Arts & Culture

If there is one thing that comes out clear in Sacramento hip-hop artist Random Abiladeze's new album, it is frustration. The artist has taken about as much as he can from record executives, idiotic listeners who misunderstand his music and living among an ever present fakeness. His lyrics and tone of voice are filled with honesty instead of petty anger or detached sarcasm.

The Zona Rosa Project is not your average show. Audience members are let into Wyatt Pavilion one at a time and led down a dark hallway by masked performers. They are led out onto the stage where more masked people lead them to their seats. This entrance initially confuses the audience members but looking back it seems like an attempt to involve the audience in the show.

In 1971, French artist Ben Vautier popularized the saying "L'art est inutile, rentrez chez vous," which translated means, art is useless, go home. Today, prejudices against certain forms of art have been treated with just that kind of mentality.

"I basically spent the entire summer waiting for production to begin," says recent University of California, Davis alumnus Michael Lutheran of the upcoming play The Zona Rosa Project.

With three weeks of this quarter already gone, students are heading into the busy weeks packed with midterms and essays. There's hardly time to catch a break. Luckily, the Entertainment Council has found the perfect solution to help students relax, have fun and forget about studying for a while. Through the month of October, various bands will be playing in the Quad every week. Some are local Davis bands, but others are from out of town, and there are plenty of different genres and styles of music represented.

Ten pairs of long, thin, cone shaped inflated structures silently flap in the mostly darkened room. The only major light source in the room comes from the small, circular lights on the bottom of each of the pairs of inflated cones. The white fabric that makes up the cones shines slightly as they slowly bend and unbend in unison, like a flock of geese making their yearly winter trip south. Located within the Nelson Gallery, which is located next to the Wyatt Theatre, Birds: A Kinetic Installation is an inimitable art piece, captivating its viewers instantaneously.

Port O' Brien, a project that lasted three albums and various EPs, reached its fatal end in spring of 2010. But there is sweetness to this bitter news. Founding member and front man Pierszalowski took retreat in Oslo, Norway where he let the change in seasons and environment inspire new music. And from that, Waters was born. The album, Out in the Light, reflects Pierszalowski's journey of musical renewal and rebirth as Waters.

With a slight stench of marijuana in the air, cliques of adults in their 40s and a single disco ball hanging above the stage, Freeborn Hall seemed to have taken on the role of a Thursday night entertainment venue for those who enroll their children at our school.

You walk into an art gallery and in the corner of the room, you see a can sitting on top of a pedestal. You walk up to it and see that the can states "Artist's Shit. Contents 30 gr net. Freshly preserved. Produced and tinned in May 1961". You stare at the can, trying to figure out if this is a joke or hoax of some sort. After a minute or so, your face begins to bunch up in disgust as if you have just seen roadkill smeared across the front bumper of your car. You think to yourself, 'THIS IS ART?'

Cake; Random Abiladeze w/Bread Fam and DJ Professor K; Cosmos Cathedral Featuring work by Jose Di Gregorio; The 5th Annual Davis Jazz Festival: Beyond the Beat Generation.

Whatever happened to music that not only made powerful statements but also created an impact on its listeners? Obviously, it's been in Sacramento this entire time.

"I want to hear Davis. I want to hear the voices that aren't being expressed," Corey La Rue said.

Who says Davis isn't known for much more than its small-town vibes and bicycle-accident-prone college kids who inhabit it? On Tuesday night, one of the world's most prominent and recognizable DJs took the stage at the UC Davis Pavilion and put Davis on the map and in music history. It is safe to say that DJ Tiësto's aura still lingers in an aftermath of excitement that won't leave the town anytime soon.

Watch the Throne was highly anticipated when it came out in August. It is a collaborative album by Jay-Z and Kanye West. After listening to it, it's clear why the album made it to number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in its first week.

Rebecca Taylor and Charles Watson of Slow Club make magic on their sophomore album aptly titled Paradise.