsburgh. I've also started to find myself in the store having the internal dialogue, "Piss! Do I have this? I can't remember!" I have actually come back to Iowa recently with a 12" that I already owned. Snap. To that end, I'm also looking for software (free) or a web service (free) where I can organize my collection. Really, I'm interested in something where I can just type in the UPC and get all of the info. Suggestions welcome.

record shopping in Pittsburgh

Greetings from the Steel City. Today was spent record shopping, something I look forward to when I'm in town. Iowa City just doesn't have much to offer in the way of good record shopping, so it's always a treat to do some digging at Jerry's Fine Used Records when I'm home.



Over the years, I've found that my favorite way to experience Jerry's is to go alone and go early, giving myself ample time to dig through the seemingly endless collection vinyl Jerry's offers. Today was one of those days. I would venture to say that I spent between 90 minutes and two hours there. $60 later, I came out with a stack of roughly 15 LPs/12"s. Being that record shopping in Iowa is generally fruitless, I allow myself to splurge when I go to Jerry's. As always, I found I couple of things I was specifically looking for, but mostly I came back with dusty gems found by digging through the store. Mostly I came out with a lot of funk records. Excellent.

Don Lindich recently did a great piece on Jerry's (with lots of great photos) on his Sound Advice blog. Check it out. A warning to those of you that have never been to Jerry's: the photographs may give you a heart attack.

Jerry also does a great deal of online auctioning through his site - you can find a lot of great stuff there too if you aren't in the Pittsburgh area.

Jerry's Records website

I also stopped by Attic Records.

I literally hadn't been there since high school, so it was about time. I recalled them having a really good selection of 12 inches. They still do, although that area of the store is incredibly difficult to navigate.



To their credit, they were hit incredibly hard by a flood in 2005, so it's good to see them still there at any rate. I restrained myself there, picking up only Marvin Gaye's Super Hits LP, which I've been after for months. (It's the only collection that gathers all of those great early singles like "Hitch Hike," "Ain't That Peculiar," "Wonderful One," etc.) So I left pleased. I saw a lot of stuff I wanted, but figured I'd already spent enough money for the day.

When I'm in Pittsburgh, I also tend to make the rounds to various locations of The Exchange (a regional used cd chain), but that will have to wait until later.

I'll have some more odds and ends from the web in my next post, so stay tuned.