An Amoeba of Music

I remember growing up, my friends and I would hit up the music store after school. We would hang out, listen to new music (that our parents didn't approve of), and buy the latest tracks with the money we would save up. I remember movies like High Fidelity and Empire Records, where locally owned records stores where fighting the corporate giants. They were the renegades and I thought working at a record shop would be the life... Listening to new and old music, sharing it with whoever walked through the door, working against the grain of society and giving it to the "Man."

One of my favorite scenes from Empire Records.

Sadly, after the mp3 boom, most independently owned record stores went out of business... However, here in San Francisco, the independent record stores are still alive and kicking. They are sprawled throughout the city and the Bay Area. One record store in particular is Amoeba Records. Located in the Lower Haight, in an old bowling alley. Amoeba records was established in 1997 and is locally owned and operated. They house over 30,000 new and used CDs, DVDs, and vinyls. An encyclopedia of music. Although the movie section of the store is nothing compared to the rest of the store, they have an excellent selection of documentary films. 

Anyone looking for a new addition to their music collection or want to take a walk down memory lane, Amoeba is a must. Also, don't forget to check the sales rack for tons of CDs in the $1.00-$5.00 range. Buy 4cds on sale and get the least expensive cd for free. what a deal!

The first day walking into Amoeba Records, I was astonished and slightly overwhelmed seeing the large isles packed with music, wall to wall, front to back. I'm sure my eyes where as big as a kid in a candy shop. You could easily spend a whole day going from isle to isle and still not get through them all.

I knew I was there longer than anticipated when I heard over the loudspeaker, "please make your way to the concert stage at 6pm for album release performance of "Watsky."" I looked at the time and realized I had been there for a couple of hours already. So, I decided to stick around for a few more minutes and listen to some new local music, and may I add, some good music! Check out this video from Watsky (<CLICK ME) and hear some new SF local sounds.

Amoeba Records is constantly pushing the local scene by putting on shows weekly. Check out their website for shows and special events. I'm sure you will find a gem or two in this locally ran store... I know I found about 8, all on sale... Score!