Arts & Culture

Whether you've just made Davis your new home or you've been here for years, exploring the town's culture is a must. Davis isn't a metropolitan area but it has a surprisingly active art scene. Profiled here are several choices for the art-minded among us. Luckily, admission to these galleries is free.

The cover of the album resembles the fantastical outer space wallpaper of a seven-year-old boy's room. Inside the CD jacket are cartoon replicas of children's storybooks and childhood fantasies. But upon closer inspection, all of these vibrant images have a slight acid-trip feel to them. I was left confused and had no idea what to expect when I finally listened to the music.

College students agree: There is no better way to start the year than with a sobering dose of challenging, genre-clashing art. Well then, the Richard L. Nelson Gallery and Fine Art Collection has you covered. Beginning Sept. 24, the Nelson will simultaneously be hosting two different collections, African-American Quilts and Merch Art. The following is a brief preview of the exhibit.

There's nothing like the feel of elitism. Whether it's a road bicyclist sneering at a passing fixter's inferior gear ratio or a shaven swimmer scolding a newbie in a lap lane, elitism gives people a real edge to hone - especially in these times of ingenuous mediocrity.

My favorite elitist outlet is music. That's probably why I'm the California Aggie's arts editor now. After writing multiple hasty album reviews about why I'm better than Weezer, Dragonforce or Mims, I had to get somewhere, right?

The Davis Summer Symphony, consisting of students, faculty and community members in the Davis and Sacramento area, completes its fifth year of operations this year and will be performing today at noon in the Grand Lobby of the Mondavi Center. The performance is this quarter's first Free Noon Concert Series presented by the UC Davis Department of Music.

Heavy rock meets classical - The Resistance is Muse's fifth studio album and a failed attempt to thread symphonic ballads with rhapsodies of Matt Bellamy's soulful vocals. The Resistance is clearly not their best album recorded - their magnum opus was the Origin of Symmetry - but this album is far from average in comparison. Its pompous influences are all over the place - which is what makes The Resistance, well, disappointing.

MUSIC

Davis High Jazz Combo

Thursday, 7 p.m., free

John Natsoulas Gallery

The Natsoulas Gallery's Thursday Night Concert Series will present the Davis High Jazz Combo this week. This is definitely worth consideration because high school jazz bands are by far the only "cool" high school music ensembles. Concert band will never be cool, nor will wind ensemble, marching band or glee club. Coincidentally, FOX's "Glee" sucks as well.

Japanther; NinjaSonik; Elders

Thursday, 8 p.m., $5

Delta of Venus

Cool Japanese word combinations unite - Japanther's punky-yet-danceable tunes will meet NinjaSonik's Brooklyn vibe on Thursday. Davis regulars Elders are also scheduled to perform. Check them out on Myspace for a preview.

On David Guetta's breakthrough effort to bring his Euro-club music to America, the French DJ's fourth studio album One Love lacks one cohesive resonance.

On first listen, One Love seems to be a hip hop-techno mash up. Rather, it then ventures into something entirely different - a messy, unorganized album with no direction that is only appealing at first.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a good marriage between hip hop and club beats, but this has got to be one of the most ostentatious albums in music history. Name-dropping in every song, Guetta collaborates with Kelly Rowland, Kid Cudi, Akon, Estelle, Ne-Yo, Winter Gordan, Will.I.Am and even Chris Willis.

The Nickel Slots, a Sacramento-based band consisting of Guitarist Tony Brucsca, bassist Paul Zinn, guitarist Steve Amaral and drummer Christopher Amaral will be releasing their self-titled debut album on Sept. 11. The band, who has performed together since November 2008, combines rustic melodies and riffs with rock beats to create a unique alternative country/folk rock sound.

Their single, "Lucky Number 7s," spent roughly a month on KWOD 106.5 FM's playlist until the station shut down in May. The track demonstrates the band's ability to form a story line that fits their upbeat music. Brusca sings, "From the darkest nights/ come the brightest days/ and the best is yet to come/ I say the best is yet to come."

Pretend it's the '80s. A stranger approaches you on the street and says "I record my music digitally." You would think to yourself, "Ah, this individual must be familiar binary code, aliasing, patching and has probably earned a degree in computer engineering or mathematics from a modest institution." Thankfully, technology has managed to catch up with the modern boob; whereas now, participating in the digital home-recording revolution is as simple as clicking the red circle on your screen and yelling toward the computer mic.

Of all the bands to have emerged from the now legendary Smell community, with the possible exception of No Age, none has gained so much hype and publicity as Health.

Last Friday's lingering humid haze brought about a warm and sluggish afternoon in downtown Davis. The strangely dreary weather and lack of people wandering the streets led a person to believe there wasn't much going on downtown.