I went to Los Angeles over the weekend to attend the wedding of a friend of mine. Of course, being my first time in L.A., I had to take advantage of the opportunity to hit up a good record store that would again make me dread Phoenix's slim pickings in that department (I discussed that a little bit here). Since time didn't permit a citywide record store tour, I set my sights on the all-purpose Amoeba Hollywood. I'd been to an Amoeba before in San Fransisco, but didn't really have the time I wanted to really absorb it, so I was pretty excited to get to search through one of their stores again.
Now that I've done so, I've decided that I have a love/hate relationship with Amoeba. I love it because of it's selection. Whereas most independent record stores are located in small, old buildings with creaky floors and layers upon layers of posters on the wall, Amoeba stores are located in warehouses with square footage that could fit several of those old record stores inside it with room to spare. The rock section alone dwarfs the size of most indie record shops' entire catalog. Even the most rare of genre's are given a fair amount of attention. Most of my time was spent in the international section, where I was able to find a few albums in store that other record stores would never bother to carry (Bollywood, holla!). Yet this is the same reason why I hate Amoeba. It's like the Sam's Club of independent record stores. There's no ambiance, and the customer service has more of a post-office feel to it. Of course, the droves of hipster douchebags there don't really help things either.
(Inside Amoeba Hollywood, minus hipster douchebags)
I prefer the Aquarius Records or Shake It Records kind of record store. Yeah, my foot could probably crash through their floors on any given step, but I'd take that chance any day if it means going to a cozy store with inadequate heating and cooling systems and a robust selection of rarities that the cashier/owner can tell you just about everything about. Still, if they opened an Amoeba in Phoenix, I wouldn't complain.
Links:
Amoeba
Now that I've done so, I've decided that I have a love/hate relationship with Amoeba. I love it because of it's selection. Whereas most independent record stores are located in small, old buildings with creaky floors and layers upon layers of posters on the wall, Amoeba stores are located in warehouses with square footage that could fit several of those old record stores inside it with room to spare. The rock section alone dwarfs the size of most indie record shops' entire catalog. Even the most rare of genre's are given a fair amount of attention. Most of my time was spent in the international section, where I was able to find a few albums in store that other record stores would never bother to carry (Bollywood, holla!). Yet this is the same reason why I hate Amoeba. It's like the Sam's Club of independent record stores. There's no ambiance, and the customer service has more of a post-office feel to it. Of course, the droves of hipster douchebags there don't really help things either.
(Inside Amoeba Hollywood, minus hipster douchebags)
I prefer the Aquarius Records or Shake It Records kind of record store. Yeah, my foot could probably crash through their floors on any given step, but I'd take that chance any day if it means going to a cozy store with inadequate heating and cooling systems and a robust selection of rarities that the cashier/owner can tell you just about everything about. Still, if they opened an Amoeba in Phoenix, I wouldn't complain.
Links:
Amoeba
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