Category: NEWS

Janky Smooth And The NSA Show on Dash Radio-Music, News, Revolution

Danny Baraz March 28, 2016

Are you tired of all the noise and propaganda in the Main Stream Media and on the News? Everyday, the 6 companies that own almost all of the media you consume attempt to make it more difficult to identify “the truth” about what is happening in both foreign and domestic events. Janky Smooth and The New Sound Alliance is a new radio show on the Los Anarchy Radio Station of Dash Radio that attempts to cut through all the bullshit to deliver to you honest reporting on both the news you see everyday and the news that is hidden from public consumption. Janky Smooth and The NSA delivers a weekly recap of world events as we try to unite musicians and artists to engage in a new level of activism. To rekindle the artistic spirit to re engage people in the social and political process. We also feature special, in studio guests, world premiere music and in studio performances. You can check out past shows as they go up on our Soundcloud the day after airing on Dash Radio. Join Danny B, Murder Bunny, Taylor Wong (party boy) and the entire Janky Smooth team as we report on the world

Punk Rock Bowling 2016 Club Shows Announced

Danny Baraz March 8, 2016

Punk Rock Bowling is like no other festival on the planet. There are few major festivals that are able to instill in it’s attendees a real sense of community across the entire scope of it’s population. The level of quality and consistency that BYO Records is able to achieve year after year is impressive. No where is this more prevalent than the annual cluster of Punk Rock Bowling club shows. In a lot of ways, I’m far more interested in the lineup of Punk Rock Bowling 2016 club shows than I am in the actual festival itself. While the major story line of this year’s installment of PRB is the expansion of the festival to include an East Coast weekend of festival days and club shows in New Jersey, today’s announcement of the schedule and lineup of the Punk Rock Bowling 2016 club shows has me talking to myself. One night in particular stands out to me and might just be all the motivation I need to keep my attendance streak going. The Thursday night club show at Punk Rock Bowling 2016 is Ministry, Excel and 45 Grave are playing the motherfucking Fremont Country Club. I’m not sure what the

Burger Records and the Observatory: 5 Years of Fun in Orange County

Danny Baraz March 7, 2016

With Burger Records postponing their annual Burgerama festival, Sean and Lee have opted to honor their partnership with the Observatory in Orange County. For 5 years, Burger and The Observatory have conspired to bring the audiophiles of Orange County some of the best lineups in all of Southern California. To commemorate the milestone, Burger Records and their headquarters to showcase the bands on their label, The Observatory, have put together a show for every day this week that features some of the best talent in indie music today. This post will serve as a running update and review of shows that Janky Smooth attends. The headliners and supporting acts on the lineup aren’t just Burger bands but feature acts like Slowdive and Crystal Castles for one of their first live performances without iconic vocalist, Alice Glass. Angry Samoans headline the Wednesday, March 9th show and includes Orange County punk icon, Rikk Agnew along with Golden (shower) Boys of emerging pop punk, No Parents. The anniversary week kicks off tonight with a few bands that we’ve spent a lot of time covering over the past year; Shannon and the Clams, Death Valley Girls and The Gooch Palms and features Guantanamo Baywatch

New Song Premiere: Sunshine Mind- Synchronize

Brent Smith February 24, 2016

Are you like me in that you’re jonesing for some more jangly, shoegazey surf rock in your life? Along with the launch of the Janky Smooth Soundcloud, L.A.’s own cosmic thrashers Sunshine Mind premiere with us just that with their new single “Synchronize.” Coming off of last year’s self-titled EP (Lolipop Records), the band’s back at it with their soon-to-be-released follow up, mixed by none other than mutant pop mastermind Dante White of Dante vs. Zombies. Judging from the sounds of “Synchronize”, it’s sure to motivate your true dream of becoming a beach bum, and send you so far into your headphones you’re going to pop out on the other side pitted in a sun-glazed, overhead swell. “Don’t you worry/ You’re on your way…” Though on the surface it appears a harmless, catchy 2 min. 18 sec. pop song, you’ll soon find yourself in distorted spacetime on a psychedelic carpet ride, boogying down on the dark side of the moon. (Haven’t you heard? There’s music there now!) This ditty is jam-packed and no piece is absent. After the rad opening riff, the first things that hit me were the swift, heavy bass and crashing cymbals. Singer Henry Lopez’s drawn out, introspective crooning

Meeting Today: Protect The California Coast in Morro Bay!

Brent Smith February 10, 2016

The California Coastal Commission will hold a hearing on TODAY Wednesday, February 10th that will decide whether or not it will fire its current Executive Director Charles Lester. This matters because Lester has a pretty legit, nonpartisan track record of protecting public access and the environment from commercial development of our (extremely valuable and extremely coveted) coastal land. Since this proposal by the Commission to dismiss Lester from leadership, an outpouring of public support has been heard in his defense, including a letter from nine California congressional members. The L.A. Times article reads (emphasis is mine): Environmentalists and other supporters of the commission contend the attempted ouster has nothing to do with Lester, who they say is an effective, by-the-books administrator who makes decisions based on scientific and legal requirements rather than political considerations. They see something else: an attempt by pro-development forces to gain control over the agency and make it more accommodating to private interests. In case you’re not aware, every single real estate development firm in the world wants our coast for their godawful hotels and the more chains of same stores you see at every retail/entertainment complex from Mission Valley to Santa Rosa. We shouldn’t be

The New S.A.- The New Sound Alliance- art by Joey Feldman

The New S. A.- The New Sound Alliance Voter Registration Org

Danny Baraz February 3, 2016

Janky Smooth is proud to launch The New S.A.- The New Sound Alliance. We endorse no candidates. We are Americans. We support a more responsible version of capitalism. Our only mission is to register first time voters to insure that only candidates that represent “the People” of The United States of America receive sufficient representation in US Government. Please; Register to Vote now and JOIN THE NEW SOUND ALLIANCE. Our first event will take place in late May, 2016. We will be well past Super Tuesday, with a much clearer picture of the General Election. Full lineup, location and special guests announced soon. Join our newsletter and you will be informed of everything we are involved in and it will act as your RSVP to all our free events. Please share this post if you are interested in registering first time voters. WE stand at a crossroads. We can no longer talk about how much we care about this issue or that issue and then say “Someone else will take up the fight but right now, we have to worry about our own thang”. Time to decide where we stand in all this before The United States of America is unlivable for

LCD Soundsystem Christmas Will Break Your Heart

LCD Soundsystem Release Xmas 7″- “Christmas Will Break Your Heart”

Danny Baraz December 24, 2015

With all the back and forth about the possible LCD Soundsystem reunion that isn’t actually happening, the release of their first new song in 5 years suggests that the band might have a couple new year’s resolutions. Just over an hour ago James Murphy tweeted from the LCD Soundsystem Twitter account about a Christmas song he’s been singing in his head for the past 8 years, always forgetting to record it until another Xmas would pass. It appears that this year would not pass without the band not only recording the song but also releasing it on 7″ here via Murphy’s label, DFA Records. The song was also released today and posted to a YouTube account called LCD Xmas. This song is sure to become an anthem for sad bastards everywhere who are getting drunk alone on the most depressingly jolly day of the year. It seems to me that LCD Soundsystem have a ton of artistic expression that has been bottled up too long. The back and forth surrounding the reunion is prologue to a busy 2016. I have no doubt we will be seeing the LCD Soundsystem name in big print on a Coachella announcement, soon. To me

Homeless Holiday Charity Event by Thee Oh Sees and Panache Booking

Danny Baraz December 11, 2015

Sometimes, we help those less fortunate without expecting anything in return and sometimes, we can help the needy and create memories we will never forget. This coming Wednesday the 16th and Thursday the 17th, Panache Booking in conjunction with Thee Oh Sees are holding a Homeless Holiday Charity Event at The Teragram Ballroom. Proceeds from the Homeless Holiday Charity Event will benefit the L.A. Kitchen. L.A. Kitchen’s focus is reducing food waste and addressing unemployment and hunger, amongst other things. The event will be headlined by hardcore psych punks, Thee Oh Sees. Supporting acts include Fuzz Wand and DJ’s from Permanent Records. There is so much you can do to help this holiday season. This is just one. Janky Smooth will keep you posted on more ways to help the less fortunate.

Dinoczar New Single “Burnt Out” Off Impending Debut Album

Brent Smith December 11, 2015

If you don’t remember Dinoczar, the darkly-weird Bostonians from our review of The House of the Rising Fuzz—an anthemic east coast garage psych compilation in which their single “Cream” blew off our doors with speedfreak riffs, muddled jive, and rambling, headbanging solos—then you have another chance to pay closer attention. We’re pleased to share the news that Dinoczar’s debut LP Sick Wind is due out early next year, and that they’ve dropped its first single “Burnt Out.” This time around, it’s less in-your-face punk and more proto-stoner metal that’s been dominating the underground lately. That’s not to say Dinoczar are backing off or falling in line, not in the least. Even though the band is a lowly three-piece, the only thing minimal about them is the vocals. The holy trinity of guitar-bass-drum assaults with formidable savagery. But it also pings the sweet side of the spectrum, and slows down for moments of instrumental rumination before crashing back into its biting, awesomely unintelligible chorus. About 20 seconds before it ends, the song eerily bleeds out into some Lynchian distortion that gives an out-of-body effect—like dying—before an unseen, omnipresent listener cuts the track with the press of an analog STOP button. (Rough

David Bowie- Blackstar Video Blows the Internet’s Mind

Brent Smith November 23, 2015

Just as the free world is seemingly at its most bleak, Ascended Master and dabbler musician David Bowie sends earthlings a new transmission named Blackstar. Much to the elation of the Internet and as he’s always done, David Bowie puts to bed the notion that pop music is just some lowbrow fetish. It didn’t take long for the newly released video of the title track “★” (“Blackstar”) to go viral, with well over 1 million views in two days, setting off a slew of comment thread brushfires across the digiscape. “★” is an eerie space opera that trips from forlorn ancient astronauts deep in the cosmos to terrestrial-bound she-pagans with crucified scarecrows in their fields. Bowie’s familiar, hypnotic voice dips under and over a well-produced hopscotch of glam pop and doom jazz, framed with vivid cinematography from director Johan Renck and packed with enough esoteric symbolism to make Alex Jones’ head explode. With iconic peers like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits still putting out new work and damning retirement, we shouldn’t be surprised to still be hearing from the man who brought us “Let’s Dance” (probably one of the most sampled pop songs out there). There’s just something way more

Ty Segall Announces New Album “Emotional Mugger”

Danny Baraz November 11, 2015

Ty Segall and his creative output are unstoppable forces in independent music. Today, Ty Segall and his team have announced the forthcoming release of his 13th LP called “Emotional Mugger”, with a release date of January 22nd on Drag City Records. Emotional Mugger Track Listing: 01. Squealer 02. Californian Hills 03. Emotional Mugger/Leopard Priestess 04. Breakfast Eggs 05. Diversion 06. Baby Big Man (I Want A Mommy) 07. Mandy Cream 08. Candy Sam 09. Squealer Two 10. W.U.O.T.W.S. 11. The Magazine Pre-order Emotional Mugger: Via Drag City – http://www.dragcity.com/products/emotional-mugger via iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1057677898 via Amazon – http://amzn.to/1PCmNw3 Also announced, an extensive, North American tour that stretches from January 13th through April 29 of 2016, so far. Ty Segall- Emotional Mugger Tour Dates: Wed. Jan. 13 – Solano Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern * Fri. Jan. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Sat. Jan. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom * Mon. Jan. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore * Tue. Jan. 19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore Thu. Jan. 21 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre * Fri. Jan. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre * Sat. Jan. 23 –

Steve Mackay of the Stooges Has Died at Age 66

Brent Smith October 12, 2015

Steve Mackay, saxophone player most known for his work with Iggy Pop and the Stooges, passed away yesterday, Oct 11th 2015 at age 66 in Daly City, California after battling complications from sepsis. Regarded as one of the most influential jazz rockers in last four decades, his involvement in the Stooges’ second album Fun House, and the ensuing collaborations he had with acts like Carnal Kitchen, Violent Femmes, Snakefinger, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Smegma Zu, Andre Williams and others established him as an originator in the racy ways of rock ‘n roll sax—a tactic strongly utilized in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by the No Wave bands of New York. During the 90s, a lot of the old rockers were either dead or staring down the barrel of middle-age burnout, and Steve Mackay’s profile wasn’t so hot. In fact, the music world thought him for dead. While Mackay took up residence in the Bay Area and worked as an electrician, authorities like MTV and Rolling Stone were writing on the Stooges biography pages that the sax player had died in the 1970s. A false story unknown in origin, but initially reported on by music journalist Nick