Tag: ambient
Janky Fresh Friday: New Releases from Nas w/ DJ Premier & Danny L Harle
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 12, 2025
Here at Janky Smooth, Friday’s are for nerding out on new releases. This week, we dive deep into new music from Nas and DJ Premier VS Danny L Harle w/ Rachika Nayar-artists that are rarely mentioned side by side. In contrast to the two reviewing them, Rob Shepyer and Danny Ryan should ALWAYS be side by side- especially when discussing new music. Nas and DJ Premier: Light-Years (released December 12, 2025): Mass Appeal Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones aka Nas is one of hip hop’s most legendary and authentic children. His seminal album Illmatic still slaps, sounding like it was recorded in ancient history, 1994, yet carrying forward through time like a hip hop heirloom. Something passed down from generation to generation, almost like an oral bible or a survival guide to help people endure the insanity that is New York City. Illmatic remains true so long as New York remains chaotic, and as America’s greatest city, neither will ever change whether it is Giuliani or Mamdani as mayor. This is 2025 though, and Nas’ relevancy far surpasses his classic efforts. When paired with producers from newer generations he inspired, Nas shines to new audiences that may not have been
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Glass Beams at Ventura Music Hall: Desert in a Bottle
Rob Shepyer
August 28, 2025
This has been a psychedelic week for me, still feeling the afterglow of seeing Pigs x7, so before I could enter this new trip closer to home, I needed to sober up off the lingering sonic buzz. I wanted to clear out the leftover distortion rattling in my head so I could step into the Ventura Music Hall with ears and mind ready to feel the pure, authentic high off the sound of Glass Beams. related: Pigs x7 Launch North American Tour At Lodge Room Glass Beams plays in the tradition of distorting and disrupting traditional, exotic world music into modernized, minimalist psychedelia. Their music doesn’t need to shout, roar, or crash like a doom riff to get you there; it works in repetition, mood, and layering. It works in space. They aren’t the first to attempt this blend and they won’t be the last, but at the moment, they feel like the only band making traditional world music vibrations consumable for folks interested in dancing on clouds, instead of just headbanging in basements. Shows like this are rare in Ventura, though they strike a nerve in both artist and audience that no other city quite can. Ventura has always
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Double Review Comin’ at You: Suicideyear at Zebulon and Pope at Bootleg
Aria Silva-Espinosa
August 9, 2018
Summer is always the best time for live music, no matter where you live. Of course, Los Angeles is a premium stop for touring artists and even in the sweltering July heat, your favorite out-of-state artists will somehow find a way into your own backyard. Two shows in particular sparked my interest earlier this summer when I began filling out my calendar: Baton Rouge-based artist/producer Suicideyear at Zebulon followed by New Orleans indie sadboy outfit Pope at The Bootleg. Both artists embody two dramatically different genres of music but undoubtedly, this is a compare-and-contrast exercise in that both artists have become known as emotional music despite the vast divide between garage rock and electronic music. related content: Overcoming Fear With Fever Ray At The Palladium Suicideyear, the moniker of composer/producer/songwriter and occasional DJ James Prudhomme, has always been kind of a wildcard in live settings. When I was living in Louisiana, I once saw him play an entire festival set of early 2000’s pop and people were into it. I’ve also seen him play haunting industrial sets in dark rooms for a motionless audience. His independent projects are vastly under appreciated in comparison to the work he does in collaboration
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