Arts & Culture

It's a great year for Karen O. In addition to spending roughly a year traveling to various locations around the U.S. to create the Yeah Yeah Yeah's March release of It's Blitz!, O recently helped provide tunes for the motion picture soundtrack, Where the Wild Things Are.

This debut album from Parachute delivers simplicity, predictability and hackneyed lyrics - but not much more.

In this album, Hornet Leg captures an older, playful punk feel that I haven't come across in a long time. The songs are mostly melodious, featuring an unrefined production factor, raw vocals and amazingly funny and creative lyrics that really make you want to thrash and groove.

Executive Director Don Roth has implemented a creative goal for the UC Davis' Mondavi Center by moving towards an artistic, educational and operational vision for the past three years. Muse interviewed him on Tuesday.

The end of a decade usually signifies a time of reflection and assessment. What the hell happened in the last 10 years? What's changed since we apprehensively watched Dick Clark deliver us into the new millennium? The simple and correct answer is technological progress. But just as the future never goes quite according to plan, technological progress is also never without backlash.

The soulful and gospel-like vocals make The Temper Trap unlike most indie rock bands out there today. Most distinguished for their track \

I was surprised to find out that more people haven't read Where The Wild Things Are than I thought. So when I showed them the epic Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" version of the trailer, I was disappointed that they weren't as moved as I was.

Some of you may be wondering who Islands is. The answer is not a collection of sandy beaches to the west of California, but rather a highly popular underground band performing here in Davis.

MUSIC

Local band Buildings Breeding, consisting of Chris Larson, Chris Vogel, Justin Titsworth, Kevin Dockter and UC Davis alumna Melanie Glover, will be disbanding in late next month. We spoke to guitarist Chris Larsen to catch up on the details.

Almost everyone nowadays can at least hum, if not sing along perfectly to Colbie Caillat's song \

Somewhere in an office in Cupertino, Apple marketing strategists designed the iPod, a creation that would transform the music industry seemingly forever. Eight years and six iPod generations later, Apple still dominates the MP3 player market.

Out-of-place is not a feeling one should experience when going to a concert. However, easily being 15 to 20 years younger than any other person in a massive concert hall might invoke that very feeling. Sitting quietly, I minded my own business until the lights dimmed.

The Mondavi Center will be offering student discounts on two upcoming shows: the Feb. 14 performance of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo and the Feb. 27 performance by violinist Joshua Bell.

Slug: 091015_ar_norcalnoisefestEdits: JTHNotes: Summary:Headline: The beauty of noiseLayercake: Three days of Norcal Noisefest in Sacramento By ELENA BUCKLEYAggie Arts Writer What is noise? Is it...