Tag: featured
My 1st Show at The Echo With Old Pals & New: Surfbort & Feels
Jesse Fox
March 18, 2017
As a photographer who primarily lives and works in the midwest, covering a show at The Echo was a bit of a check-off from my unofficial venue bucket list. Living in Ohio, you’re oftentimes passed over on tours (shocking, right?) So, upon finding out that not only would I be able to see my friends in Surfbort, but that I’d finally be able catch Feels all in one place, it made covering this show a highlight of my recent trip to Los Angeles. The difference in vibe in the lineup might be part of the reason that every other band that played, including headliners, The Molochs fell a little flat for me. Sorry guys. related content: Spending the Week w/ Feels Debut Album from Castle Face Records Surfbort: Innocent Punkers or Deranged Occultists? Brooklyn based four-piece Surfbort kicked off the night and the first show of their west coast tour. Despite being jet-lagged, singer Dani Miller’s energy was contagious as she interacted with both the crowd and her bandmates. Erratic dance moves and a giant smiley face mixed with her yelling and at times, laughing vocals, had me wondering if she was an innocent little punk just havin’ a little
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Take This: Two Tickets To See Kate Tempest at The Constellation Room
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 18, 2017
If you’re ANYTHING like we are, you are thirsty for an artist or musician to say something tangible and inspiring and infuriating on the state of our world. Like they used to. To say the things that so many of us are thinking . The things that so many others say to forget because we can’t change them anyway, when the truth is that if we all descended on the halls of power like a human tidal wave, we could wash away the corruption and indifference to human suffering with the weapon in our wallets. Almost overnight. We think Kate Tempest could very well be that artist and she’s coming to Southern California this week on her first U.S. tour in support of last year’s album, Let Them Eat Chaos. Not only that but she’s being supported by extraordinary beat producer, Boom Bip. Janky Smooth is giving away 2 TICKETS TO SEE KATE TEMPEST AT THE CONSTELLATION ROOM INSIDE THE OBSERVATORY IN SANTA ANA on Wednesday, March 22nd. To win tickets simply follow Janky Smooth on Facebook, IG and/or Twitter and share this post on any or all of those sites. That’s it. Winner will be selected on Tuesday March
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The Significance of Japandroids Unknown to The Observatory Security Staff
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 17, 2017
A Hockey Game: An Acceptable Canadian Excuse to Be Late For Japandroids Set at The Observatory I arrived at the side of the Observatory stage for Japandroids at 10:11 pm, soaked in sweat from the glory of winning a hockey game that ended 20 minutes earlier, and dealing with the security guards at The Observatory. Despite proof of credentials, I still found myself waiting outside the venue in front of a closed box office until the staff of seven security guards at an empty door gave in and let me through. Nevertheless, I was reassured that none of the staff had any idea who I was, or why any publication would care to cover this show. Observatory Suggestion Box: Hand Out Press Releases To Security Guards Like Daily Specials to Waiters Yes, perhaps they were just doing their job which didn’t include taking note of the endless accolades Japandroids had garnered over their first ten years as a band. Were they truly oblivious to the fact that Spin Magazine had only five years earlier called them Band of the Year in 2012? Perhaps they had never known about Japandroids dominance on top ten lists for when their second studio album, Celebration
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New Song Premiere: Lord Loud- “The Hand” from Passé Paranoia
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 17, 2017
This premiere of “The Hand” is the first the world will hear from the Passé Paranoia LP from L.A. based, heavy psych rock outfit Lord Loud. Passé Paranoia is due out April 18th on King Volume Records in the U.S. and Kozmic Artifactz in Europe. Until then, check out this gem, “The Hand”. <a href=”https://lordloudmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pass-paranoia”>Passé Paranoia by Lord Loud</a> When Janky Smooth spoke to front axe man, Chris Allison about the history of this band and the album, he told us, “Michael (drums) and I repurposed a sweaty garage in Van Nuys and built a studio for ourselves to self record this LP using supplies previous tenants left like- 48 shipping blankets and whatever mics we could borrow from friends and strangers alike.” Lord Loud Songs are sure to kill your neighbor’s lawn when played at high volumes. In the line of great American pairings like: – apple pie and baseball – sex and drugs – Beavis and Butthead Could Lord Loud be the next, great American duo of rock? This hardworking, heavy psych 2-piece bring sound the size of a 70’s 4 piece garage band but have only 4 hands total to pull that off. That fits nicely with the limited
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Identity Politics in America-Part 1: Mind Control for Dummies
Danny Baraz
March 15, 2017
Did you ever wonder where the debate over trans-gender bathroom rights came from? Surely there must’ve been some actual incident, some gender-identity 9/11, something horrific enough to mobilize both conservative and progressive activists into their current scorched-earth strategy of political opposition, leaving nothing but worn-out pundits in their wake? Did a gang of drag queens assault an underage girl in a Disneyland bathroom? Though seldom acknowledged, the debate actually started in Houston from a local anti-discrimination bill: the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). It passed into law in 2014 with widespread support across city council party lines. Yet HERO was repealed only a year later after opposition groups like the Family Research Council created petitions and fear-mongered over men dressing in drag to assault little girls in the bathroom. Then when North Carolina did its thing, Houston was all but forgotten. Whether or not an actual incident occurred suddenly was beside the point. Welcome to Identity Politics in America. Identity politics (IDP) needs no historical context or accuracy to serve its real purpose: keeping the spotlight off events that actually impact voters’ lives. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t care about the most marginalized in our society or fight for them. 0.6 % of the U.S. population are
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Desert Daze Takes It’s Caravan On The Road
Danny Baraz
March 15, 2017
Here we are, almost 6 months after the Desert Daze festival took place at The Institute of Mentalphysics in Joshua Tree and we still can’t stop thinking about it. It’s the type of experience that AEG exits are made of. A festival that is rich with so many memories of once in a lifetime sets and lifelong friendships that began that weekend are burned in our brains forever. related content: Desert Daze 2016- Quantifying the Physics of a Good Time The folks at Moonblock are not your stereotypical musicians and artists. You know, the ones from paradigms past that lived off their stripper girl friends and never had a job. No, they are part of this new, global artist community renaissance that is characterized by entrepreneurship and hustle. They fill the vacuum left in the ruins of the major record labels with a balance of bands, indie record labels and booking agencies like Phil and Julie Pirrone have with Desert Daze, The Space Agency and their respective bands, JJUUJJUU and Deap Vally. They are filled with family. It’s in this vein that the Pirrone’s put together the Desert Daze Caravan that has been touring since February and are currently stopped in
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Dr Octagon: 20 Years Later, Kool Keith & Crew Play 1st L.A. Show
Jessica Moncrief
March 14, 2017
Hip Hip lovers rejoiced when The Teragram Ballroom announced that Dr.Octagon would be playing the first ever live performance in LA with the original trio of masterminds that gave us “Dr. Octagonecologyst.” In 1996 Kool Keith’s alter ego Dr.Octagon along with Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and DJ Qbert brought forth one of the most epic cult classics in Hip Hop history, yet never once played a show together. More than 20 years later the elusive group surprised everyone with a handful of reunion shows. An Iconic Project from an Iconic M.C. Kool Keith took a different eccentric approach to hip-hop. While he always has maintained his roots from the The Ultramagnetic MCs days, his lyricism wasn’t what the typical hip hop artists of that time were on. He was on some bizarro lyrical shit, garnering him a huge cult like following of weirdos and freaks from every end of the spectrum. Witnessing Hip Hop History at The Teragram Ballroom Blogger, Cesareo Garasa’s online reaction to the news was totally on point, he wrote “This terrifies me. His music terrifies me on some unknown level. I can’t listen to it– even though I enjoy it– without being filled up
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A Camera, Notebook & A Foul Disposition for Sinkane at The Bootleg
Todd Anderson
March 14, 2017
There’s no way to write about last night without it being personal, deeply personal. While in the midst of a debilitating depression, of which I am prone to, my friend and my girlfriend dragged me into the Bootleg Theatre, minutes before Sinkane was to take the stage. I had my camera, notebook, and a foul disposition… attempting to focus on shooting something… anything to get out of this funk that had ahold of me and secretly planning to leave at the drop of a hat. As Sinkane’s 8 diverse members found their places on the stage, I had no way of knowing I was about to be transformed, changed, grooved right out of the deep darkness I was in. I look up and see the drum reads Sinkane, and right below Kulu Shi Tamaam- but I’ll get to that later. By the end of the first song, I realize Sinkane has mastered the art of build up. I’m uneasy and still not quite sure of what is going on. I snap some photos, grateful for the task. By the third song, I feel it- that indescribable feeling you get when music transports you somewhere else, somewhere good, somewhere so far
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Wand Secret Show at The Griffin w/ Dreamdecay
Danny Baraz
March 9, 2017
It’s not that the shows over the last couple years at The Griffin are “secret shows”, per se. The Ty Segall and the Freedom Band gig a month ago before Segall’s latest album dropped, had a line stretching around the alley behind the Griffin with a couple hundred fans that didn’t make it in. I weep for those poor souls. But “Secret Show” sounds infinitely doper than “unpromoted show”. This past Monday it was Cory Hanson’s band Wand that ignored the most important rule and defining trait of a secret; Loose Lips Sink Ships and Snitches Get Stitches. What we got was perfectly populated place of Wand worship and an opening band that ditched the psych rock dogma to create a unique style; PsychCore. I know, I know- shoot me in the face if ever say that word again! The Religion of Rock n Roll and it’s Testimony at The Griffin Monday night’s at The Griffin are starting to resemble Sunday’s at church. Familiar faces amongst the congregants privy to the message being delivered in the sermon, captivated by the clergy and the message of rock and roll delivered to the flock who revere them. related content: Shannon and the
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre in L.A.: Music Snobs & Fentanyl Lollipops
Danny Baraz
March 8, 2017
This past Saturday night, I gave it another go when Anton Newcombe and The Brian Jonestown Massacre took the stage at The Fonda Theater in the land of Fentanyl Lollipops and sickly sweet sizzurp. Thoughts were rushing through my head while frequent Brian Jonestown contributor Miranda Lee Richards opened the show in support of the iconic, occult-ish and earliest figures in the current psych rock insurgence taking place in the global underground. But much like Jerry Garcia himself, the imagery of BJM’s early work summoned acid flashbacks while the hustle was about “getting well” behind closed doors. Here comes a tangent. I’m reliably and uncharacteristically tribal when it comes to my loyalty to regional pride in any form. West Coast Rap, West Coast weed, (obviously). Echo Park music (don’t say ‘scene’) over Williamsburg and, of course- The East Coast girls ARE hip and I dig those styles they wear…but the West Coast has the sunshine and half naked well tanned women in the winter- even if I do dig a pale complexion with jet black, bangs cut as high as the depth of character. related content: The Brian Jonestown Massacre Play 3 1/2 Hour Set at Teragram But when it came
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Meet Moon Duo At The Crossroads: Rock Rebranded At The Echo
Danny Baraz
March 2, 2017
The moment I first saw the imagery and themes from the new Moon Duo album, Occult Architecture vol. 1 released on Sacred Bones Records, I knew that Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada were communicating in a language I could understand. That’s why I peeled myself out of exhausted comfort this past Friday to attend their gig at The Echo, even though I was burning out quicker than Crowley, strung out in London. Apologies to the opening bands. Moon Duo has been on line-ups of shows and festivals I’ve attended in the past but sometimes, a shiny object is required to draw your attention in a time when there is more new music and less strict guidelines in adhering to people’s pre conceived notions on what kind of music they pledge their allegiance to. It would be easy for rock purists to overlook the magickal, mystical incantations and spells Moon Duo cast on their new album, Occult Architecture, Vol 1. But I’m more curious if there are any rock purists left under the age of 25 and what is the measuring stick of “pure rock”? The Rolling Stones? Robert Johnson? The Sonics? Zeppelin? How about GunsNRoses or even, Ty Segall?
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UNIFORM & Black Marble at Union: The Mongrelization of Music Continues…
Aria Silva-Espinosa
February 27, 2017
Tucked away amongst a row of small businesses and street vendors, the massive, multiple roomed venue called UNION is actually pretty easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. Even the marquee is unassuming amidst the flashing lights of the Pico-Union storefronts along the boulevard. Bright neon signs indicate that the Jewel Room awaits just past the side entrance and patio, still wet from the last few days of rain- a more perfectly planned setting for Black Marble and UNIFORM seemed impossible to imagine. Janky Smooth listed UNIFORM as a top 25 band to watch in 2017 so I believe it was the reason my request to cover this show was approved but I was most excited to cover Black Marble, a band that couldn’t sound ANY more different than UNIFORM. This should be interesting! Inside UNION, the stage is illuminated in light teal as the first act takes the stage. Anzano is a one-man act consisting of heavily distorted vocals, pre-recorded or triggered synth tracks and a giant flying-V shaped guitar that goes relatively ignored, save for a few sparse riffs. To compensate for the seeming limited musicality, Anzano is dressed in a sequin cape, chain mail cap
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