Face Off: Amoeba and Rasputin

I’m sitting next to a bum at the corner of Creepy and What’s-That-Smell? I’m sure you’ve all been there. It’s that wrought-iron fence that surrounds the empty lot/trash can across the street from Amoeba Records on Telegraph Ave. That’s where I found myself once upon a Saturday.

My original intent was to pick four CDs and a movie, go to Amoeba and Rasputin to compare prices, customer service, and selection. After a day of collecting data, I was sitting there on the street, writing the first draft of my article. Looking at it, I realized that all I had were statistics (my old nemesis). So instead, let me tell you the story of my data collection.

It was just another average day on Telegraph Avenue. By that, I mean I went on the same day there was a Cal game, a protest, and a performance of a Christian rock band right across the street from Amoeba. After wading through crowds of blue and gold, I got into Rasputin, hoping for a break from the noise of the street. I was greeted with the release celebration for a new rap album. It was a celebration of noise. The album in question was at a volume that rendered employees unable to hear the customers. After trying to get three people’s attention, I decided I’d review the hired help later. I found the section I was in search of, and sadly, Tom Waits had been picked over. I could only find one copy of Mule Variations, the CD I was looking for. They only had it new, and it was overpriced.

To test their staff, I was going to ask an employee where to find music by The Red Elvises. I found a person who I believed was on staff. He was wearing a Rasputin T-shirt and wandering around the aisles. Though looking back, they sell those shirts to the public, and that really could have been anybody. The “staff person” represented everything terrible about Berkeley rolled up into one hard-to-talk-to package. Somewhere behind the many piercings, tattoos (I liked the one of a cat smoking a pipe), strange hair, and that glazed look of either not sleeping or being stoned, came the response, “Uhh…try looking under ‘R.’ It’s after ‘Q.’” I assumed he was messing with me, and asked if he was serious. He replied “What?” with an unmistakable look of true confusion.

The bottom line for Rasputin: Couldn’t hear anything, but found two Lord Buckley albums, and the DVD of Six String Samurai.

On the way over to Amoeba, I was handed 5 pamphlets for “The Sons and Daughters of Christ Almighty,” and asked if I “felt the power” by the singer for the Christian rock band that was midway through a set.

Once inside, there was an immediate sense of relaxation in the air. Sublime was playing in the store at a volume I could handle, and the Tom Waits selection brought tears of joy to my eyes. They had a better selection of all the artists I was looking for far and away, but stuff was hard to find. The staff is what really captivated me. There were tons of employees, and I could have asked anyone for help, but the only one I was really interested in talking to was the guy with the knee-high, purple socks with little tiki heads printed on them. I pursued him all around the store, but he went into the back room before I could bug him with a dumb question to see how much he could put up with. The atmosphere of the place was really pleasant (I’ve grown fond of the clacking of CDs being rummaged through), and the other employees I asked later were very helpful. The highlight of the trip was finding one of the albums I set out for originally, The Reverend Horton Heat’s album, Lucky Seven.

The bottom line: Music-wise, Amoeba has everything Rasputin has, and then some, and they don’t feel the need to burst their customers’ eardrums. Rasputin, however, has a more extensive movie area.

Where you want to shop is really a matter of personal preference, so I’ll leave it up to you. But if you’re ever in Rasputin and see a guy who you think is an employee wandering around the aisles, staring at things like a deer would at a pair of high beams, ask him about alphabetization.

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