1) The Jacka Tear Gas (SMC)

2) Big Rich Heart of the City (3 Story Muzik)

3) Raashan Amhad Soul Power (Crown City Rockers)

4) Wu Tang Chamber Music (KR Urban/KOCH)

5) Dead Prez + DJ Green Lantern Pulse Of The People (Turn Off The Radio Vol. 3) (IMG)

Thanks to Luis at the San Francisco Amoeba Music for this week's Hip-Hop Top Five Chart, which is  60% homegrown Bay Area talent this week, including the number this week at the Haight Street store: The Jacka and his latest full-length, Tear Gas. The album from the Mob Figaz member is doing well on the Billboard charts too. It debuted at #4 on the music trade magazine's Rap Charts, #12 on the R&B Charts, #13 on the Indie Charts, and at #93 on the Top 200 albums chart, 

With studio assistance from a dozen different producers, this follow up to The Jacka's popular 2008 mixtape, The Street Album, is the hard working Oakland-born/Pittsburg-raised rap artist's most diverse sounding release to date. Tear Gas features mic guests from far beyond the Bay, including Houston's Devin The Dude and Philly's Freeway. Of course, the Mob Figaz member is also joined by some of his Yay Area peeps such as Mistah F.A.B., Andre Nickatina, and Zion I. Converted to Islam, The Jacka lets his faith be known on the album via lyrics such as "in Allah we trust, I try to purify my heart, because I’m a slave to my thoughts. I’m a monster out here, because I change when it’s dark" in the song "They Don't Know," on which he is joined by Freeway, who is a fellow Muslim.

The Second Annual Temescal Street Cinema, the unique grassroots Oakland outdoor film festival that began last summer to an extremely positive community response, is currently underway, with locally produced films being screened for free each Thursday evening after dark at 49th and Telegraph (behind the Bank of the West Building). The North Oakland film festival's 2009 six-week summer season, which kicked off on Thursday, June 11th, distinguishes itself from most other US summer outdoor film screening events in that it specializes in showing locally made and produced films exclusively -- often films made within a short distance of the outdoor screening space. Tonight, starting around 8:30pm or a little after, as it gets dark, will be the screening of the two local films: Drylongso by Cauleen Smith and Smitten by Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto.

Darleen Drapkin, director of the Temescal Telegraph Business District, who has been doing a stellar job of developing the North Oakland area in recent years, told the Amoeblog, "The concept behind the film festival is part of our overall concept of shopping locally and trying to be independent and local whenever possible. It's easy to run Shrek and movies like that, but we try to stay local and independent and we sincerely take pride in the community here and what it has to offer." Arne Johnson, the producer and co-director of Girls Rock, which screened at the premiere Temescal Street Cinema festival last year, is the curator for this year's festival and he has chosen some excellent local films, from shorts to full-length features.

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Academy Award winning "everyman" actor Karl Malden died earlier today at his home in Los Angeles. He was 97 years of age. During his long acting career, Malden played roles in TV, movies, and theater, but is probably most often identified for his role as Lt. Mike Stone (opposite Michael Douglas) in the popular seventies TV series The Streets Of San Francisco (clip above) as well as for being the spokesperson for American Express travelers checks in a series of TV commercials in that same decade. Read the full obit here.

Today, June 30th 2009, Fillmore San Francisco rapper Big Rich releases his latest album Heart Of The City on his own local independently owned & operated label 3 Story Muzik/Street Cred Music Group. Available at Amoeba Music San Francisco today, Luis in the hip-hop department at the Haight Street store commented, "We're very excited to have a new project by Fillmore's finest. We always sell out of everything he does."

Three years ago the hometown hero burst on the scene with the critically acclaimed, E40 presented debut Block Tested Hood Approved released on the New York based KOCH Records. Last year he followed up with both the album San Francisco Anthem as part of the All City crew, and the underground slim-jewel case CD release Get Down Or Lay Down Vol 2. And now today he unleashes the album Heart Of The City which sticks close to the script that the Bay Area artist developed on those previous releases.

Of the lyrical content of the new 17 track Heart Of The City (see exact tracking below) Big Rich says that, "I'm talking about issues happening in every city on a daily basis. I'm trying to capture the mood of rolling through your city and seeing different things going on in your everyday life. I'm telling my story through the eyes of a hustler's lifestyle: not a gangsta, a drug dealer, a politician, but a person who once struggled and now enjoys the journey after the fact,"  Heart Of The City features some of the finest local acts making cameos including Glasses Malone, The Jacka, Dem Hoodstarz, and 3 Story Gang. Meanwhile production is handled by 3 Story's own in-house producer D-Animals, Automattik and M.A..

1) Throne of Katarsis Helvete - Det Iskalde Morket

2) Torgeist Devoted To Satan

3) Vlad Tepes Black Legions Metal

4) Vietus Mortuus These Haunted Lands

5) Root Hell Symphony

This list of five popular Metal/Black Metal full length albums can be found under the expansive "new releases" CD section of heavy metal, located on the right hand side of the back wall of the Haight Street Amoeba Music store in the vast metal section. These are just a sampling of the countless wonderful metal (including lots of black metal) albums on CD found in this section of the store. More metal releases popular at Amoeba's three stores will be featured in future Metal Monday Amoeblogs. Note that this "new releases" section is technically not all brand new releases, but most are new to many US metal fans. There are also many black metal imports in the section which were previously often difficult to find.

Included is Throne of Katarsis -- the Norwegian self-described "masters of unholy black metal," who in the six years since forming have achieved their goal of trying to keep the spirit of dark atmospheric occult Black Metal of the early ninties Norwegian Black Metal alive and well. According to the band's website, "Sanrabb of Gehenna joined forces with Throne of Katarsis on bass and will appear at upcoming shows and on tour with the band. Current bass player Lord Imalas will still be a part of the live line-up, as they will do separate rituals in the future."