i don't know why i ever think it's "safe" for me to walk into a music mecca like Amoeba. do i really think i can walk out of there with just one CD? or better yet, just browse? ha-ha! just browse! oh, Sean, you are the living end.

(what the hell does that mean, anyway? "the living end", huh?)

on my weekly trip up to the Haight for supplies and people watching, i thought it'd be fun just to poke my head into my second favorite place to find rarities. (the first being the original Ameoba in Berkeley.) it only took me four minutes to stack up five CDs. i had to force myself to the door before that stack grew.

this has the original version of Black Velveteen -- a song i'd never heard before (i adore Lenny Kravitz but i'm terrible at keeping up with his releases), an American Woman remix by Timbaland, and an ok remix of Black Velveteen. aside from the intro that sounds EXACTLY like the intro to an old Nine Inch Nails remix to the point that i wonder if it's sample, Black Velveteen is a pretty good song.

but the really neat part of the EP isn't actually a song at all. included in the data portion of the disc is the original, uncensored video. it's a combination of Lenny and a gorgeous and mostly naked black woman either standing in beautifully colored and lit rooms or writhing in sort-of-sexual poses, and Lenny playing with the band on a neo-modern metallic stage that's more than slightly reminiscent of Missy Elliot's set for I Can't Stand the Rain. (plus Timbaland's influence? just coincidence?) it's a really visually stunning video that i feel lucky to be privy.

a collection of really, really awful dance remixes of B-52s' songs. one of those CDs that becomes a coaster or gets hidden in some deep, dark, infrequently visited drawer. thankfully it was only $4.95.

a relatively good disc from the early 80s that i'd actually never heard of. guess who was the producer? David Byrne.

do you see a trend here? i cleaned out the B-52s section.

until i saw this, i had no idea Ivy had released a second album. and it wasn't until i looked at All Music that i realized not only had they released three albums but this one was their first. shows what i know.

it's a good album. Dominque Durand's voice is as incredible as ever. but it's definitely a first album. Apartment Life has a much more mature, deep, sophisticated sound to it.