Tag: featured
Food Sounds Good: Music Tastes Good Food Review
Rob Shepyer
October 2, 2018
Music Tastes Good returned to Marina Green Park and that means its cavalcade of gourmet chefs came with it to hold two days of tastings. Inside the glorious Taste Tent you could see gourmet chefs hard at work trying to meet the demands of these hungry festival-heads and the long lines were worth it, even for samples as small as two bites because these foods weren’t just good or gourmet, they were artisan crafted. They also offered cocktail mixing tutorials like the Mezcal mixing tutorial that was taking place while I toured the tent. First among the artisan chefs I visited on Sunday was Cameron Hanin of Seattle’s Ma’ono, who was serving a delicious Hawaiian style Fried chicken drumstick with a Daikon pickle slice on the side. The drumstick’s skin was crispy and sweet while the meat was succulent, juicy, and delicious. The pickle slice then complimented the chicken perfectly with a sweet, salty kick. I walked right over to Ryan Ososky‘s booth next. As the chef of Los Angeles’ Yardbird Southern Table, Ryan is bringing new spins to classic Southern food and recipes. Such was the case for his brisket on a biscuit tasting option, which featured the most tender,
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Lil B interview: Favorite Foods of the Based God
Rob Shepyer
September 28, 2018
With Music Tastes Good right around the corner and Lil B taking the stage to preach the Based philosophy to Long Beach, I wanted to ask the Based God anything and everything about food and its connection to spirituality. RS: What are your favorite foods to eat? Are there foods that are more “Based” than others? if so, what are they? What specific ingredients do you consider “Based”? LB: I love natural grown veggies. Those are pretty Based to me. RS: Do you have any favorite chefs? LB: Yeah. I love any of the chefs I met recently. I can’t really tell you by name but I’m gonna start making that my thing. The way I know different musicians, I’m gonna know different chefs. RS: With “Wonton Soup” being one of your most notable songs, are there any other foods you might be inspired to write a song about one day? LB: Yeah, it is very possible. I love food. RS: What are some of your favorite restaurants in Nor Cal and in So Cal? LB: I love restaurants in Berkeley, California. Piedmont, California. Oakland, California. San Francisco, California. The Lettuce Inn in Concord. RS: What do you see as
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Who’s The Better Brother? Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel at Echoplex
Rob Shepyer
September 28, 2018
I love Gene Loves Jezebel. I love Jay Aston and I love Michael Aston. So, I will do my best to contribute to this band’s legacy by casting judgement on which twin brother’s band is the better Gene Loves Jezebel. Along with seeing a rare L.A. show by Jay Aston performing their favorite songs, many in attendance came to compare the two Gene Loves. Most likely looking to Michael Aston’s Part Time Punks show from years previous which I attended and enjoyed. Check out my review of that show below: related content: Gene Loves Jezebel Play Immigrant In Entirety At Part Time Punks Gig If you don’t know the band’s history, Michael and Jay Aston are twin brothers that each have their own version of Gene Loves Jezebel. Michael’s is based in the U.S., Jay’s is based in the U.K. Michael was the lead singer and Jay was the guitarist, back-up vocalist, and songwriter. After a tumultuous breakup resulting in a legal battle to see who gets to tour under the name Gene Loves Jezebel, they both play the same banner. It’s an interesting question to ponder. How do you cement ownership of a song? Is it the writer or
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F*ck Feelings: Lagwagon Performs “Lets Talk About Feelings” at El Rey
Rob Shepyer
September 27, 2018
Are we, as a society, officially retiring the adage “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me”? For a minute there, I thought this was the case but after seeing Lagwagon‘s degenerate onstage horseplay shit on the importance we put on feelings, now I can officially say, we as a society still think feelings are bull shit. Also bullshit: Joey Cape, lead singer of Lagwagon. Ask him yourself, he put it on a T shirt and the damn thing sold out. Fat Wreck Chords is still flying the punk flag proudly. That doesn’t necessarily require being ass holes but it doesn’t hurt, especially when it’s toward your bandmates, not the audience. In all seriousness though, Lagwagon and all its members fucking killed that stage. Lets Talk About Feelings was released twenty years ago on the same night as this show at El Rey. Even back then, Lagwagon’s music was teaching people to be worse human beings, whether they were kids playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater or adults skating in real life. related content: Me First & The Gimme Gimmes Inter-Review At The Fonda Theater A Vulture Wake began the night with one of the tightest,
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CHVRCHES Give the Greek a Religious Experience
Aria Silva-Espinosa
September 27, 2018
Sunday night’s show at The Greek Theater brought a massive slew of concert-goer traffic to the thin winding roads at the base of Griffith Park, overlooked by the throngs of tourists lining the observation deck of the Observatory. Back in the day, you were permitted to abandon your automobile on the precipice of the canyon overlooking the city of Los Angeles, now you have to pay gratuitously for parking in less perilous locations designated by L.A. Parks & Rec. The Greek is an imposing white amphitheatre-style building, an open-air venue that backs up to the darkened cliffside. This makes for a long walk through sports arena-style seating to find your seat with the assistance of an usher or if you’re like me and too proud to ask for direction, your cell phone flashlight. related content: Hot Chip Make Machines Come To Life At The Greek Fittingly, there was an almost full moon hanging in the sky on Sunday night. Lo Moon, the opening act from Los Angeles, delivered a fittingly lovelorn performance early in the evening. Lo Moon is a relatively new formed indie rock trio. Lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Lowell played the song “Loveless“, which he had been
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Music Video Premiere: The Grinning Ghosts “I’ve Been Tired” – Janky Smooth Exclusive
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 26, 2018
Orange County’s underground The Grinning Ghosts are here to cheer you up with the gift of punk rock’s three great virtues, apathy, ennui, and angst. The band is made up of Thomas from Melted, Dan from Jurassic Shark, Brandi from MoonFuzz, Leo from Casual Friday, and Daryl from Eggy Pop. Little known fact, Thomas and Daryl attended the same elementary school where they were instructed in music by a man that played an ewok in Return of the Jedi. The Grinning Ghosts may be comprised of members from various bands but take a listen for yourself and see this is a different sound than all their other projects. Their music video for “I’ve Been Tired”, a cover of a Pixies song, gives the audience the chance to voyeur in on the aftermath of one wild apartment party. This gang of friends all sleep in precarious situations and every time the camera makes a pass through the apartment, everyone seems to have somehow changed positions without ever having woken up. The quirky punk surrealism of Michael Haight‘s directing perfectly matches the song’s upbeat and catchy dissidence. Throughout the video, you can spot various easter eggs and cameos from Southern California music scene heroes.
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Gary Numan at The Fonda
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 26, 2018
Gary Numan is a treasure in the world of electronic music and an innovator with the synthesizer. There’s a lot more to his music than his classic song “Cars” though. On this stretch of his Savage tour, you can see for yourself how his music has evolved into both a fantastical storytelling medium and into an industrial banger machine that punches hard enough for you to never forget. Janky Smooth invites you to travel to the dystopian future of Gary Numan by offering two tickets to his Fonda show in this contest. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO GARY NUMAN OCTOBER 6TH AT THE FONDA THEATRE Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Tag a Friend in the comment section of our Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Gary Numan Giveaway Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON MONDAY OCTOBER 1ST AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Make American Green Again: The Great American Smoke Out
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 25, 2018
Words and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas Master rap artist Snoop Dogg celebrated 25 years of Doggystyle, his debut album on Death Row Records. Produced in 1993 by Dr. Dre with cover artwork by Mr. Joe Cool, Doggystyle sold almost a million copies within its first week of being released. While taking the sold-out arena back to the days of old school hip hop using the microphone as a time machine with heavy weights Cypress Hill, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and adding a heavy dose of hazy funky infusion with Slightly Stoopid and reggae legend Don Carlos. Though the words on the flier read that Wu Tang Clan, Berner, and Warren G were scheduled to perform, so were the words ‘line-up subject to change.’ It didn’t seem to matter as the legends murdered the stage, and if you were a participant in that hot-boxed arena at The Great American Smokeout you got more than your money’s worth. Musical Youth, Afroman, Kottonmouth Kings and DJ Quik were also featured performers of the night, but let’s concentrate on the headliners. related content: The Queens Converge At Outside Lands 2018 Cypress Hill opened with “Band of Gypsies” taking our minds to strange and welcome places. B-Real took the stage mixing his helium style rap lyrics with Sen Dog’s rhymes performing their anthems like “How I
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Nirvana Leads to Nothing… at the Regent
Rob Shepyer
September 25, 2018
90’s alternative music is having an organic and overlooked revival that is making for some of the best rock and roll of this decade. Whether it be the post-grunge sounds of Culture Abuse or the hardcore infused shoegaze of Nothing, you should get into these bands before you miss the boat. related content: NOTHING Unhinge Echoplex Audience By Bending Sonic Waves Having just released an album and made the cover of Revolver magazine, Nothing is riding a wave at the moment with a cult-like following of hardcore kids that fell in love with gaze. This new album, “Dance on the Black Top” is for my money, the band’s best. You’d think that would make this Part Time Punks show at The Regent something magical to me but such wasn’t exactly the case. Nothing isn’t a bad live band, they’re just hit or miss. Hit or miss because something is missing. What great live music does, which is suspend your thinking mind and connect everyone by making them forget themselves, Nothing achieves this phenomenon better on record than in performance. It’s a big deal when Part Time Punks moves from the Echo or Echoplex to the Regent and opening up the
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Cal Jam
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 24, 2018
You’ve got to be crazy not to want to attend Cal Jam. Foo Fighters are an incredible live band. Iggy Pop bringing back his Post Pop Depression set for one night only is a big deal. The duo known as Tenacious D will be present, setting the stage for an epic festival the likes of which the world has never seen before. All these bands and more will be at Cal Jam and you should be there too. If you’re too broke to buy a ticket, we understand. That’s why we’re giving away two general admission tickets to Cal Jam at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO CAL JAM OCTOBER 5th AND 6th AT GLEN HELEN REGIONAL PARK IN SAN BERNARDINO Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Tag a Friend in the comment section of our Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Cal Jam Giveaway Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON MONDAY OCTOBER 1st AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Riot Fest 2018: The Riot Still Rages
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 22, 2018
Words and Photos by: Meghan Breedlove This past weekend in Chicago, Riot Fest 2018 wrapped up their 13th year and Janky Smooth was there to capture some of the scenes from the weekend. Even though Riot Fest shared some devastating news regarding Blink 182’s cancellation (due to health issues) a few short days before the festival, Riot Fest was able to recover quickly by booking Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, and Run the Jewels. related content: How Riot Fest Chicago 2016 Survived The Misfits Subpar Performance Even with Blink 182’s absence, there was no shortage of their songs, with multiple Blink 182 covers sung over the weekend to honor the band, with both Weezer and Young the Giant covering “All the Small Things”. The festival layout was somewhat cozy, with five stages of proximity, a freak show, a variety of carnival rides, and of course pretty much any fried food your heart desired. Overall, Riot Fest 2018 was a major success despite some last minute lineup changes, so here is a recap of my adventure in Chicago this past weekend. related content: Jawbreaker At Riot Fest: The Moment I Stopped Hating Pop Punk Day 1 I first arrived at the festival
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Rafael Reyes of Prayers Interview: On Fatherhood
Rob Shepyer
September 21, 2018
With a baby on the way and a two shows in So-Cal announced, Prayers are back to spellbind audiences with their unique Cholo-goth music and movement. I got to ask singer, Rafael Reyes about fatherhood, new music, and more. RS: Now that you’re about to begin the journey of fatherhood, what values do you want to instill in your son? What things that you love do you look forward to introducing him to? RR: Like most parents, I hope our son will be a compassionate, respectful, patient and courageous individual – basically everything that my wife embodies. I look forward to introducing our son Leafar to Mother Nature, music and reading. RS: What do you hope your son will inherit from you and your side of the family? What do you hope he will inherit from Kat? RR: In all honesty, I’m aware I have my own set of issues I wouldn’t want to pass on to my son. But with that being said, I’ve learned a lot through my struggles, and I wanna be able to pass down some of my life experiences. Because of my upbringing, I learned from an early age how to take care of myself and my
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