Disregarding the somber album title or the strikingly odd band name, San Francisco-based orchestral-indie group The Family Crest offers tracks that aren’t at all hard on the ears. With a full string section and pump organ featured on multiple tracks, many of the songs channel a melancholy sound while leaving a beautiful impression on the listener. The female harmony on “I’ve got nothing to say to you” is especially fitting.

The first time I heard “Something Pretty,” I fell in love with Patrick Park’s voice – infused as it is with soul, folk and lullaby. His soft vocals and gentle guitar riffs are probably the strongest aspects of his music, although the simplicity of the lyrics also adds to its appeal. Park sings with such calm passion and emotion that it’s hard to resist feeling serene and carefree when you’re done listening. His music doesn’t sound like a reflection of his fumbling attempts at self-discovery, nor does it sound like Park is forcing a message or genre on anyone; he’s just Patrick Park with a guitar and beautiful songs.

If you want beef then bring the ruckus, Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothin’ ta fuck with. Wu-Massacre, a collaborative album by Wu-Tang members Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon serves as evidence that these emcees have not forgotten how to deliver rhymes as imaginative, visual and violent as they did 17 years ago when the Wu first hit the scene.

After listening to Kitsuné Maison’s ninth compilation of music mixes, it’s safe to say that nobody has a handle on electro-pop like the French do.

Who to watch: Shortstop Justin Schafer can do it all.

MUSIC, THEATER/MONDAVI, ART/GALLERY

TODAY

For students, staff and faculty facing fee increases and pay cuts in light of the UC-wide budget crisis, one local professor has placed the blame on the regents with evidence to back it up. Dr. Jerold Theis, a professor in the department of medical microbiology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Medicine, bases this accusation on evidence he discovered while investigating the regents’ use of 19900 General Fund Support [cq], funds allotted by the state to help subsidize the functioning of the UC.

It may save paper, but that online textbook may be lowering students’ grades. In an Arizona State University study, “To Scroll or Not to Scroll: Scrolling, Working Memory Capacity, and Comprehending Complex Texts,” co-author Christopher Sanchez, assistant professor of applied psychology at ASU, found that certain students are not retaining as much information when scrolling through online documents.

A group of American and Russian scientists has discovered a new element that is a missing link to developing some of the heaviest bits of atomic mass ever produced. The element, still nameless, was produced by smashing together an isotope of calcium with the radioactive element berkelium in a particle accelerator near Moscow. Published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the data supports the theory that as elements become heavier, they also become more stable and live longer than other atomic structures produced before. In order for the element to gain an official name, the discovery has to be confirmed at another location. Once confirmed, the element will take its place on the periodic table.

With the passage of the health care reform bill come changes that boost funding for higher education. The Education Reconciliation: Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, found within the health care bill, eliminates the current practice of providing federal subsidies to private student loans, cutting out banks as the middleman. Instead, the government will supply loans to students directly.

For many UC Davis students, starting a business may seem like an impossible task. But for one group of student entrepreneurs, not only is creating a business possible, it’s something they can do even before they get their diplomas. Members of the Junior Entrepreneurs and Investors Club recently formed a club dedicated to selling Clean Cart Systems – a sort of dishwasher for shopping carts. Executives of the six-year-old business gave Davis students the rights to sell the systems in Yolo County.