Tag: featured

Cinema of Sound: Timber Timbre at The Moroccan Lounge

Dillon Vaughn August 27, 2018

Timber Timbre‘s unbelievably cinematic sound conjures some of the most distinct imagery with ease; thankfully they were able to bring that experience to fans at the Moroccan Lounge in DTLA last week for two sold out nights. Embedded in their music is an intimacy fitting for the most tense moments of desolation; compositions that harken to a lovesick killer brooding in the most remote diner in the Nevada desert late at night. (Interestingly enough, the group so capable of capturing the classic sound of the American west hails from Ontario, Canada.) Deceptive softness and melancholy shroud what’s truly music for a bad man (in a Coen Brother’s sense) and the beauty translates perfectly to a live setting. The well-earned hype and buzz surrounding this group will only continue to grow. related content: How To Trip Off Volume: Elder At The Roxy related content: Too Heavy to Die: Boris’ 25th Anniversary With Melvins At Echoplex Opening both performances was Thor and Friends, the avant-garde project fronted by former Swans associate and percussionist Thor Harris. Unassuming at first, the ensemble quickly captivated those in attendance with hypnotic swells and some of the most lush instrumentation to grace the Moroccan. They’ve performed around town frequently

The Hardest So-Cal Has to Offer, Strife Plays “In This Defiance” at The Roxy

Rob Shepyer August 27, 2018

Southern California has always been a hotbed for hardcore punk from Black Flag to The Circle Jerks but carrying on the torch into the 90’s was a band from Thousand Oaks, California called Strife. Exhibiting that classic straight edge, beat down character, Strife was a band that from the get go, had the feel like they belonged on a stage with a pit belonging right in front of them. Their second album, In This Defiance, with its many guest appearances by Dino Cazares, Chino Mareno, and Igor Cavalera, became the band’s definitive album. They were a band that could get hardcore kids to dog-pile and sing together songs so undeniably powerful and demanding of an audience, that they became essential to the Southern California hardcore canon. related content: For The Children 2017 At The Echoplex: Hardcore Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving Strife’s impact resonated beyond their sound though. Each band that would perform on this evening at The Roxy had a connection to the band. Beginning first with Fixation from Philadelphia, who even though are in the early stages of their career, played a set that was cohesive and powerful enough to make you envision a long and

New Name, New Video – ZOOLUXX (Formerly Solar Sons) Release “Finally Be”

Janky Smooth Central Command August 24, 2018

For years, ZOOLUXX, formerly known as Solar Sons, has been the quintessential soundtrack for night’s out in Los Angeles. From their residency at Good Times at Davey Wayne’s to being a fixture in all the best underground house parties, everybody in L.A. knows these guys. You’ve thrown back beers to their music, hooked up to their music, danced to their music, and now, with a new name and an EP produced by legendary saxophonist Karl Denson, they’re stepping into a new era in their musical tenure. Denson, who’s played with everyone from The Rolling Stones to Lenny Kravitz, produced ZOOLUXX’s 2017 debut EP and their single “Finally Be”. ZOOLUXX has always had the uncanny ability to transport any room they play straight into boogie town. With awesome grooves and psychedelic landscapes, the band makes every party feel like a funky sci-fi exploitation movie. Consisting of vocalist and guitarist Troy Vincent, bassist Ned Casual, percussionist Bertie Paradise, and drummer Princess Frank, each member contributes to a sound that is infectious, magnetic, and undeniably primal at its core. All thought is lost to dance when a ZOOLUXX tune grabs you and has its way with your feet. I liken ZOOLUXX’s place in

Too Heavy to Die: Boris’ 25th Anniversary with Melvins at Echoplex

Janky Smooth Central Command August 23, 2018

Boris celebrated their 25th anniversary of being a band at The Echoplex opening for the band that they take their name from, Melvins. Both classic sludge rock staples played incredibly loud, noisy, and heavy sets. Photos by: Dillon Vaughn

How to Trip Off Volume: Elder at The Roxy

Rob Shepyer August 23, 2018

How do you get high? Flower? Shrooms? Synthetics? Running? There are many ways. Some of them led me to this style of stoner/doom metal in the first place but once I had first began frequenting those concerts and stood among other trippers before a stage where a high was induced through music, I realized not every method can be found on erowid.com. Volume can get you high. Walls of sound can break you through sobriety’s ceiling and beyond that threshold is an especially consciousness-shaking altered state. Few bands build walls of sound so high and holy as the ones featured at The Roxy at this show with progressive doom virtuosos Elder. related content: Earthless Liquified My Face At Teragram With Third Circle Visuals behind the projector’s eye, shooting liquid light on stage as if spitting venom like a Dilophosaurus on LSD, the stage was set for Los Angeles’ best kept stoner secret Yidhra to take the stage. Combining heavy, vibrating doom riffs with hallowed, commanding growls, and a theremin’s whirling alien essence, Yidhra’s sound is original and soul-stirring. Like if Sleep slept with Kenneth Anger’s Technicolor skull, this is dark-side of your trip black light metal to the bone. This

Bastard Rap: Lil Ugly Mane and Bastard Noise at The Locker Room

Rob Shepyer August 22, 2018

Well what do ya know… it looks like Garden Grove has a lot more going for it than forever being relegated to Sublime references. The quaint Orange County town has a new outdoor/indoor venue in Garden Amphitheater and the smaller, Locker Room within it. The Amphitheater is hosting two amazing hardcore festivals in 2018 so having scoped out the space, I can say for a fact these shows will be completely insane. related content: 1Fest-Los Angeles at Los Globos: Noise As Music As Force Is Farce The Locker Room, which is decorated with yellow lockers along the back of the stage, would host Lil Ugly Mane’s Orange County show on a tour that he billed with diverse bands for every date. Mane assembled trap, death rock, and legendary vocalist of Man is the Bastard, Eric Wood, who with an array of machines, creates sonic insanity under the banner: Bastard Noise. The first band to play the evening was a crusty hip hop artist known as Death Rattle. They performed as a duo consisting of a mad-dog vocalist that duel wields microphones, one filtered, one not, and a live drummer. Opening his set with the command that all nazis get the fuck

The Queens Converge at Outside Lands 2018

Janky Smooth Central Command August 21, 2018

Admittedly, what brought me to Outside Lands Music Festival at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco this year was LP, Florence + The Machine, and legendary pop star Janet Jackson. A first in the festival’s history: featuring a female fronted headliner, and this year we had two. Outside Lands featured a superb lineup of music and DJ’s to enjoy for all age groups. The art installations and props went above and beyond including a psychedelic wooded wonderland with glow-in-the-dark mushrooms, rugs, couches, and chairs creating the ultimate experience. With an accentuated vibe of relaxation, there were different flavors of tea served by the Mad Hatter himself. In addition to the ultimate in variety of excellent food choices, Outside Lands served up a large cannabis education section creatively called Grass Lands, beer, wine, and comedy, surrounded by luscious, towering forest greens all around. Outside Lands is massive, with over 200,000 concert goers during the 3-day weekend. The main stage displayed a massive Golden Gate Bridge made up of blue lights, while white lights pointed up, reaching to the high heavens when the sun went down, it was truly a sight to behold. related content: The Headliners Rule At Outside Lands 2016 Day 1 When I first arrived at the

New Song Premiere: The Dividing Line – “Deadbeat”

Janky Smooth Central Command August 20, 2018

We all know that special someone that drags down the group and sometimes those people need to learn their lesson the hard way, or rather in this case, the hardcore way. if there was ever a song to get someone to reform there ways it would be The Dividing Line‘s “Deadbeat”. New Age Records’ The Dividing Line create some of the most aggressive and unhinged hardcore you can hear in 2018 and their latest banger “Deadbeat” brings the pain on every level. The slam dance part is crushing and filled with plenty of bounce for you to get those punches and kicks flying. This is the kind of confrontational songwriting that gave hardcore it’s reputation as both music with balls and music for the people by the people about real shit. The Dividing Line just finished recording their 7″ to be released on New Age Records in late summer 2018 called Turn my Back on the World.

Alison Wonderland Uplifts L.A. at the Shrine

Aria Silva-Espinosa August 20, 2018

Every EDM festival lineup, every mainstream festival EDM selection, year after year is an exhausting shirtless sausage fest. It’s totally true, look it up. Prior to 2014-ish, very few female acts graced the lineups of dance music-focused shows and festivals. Alison Wonderland was the woman who worked her way to the main stage of some of the largest festivals in the world and for the past three years she has toured the world bringing her unique blend of original vocals and electrifying dance music to her massive international fan base. Born Alexandra Sholler in New South Wales, she’s certainly come a long way from playing classical cello in the Sydney Youth Opera for those who want to argue that electronic artists aren’t real musicians. She played bass for a while too before being inspired to go in a different direction by Swedish avant garde electro-pop duo The Knife. The rest is kind of history. She began working as a mixer and began touring in her native Australia as Alison Wonderland in 2012 and released her debut single ‘Get Ready’ in 2013. related content: Overcoming Fear With Fever Ray At The Palladium Dance music festivals are big business for a lot

Take This: Win 2 Tickets to George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at OC Observatory

Janky Smooth Central Command August 17, 2018

You wanted the funk, well the Observatory is bringing it with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic on October 3oth. Experience the Mothership Connection for their final tour because after this George is off to a galaxy far, far away for who knows how long. Janky Smooth is proud to give you the chance to catch this icon and musical genius perform funk classics with his legendary band. Bow wow wow yippee yo yippe yay. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC AUGUST 30th at The Observatory Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up everytime you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Share or RT this or giveaway post or Tag a Friend in the comment section of any of our INSTAGRAM George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON MONDAY AUGUST 20th AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

Jerry Lives Forever: Grateful Shred at Teragram

Rob Shepyer August 16, 2018

For half my life, I’ve been a diehard fan of the most hippie-slaying bands you could ever hear but throughout that time, working in contrast to that was my love of The Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead were spawned out of Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests where they played as the house band and got so high that they had to improvise their sounds and obey the psychedelic flow running through them. It gave them the most original feel and song structure of any band from their era and garnered them the most cult following in the history of music. I’m sure had I been around at the time of the Grateful Dead, I would’ve been a “Dead Head” and if that undermines my punk credibility, allow me to share what I witnessed at a recent Dead and Company show at Dodgers Stadium: Dirty hippies, one wardrobe change away from crust punks, snorting cocaine right in front of sixty year old couples. Women flashing and everyone choosing their own seats with no care what was assigned to them on their tickets. Captured by The Dead’s music this month, seeing Grateful Shred perform at the Teragram Ballroom was my way of celebrating Jerry

Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Cold Waves LA

Janky Smooth Central Command August 15, 2018

Cold Waves is Chicago’s annual industrial festival that showcases the artists that are leading the way in the world of dark electronic music. For the second year in a row, Cold Waves is coming to Los Angeles for three days of dancing and black clothing. Headlining the festival which takes place at 1720 warehouse is OhGr, Nivek OhGr’s band (of Skinny Puppy fame); The Black Queen, Greg Puciato’s industrial group after The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Canadian industrial legends Front Line Assembly. Cold Waves LA takes place Thursday September 27th-29th at 1720 Warehouse with a kick-off show at the Echo with Ruby. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS FOR COLD WAVES LA+KICK OFF SHOW SEPTEMBER 26th AT THE ECHO + SEPTEMBER 27th-29th AT 1720 WAREHOUSE Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up everytime you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Share or RT this or any Cold Waves LA Artist Spotlight post on FB or Twitter or Tag a Friend in the comment section of any of our INSTAGRAM Cold Waves LA Giveaway or Artist Spotlight Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5th AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

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