Tag: red bull sound select

Phosphorescent at the Park Plaza Hotel for Day 23 of 30 Days in LA

Danny Baraz November 25, 2014

Janky Smooth chose to cover Red Bull Sound Select’s, 30 Days in LA in conjunction with our launch because we totally respect what Red Bull is doing in music. It’s a departure for me, personally, because I have always railed against corporate music. What Red Bull is doing is a bit different, though. They are not looking for the next Justin Bieber or Beyonce. They are looking for an army of independent minded bands who are most concerned with art, not business. Make the best music possible and they’ll run the numbers and think about the bottom line. With all the love and respect we’ve shown Red Bull and they’ve shown us, I am starting to get fatigued after 23 days. Anyone would be physically tired after working day and night but not that kind of tired. The later we get into these 30 days, the more these shows start to resemble “pay to play”. In defense of Red Bull, they are the ones picking up the tab but the way some of these bands are being put together is baffling. Electro pop bands with country rock groups like Shy Girls opening for Phosphorescent reminds me of the Whiskey A

The Head and The Heart Draw a Dedicated Following at The Ace Hotel

Justin Cornwall November 23, 2014

The line wrapped down Broadway in DTLA in front of the Ace Hotel for the sold out The Head And The Heart concert. Many young and eager fans made way into the restored 1920’s theater – the headliners had a dedicated fan base. Much of the crowd seemed unaware and unimpressed by the #30DaysInLA program, but happily accepted the free flower crowns and pizza provided by the Red Bull team. Los Colognes of Nashville were the openers for the night. The six piece was reminiscent of a Disney produced incarnation of The Beach Boys. Their twangy sound was remarkably generic and very jammy. The songs seemed to wander where the band wanted them to, but surely they had some basic structure. The crowd was late for this set, distracting from the sound as people filed in all throughout the opening hour. The Head and The Heart proceeded to play to an enticed crowd. Each song was driven by a different key player – from vocals, to violin, to rancorous guitar. The captive audience kept time by tapping along and supported vocally with a hushed sing-a-long the entire set. The band did a good job of giving each member their time

Friday Night In LA: A secret show with Ariel Pink at OP and Kurt Vile at First Unitarian Church

Danny Baraz November 22, 2014

Los Angeles is the best place in the world to have a love affair with music. Aside from the occasional, low energy, scenester transplants that fill up some of our venues, it is the perfect city to go see shows. There was so much going on this past Friday night that it made the head spin with possibilities. Janky Smooth attended two events: Kurt Vile and the Violators headlining the First Unitarian Church and a surprise and semi secret Ariel Pink show at Over***, L.A.’s seediest, most exciting rock and roll speak easy/after hours. It is L.A.’s worst kept secret and is surprisingly celebrating it’s 3 year anniversary. Amazing it hasn’t been shut down yet. The night started at The First Unitarian Church for another amazing Red Bull Sound Select installment of 30 Days in L.A. Kurt Vile on stage in a religious sanctuary was draw enough to worship at this opulent altar of Rock and Roll. Red Bull brought in some extra sound and some elaborate lighting to fill up the palatial sized ceilings with more audio and visual. The night featured two more solid Red Bull Sound Select artists, Air Review and Little Tybee. Air Review gave a

Future Islands at The Wiltern: Torn Shirts, Gargled Roars and Bouncy Blue Orbs

Amir Kashani November 22, 2014

On the 20th night, Red Bull’s 30 Days in LA gave us Future Islands to continue the trend of one great show after another. It was obvious everyone was driven to The Wiltern to see Future Islands and their lead man, Samuel T. Herring aka Hemlock Ernst. However, two upstarts with a very similar vibe took the stage first. The first band, Speak from Austin, took the stage to an almost empty room. They opened with just a drum machine and synth. The young, black clad upstarts are interesting but the two gentlemen on strings sort of reminded me of a younger Skolnick and Gilbert from the Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity. The lead’s voice is high and reminiscent of a younger Ezra Koenig, at times. It took him and his crew about five or six songs to be adopted by the crowd but for the most part this crowd was saving up for the next course on the menu tonight. I went out for a popcorn and came back to a much fuller room of jihadi hipster beards and the stronger scent of quickly smoked, fermented barley. I hurried back to my spot and noticed 4 guys take the stage

Real Estate at The Belasco with special guest, Rivers Cuomo

Justin Cornwall November 20, 2014

Oh, Red Bull – you’re running us ragged with this month of shows. Luckily, last night provided a bit of a necessary lull in the energy of the month. Beach Party, Pure Bathing Culture and Real Estate brought their talents to The Belasco in Downtown Los Angeles, to a crowd of eager fans. Personally, I was very much looking forward to another set from LA locals Beach Party. I’ve gotten to know this band as friends over the last year and I’ve never had to fake being into their music. These guys always put forward a wave of high-energy surf/punk/rock that is exactly what you’d expect from a band called Beach Party. Their stage presence is as strong as their drinks and they didn’t skip a beat flowing through their set. They played a few newer tracks and teased they are currently wrapping up their full-length album. Their lyrics lament of bad decisions and debauchery, I believe the smart choruses played a big part in winning the crowd over. This was their last show of 2014 and they were well received by the mellower Real Estate crowd. Red Bull Sound Select has mismatched sounds on some of these lineups this

PPL MVR surprise performance at Red Bull’s screening of Spinal Tap

Danny Baraz November 19, 2014

Who the hell are PPL MVR and where did they come from? All gimmickry and showmanship aside, their music is pretty fucking awesome. They are a metal version of one of my favorite, new bands, Fartbarf and the first time I saw them at the Sunset Strip Music Festival I was skeptical but intrigued. No one knows who they are or why Atlantic Records signed them to a record deal with no established presence or fan base to speak of. One thing is clear- Someone is banking on them and sinking a lot of money into making sure that people are exposed to this band of yeti like creatures with metal guitars and vocoder vocals. PPL MVR were the “surprise guest” at The Electric Dusk Drive In Theater for a screening of one of my favorite movies, This is Spinal Tap. This was yet another interesting special interest event that was a part of the diverse, 30 Days in LA by Red Bull. It was a beautiful night and setting in Downtown L.A. I set up a beach chair on the astro turf in front of the movie screen. Red Bull promised a special performance at an intermission and part

Dum Dum Girls Headline Night 16 of 30 Days in L.A.

Janky Smooth Central Command November 18, 2014

November 16th, night 16 of the Red Bull 30 days in LA. Well I made it, the back end of the month of November. Boy has it been exhausting. This night we were given a performance by Lowell, Tapioca And The Flea, and Dum Dum Girls. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands other than my boys in Tapioca, so I was pretty excited to see what was in store for me. As soon as I got there I saw a lot of familiar faces. It was a cool mix of people I had met over the course of the 30 days and a large group of supporting friends were there, shit even my ex-girlfriend was there. The venue was The Well, a small clothing store in DTLA with a artist warehouse space in the back. The show never hit capacity which shocked me seeing as how it was a sold out show. I got to the show a bit early so we took advantage of the free pizza and prize give away. I’m pretty stoked on my new ear plugs I won. These ear plugs actually came in handy as soon as Lowell started playing. I definitely wasn’t

Chance The Rapper And My First Hip Hop Show by Justin Cornwall

Justin Cornwall November 17, 2014

I’d never been to a hip-hop or rap show prior to setting foot in the House Of Blues Hollywood last night. Chance the Rapper, Azizi Gibson, Kamandi baptized me into a new world – and I couldn’t be happier with the lineup. After some confusion with the House Of Blues and the Red Bull team, I eventually made my way into a sold out night and settled myself up on a balcony. Kamandi is going to be huge. The New Zealand native performed his first show in America, in Los Angeles, opening for Chance. He may have underwhelmed the crowd, but he left an imprint on me that I won’t soon forget. He fits the exact same vein as Flume, but more aggressive and gritty. He got under my fingernails and had me digging for more. Bass heavy creations flowed from his laptop through the PA and caught the ear of those with fine taste. The majority of the crowd was full of “basic bitches”, as many nowadays would say, and for the most part shrugged off Kamandi’s set. However, he ended his set with a reworking of “Return Of The Mack” which pulled everyone into his universe for the

Death From Above 1979 at The Regent Theater

Two Nights of Death From Above 1979 and MSTRKRFT in L.A. and The O.C.

Danny Baraz November 16, 2014

Death from Above 1979/MSTRKRFT: Night 2 in LA. Within the 20 minutes between opener, Hustle & Drone leaving the stage and Death From Above 1979 taking it, the house went from sparse to capacity. The night was filled with false fire alarms and a few sound issues of the newly opened and opulent Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles- A gorgeous venue that is still working out the kinks. The P.A. was filled with the sounds of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and other old country classics as a surprisingly eclectic and beautiful crowd filed in to witness a show by the experimental thrashers from Toronto. I myself discovered DFA in 2008- a good 2 years after they had already broken up. O.G. DFA fans love to separate their fan base into a B.C and A.D. category- a snobbishness I have been guilty of myself on many occasions. Now it appears there is a third category of fans that have discovered the band after their more, commercially friendly, reunion release of The Physical World in September of this year. This was my first time seeing DFA live after devouring the catalog for the past 6 years with no satisfaction or release

Run The Jewels: Taking Hip Hop Back at The Echoplex

Danny Baraz November 14, 2014

It’s been years since anyone in hip hop has released an entire album of “destined to be classic” tracks, much less two. Over the last couple years rappers like Danny Brown, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q have released some classic tracks but the entire body of work leaves much to be desired. Weak beats and lazy lyrics dominate the landscape in the mainstream and the underground. B-boys have all but disappeared in this era of club bangers. Graffiti is now called “street art” and dance crews now have large shows in Las Vegas. Then on April 9th, 2013 a self-titled album called “Run the Jewels” dropped and changed the game. Jaime Meline, a.k.a. El-P is not only a dope M.C. but the beats he produced with Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby are the foundation of not one but two instant classics- Run The Jewels and Run The Jewels 2. On Thursday, November 13 El-P and Killer Mike played the Echoplex as Run the Jewels for Day 13 of Red Bull Sound Select’s, 30 Days in LA. The anticipation was thick moments before Run The Jewels took the stage. There was a buzz of speculation on some special guests and the Echoplex

Reignwolf at the Mint: Madman of Rock ‘n Roll

Danny Baraz November 13, 2014

Jordan Cook sat on a drum throne with a drum stick in his picking hand, a guitar in his other and the mic chord wrapped around his neck. Just minutes earlier he moved the entire drum kit from the stage to the middle of the floor at The Mint in Los Angeles. The time it took to set this up was inconsequential to everyone but the sound guy because when Reignwolf plays your venue, you should be prepared for every boundary of your audio system to be stretched to it’s limits. Microphones rubbing against guitar strings that are boosted by overdrive, sustain pedals, octave pedals, body parts and sweat. Foot on the kick pedal, pumping rhythms, one hand on the fret board playing licks and the other tapping the snare as an audience member unwraps the microphone chord from his neck and hold it up to Cook’s lips. Then he gets antsy again and stands on top of the kick drum and makes way for drummer, Joseph Braley and all-around utility man, Stitcx. In an instant, the entire band is melting faces again, surrounded like Baptist preachers on a soapbox in the middle of a barren swampland, surrounded by congregants.

Turn Table Tennis: Red Bull and DJ Fueled Ping Pong Tourney at The Standard

Janky Smooth Central Command November 12, 2014

SPiN LA is the Susan Sarandon (yes, from Thelma & Louise) sponsored ping pong facility housed within the ultra-modern Standard Hotel in DTLA. Last night the Red Bull team overhauled the 2nd floor courts into a full on futuristic pong tournament, coupled with excellent dance music for their night of Turn Table Tennis. This Red Bull Sound Select event was a breeze to get into, unlike the usual events held at this venue – which was refreshing. We were met, at the top of the escalator, by classic house music spun by Red Bull Sound Select signee’s White Rainbow’s Adam Forkner, and tournament check in station. Dani Meigel (one of our photographers) and myself signed up as The Residents (I’m a resident DJ at this spot on Sunday’s, fun fact) and collected our paddles. As we waited for the tournament to start, we enjoyed the beefed up sound system Red Bull had brought to SPiN. People were warming up for the tourney, whose prize was a pair of coveted passes to the Sasquatch music festival, and electric sense of competition was in the air. The SPiN LA crew was on point with immediate response time at the bar – of