Arts & Culture

Evan Monheit did not major in music when he attended UC Davis. However, after he graduated in 2004 with a degree in communication, he took the proverbial leap into Hollywood and has succeeded where so many have failed, simply by doing what he loves.

When was the last time you got to dance to professional DJs at no cost?

While rain fell from the sky in Davis Sunday night, Cudamani performers in “Gamelan Cudamani: Bamboo to Bronze” lit up the stage inside Jackson Hall of the Mondavi Center, where a sunny vibe contrasted the more wintery outdoor conditions.

Best Coast, the indie pop band best known for its laid-back California vibe, will perform at Odd Fellows Lodge, 415 Second St., tonight at 8:30 p.m., with tickets available for students for $5. MUSE caught up with Best Coast's lead singer, Bethany Cosentino, about the band, fame and tonight's performance.

Though he is known for having a folk sound carried by guitars and gentle vocals, Sufjan Stevens mixes electronic into his 10th album. His use of synths and drum machines makes certain tracks sound more "artificial" than what many of his loyal listeners may be accustomed to. In addition, his former whisper has evolved to louder singing in order to keep pace with more frenetic instrumentals. Still, with song names like "Impossible Soul" and "Futile Devices," the Detroit native's latest album adheres to his gold standard of lyrical impeccability.

The fifth studio album of southern rock group Kings of Leon showed a slower paced yet entirely powerful new direction that the band seems to be heading in. The three Followhill brothers (and cousin) bring their own brand of melodic riffs and melodramatic sensuality with Come Around Sundown. While the arena rock showmanship of Only by Night seems to fade into the background and only appear on one song, "Mary," the band exemplifies a raw energy that is both admirable and fitting for the fervent religiosity and southern rock riffs that Kings of Leon seems to wallow in.

Arcade Fire proves that they're back and here to stay with their hauntingly beautiful new album, The Suburbs. The album is an epic journey through the life of someone in suburbia, and is jam-packed with emotional lyrics that reminisce of the band's phenomenal debut, Funeral.

THIS WEEK IN DAVIS: 2nd Annual Confluence College Poetry Tour; Gamelan Cudamani: Bamboo to Bronze; Best Coast, AB & the Sea, Dog Party, Produce Produce.

As you begin trading in your shorts for jeans, your cute sundresses for heavy coats, and your free-spirited days of lying on the MU lawn for hours of studying in Shields, you may begin to lose the urge to be outside at all.

From the beginning, Mark "Stew" Stewart's musical career was destined to be anything but typical.

You may hear the term 'artistic freedom' being tossed around casually and think nothing of it.

When UC Davis fall quarter Granada Artist in Residence Lucy Gough sits down at the Black Bear Diner, she says she is ready for a hearty meal: turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. "Is it really?" she asks, after learning that this is traditional Thanksgiving food. Hailing from Wales, Gough has only been in Davis - and the United States for that matter - for a month. When UC Davis fall quarter Granada Artist in Residence Lucy Gough sits down at the Black Bear Diner, she says she is ready for a hearty meal: turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. "Is it really?" she asks, after learning that this is traditional Thanksgiving food. Hailing from Wales, Gough has only been in Davis - and the United States for that matter - for a month.

Thanks to the versatility, energy and spot-on acting by star Bella Merlin, Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love, presented by the theater and dance departments, is truly spectacular.

For a community that puts a large emphasis on doing its part in reducing carbon emissions and furthering a green lifestyle, Davis will host an environmentally-conscious event that hopes to raise funds for ecological conservation.

THIS WEEK IN DAVIS: Tilly No-Body: Catastrophes of Love (Mondavi Center, Vanderhoef Studio Theater), Tonight to Saturday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., $15; Garrett Pierce and Timothy James Wright (Delta of Venus, 122 B St.), Friday, 8 p.m., free; Readings by Creative Writing Faculty (UC Davis Arboretum, Wyatt Deck), Tonight, 7 p.m., free.