Amoeba Music [Los Angeles, CA.]

A good music shop is a small slice of heaven on earth. Obviously there are a lot of places to "go" to get your music. You could roll to the Best Buys, Circuit Cities, and what not. You could go nowhere and shop online. You could just download your music [legally or illegally]. But personally, nothing beats going into a quality music shop and just spending some time perusing and listening to music.

I always loved Tower Records and was sad to see them close up shop. When I'm in San Francisco I've been known to spend a fair amount of time in the Virgin Records store on Market St. But even when I lived in the Bay I never really spent much time in Amoeba. But, my brother gave me a $50 gift certificate as a Christmas present and I finally got around to making use of it last nite [I picked up the Thriller 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, the Juno soundtrack, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, and Paolo Nutini's These Streets and the totaly after the gift certificate came to about $10].

So, what makes a music shop great? Obviously, selection is crucial. Duh. Beyond selection, many of the other important factors go to aesthetics: what is the vibe or feel of the store? how and who does the store cater to? what's the layout like and how easy or difficult is it to peruse and find what u want while also coming across things u didn't know u needed? what else is in the store aside from music?

There's an obvious appeal to places that are more independent and local and specializes in music [as opposed to a place like Best Buy]. But the trade off tends to come down to price. Still, the right store is a place u're willing to support and spend a little extra at if necessary. On to my thoughts on Amoeba...

I definitely like a lot of things about Amoeba. The store is in a great location and is massive, which allows for the massive selection. I believe you could find just about anything u're looking for in store. I stumbled across The Breakin' DVD Collection, which I would have bought on the spot but for the fact that I already own Beat Street', and Breakdance 2: Electric Boogaloo [leaving only the bonus DVD as something new for me].

But the great selection isn't the only draw. Part of the selection is a large number of 'used' CDs. I say 'used' because some of the used CDs are actually the promo discs given out to various outlets, but technically the discs are used. The option is a great way to save money.

Other great things about Amoeba include the fact that they're open til 11 pm on week nites and the place just has a great vibe. U get a variety of different ppl in store due to the wide variety when it comes to selection. I was in there at around 10pm last nite and the place was poppin' [on a Tuesday]. In addition to the music there are DVDs and other music-related things to buy.

The two negatives are big tho: 1. hipsters & 2. prices. Too many hipsters, at least in the Los Angeles location [I imagine it can't be any better up in the Bay]. The awesome selection, independent vibe, and not being a massive chain [altho there are 3 stores in all] result in prices being a little higher. Tho if u can find what u want used u'll also find the savings. But still, hipsters and high prices are two of my greatest enemies in life. Ha!

I will definitely go back to Amoeba...I could spend all day in the store just perusing the selection, finding the things I want and stuff I didn't know about. I'll just be sure to avoid the hipsters and see if what I want is available used.