Category: FEATURES

Janky Smooth Top 10 ALBUMS of 2020 Rated By Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 11, 2020

2020: the year that drove a stake in the heart of the music industry. One has to ask themselves how something so essential can be taken away from us so easily. For as long as I’ve lived, I’ve thought life without music was not worth living. Evidently, this was not true and came from a place of privilege. We’ve all had a little bit of privilege taken from us this year. Some more than others, but everyone got checked. If 2020 can teach us anything, it’s that life is worth something even in the most monstrous circumstances: being without music, without your job, your money, even your health. What is essential about music is that it helps us define ourselves as individuals. In a crisis, often times we forget who we are just trying to survive. For me, band shirts are my way of signaling my identity to the world, and if Covid or economic collapse takes everything from me, chances are I’ll still have the shirt on my back to let everyone know I listen to Slayer. Whether you’re a musician, promoter, journalist or just a fan, do not let cultural subversion or personal degradation steal your identity. We

Learning Blocks: Karim Shuquem on ‘Die Kunstkammer’

Audrey Kemp November 7, 2020

Karim Shuquem is always reaching for something: sometimes a trumpet or a microphone, other times a paintbrush or a black block. Far more often, however, he’s reaching for things less tangible. The tag Shuquem painted in alleyways as a teenager still aptly describes his chronic condition: “A-N-X.” Angst. “There’s this thing that’s been bugging me about myself,” the multimedia artist and musician admits. “When examining my motives, I wonder: ‘Why do I feel the constant need to do something?’” Doing something has taken innumerable forms over his decades-long career as an artist: graffiti; zines; music; performance art; graphic art; education; and most recently, ever-evolving sculpture. In October, Shuquem completed his most recent public art installation, Die Kunstkammer. The candle-lit tower of 100 black blocks, dark images and decontextualized objects currently provokes and spellbinds curious onlookers at Glendale’s Adams Square Mini Park. “It’s a construction of matter or whatever reality is, but at the same time, it’s physically interchangeable as they change position every showing, creating sort of a relational parallel to whatever thought processes there are behind the work,” Shuquem explains. Our readers may better know Karim Shuquem by his ghoulish, Dionysian, trumpet-playing alter ego, Loto Ball, who fronts The

Dark Art Brings Levity: Body / Negative’s Andy Schiaffino Discusses “Fragments”

Audrey Kemp October 20, 2020

In a time that seems to fray the very fabric of our social lives, Andy Schiaffino finds comfort in the hiss of a disintegrating cassette tape. Body / Negative is the transgressive solo project of the 23-year-old non-binary artist and producer, who utilizes minimal equipment, multimedia experimentation and creative camaraderie to actualize their haunting, abstract soundscapes. Drawing on their own journeys through the dark and dire, Andy delivers a primal, sensitive and serene seven-track album, Fragments, to shelter us from the storm. Audrey: Andy, thank you so much for joining me this afternoon to discuss the impending release of your solo drone project, Body / Negative’s first full-length album, Fragments, which comes out October 23rd on Track Number Records! The LP, limited to only 500 copies, looks stunning on that marble gray vinyl. Could you tell me a bit about your journey creating your most extensive work yet? Andy: Of course, thank you! It took a really long time to finish Fragments. I started it last spring, and since then, production has been very stop-and-go–losing and rediscovering motivation. I don’t like to force myself to work on music if I’m not feeling it, because I feel like that creates mush

Music Video Premiere: Cancer Christ’s “The Blood of Jesus”

Janky Smooth Central Command September 5, 2020

The list of horrors 2020 has brought upon the world may seem almost Biblical at times, it’s no wonder a power violence band as exhilarating and exorcizing as these true believers would arise. CANCER CHRIST is a brand new REPTILIAN-CHRIST-CORE band off of Los Angeles’ Sweatband Records and they’re here to premiere their debut song/music video, “The Blood of Jesus”. Brought to you by Anthony Mehlhaff (prolific photographer of the LA music scene), and his anonymous “Snake Boys”, CANCER CHRIST is here to fuck shit up and make America pay for it’s sins… Are they Christian? Are they ANTI-Christian? What’s their deal? The song will premiere on “SWEATBAND RECORDS presents… NEON CORPSE PARADE Volume One” compilation 12″ vinyl album (coming out this year). Hit the link to preorder it!

Music Video Premiere: Duke Stamina’s “Gay Pac”

Janky Smooth Central Command June 26, 2020

Here at Janky HQ we’re always looking to shine a light on something a little different. With the tumultuous times we’re in today we think it’s a great chance to direct your attention to a marginalized voice making some wild-as-fuck, in-your-face, aggressively gay and kawaii as hell raps – all via the backwards wasteland we all call Florida. (I can only assume living there makes one want to clap back just as hard as the talking heads they pass on the street so it makes perfect sense.) Don’t just take my word for any of this though, feast your eyes on the single and video premiere we have for “Gay Pac” below. DUKE STAMINA’S debut album Super Horse Dads 2: TURBO: Tournament Edition [OST] will be out on Sweatband Records on September 6th, 2020. Preorders for the limited 12″ Lemonade Yellow LP can be found here. A little about Duke from Sweatband Records: Florida’s dirty little camp secret, DUKE STAMINA, is your new favorite rapper… And he’s probably already sexing up your father. Duke Stamina didn’t come out until he was 21, citing that a lot had to do with the inability to identify with the Will & Grace mold that gay men his age squeezed themselves into.

Video Premiere: ZOOLUXX’s “WEIRDOS”

Janky Smooth Central Command April 17, 2020

So r u still at home chillin? Have we arrived in a time where so called weirdos ain’t supposed to be cool in the modern day plague era anymore? Seeing a future far away from social distance and cognitive dissonance. Reminiscent of true urban instrumental playa’s playin’ funky tripped out music from a retro-cassette deck, sporting clinical hazmat suits in mid-apocalyptic plague-zone mode; floating around in a downward spiral into the bottom of the once wiley westcoast streets of party wild LA… And all this without earphones too! After quarantine, still skating through strange bio-hazardous, chemically loud, semi-viral beats that blow screeching through non synthetic (sunthetic?) programs. Aside the white walls of corporate industry warehouse branches, in the bushes admist the machine painted gmo leaves; Only not really smelling, but reminding the funky-attitudinal fear based flowers that perhaps they are just hookers for the bees. In N95’s going outside of the frosty invisible perimeters, inside such an empty city of our icy toxic surreality, towards the self reliant resemblance of the re-humanization of an anti-social weirdo population of non-organic communication; No jive talk virus-spitting venom here! Capturing the vacancy of ones outer-personal space/the empty environmental zoning/fish back in the water

Love Letter to The Lodge Room Highland Park

Rob Shepyer March 1, 2020

There’s something very special about The Lodge Room Highland Park. It’s probably the best venue, of all the places in Los Angeles where people congregate to experience live music, to meet your soul mate. When you try to put your finger on what makes a place special, it’s often hard to pinpoint the the contributing details but in the Lodge Room’s case, one only needs to spend some time there, meeting the staff, seeing the shows, and soaking in the ambiance, to be sure of who and what makes it worth writing a love letter to. Built in 1923, The Lodge Room was operated as Highland Park’s Masonic Lodge 382. In keeping the spirit of mystery, the 500 person capacity still retains trap doors, cherry wood paneling, hand painted murals and more. Inside, the building’s layout and design fit perfectly with easy-on-the-eyes, grid-like quality of Highland Park. When you go to shows as often as I do, you get to know the staff. From the people working security, to the owners, to the booking and marketing people, the warmness of the Lodge Room staff follows you into the venue for your viewing experience. The Lodge Room’s owner, Dalton Gerlach, puts

Music Video Premiere: Kira McSpice’s “Fates”

Janky Smooth Central Command February 7, 2020

Kira McSpice is an artist in rare-form. Her transcendent singing conjures up emotions and ideas both ancient and modern to simultaneously soothe and discomfort the listener. With “Fates”, a single off her latest album, Prodrome, we feel the unstable anxiety that resides at the core of her soothing, raw, and transparent nightingale tone. The lady bugs in her music video for “Fates” crawl up and down her body and face, as if almost under her skin, to make us feel like something is deeply wrong, whether we can put our finger on it or not. With the minimalist aesthetics of the Dorchester Art Project as the setting and 5,000 lady bugs put to work, the video, directed by Ruben Radlauer and filmed and edited by Kit Castagne, captures a pivotal memory from Kira’s childhood that she utilizes as a metaphor for her present. Kira would receive a box of lady bugs from her grandparents for her birthday every year as a child. She claims she learned about sex and the cycle of life from watching the lady bugs copulate and hatch eggs. This is how she began obsessing over cycles of all kinds. Her Bi-Polar disorder diagnosis has made mental health an

Music Video Premiere: Plasmic’s “100Rx”

Janky Smooth Central Command January 31, 2020

Plasmic has returned with another banger to get stuck in your head. “100Rx” is about the horror show that is the medical industry and her personal experiences with a shitty doctor. In an age where we’re told so much can be cured just by taking a pill, Plasmic challenges the status quo with a song that ironically could force an entire club onto the dance floor with a more pop and electronic evolution in the production than Plasmic’s previous recordings. This sounds like deconstructed club music and a bubblegum nightmare all wrapped in one. The song was written and produced by Plasmic (like all her work) and mixed and mastered by Ed Donelly. With a mind melting music video directing by Bobby Jauregui, Plasmic takes us on a journey of the highs and lows of prescription drug use from dependency to withdrawal with desaturated downs and overly saturated ups. The filmmaking captures such personal woes as anxiety, depression, and a disjointed self perception.

Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists to Watch in 2020

Janky Smooth Central Command December 28, 2019

We have reached the end of the decade and to usher in this new epoch, we have chosen 25 artists that can be your guiding light through the darkness and confusion. We might reach catastrophe but with this soundtrack, we can at least ease your nerves to make the trip a little more enjoyable. We’ve picked something for everyone, from the dark to the light, from the heavy to the soft, the happy to the sad, and every sound and emotion in between. Some artists are based in LA, some are international, but all 25 artists should be watched closely because they will make a mark on 2020. related content: Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists To Watch In 2019 Acrylics Ever since we first covered their set at Home Sick, we’ve had high hopes for Nor-Cal hardcore outfit, Acrylics. They might have the most vigor of any young band out there. The music exhibits much more nuance than typical hardcore though, with a garage sensibility beneath the steamrolling core. This is made clear on their 2019 release Sinking In. The music is just as off-balance, thrilling, and a roller coaster on record as it is live. Acrylics is underground and

Janky Smooth Top 10 ALBUMS of 2019 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 24, 2019

2019 was a year full of fresh faces releasing undeniable breakout albums and veterans making their returns to grace. Even though it may seem like singles are the logical way to release music in 2019, it would turn out that people want full and cohesive artistic statements with emotional twists and turns. Don’t believe the hype, all the devices we’ve surrounded ourselves with and all the information flooding our minds, we’re still human, the nature of our hearts has not changed much. Artists like Lingua Ignota with Caligula and FKA Twigs with Magdelene bore their souls onto record and the reception reciprocated their love and passion because this was their year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2j4vJWLz2E As much as our current culture emphasizes the importance of youth and the irrelevance of the old, a few veterans showed they had so much more fuel left in the tank. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds came back with a vengeance with Ghosteen, a return to the mournfulness that made him a goth God in the first place. Leonard Cohen released Thanks For The Dance posthumously, haunting us from the grave as if he can’t rest until we’ve really, truly learned everything we can form the old poet.

Janky Smooth Top 10 SHOWS of 2019 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 23, 2019

This decade saw numerous paradigm shifts that laid the groundwork for a future where people basically become some form of android. That’s nothing to fear, though…we’re still safe….Many predict we’re seeing the fall of the American empire or some kind of apocalypse…hopefully they only mean in the sense that we’re entering a new chapter in humanity’s being….Still, no sweat, right?…We can handle this….In 2019 Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” become the most successful song of all time….Code red! Abandon ship! Get your kicks in before the whole shit house goes down in flames! related content: Janky Smooth Top 10 Shows of 2018 Rated by Contributors Every genre of music saw scene defining moments but I guess that ought to happen every year. What was special about 2019 though, was all the reunions that went down. It’s as if when a band decides to get back together, Los Angeles is the first place they think to play just so all their artist friends can attend the show. A few examples of such reunions were: Bauhaus at the Hollywood Palladium, Heart to Heart at Sound and Fury, Stereolab at Desert Daze, The Locust at Desert Daze, Limp Bizkit at the Troubadour

Category: FEATURES

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