Tag: featured
The Daytona Experience: Pusha T at the Observatory
Rob Shepyer
September 4, 2018
2018 has been an amazing year for rap. We’ve seen the return of Slim Shady, five Kanye West produced albums, and one of the most volatile rap beefs to ever occur in the game with Pusha T completely destroying Drake. Along with making a star fall, Pusha T created my favorite album of the year, the first of the five Kanye produced albums of 2018, Daytona. related content: Summertime In The LBC: This Is Your Dad’s Hip Hop From the very beginning, when the album cover was released and we saw Whitney Houston’s addiction exploited for art with a photograph of her drug strewn bathroom as the cover, Daytona garnered controversy and hype. Then with “Infared”, the last track on the short, seven song album taking shots at Drake, nucleur heat was generated between the two rap Gods. For the first time in a long while, traditional rap stabbed through trap’s control of hip hop media. Finally, there was a ray of hope that hip hop could rekindle its golden years when the metric of quality was lyricism and beef elevated everyone in the game. So Pusha took shots at Drake with “Infared” then Drake came back with “Duppy Freestyle” and Pusha
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The Olive Branch Extends to Irvine: The Scorpions at FivePoint Amphitheatre
Rob Shepyer
September 4, 2018
The Scorpions play everywhere, from Israel to Beirut, to Siberia to their Irvine show at FivePoint Amphitheatre for the Crazy World tour. And what an aptly named tour it is, having seen so much of the world’s diversity and political strife, what is unique to The Scorpions is that they are loved and respected as the hard rock ambassadors of world peace. This band represents the chance that we could all get along some day. related content: Slayer’s Final So-Cal Show At Five Point Amphitheater: The Most Insane Review I’ll Ever Write This string of North American dates were makeup shows from a tour the band had to cancel last year while touring with support from Megadeth. On this tour, they brought along classic prog-metal kings Queensryche to open. The band played every song you’d expect but “I Don’t Believe In Love” off their seminal concept album and sonic-action experience Operation: Mindcrime. Instrumentally, they had incredible precision and a soaring epic quality. Todd La Torre sings with a powerful, booming voice that makes the 80’s fucking cool again and honestly sounds just like original singer, Geoffe Tate. Original guitarist Michael Wilton is a powerhouse and you can hear that power in
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A Super Rad Super Kickstarter for The Aquabats Super Show at El Rey
Rob Shepyer
September 3, 2018
Saving the world is often a thankless job but for over twenty years this has not been the case for The Aquabats. This is a band of superheroes/musicians with a fan base so die hard they not only have their own uniform and vernacular but they pass down their love and admiration for the band to their children. For many kids, those who attend the shows with their parents and those that watch The Aquabats Super Show on television, this band is their introduction not only to punk rock, but to music in general. So how does this fan base show their appreciation to the band? The attendance numbers and longevity speak for themselves but if that’s not enough, the Super Kickstarter seems to be a good metric. Trying to crowd fund new episodes of the Super Show, The Aquabats threw a three hour party at El Rey Theatre that included a slew of amazing guests and bands. Before they even played, The Aquabats announced they had raised enough money to record a new album, so I set my hopes high for new episodes of the Super Show to be on their way. related content: The De-Evolution of Burger Boogaloo
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets To Desert Daze 2018
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 3, 2018
You read right… we’re giving away a pair of the hottest tickets in town. Desert Daze 2018 is by far the most anticipated and talked about festival of the year and if you’re short on change and been dying to go, all hope is not lost. Headliners for the festival include Tame Impala on Friday, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard on Saturday, and My Bloody Valentine and Death Grips on Sunday. Having moved the festival to Lake Perris, you will now be able to enjoy the festivities with a shorter drive and yes, even on-site swimming. It’s going to get weird, it’s going to be spiritual, and this is your chance to be there. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO DESERT DAZE OCTOBER 12th-14th AT MORENO BEACH, LAKE PERRIS, CALIFORNIA Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Share or RT this giveaway post or Tag a Friend in the comment section of any of our INSTAGRAM Desert Daze Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON MONDAY OCTOBER 1ST AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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A Calling for Club Shows: X at Marty’s on Newport
Maggie St. Thomas
September 2, 2018
Word and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas It was standing room only for punk rock legends X, featuring an all star line up of all original members Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebreak, and with Craig Packham on drums for two songs, allowing Billy Zoom to serenade us with his saxophone with DJ Bonebreak’s primal percussion and vibrating bars. related content: OC’s Alright If You Like Saxophones: Psychedelic Furs and X At The Pacific Amphitheatre Celebrating their 40th anniversary and wrapping up a tour with The Psychedelic Furs, X packed Marty’s Cocktails in Tustin to maximum capacity. Quite the change of scenery from when I last saw X at OC Fairgrounds. X seemed to be full of delight at being back in a packed small club. Their powerhouse performance, commanding power beats, and vocals blasted out of the amplifiers at an unapologetic volume while they belted out their hits like ‘Must Not Think Bad Thoughts,’ ‘Los Angeles,’ and ‘New World.’ John and Exene shared the spotlight while their harmonizing vocals playfully complimented each other and intensified the energy just as well as any of their studio albums. Billy Zoom shredded the chords of his guitar with his signature ear to
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Photo Recap: The Smashing Pumpkins Oh So Shiny And Bright Tour at the Forum
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 2, 2018
The Smashing Pumpkins have reformed with three of their original members (Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlain) for their Oh So Shiny and Bright Tour which took The Forum by storm for two consecutive nights. Metric opened for the legendary band and along with the classics, The Pumpkins played a set filled with oddities and covers like “Space Oddity” and “Stairway to Heaven”. With The Forum’s usual brand of epic stage production, The Pumpkins pulled out all the stops visually, to do something people have never seen before and can never forget. Photos by: Jessica Moncrief The Forum Metric The Smashing Pumpkins
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Photo Recap: New Age Records 30th Anniversary at Garden Amphitheater
Janky Smooth Central Command
August 31, 2018
Legendary Southern California hardcore record label New Age Records held their 30th anniversary show at Garden Amphitheatre where landmark alumni and current bands of the label played insane sets. Bands like Trial, Mouthpiece, Strife, and A Chorus of Disapproval played to name a few. New Age Records is what hardcore is all about, keeping it real, tried and true, for thirty fucking years. Here are some photos from the anniversary: Photos by: Albert Licano Trial Mouthpiece Strife Mean Season A Chorus of Disapproval Safe and Sound Countervail Drug Control Decline Crow Killer Last of the Believers One Choice Walk Proud Hellfire Trigger RedBait Collateral Damage
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Dead Moon Night: A Tribute to Fred Cole at the Echo
Audrey Kemp
August 31, 2018
Metal-heads, goths, rock-n-rollers and cowboys young and old packed in like sardines before a stage festooned in funerary flowers and a dead man in the moon under a dim red haze. The chemistry that bonded them? A common love and appreciation for Dead Moon and the late Frederick Lee Cole. Toody Cole, co-founder and bassist of DIY rock-n-roll band Dead Moon, hand-picked her entourage of unique L.A. musicians, including former guitarist of Cat Power Gregg Foreman, Warren Thomas of The Abigails, Zumi Rosow and Cole Alexander of the Black Lips, Cheap Tissue, Sons of the Southwest, Sharif Dumani of the Alice Bag band and others, for a special night at the Echo in Los Angeles to honor Fred Cole and to commemorate the release of the new Dead Moon art book on his would-have-been 70th birthday. related content: Berserktown II: Music Fringe Binge At The Observatory The groups covered some highlights from Fred’s vast repertoire of work, including that from bands such as The Lollipop Shoppe and Dead Moon. The festivities began with a screening of Kate Fix and Jason Summer’s documentary, Unknown Passage: the Dead Moon Story (2004), a story Warren Thomas of the satanic Outlaw Country band the
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to The Aquabats Super Kickstarter at El Rey
Janky Smooth Central Command
August 30, 2018
After a long journey fighting intergalactic evil-doers, righting wrongs, and saving women tied to train tracks and falling from burning buildings, The Aquabats have returned to El Rey for what is being billed as their biggest shows of all time: The Aquabats Super Kickstarter! There will be special guests, thrills, chills, old members of the band, Puddles Pity Party, Thomas Lennon from Reno 911. It’s going to be insane. More insane than any Aquabats show you’ve ever seen or crowd surfed on an inflatable pizza slice at. Janky Smooth is assuming our duty as good and moral citizens and aiding the band in getting your ass to the show by giving away two tickets to the show! YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO THE AQUABATS SEPTEMBER 1st AT THE EL REY Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up everytime you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Share or RT this giveaway post or Tag a Friend in the comment section of any of our INSTAGRAM Aquabts Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON FRIDAY AUGUST 31st AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Unplugged and Undying: Six Organs of Admittance, Wino, and Xasthur at Resident
Rob Shepyer
August 30, 2018
When Bob Dylan first plugged in and went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, he was harangued, mocked, and shit on by the same followers that professed their total devotion to him as a folk singer. Similarly, when metal goes acoustic, there are always detractors. Yet, with the talent exhibited by the artists Church of the 8th Day booked to play The Resident, Xasthur, Wino, and Six Organs of Admittance, the voices of those detractors seemed to shrink under the monumental weight of the emotions in these folk songs. Proving that Kansas can be just as dark as Darkthrone, Alhambra’s Xasthur was once a one-man black metal machine, pumping out the haziest, most brutal black metal in California. Having soaked in all of isolation’s inspiration, Scott Conner knew there were muses he had to follow beyond the boundaries of electric music. Startling the purist following he had garnered, Xasthur went acoustic and the fans that once battled his skeptics, became skeptics themselves. related content: Satyricon’s Final Los Angeles Show: A Night Too Blackened To Forget Taking the stage as a three-piece, all on acoustic guitars, Xashur wore a bandana to cover his face while Christopher sang his lyrics and
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Ahead of his Timelessness: David Byrne at The Shrine Auditorium
Jessica Moncrief
August 29, 2018
A lone brain sits on a fold out table complete with a wooden chair directly under a spotlight. This abstract scene of living art set the stage perfectly for a journey into the psyche and imagination of the legendary David Byrne. With bare feet, white disheveled hair, and a cool gray retro suit to boot, Byrne looked like a mad scientist or guru to a new age religious cult, the church of Byrne. He walked out onto the stage, sat in the chair and picked up the brain. While solemnly singing into his headpiece, a glittery beaded curtain raised from the floor. From there, the production went full psychedelic with a marching band of smiling, dancing, barefoot instrumentalists and back up singers, all uniformly dressed in the same retro grey suits. They gracefully emerged from the curtain in what would be the beginning of a fully choreographed spectacular production that was completely wireless. No amps on stage, no cords dangling from instruments to step over, the drums were attached to their player’s bodies instead of fixed on a kit. related content: Finally Admitting It’s Real: Portugal. The Man At The Shrine This had to be the most avant-garde concert tour
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to The The at the Hollywood Palladium
Janky Smooth Central Command
August 29, 2018
The UK’s legendary post punk band The The has reunited for a tour across the states and they’ll be hitting Los Angeles on September 25th for what is sure to be a memorable performance at the Hollywood Palladium. Janky Smooth is giving away a pair of tickets to this monumental return performance. Matt Johnson brings his unique and splendorous talents as a songwriter to L.A. to channel his inner-most fears, hopes, and anguishes through the classic songs of The The. Expect to hear songs like “This is the Day” and “Uncertain Smile”, cuts off definitive albums like Soul Mining and Infected, expect to laugh and cry and dance. For nearly two decades, Johnson and The The stayed out of the spotlight but now, after the death of his older brother Andrew in 2016, Matt has been inspired to keep The spirit of The The alive and thrill audience’s worldwide once again. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to see this legendary band play songs that are sure to touch your heart. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO THE THE SEPTEMBER 25TH AT THE HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up everytime
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