You get the impression that Amoeba records in Hollywood has been open forever, although it only started in 2001, since it's the most talked about record store in Los Angeles. It's one of those places that when you walk into it, you know this was the store you were dreaming about your whole life. The sheer size of the place is impressive, warehouse-like with large ceilings and racks after racks of music holding over 250,000 titles. Some people find this intimidating, but we think it's music paradise.
Amoeba feels like the big record stores of yesteryear, it's like Tower records, but independently owned. For vinyl lovers like us it's awesome. Now vinyl as we all know has made a comeback in the last couple of years, but Amoeba championed vinyl when everyone was going out to buy an iPod. The largest section of their floor space is dedicated to housing the tons of records they stock, and Amoeba stocks pretty much everything. The prices are not cheap, but as record stores go they are all pretty reasonable. The only problem with this store is that you have to know when to stop, if you aren't careful you can easily blow last weeks salary in one afternoon.
The staff walks around the place like it was a Virgin Megastore, stocking the shelves, and ignoring you so you do miss out on the one on one connection that most independent record stores are all about. The people that go there can be a bit of a drag too, it's right in the middle of Hollywood, so you get your DVD and Blu-Ray shoppers that are hanging around buying The Bourne Ultimatum instead of one of the many awesome records they have in stock. Amoeba also has a ton of really high profile in-store performances as well, so if you are not careful you might get stuck in the middle of one of those too. For example, you just get out of work ready to pick up that first Minor Threat 7" and you have 200 people blocking the isle to the "M section." But, this is all part of the experience, and the place is totally worth getting past these minute setbacks. Put it this way, every time we're out in LA we get off the plane and do two things, get an In-N-Out burger, and head straight to Amoeba.
6400 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 245-6400
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