Tag: thundercat

Possession by Bass: Thundercat at the Broad

Jonathan Reyes July 27, 2022

Possession, it takes hold like a wave pulling you under the bass notes and syncopated rhythm section of Thundercat, the spiritually eponymous name of the composer I currently am referring to. He who makes the sky crack the way Mr. Murakami’s steps on The Tail Of A Rainbow making it scream and cry out its swirling rainbow blood across his canvases. The notes from the bass radiate through the openings in the side of the Broad Museum in Downtown Los Angeles. While I stand before a massive flower sculpture I closed my eyes for a moment, the augmented reality of my own imagination saw the vines dancing, one of the rainbow flowers face turned into Thundercat and the flowers on the walls cheered. visionary community members, Thundercat and Takashi Murakami, sharing their deepest feeling and thoughts after processing the ways of the world and then giving it back something that brings smiles to peoples faces everywhere it goes. I like seeing a performance from the side of a stage. I would love to one day experience a top-down view but what I like about being on the side is you get to see the mechanics of the artistry. The drummer’s

Photo Recap: Thundercat at The Shrine

Janky Smooth Central Command December 5, 2021

Photos by: Nicole Roussin Thundercat brought a whole slew of homies out to an epic performance at the Shrine that included Channel Tres, Flying Lotus, Haim, and more to celebrate his newest music in his hometown. The stage setup was magnificent, a giant cat with lasers shooting out its eyes. Thundercat played a long and late set that spanned from his classics, to his new shit, to a lot of improvisational free-form jazz that blew minds and sent everyone at the Shrine on a trip through Thundercat’s multi-dimensional, musical-genius mind. The man’s fingers are each a force of nature, hitting notes on that bass with perfect precision and Godly speed. Check out these pics from the show by Nikki Roussin. Thundercat Flying Lotus Channel Tres

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.

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Thundercat at the Observatory

Janky Smooth Central Command February 25, 2020

Thundercat is a musical God, with a jazzman’s soul and fingers to boot. Every show he plays is a lesson in chillness, lucidity, cool and freedom. You can’t help but leave his shows a little bit more free. It’s a gift to be able to see him at a venue like The Observatory. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO THUNDERCAT MARCH 8TH AT THE OBSERVATORY 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 INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Thundercat Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON MARCH 6TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Camp Flog Gnaw 2019

Rob Shepyer November 15, 2019

IMAGES COURTSEY OF GOLDENVOICE The Good: Camp Flog Gnaw 2019 was curated with artists that challenged everyone’s concept of what a live performance could be. Boundary expansion is what this festival and crowd have always been about and this year was not only no different from the past but an outlier after such stellar performances like that of FKA Twigs, Tyler, the Creator, and Thundercat. Also, with the festival at Dodger Stadium, the view of the downtown skyline is a constant reminder of how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful city as Los Angeles. The Bad: Many of the artists who were billed high atop the lineup were actually unimpressive live. Listening to their sets felt like slogging through the minutes in anticipation of the few acts people truly cared about. So, this year the lineup was under-billed and a few of the names it did have were nothing special. The Ugly: Generation’s Z and their reaction to Drake being revealed as the surprise guest are ugly. It was a moment that validated many bad conclusions drawn about young people in 2019. Entitlement and bad manners mainly. I wanted to see Frank Ocean too but I’ll be damned

Black is Beautiful: Smokin’ Grooves Festival at The Queen Mary

Aria Silva-Espinosa June 22, 2018

Gates to the Smokin’ Grooves festival opened bright and early on Saturday morning with artists playing as early as 11:00am. There’s always a special group of people who hit the festival grounds as soon as gates open, intent on getting the full 12-hour experience but the early crowd gathering on the water’s edge consisted largely of people with young children. Relaxed vibes, diverse music and a behaviorally mature crowd sets Smokin’ Grooves apart from other festivals because it appeals to a broad spectrum of music fans. Headlined by timeless legends like Erykah Badu and The Roots, Smokin’ Grooves brings a sampling of the best of new and old R&B, funk and soul music to Long Beach. Because LBC is more or less equidistant from Downtown LA and Orange County, this festival drew an impressive crowd for a festival in its first year. And truly, as each person moved past me I couldn’t help thinking “Wow, that was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen! No, they have to be the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen!” Smokin’ Grooves is a cultural celebration, a PRIDE festival and a big family picnic all rolled into one big, three-stage festival in the looming

FYF Fest 2017 Steals Coachella’s Throne As So-Cal’s Premiere Festival

Dave Unbuckled August 1, 2017

My bones are still rattling and recovering from Capn’ Jazz’s sold out set at The Echo Thursay night. So much so that I limp across the edges of Exposition Park, and marvel at the crowd as I walk into my first FYF fest. The festival has grown dramatically since it’s early days as a showcase for DIY and up and coming local punk acts in 2004. It’s so comfortably warm walking through the LA coliseum on the outskirts circling the festival that I skip my normal routine of stealing water bottles and go straight to the pit. Related Content: FYF Presents: The Glorious Return of Cap’n Jazz At The Echo In an impromptu pow wow we map out our weekend and get ready to go watch Badbadnotgood- a band I’ve been following since their second album BBNG2 began getting the well-deserved buzz it received nearly five years ago. The band has carved a niche identity as mainstays in these large festivals. The crowd sways through their set, flexing their youthful energy that will be gone by day’s end but for now the band invites special guest Denzel Curry onto the stage and finishes the set with people pogoing to Trap Jazz

Day For Night Fest: Futurists Of Audio & Visual Converge In Houston

Lindsay Krause December 26, 2016

Shadowy figures traverse dimly lit concrete walkways, gliding past “High Voltage” warning signs that adorn massive steel boxes hanging from the ceiling. A chain link-fence houses what appears to be some sort of parasitic mass of hair, the fibers hovering above curious crowds of observers like a space creature. A neo-futuristic looking couple decked out in silver metallic platforms, all black skintight clothing and bondage style leather harnesses hold hands as they navigate the industrial landscape and make their way toward the Blue stage. Had I taken the red pill and woken up in the goth haunt Club Hel from the film The Matrix? It certainly felt that way, but I was in fact partying inside Houston’s premier winter music and arts festival, Day for Night. Taking residence in a vacant post office building in the heart of downtown the second edition of the gathering boasted an exclusive Bjork digital exhibit, a highly-anticipated headlining appearance from Aphex Twin (his first set in the U.S. since Coachella 2008), 3 outdoor stages and a multitude of thought provoking light installations. The event is the product of the minds that organize Houston’s Free Press Summer Fest, yet Day for Night offers an experience that