Arts & Culture

Imagine the last final exam of your senior year - walking into a classroom with a pencil and Scantron in hand. However, this image is a bit different for UC Davis music majors.

The culmination of an undergraduate's college career in music concludes with a senior recital. Picture all your friends, family and faculty in one room waiting to hear the talent you have been developing for at least the past four years.

Maple syrup, hockey and great bands. Suffice to say, Canada has been impressive with their three best exports over the years, and Tokyo Police Club is the latest addition to the third.

Thursday evening's intimate outdoor concert at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center was enjoyable for attendees and a nuisance to neighboring ears.

LIVE MUSIC

Minus the Bear, Portugal. The Man, The Big Sleep

Today, 8 p.m., $10 for students and $16 for non-students

Buehler Alumni Center

Still touring on their triumphant release Planet of Ice, Minus the Bear still have some tricks up their sleeves, always providing a dynamic live performance. Witness with your naked eyes their blended prog rock with finger tapping galore to create both catchy fasties and smooth sexual ballads.

Many afflicting interpretations of art exist,none of which are justified - affliction of other living things,of the artwork of others and even self-affliction that is claimed to be art.But does harming yourself really send an artistic message worthy of the pain?

Yale art student Aliza Shvarts has performed quite the contentious expression of art for her senior thesis.She artificially inseminated herself several times over the course of nine months,each time followed by an herbalinducement to have a miscarriage.

Unless you've grown too mature for stupid, gross-out pothead humor since 2004 when Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle came out, don't expect to be disappointed.It basically involves the same material only with more gratuitous nudity and is nonetheless hilarious.

It has been said that singing is praying twice - music has a unique power to resonate through the soul and send a lasting message to the heart.On Wednesday at the University Covenant Church on Mace Boulevard, contemporary Christian singer and guitarist Shawn McDonald will perform in concert,sponsored in part by the UC Davis student-run organization Athletes in Action.

Though the sound has gotten darker and the band has gotten a little older, there is still a sense of fun-lovingin Minus the Bear.From games of Crisco Twister toPachuca sunrises to the Planet of Ice,it's been quite a journey for the Seattleites.

Like any athlete, a musician's performance depends heavily on his or her warm-up routine.Cramping and tightness, especially after periods of inactivity and sleep, hamper a guitarist's precision and slow the fingers.

Given the album title's ambiguity and the multitude of possible meanings, its origin should come as no surprise.

"I was told I was saying in my sleep, 'Water for the day! Water for the day!'" singer-songwriter Shelley Short revealed on her myspace.com profile.

Abundant sunshine and music playing on the grass- Sunday held a tiny preview of the Whole Earth Festival as DJ Sep D, DJ Kelly D,Gabriel Villanueva and Ben Mok held it down on the Quad with the weekly "Sunday Sol."

DJs Sep D and Kelly D are just some of the artists that will perform at the upcoming Whole Earth Festival the weekend of May 9 on the UC Davis campus.This year's theme is "Mending Our Web."

"Tick tock,Doc,tick tock." This Seattle-based murder mystery stirs the blood and startles the senses with its time sensitivity,but lacks the intellectual analysis that seems appropriate for a movie with a forensic psychiatrist as the lead character (Al Pacino).

Jon Forster (Neal McDonough)known as the"Seattle Slayer," is sentenced to death row by Dr.Jack Gramm's (Pacino) testimony to a jury based solely on circumstantial evidence.Nine years later and12hours before Forster's execution,Gramm receives a phone call from adigitallyaltered voice telling him he has88minutes to live.

The audience does not find out the significance of88minutes until much later in the film.Upon this revelation,the viewer isin for a much-needed mental exercise toreview the events thus far and piece together how murders identical to the "Seattle Slayer's" keep occurring.

LIVE MUSIC

Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags,Kris Anaya

Today,9p.m.,$3,21

Old Ironsides inSacramento

The six-pieceAmericana rock band brings greetings fromPortland,using the catchiness factor to draw in country and rock fans alike.Look to anything from Jimmy Buffet to the Jayhawks for parallels.

Body or Brain,Week Long Project

Friday,7p.m.

Turtle House

B's are pretty popular these days - think about bears,beets or"Battlestar Galactica." Well I'll be bouncing my behind to the beats of both "b" bands,and you best be also! Techy pop punkers Body or Brain give the impression thatNapa is a pretty happenin' place.In actuality,they probably sit in their rooms listening to Blink182and writing upbeat jams all day for lack of more fun things to do.

Out ofPortland's jazz scene comes Blue Cranes' sophomoreall-instrumentalalbum.Composed of almost entirely live recordings,Homing Patterns successfully offers a downbeat eclectic set of thoughtful compositionsfor any jazz listener.

Made up of Reed Wallsmith on alto sax,Sly Pig (Joe Cunningham) on tenor sax,Rebecca Sanborn on keyboards,Keith Brush on acoustic bass and Ji Tanzer on drums,Blue Cranes puts forth a powerful and whole jazz feeling.This robust sound can be heard throughout much of the album,giving it a slightly similar feel to John Coltrane or evenOregon.

The fullness of the album can be most attributed to Blue Cranes' saxophone-oriented style of instrumentation.Wallsmith's alto and Cunningham's tenor work well together,whether they are presenting a solid melody or an abstract idea.The two continually play off each other,forming the core of their style.

Interesting fact:Davis-based band Buildings Breeding was never meant to be a real band.According to the band's biography,guitarist and vocalist Christapher Larsen began with song lyrics that were originally sent as love letters to girlfriend andfuture fellow band member Melanie Glover while she was overseas.

When the band finally did materialize as more than just a façade with its own MySpace profile,it wasgreeted with a warm reception,first locally and eventually nationally.After signing withDavis-grown record label Mushpot Records,the band performed at last year's South by Southwest Festival and had a song featured on the MTV show "Human Giant."