Arts & Culture

In the massive move toward computer-based sound, it is easy for soul to escape most electronic music. Yet there is something incredibly raw, affecting and organic about Pretty Lights. Pretty Lights is producer Derek Vincent Smith, and his new EP continues and furthers his use of complex sampling but includes a more defined, funky edge. Whereas musicians like Girl Talk and the Hood Internet make mash ups out of just a few songs, Smith layers many different individual music samples and voice clips to create a whole new sound.

An album dedicated to misery and emotional stasis isn't what we'd expect to see from an artist like Erykah Badu, whose repertoire is founded on a persona of a self-empowered neo-soul earth mother. In New Amerykah Part 2 (Return of the Ankh), Badu all but abandoned the politics and revolutionary drive of Part 1 and opts instead for a sound that is atmospheric and intimate - dripping with pathos and melancholy.

On Mar. 30, Vallejo's very own E-40 released Revenue Retrievin,' which features two separate albums whose songs relate through their titles and cover shots. The first album, Day Shift, contains a plethora of interesting sounds to cruise or dance to, while Night Shift is more club-oriented and relaxed. E-40 is well-known for his 'hyphy' Bay Area music, involving lyrics that speak mainly about the urban lifestyle. These albums only add to his incredible reputation, featuring artists such as Snoop Dogg, Gucci Mane, B-Legit, Too $hort, The Mob Figaz, Mistah F.A.B. and more.

In an all-too-familiar move last week, the state of Georgia passed a budget that will potentially eliminate the Georgia Council for the Arts. Thousands rallied at the Georgia capitol to protest the budget on Monday, addressing the overwhelming sentiment that arts are almost always first on the chopping block. As whimsical as it may sound, it's truly unfortunate that the arts are generally first to go when it comes to budget cuts. And I don't mean to simply whine - it's unfortunate because arts and culture are inextricably connected to a country's economics and social well-being.

Pianist Vladimir Feltsman will perform at the Mondavi Center's Jackson Hall on Saturday, Apr. 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $17.50 for students. Feltsman will play Beethoven's "Sonata No.8 in C Minor," J.S. Bach's "Parita No.1 in B-Flat Major" and "Four Ballads" by Frederic Chopin at Saturday's show.

For English majors and creative writers, poetry is a part of daily life. But even if the last time you read a poem was in your high school language arts class, tonight's poetry reading at the John Natsoulas Gallery at 8 p.m. will offer the chance to rediscover this unique art form with some of today's most promising young poets. Tonight, the Poetry Night Reading Series will host some of the featured poets from independent poetry publishing house Flatmancrooked's latest publications. These include Not About Vampires: An Anthology of New Fiction Concerning Everything Else and The Slim Anthology of Contemporary Poetics, both of which are due in 2010.

Just hours before they hit the big stage last Wednesday, Passion Pit drummer Nate Donmoyer and keyboardist and guitarist Ian Hultquist sat with the Aggie on the blue benches outside Freeborn Hall. Passion Pit, whose music has exploded in the electronica, indie pop and alternative dance music scenes, played a sold out concert in Freeborn Hall that night, presented by the ASUCD Entertainment Council. Despite their relative success, it appeared that these were just two completely normal guys ready to have a good time doing what they love.

MUSIC The Speed of Sound in Seawater, Buff Clout, Golden Arm, Jesus and the Rabbis Friday, 9 p.m., free The Bomb Shelter, 720 Anderson Road Experience the Bomb Shelter, an actual 1960s underground bomb shelter built in the backyard of 720 Anderson Rd. that now plays host to musicians around the country thanks to the concrete bunker's natural reverb. Concerts don't get more intimate than this. Jake Mann and the Upper Hand, Mist and Mast, J. Irvin Dally Friday, 10 p.m., $3 Sophia's Thai Kitchen

Rating: 4

Rating: 4

Rating: 4

When the Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday, two atypical winners received awards in the journalism category. ProPublica, an online investigative news organization, and Mark Fiore, an online cartoonist, won prizes in a category historically dominated by print media. What happened? Journalism's shift to new forms of media is no longer news. But contrary to what pundits might suggest, journalism itself isn't witnessing its own demise as the Internet takes over media outlets. It's witnessing a complete overhaul, and slackers will indeed get left behind.

Marking the sixth consecutive year in which the staff team and relations commission of Davis has partnered with United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF), three selected documentary films will be featured in this year's film festival at the Varsity Theatre on Sunday. Utilizing the medium of film and cinematography, the festival aims to enlighten and inspire audiences. This year, the City of Davis and UNAFF brings greater issues of human rights, sustainability and justice to the forefront.

The Mondavi Center can add yet another classic American icon to the long list of talented performers they have procured. On Apr. 22 at 8 p.m. in Jackson Hall, the famous Arlo Guthrie and Co. will perform for one night only as part of the "Guthrie Family Rides Again" tour. Guthrie will perform with his wife, four children and seven grandchildren. This is the first time they will all be performing together on stage.

While the economy is forcing other UC radio stations to take budgetary hits, KDVS 90.3 FM manages to stay virtually unscathed with the help of listener donations - donations made during the station's annual weeklong fundraiser. "We are the one exceptional station that has evaded all budget cuts," said Michael Mastrangelo, senior history major and programming director. "And this year will be a testament to prove we can keep doing that." Starting Monday, KDVS will ask listeners all week to donate to the station. Kevin Corrigan, a senior history major and general manager of KDVS, said donations from this annual fundraiser make up almost half of the budget, with the rest coming from ASUCD funding.