Round 2: Los Angeles

I get to Los Angeles a few times a year. It's gotten me spoiled, now I can barely handle going to a store like FYE or Coconuts to buy music. $17 for a CD? Are you kidding me? In L.A. most of my music shopping happens in two stores, Amoeba Hollywood and Second Spin on Ventura Blvd. There also used to be Aron's which was a great store, but it recently closed.

I think I am right, the Hollywood Amoeba definitely seems bigger than the Berkeley one. I also enjoy their set up more, as they separate the used CDs from the new stuff. In Berkeley you had to search through them all together. Their bargain bin seems not only much bigger, but I found much more in it. It also has to do with the fact I wasn't flying through it because of time constraints (I get dropped off around 1:30 and then a ride home around 4:45pm). I managed to get 8 CDs from the bargain bin, and since the buy 4 get the cheapest free deal is on, I pay for 6 of those.

Amoeba has a huge selection, but often if they do have a newer release used the price will be way too high for me to consider buying ($10-12). They have stranger stuff though, especially in the bargain bin, things you are amazed to have found, and this is what makes Amoeba great. Second Spin is good for its selection of more recent releases at better prices ($7-9) and I always find the more popular releases there (the ones where you say "why would someone have sold this back already, damn!"). Second Spin also has a bargain bin, and though it's very small in comparison, you can't beat the prices as most are $2 or less and usually they have a 50% off deal on them, so you can walk out with some 50¢ CDs if you're lucky enough to find something worth buying.

I've done very well for myself in the music shopping here in L.A., here's a sampling of some of the artists I picked up music by while I was out:

• David Poe - "Reunion"
• Venice is Sinking - Undecided"
• Matson Jones - "He Means Nothing, Dear"
• Regina Spektor - "Us" (left click)
• The Boy Least Likely To - "Be Gentle With Me"
• Maria Taylor - "Song Beneath a Song"