Tag: chicano batman

Spooky Psych Sounds: Levitation 2021

Grace Dunn November 24, 2021

Words by: Scott Urian and Grace Dunn Photos by: Grace Dunn I had no idea what to expect on my way to Levitation 2021. It was my first Levitation experience. Damn – it was also the first time I had been on an airplane, travelled out of state, or seen a single show with a crowd of more than a hundred people in the past two years of surprises and confusion. My overall takeaway from this experience was more surprises, more confusion, and absolutely no doubt that I will be back next year. My navigator of all things bizarre in Austin was none other than Grace Suzette. Photographer of the psychotic, Levitation veteran, and devout member of all things loud. With her confidence and my wide eyes began a four day melee of music at various venues in the Red River District that would have killed me had I not been having so much fun. related content: Psych & Fury: Levitation 2019 Thursday Angelica Garcia at Stubb’s Angelica’s deserved a much denser crowd. Those who planned their night around Crumb can’t be blamed, but missed out on a showcase of pure talent that started the momentum of the whole weekend.

Chicano Batman Bring a Crumb Home to the Shrine

Danny Baraz November 12, 2021

Chicano Batman must’ve hit such an intense crescendo on their current tour when they reached the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Nov 10th to play night 1 of 2 sold out dates for their proud, gushing home town crowd. I have to be honest, after opening band Crumb finished their set, I thought I was going to make the word count in this review tilt toward the psych-rock outfit from New York but silly rabbit, Chicano Batman reign supreme in L.A. related content: Texis Or Treats: Sleigh Bells At Teragram Ballroom It was a case of one of the best bands in indie music opening for one of the best bands in indie music. A classic gorge fest of immaculate songwriting meets prodigious musicianship and the line to get through security was still around the block by the time Los Retros took the stage. I wasn’t there to see it for myself but I heard Mauri Tapia of Los Retros broke a guitar string and with no back up, he made the best of it with his wurlitzer tone on keys and classic retro rock croons-manship. I was inside and well placed while the changeover crew set Crumb

Janky Exclusive: Rudy De Anda Premieres New 7″ “Abrasive” w/ Interview

Janky Smooth Central Command September 22, 2017

Janky Smooth is proud to premiere two new tracks from the forthcoming 7″ ABRASIVE by the incomparable, Rudy De Anda and FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE TITLE TRACK- “Abrasive” (limited time only) “Think of Rudy De Anda as a lost diary. I learn secrets and private thoughts of this person but somehow they’re still a stranger- there’s more to learn but only if he wants you to. I don’t feel like it was coincidence that we arrived in a bookstore to sit down and chat with the man with the stories.” – Jonathan Reyes Check out Jonathan’s Interview w/ Rudy De Anda embedded in this post The new 7″ “Abrasive” by Rudy De Anda will be released digitally on Jazzcat Records on Friday, October 6th 2017, with a limited edition, lathe cut 7″ to follow soon after. The title track/ a-side is called “Abrasive” and is sure to lift your spirits, chill you out, and have you feeling the groove. The b-side is called “Helado” and uses the kind of unique, latin inspired instrumentation that makes Rudy De Anda and his band worth following. Janky Smooth has been following Rudy’s career for quite some time now and featured De Anda as one of Janky

L.A. Hustle at SXSW 2016: Bands, Labels, Promoters & Publications

Danny Baraz March 23, 2016

Artists, agents, publicists and partiers come from far and wide to take part in one of the largest music and networking events in the world. Fans attending SXSW in Austin ,Texas view it as a diverse display of music in which they can recreationally party and enjoy bands they love and bands they discover throughout the week long musical portion of the conference. The aforementioned groups of art producers and opportunists view the conference much differently than the fans or even the way they themselves typically view playing a regular show or festival. With a somewhat intimate knowledge of the bands in Southern California and their proxies, it was fascinating to watch it all unfold in front of me. From Burger Records to Lolipop Records, iHeartcomix to Desert Daze, the Los Angeles and greater Southern California area musicians and business’ were very well represented at SXSW 2016. Janky Smooth was proud to see the members of our scene thriving in such a competitive environment and of course, to make our own stamp on the events surrounding the conference in our very first SXSW experience as a publication. On the band side, there were L.A. bands like one of our low

Hanni El Khatib: The Last First Friday of 2015 at Natural History Museum

Justin Cornwall June 7, 2015

The last First Friday event at the Natural History Museum brought out in-the-know Los Angeles music lovers, young and old, together for an amazing summer kickoff. This lineup featured Hanni El Khatib, Chicano Batman, Avid Dancer and DJ’s Raul Campos (KCRW) + Captain Planet – all local talent. The evening was filled with different genres, hitting and missing different marks, but altogether the night smoothed out well. The Natural History Museum was PACKED, lines at pretty much every one of the 7 (there were more) bars that I counted and all tickets for the night were SOLD OUT. The weather cooled off quite a bit, but the crowds stuck it out for the performances on the new outdoor stage the museum had erected especially for this event. Food trucks, multiple full bars and the opened portions of the museum kept the crowds entertained till show time. Raul Campos played a radio friendly filler set leading up to Avid Dancer’s opening performance. I didn’t know much about Avid Dancer prior to the night, but I’m glad I was able to catch their set to build my own opinion on them. After some research, I discovered that the band was initially a