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LA Mag Votes Amoeba Best Thing About LA
Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
The weather? The Getty? The beach? Spaceland? The hills? The light? Hollywood Bowl? The studios? Pink's? All losers, according to the readers of Los Angeles Magazine, who narrowed down a field of 64 to declare Amoeba Music the Greatest Thing About L.A. Not bad, for a music store that isn't even native to L.A. -- this music lover's wet dream opened first in Berkeley, then San Francisco, then only made it down south about six years ago.
Located at a prime intersection in Hollywood (right across the street from another landmark, the ArcLight), Amoeba has quickly become a major attraction for locals and visitors alike. Yes, the record selection is great, infinite even, and yes the free shows are also a welcome part of the city's music scene. But is Amoeba really the Greatest Thing About L.A.? Really? Better than the beach? Better than tacos? Better than the weather?
Furthermore, who knew that LA Mag's target demographic is actually the hipster music snob? You can't walk down a single aisle in that place without running into an ironic mustache; are these the readers to whom LA Mag advertises boutique jewels and resort vacations?
I say all of this with tongue firmly in cheek of course -- Amoeba is a pretty magical place that is keeping the esoteric art of record collecting alive (as opposed to music downloading). But better than the beach? Better than the weather? Somebody stop this crazy Berkeley hippie train, cause I want to get off!
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