Arts & Culture

After months of planning and solidification, the Mondavi Center is finally ready to put on another great season of iconic and talented performances.

The Documentary Cluster at UC Davis, in conjunction with the Technocultural Studies and Film Studies departments, will present a free showing of the documentary Orgasm Inc. in the Technocultural Studies building Friday at noon. An 11:30 a.m. reception with refreshments and will precede the showing.

Calling all musicians: The Fifth Annual Search Party talent contest, sponsored by the ASUCD Entertainment Council, The California Aggie and KDVS 90.3 FM, is officially underway.

MUSIC

The Consortium for Women and Research and the Film Studies Department at UC Davis are presenting the fifth annual Feminist Film Festival, which will take place at 6 p.m. on Apr. 10 and 11 at the Veterans Memorial Theatre.

Finally, the much-anticipated album from Barenaked Ladies has arrived! It definitely provides a new sound – this is not the same Barenaked Ladies of a few years back. Although their style has evolved into something less eccentric, this album offers a much wider range in genre than any of their previous records.

Tracks from Michael Johnson’s 2009 release, Ape School, were semi-recently remixed and put onto an a seven-track compilation unoriginally titled Remixes. The songs carry similar resonance as the original tracks, however twangs of electronic pop and hip-hop make are present throughout the EP. Though both “That’s OK” and “Wail to God” were each remixed twice by different artists, they produce substantially differing sounds from one another.

Volume Two is a near perfect sequel to She & Him’s adorable debut album, evoking the same sweetness in 13 pretty, vintage pop songs. With the exception of 2 covers, Volume Two is written by quirky film actress Zooey Deschanel and produced by singer-songwriter Matt Ward.

It seems that the popularization of Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion in early 2009 convinced many experimental electronic artists that aimlessly noodling around with noises, sounds and excessive reverb was an acceptable thing to do. This is not the case for Jonas Reinhardt’s second Kranky release, Powers of Audition. The San Francisco-based quartet has a flair for integrating and accentuating hypnotic progressions and sinister overtones.

Art and marketing are entirely different fields, but when it comes to attaining a solid career, they’re entirely inseparable. I don’t really know anything about marketing, but it seems obvious what works and what doesn’t when it comes to selling yourself through your work.

As the weather continues to heat up, Sophia’s Thai Kitchen will be breaking the ice and resuming its annual outdoor music season. Starting with Nick Jaina on Apr. 8, Sophia’s will host shows on their outdoor balcony and continue booking until mid-October.

With the same fervent passion for the art form of theatre and dance, Masters of Fine Arts graduating students Amy Louise Cole, Anne Reeder, Brett Duggan and James Marchbanks will enter one stage with four unique solo performance pieces in Solo Explorations. This week, MUSE previews the four performances.