Arts & Culture

Bernard Farley, better known as Outputmessage, has been making his name in the DC music scene for the past few years. After being featured on Idol Tryouts: Ghostly International Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2006), Farley became heavily involved in various new projects including two DJ nights called Marquis and Flat Out!, a collaboration with electronic pop group New Models and a disco-house outfit, Dmerit, consisting of Micah Vellian and himself. URB Magazine also described him as "the good parts from Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin and New Order" in their Next 100 Top Artists list in 2006.

MUSE profiles the work of local artists whose art is displayed at two downtown Davis cafés. Check out our article next week for a continuation of the series.

In California, prisoners, the arts and UC Davis have two things in common: the ubiquitous presence of budget cuts and license plates.

After suffering heavy losses in recent budget cuts, UC Davis design students still manage to rank highly among industry competitions.

On Wednesday night at 8, I was fortunate enough to enjoy an eye-opening (hence the title) and truly touching THIRDeYE Festival at the Wyatt Theater.

On Feb. 9, the spirit of the Himalayas will come alive at UC Davis. Nepali poet and author Yuyutsu Ram Dass Sharma will hold a poetry reading and workshop from noon to 2 p.m. in 126 Voorhies. The event will primarily concentrate on his new book, Way to Everest, a collection of his poems and photographs by Andreas Stimm about the culture of the Himalayan Mountains.

LITERATURE / POETRY

The American Bach Soloists will perform Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 at the Mondavi Center on Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. Student tickets start at $18 and rush tickets for $5 beginning 30 minutes before the performance.

West Palm Beach quintet, Surfer Blood, released their debut LP Astro Coast earlier this week. Their first single, "Swim (To Reach the End)," (somewhat of an intersection of Animal Collective and Weezer's Blue Album) was released through Pitchfork Media late last year and has since experienced an eruption of viral buzz.

The stark black and white cover art of Grouper's split EP with Roy Montgomery perfectly embodies the track listings in its entirety; it is billowing and beautiful in every way. The EP is a hauntingly hypnotic pleasure to the ears if you are a fan of late-night ambience and avant-garde experimentalism. In Grouper's "Vessel," Liz Harris uses a gently distorted organ to combine with her own aerial vocals - forming an ethereal and static equation. Montgomery's portion of the EP exists in the form of a live recording from their show in his hometown, Christchurch, New Zealand. The track is a revolving, raga-like cycle of folk guitars and lo-fi lovin'. This five5-track EP is a brilliant collaboration: Roy Montgomery offers the warm-sounding yin to Grouper's icy-cold yang. Listen to it and pretend you're floating on mountaintops - or just allow yourself to dissolve in the foggy drone.

Fifteen-year-old Canadian Justin Bieber is arguably well on his way to being the biggest teen pop sensation since the Jonas Brothers, and the title isn't totally undeserved. Every song in My World, a compilation of Bieber's eight singles, is pleasant enough to listen to. Bieber has a good voice and the age-appropriate material he's been given has a nice pop vibe.

Following up their 2008 release of Devotion, Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House released their third album, Teen Dream, on Tuesday. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally evolve from the spidery, sparse tones of their first two albums to procure brighter and more upbeat sounds while maintaining the delicately flowing musicalities of Beach House and Devotion.

On Monday, the Department of Justice officially approved the merger of Ticketmaster, the world's largest ticketing company, and Live Nation, the world's largest concert promoter.

The Mondavi Center is releasing pre-sale tickets for the upcoming Apr. 7 Elvis Costello performance. Tickets went on sale yesterday, and are available until Sunday. Tickets will be available starting at a minimum $17.50 per ticket.

Though the Sacramento area is known for a substantial electronic music scene, the past few years have seen performers splitting or moving to different areas.