Shows this Week!

SHOWS TO LOOK OUT FOR:

3/29: Moonrats w/Warpaint at Spaceland. 8:30PM. Free. 21+. (Last Moonrats residency. Warpaint is great.)

3/29: Seaspin w/Square on Square//Model Actress//Cue the Moon at Silverlake Lounge. 9:00PM. Free. 21+. (Last Seaspin residency. Go see em!)

3/29: The Delta Mirror w/Pity Party//Spirit Vine//Borneo at the echo. 8:30PM. Free. 21+. (Go for The Delta Mirror’s last night, but really go for Pity Party!)

3/30: Hugh Cornwell w/KristeenYoung at Spaceland. 8:30PM. $14. 21+. (He’s a member of The Stranglers and you love The Stranglers.)

Margeret Leith Performs Her Senior Recital!

The Occidental College Music Department

presents a


Senior Recital


featuring



Margaret Leith, cello



from the studio of Gloria Lum



Saturday, April 3, 2010

Bird Studio

2:30 p.m.



Free Admission

Amoeba's Charity Auctions

The first Saturday of each month, Amoeba Music in Hollywood holds AMOEBA AUCTIONS to generate money that goes towards humanitarian efforts. At these auctions, participants can bid on music, rare memorabilia, collectibles, movie and concert tickets, and much more. . To help increase funds, Amoeba Music matches every bid up to $1,000 so each item earns double the money that goes to charity! This upcoming Saturday, the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders and Haiti earthquake relief. This is perhaps one of the best ways to get your hands on some awesome items without tarnishing your conscience. Check it out this Saturday!

Tec 12

While digging through old instruction manuals in the library today, I came across some information on the Music Library’s very own “Technics Quartz Direct Drive Turntable SL-1200 MK2“, otherwise known as that turntable along the back wall. Turns out that very same turntable has been made by Technics since 1972, and has sold over 3 million copies. The SL-1200, or "Tec 12" was central to the development of hip hop, the earliest hip-hop DJ’s using the Tec 12 almost exclusively because of it’s high quality and relatively low cost. The entire system of “breaks” (the part of a disco, funk or hip-hop song where the music “breaks” away, leaving only the drums and, occasionally, the bass) was probably developed on a Tec 12. In fact, the Tec 12 has been so central to the development of moderjn music that the London Science Museum has one on display as one of the great inventions that shaped the modern world. So, find something to spin and come down to the music library. Try something that is truly a part of pop history.

Remembering Jim Marshall

Jim Marshall, one of the most famous rock and roll photographers of the twentieth century, died last Tuesday at age 74.

Jim Marshall took some of

the most iconographic images of rock and roll music during the 1960s and 70s. He was the only photographer allowed backstage at the Beatles' last concert, and was chief photographer of Woodstock. Known for his forceful personality, and decisive moment photography, Jim Marshall was a man who managed to, as his website put it, "be everywhere—that mattered" (MarshallPhoto.com)

Johnny Cash

Read on to see some of Jim Marshall's most famous photographs and to read more about the prolific artist.

Will I Graduate?!?!

Ladies and Gentleman, spring concert season is upon us and it could not have arrived at a worst time. As a senior writing his comps, I am overwhelmed by the sheer of amount of must-see shows each week and weekend since this semester started. For instance, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week I saw three amazing garage-style lo-fi phenomena events back to back to back! On Thursday I went to a really awesome show at a warehouse art collective on Alameda and 6th Street where I saw the San Francisco quintet, tentatively known as Thee Oh Sees. Jon Dwyer, the lead singer and creative mastermind behind the band, was in rare form as he whooped and howled his way to distorting proportions for at least an hour on end, guitar in hand, under his chin. Tired as I was from the night before, on Saturday I was lucky enough to be awake enough to visit the grungy all ages dingehole known as The Smell, downtown, to see another San Fran band, their namesake and lead singer, Ty Sygall. Before Ty was also Charlie and the Moonhearts, also a San Francisco collective. The show was really loud and I was exhausted from the night before but was determined to complete the sweep of good shows. Which leads me to Saturday night. I was ready to quit that weekend. Ready to settle at home and make a nice cup of tea and diligently work on my senior thesis...when I got a text message, " ARIEL PINK IS SPECIAL GUEST AT THE SMELL TONIGHT!"....Having never seen Ariel Pink (pictured above), one of favorite basement DIY musicians, I was compelled to enter day three of loud music madness. Needless to say, I returned to the Smell for the second night in a row, and my third night of concert going in a row. Elated as I was afterward, I fell to sleep quickly and happily upon the first touch of head to pillow....what a weekend....if things go on like this I will never graduate!

A Little Bit of Just Because

Feeling stressed? Need a quick break? Want to watch triplets from the 1950s do incredibly talented and bizarre things with their bodies?

Yeah... I thought so.

NOTE: It gets good at about 45 seconds.

In The Gym

Need a little something extra to keep your energy up at the gym? Ever tried making your own playlist, only to realize that you were being slowed down, or sped up too much?

Inthegym.net lists songs with appropriate tempos for every kind of workout. Regular posts and new lists give great ideas for individualized workout soundtracks and pace-makers for a good sweat. They have playlists by genre, musician, and workout routine, be it elliptical, weight training, spinning, or just a good run on the treadmill.

Individual posts on the blog include the "Something to Think About" section, inspirational quotes and lessons of all lengths, sizes, and profundity to keep your spirits up for the day. The blog is updated every few days with new inspirations and ideas, not to mention links to other health sites with tips on how to have a good workout, eat better, and live happier.

Check it out!

Jelly Blog

Announcing the formation of a new blog, the Jelly blog! Being worked on by a collective of artists, including Herklotz employees Brian and Doug, Jelly is an multi-media blog posting submissions by various and talented artists working across the country (and at least one other country so far.) Our goal is to present material in all aspects of artistic thought, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, video, music, stand-up and written comedy, painting, sculpture, and photography. Jelly features a community of young creators whose work will be recurring, and in dialogue with the other artists shown. So far we have featured works by Dead Pimpin, Defense (Jaxon Veseley), Isaac Cohen, Doug Rosenberg, Griffin Newman, and Shoshone Johnson. Check back weekly to follow the conversation, and if you have work that you'd like posted, feel free to send it to rosenbergd@oxy.edu.
getoutthekitchen-jelly.blogspot.com

Spotlight: Derek Bailey

Whether you listen to music in the classical tradition, jazz, noise, or just good guitar playing, you should check out Derek Bailey and his work in 'free improv.' he's an old British man from the 20th century and he has a wonderful approach to dealing with the classical legacy as well as the changing currents of 20th century composition and performance. his playing leaves behind tonality, atonality, and all but the freest of jazz to work with the voice of the guitar itself. though not conventional, his playing is very beautiful and he has collaborated with many great composers such as Haino Keiji and Tony Conrad. take a listen

Indian Classical Music in Herrick on Saturday!

This Saturday in Herrick Chapel, 8:00pm, Aruna Narayan will perform Indian classical music on the Sarangi, accompanied by Debashish Chaudhuri on tabla. Tickets are available only at the door 30 minutes before the concerts: $30 General, $20 Music Circle Members (scroll to the bottom for the membership website), free with an Oxy ID, which means free for me, woo!

Serenade Sunset in Silver Lake March 31

Every last Wednesday of the month (this month, it's the 31st) you can attend Serenade Sunset at 7pm at El Cid, a night of happiness to prepare you for the upcoming Silver Lake Jubilee Festival in May. Sadly, El Cid is only 21+ so if you're still waiting for that exciting birthday like me, head next door to Mi Alma at 6pm, which is all ages. Don't worry though, Mi Alma is sure to be just as great, with an awesome stage donated by Azteca 111 Builders in the middle of a beautiful community garden.

Top 25 SXSW Tattoos

The SXSW festival is predominately about music and film. This year, however, also featured some pretty cool tattoo artwork sported by the attendees. Check out this slideshow from the LA Weekly displaying the top 25 tattoos from this year's South by Southwest event in Austin: http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/top-25-sxsw-tattoos-29495575/1/

In Concert at Herrick Chapel: The Chamber Chorale of UNLV

The Occidental College Glee Club

presents

IN CONCERT

The Chamber Chorale

of the

University of Nevada Las Vegas

and the

A Capella Choir

of

Crescenta Valley High School

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

3:00 PM - Herrick Chapel

Free Admission!

Junior Recitals

The Occidental College Music Department

presents

Junior Recitals

Alexandra Forman, violin & Alyson Melzer, violin

From the studio of Larry Sonderling

Accompanied by Galina Barskaya and May Fang
Music by Bach, Ives, Kabalevsky, Beethoven, Hindemith

Saturday, March 27, 2010
Bird Studio
2:30 p.m.
Admission is free
Refreshments to follow

More Games To Test Your Music Knowledge!

Think you can name the biggest 80s hits from a 3 second sound clip? What about Rolling Stone's All Time Greatest Singers? Or even the lyrics to "Danny Boy"?

If you think you're in the know about all things music related, check out sporcle.com for thousands of quizzes to test your music memory. Each quiz is timed, and right answers appear in the boxes automatically if you get them correct. Sporcle also has quizzes from every category imaginable, from religion to geography, sports to literature, and everything in between.

WARNING: Do not attempt sporcle.com without have sure taken precautionary steps to finish all deadlines, homework, or other time sensitive tasks. Otherwise, don't blame me when it's 2 am on Wednesday and you're supposed to be finishing your essay about the Persian Gulf War and instead you're slamming your head against the desk, desperately trying to remember the opening lyrics to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire."

... ("Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray")

♥

Film Screening by Popular Artists Tonight!

Spring is in the air, and that means the return of Flux Screening Series, among other things. They’re kicking things off tonight at the Hammer Museum with an evening of short films, videos by the likes of Massive Attack, OK Go, and Air, and live performances. The directors will introduce their shorts and videos, and there will be rarities from Sweden, Japan, France and the UK.

Can You Find all the Bands?

Bored? Here's "Where's Waldo" for music enthusiasts! The picture contains scenes depicting bands and their members. See how many you can get!! For example, the bottles of roses with guns in them would represent the Guns n’ Roses.

Click here for enlarged picture

Leave a comment with what you see. Check back soon for the complete list of bands!

What do YOU Want to See at the Occidental Music Library?

Hello dear reader, we want your opinion! If you have any ideas, suggestions, or programs you would like to see happen at the Herklotz Music Library, let us know!! We want to make you happy, because making you happy makes us happy, so give us your thoughts and let's make the Music Library the best it can be (Keep requests within reason, of course- I'm thinking Monthly Underwear day wouldn't make it too far).

Much Love,

The Oxy Music Library

What's Your Springtime Playlist??

Friends! Romans! Countrymen! It's finally Spring!!

Much as I love winter with its cosy sweaters, warm drinks, and rosy cheeks, there's nothing quite like Spring. Whether it's driving with the windows down and your favorite sunglasses, having a picnic with friends, or taking an evening walk and smelling the incredible spring blossoms (Particularly by the president's house, by the way, if you happen to live on campus), Springtime is definitely a time to celebrate life and new beginnings. And there's no better way to put a little spring in your step (ooh, too cheesy?) than with a some great upbeat tunes.

Read on to hear some of my top picks for this Spring, and to brush up on your history of the Spring Equinox. Please comment and leave your own favorite Spring time songs, or just make fun of me for mine!

1. Hall and Oates- "You Make My Dreams Come True"

Because it's just not Spring with a little Hall, and a little Oates. Plus, for those of you who've seen 500 Days of Summer, it's the perfect song to dance down the street to.

Why I'm Not Going to Coachella

Each year around this time thousands of west coasters stream to the desert to take part in the 3-day mega festival known as Coachella. The huge current stars, the gigantic reunion concerts from people like Pavement and My Bloody Underground, and of course the dozens of psuedo-famous indie bands that I listen to on a fairly regular basis. This all sounds deliciously awesome on the surface, but I'm here to throw in my two cents of why I personally will be opting out of the experience. First of all, the ticket price for all three days is 270 dollars. That is more than my paycheck from the Music Library! do I really wanna be broke for two weeks for three days of sunburned -gas-powered-traveling-and-I-still-need-to-consume-food-and-waterness. Secondly, they always screw up the scheduling. Bands that should play in the day time on stage x end up playing at night on stage y. The promoters of the show always pick some huge headliner that may or may not even fit the spirit of the event. Did I mention its in the desert in mid April?

Spotlight: Flying Lotus

For some, it's a name spoken almost daily. for others, it means nothing: flying lotus. In just a few years of activity, the Los Angeles based producer Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison) has radically expanded the gray matter between Hip Hop, techno, dubstep, elecro, and soul. To hear what I mean, just YouTube "massage situation" for a taste of his tasty music. He is constantly releasing a stream of remixes, collaborations, singles, and EP's. You really can't go wrong if it's got Flying Lotus written on it, but his album "Los Angeles" is essential. Stay tuned for his new album, "Cosmogramma" due in the US on may 4, or keep an eye out at any tight concert or party in LA and you may catch a glimpse of his smiling face.

See Jamie Cullum with Imelda May on March 23

Jamie Cullum will perform at the Avalon on March 23, with opener Imelda May. Cullum is Britain's best-selling jazz artist, known chiefly for his previous albums "Twentysomething" and "Catching Tales." This tour will promote his newest album, "The Pursuit," which hit stores March 2nd. Cullum is known for his entertaining on-stage antics, which usually include leaping on top of his piano, sliding across the stage, and performing amongst the audience. Although he's no longer "Twentysomething" Cullum looks and acts like an energetic teenager in his Chucks and graphic t-shirts. However, his voice tends more towards Harry Connick Jr., crooning and reinventing hits like Radiohead's "High and Dry."

Imelda May serves as a foil to Cullum, she is recognizable for her performance alongside Jeff Beck at this year's Grammy's. She's an Irish rockabilly singer, and if that's not a combination odd enough to get you interested then I don't know what is. Keep an eye out for her, I have a feeling she's going to be very popular in the future.

Free NPR Music

Download music from All Songs Considered and Second Stage. This National Public Radio blog encourages you to “right click” and save the music featured on their blog right to your computer. Most of it is music similar to what you’ll hear on L.A.’s KCRW…a lot of indie, rock, folk and the occasional blue-grass, electronic and stuff I just can’t label but sounds good. NPR introduces new music every week. You can find full concerts by names like Moby, Gossip, Yo la Tengo and other eclectic bands. Everything is down-loadable at no charge.

The free, downloadable music includes new songs from Fantasmes, Emily Jane White, Lissy Trullie, Ice Palace, James Yuill, Paul and the Patients, and many others.

Happy listening! http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/second_stage/

Trial of RIPM Available Now!

We now have a trial of RIPM - Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals.

RIPM was established to provide access to eighteenth-, nineteenth- and twentieth-century periodical literature dealing with music. While the importance of this monumental documentary resource has long been recognized by the musicological community, RIPM represents the first effort to undertake and to coordinate retrospective periodical indexing on an international scale. Click here to get started

Want to learn more about RIPM? Visit their website, here:
http://www.ripm.org

Please keep in mind the trial expires May 17, 2010.

For questions and feedback, please email the Music Librarian at pedrosian@oxy.edu.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody

Enjoy :)

MOFA This Friday!

The Occidental College Music Department

presents

Music on a Friday A fternoon

Friday, March 19, 2010

Bird Studio

4:30-5:30 p.m.

Free Admission

Students will be performing musical selections by

Mozart, Bach, Schumann, Beethoven, Liszt and others

Vocalists include:

Sienna Beckman and Rebecca Scott

Instrumentalists:

Megan Lang, Sam Sleeper, Jacob Groen, Alexandra Forman,

and Joseph Wei

Accompanists: Galina Barskaya and May Fang

Saint Motel Makes Contact on April 10 at the EchoPlex

Saint Motel is an up and coming L.A.-based band that was kind enough to seek out our quaint little blog here at Oxy. Their sound has been compared to Franz Ferdinand and the Bravery (in my opinion, lead singer A/J Jackson sound exactly like the Bravery's Sam Endicott), and I'd even go so far as to say they have a little Rooney in them. “It’s not necessarily about being original,” guitarist A Sharp told buzzbeats of the band’s pliable sound. “It’s about taking all the relevant things that happen in your life and putting them together in different ways.”

Saint Motel is especially know for their live energetic performances. During a residency at Spaceland, they had a different cinematic theme each week, and according to this beat crave review (http://beatcrave.com/2009-10-06/saint-motel-concert-review/) they really went all out. You can expect that same sense of fun at their upcoming concert at the EchoPlex on April 10.

As We Speak: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

For my first post on the Oxy Music Library’s blog, I thought I’d try to report on something as up to date and poignant as I possibly could. Well, some might argue poignant is a too strong word for the Rock and Roll hall of fame. However, they are inducting the class of 2010 Right Now (as I write this!), and it’s a pretty heavy hitting class. Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Stooges and, surprisingly, ABBA. It looks like even the Rock and Roll hall of fame wasn’t enough to get ABBA over it’s fussing and feuding, and they won’t all be in attendance for the show, let alone putting together a live set like Genesis, Jimmy Cliff and the Stooges. For anyone who questions the validity of the Rock and Roll hall of fame, A 62 year old shirtless Iggy Pop just referred to Billie Joe Armstrong and Eddie Vedder as “some kid[s]”. While you can argue over the validity or the importance of the Rock and Roll hall of fame, there is still something very cool about anything that can pull together a Wyclef John-Jimmy Cliff duet, or drag one of the most influential front-men of all time on stage to hassle the leading rockstars of today.

Musicovery: Interactive WebRadio

I was doing some research on Music and Mood, when I happened on yet another interesting webRadio site. Musicovery.com is a website that creates playlists for you based on your mood.

To use musicovery, first you define your mood on the "moodpad" spectrum. The spectrum ranges from dark to positive, energetic to calm, and everywhere in between. You can also opt for the "dancepad"feature, which provides a spectrum of speeds. Musicovery then creates a playlist for you based upon your selection.

You can further narrow your music selection by specifying only certain genres. You can ban certain songs from your playlists, and add others to be played more frequently. They even have a dial that controls what era the music is from! So, if for instance, you're having an 80s dance craving, you can move your mood somewhere in the vicinity of "energetic and positive," specify the 80s era, and select pop and rock from the music genre categories. Voila! Now add some big hair, leg warmers, and Molly Ringwald and you'll be dancing the night away.

Musicovery is also available for your own itunes music! Download the application, and it will select music directly from your library based on your mood specifications.

For more information on Musicovery technology, see the wikipedia article here.

Musicovery offers free registration to anyone, as well as a premium service starting at $4. The free service has slightly lower quality music and has no commercial breaks. Major advertising agency JWT listed Musicovery on its 2007 list of "80 things to watch in 2008.

Occidental Glee Club St. Patrick's Day Celebration!!

The Occidental Glee Club

Invites you to join them for a

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Herrick Chapel

8:00 p.m.

Also featuring

The Accidentals and Cadence

Performing new Glee Club repertoire and Irish favorites

“The Minstrel Boy,” “Irish Blessing,” “When Irish Eyes are Smiling,” “The Last Rose of Summer,” “Danny Boy,” and others

$10 General Admission

Students with Oxy ID free

Refreshments will be served

Naxos Music Library on your iPhone!

Did you know the Naxos Music Library is now mobile? That's right! If you have an iPhone, you can add the Naxos app for free and get anytime access to your favorite pieces and playlists on Naxos!
To add music to your iPhone:
* Go to the Naxos Music Library.
* Click “Playlists” in the top menu bar.
* Click “Login” or “Sign up.”
* After logging in, you’ll see a list of current playlists.
* To add music to your playlist, browse of search for music, select tracks, then click “add to playlist” on the left. A window will pop up to ask you where to save it. Choose to add it to the current folder and name the playlist.
* Download the Naxos Music Library iPhone app.
* When you open the app for the first time, log-in using your playlist log-in info.
* Your playlist should appear in the corresponding folder in your iPhone app.
* Enjoy!

Haven't used Naxos? What are you waiting for? You can stream a wide range of music, from Hungarian Jazz to The Submarines to Beethoven.

For more information, and troubleshooting, see technical requirements for Naxos. (Mac users: if you have problems setting up playlists in Safari, try Firefox.)

Or, come into the library and contact pedrosian@oxy.edu for additional help.

Featured Score: Cage

Today we are featuring a very special score from the Herklotz stacks: John Cage prepared piano sonatas. (pictured is the score for the first sonata) in the middle of the twentieth century, John Cage was responsible for several stunning innovations. His concept of indeterminitism reframed the compositional process forever, and successfully introduced his interest in Zen into the classical music lexicon. This particular score features another one of Cage's innovations: the prepared piano. This work is written for a piano with specific objects wedged between and through the strings. the effect is that some keys remain tonal, and some produce varying percussive sounds. These works are very ethereal, and they make an even more satisfying listen when following the score. So come on down and take a look at a very important document in 20th century artistic thought!

Music Library Hours During Spring Break

The Music Library will have the following hours during spring break:
Saturday, March 6 thru & Sunday, March 7 : CLOSED
Monday, March 8 thru Thursday, March 11 : 9:00am-4:30pm
Friday, March 12 & Saturday, March 13 : CLOSED
Normal Hours will resume on Sunday, March 14.

Contact the librarian for additional use by appointment only: pedrosian@oxy.edu.

'Black Noise'

Like dance music? Dancing? Music? Looking for an entre to the growing world of international techno? A Berlin musician named Pantha Du Prince just released his amazing new album, 'Black Noise' and I recommend you listen to it. His first album, 'this bliss' is a nearly flawless work of minimal techno, and on black noise he cranks it up a notch. Pantha du Prince opens up cavernous spaces on Black Noise; it is always elegant and always dark. and it makes me want to dance. in a genre dominated by repetitive, at times atonal music, his songs are always shifting, always gorgeously tonal, and very meditative. check out his stellar collabo with Panda Bear 'Stick to my Side"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEd4Hzpj604

Ex-Oxy Prof. Larry Karush to Perform at Santa Monica College

Larry Karush will be performing in a Quintet on Friday, March 26th, at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center's Edye 2nd Space. The Quintet includes Karush on piano, Chris Colangelo on bass, Randy Gloss and Joey De Leon playing percussion, and Danilo Lozano palying the flute.

This concert will include performances of "Songs for the New City ll - lV" (with revisions created during Karush's 2008 artist-in-residency at the Ucross Foundation), a new version of "Seven Samba", featured solos by the ensemble members, as well as a little boogie-woogie in some form or another.

Jimi Hendrix Tribute Concert

What kind of music would Jimi Hendrix make if he were still alive today? Of course, we'll never know the definitive answer to one of rock's great what-if questions, although tantalizing clues might be found on the upcoming Valleys of Neptune (due next month), a collection of previously unreleased recordings whose mere existence (and recent rediscovery) is somewhat astonishing, given how many times Hendrix's musical tomb has been ransacked over the past 40 years. Near the end of his short life, the prolific Seattle guitarist was exploding in seemingly a hundred different directions at once, jamming with Miles Davis and inventing his own fusion of fluidly grooving space funk and otherworldly world music. One thing's certain, however: Hendrix — who was increasingly frustrated that his teenybop fans only wanted to hear the early hits — probably wouldn't still be trotting out his oldies with the kind of deferentially unimaginative note-for-note treatment that often occurs at tribute concerts like this.

Grooveshark: Online Music At Your Fingertips

Sorry Pandora, but you have been downgraded. When it comes to free, online music, we love the internet radio sites that allow us to customize our own stations so that it plays the type of music that we like. Nevertheless, we sometimes wish we could just choose, precisely, which songs we listen to. A new online music resource, called Grooveshark, allows users to do exactly that. No, it doesn't create radio stations for you, but it does allow you to create your own playlists from a wide selection of tracks. As long as you're connected to the internet, you can access the millions of Grooveshark tracks that range from the mainstream to the barely known. By creating an account, you can save your playlists just like you would in your own iTunes library.

Check it out at: www.listen.grooveshark.com

Ever Hear of Terry Kitchen? Me niether but he went to Oxy and he makes music!

Folk singer/songwriter Terry Kitchen, in reality is actually Max Pokrivchak and he is not only a regionally renowned artist in the New England coffeehouse circuit with 9 albums recorded and self-released, he is also an Oxy alum. He renamed himself in accordance to a character in a Kurt Vonnegut novel and started pursuing a career in music here at Oxy. I had a couple listens to several of Terry's tracks on last.fm and I was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't recommend for myself a purchase of Terry's works but I did appreciate his musicianship. For more information on this artist you can go to his website at TerryKitchen.com. As a student at his alma mater I am intrigued by his story naturally; maybe you are as well!

Making Youtube Slightly More Cultured: A Study Break Worth Taking

Picture this: it's 4 am, the day before the final paper is due, and you've holed yourself up in the library, bringing with you only your computer and some vending machine provisions. You've even deactivated your facebook account in a desperate attempt at concentration. Suddenly, it happens. Youtube. No matter how hard you try, it's simply impossible to keep your fingers from repeatedly clicking on yet another "funny cat video", all the while your cursor innocently blinks atop a blank word document. Curse you, Youtube, evil website where papers and free will go to die!

Despite being an occasional distraction from more enlightened pursuits, the popularity of youtube has been incredibly beneficial for everyday people to earn recognition for expressing themselves in unique ways. One such person who changed his life with youtube is the musician Andy McKee. Andy Mckee is a self-taught classical guitarist from Topeka, Kansas who used youtube to showcase his incredible talent, earning the respect of millions of musicians and music lovers.

The Heart is a Drum Machine OC & LA Screenings Tomorrow & Next Week, DVD Out Next Tues

(courtesy of www.losanjealous.com)
What is music? Many of today’s top artists and scholars grapple with the question in this cinematic look at a uniquely human obsession.

The Heart is a Drum Machine is a new feature documentary film project from the producers of Moog directed by Christopher Pomerenke.

The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd wrote and performed the film’s original score and covered Elton John’s “Rocket Man” with Maynard James Keenan on vocals.

Featuring Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, Jason Schwartzman, Elijah Wood, Britt Daniel of Spoon, Kimya Dawson, Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, Maynard James Keenan, Tim & Eric, Silversun Pickups and more.

March 4th 7:30 pm
Regency Lido Theatre
Presented by The Orange County Film Society & Newport Beach Film Festival
3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach

March 10th 7:30 pm
Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028

The Heart Is A Drum Machine | http://zu33.com/heart/

The Clientele And Other Shows In LA This Week!

The band you may not know about that’s playing two shows this week is The Clientele. These guys are wonderful. They come from London, but seem to be gaining more popularity here in the States than over in their homeland. Their album God Save The Clientele seemed to get the attention of fans and critics alike (at least that’s what got to me..) and their wonderful followup, Bonfires on the Heath, which came out last October, shows that it was no fluke. The sound of the band is softer, more melodic pop music. It’s kind of melancholy music, but don’t get the idea that you’re gonna sit in the corner and cry for an hour. Lead singer Alasdair MacLean has a very soothing singing style that, combined with the music and surrealist inspired lyrics brings a relaxing atmosphere to wherever you may be. Their music is commonly described as “Autumnal”, which, as oddly as it sounds, kind of makes sense. The music makes you feel like you’re in nature, or in a park somewhere in the middle of London on a beautiful day. Don’t believe me? Go see them at Spaceland on either Friday or Saturday (or both. Up to you.) and see for yourself.

Free Music for Climate Change!

To encourage civic participation in climate change, The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Headcount, and the NRDC Action Fund have put together a collection of tracks from many popular music artists that will be available for download. Anyone can retrieve this "Best of Bonnaroo" collection for free from the Music For Action website. People are encouraged to write a letter to the President, a Senator, or a newspaper that expresses an argument or opinion about climate change. Familiar names have joined this cause, including Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Jack Johnson, Wilco, and The Decemberists.

Bobby McFerrin Hacks Your Brain With Music

In case it's not obvious enough from previous posts, I really love TED talks. TED is a nonprofit organization that was started in 1984 as a conference where influential and innovative people met once a year to discuss ideas. The name stems from the mission of the nonprofit, which is to spread ideas from the three areas of Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Simple enough! These talks are all posted online for free because TED believes that ideas are essential to unite and evolve humanity. I check out this website whenever I want to feel a little bit smarter, or when I've run out of cute animal videos on youtube.

In this TED talk, Bobby Mcferrin provides insight into how the human brain is wired through audience participation. I thought it was pretty nifty!

Deer Tick at the Natural History Museum

Once again, the Natural History Museum's monthly "First Friday" show is coming up on Friday the 5th from 5:00pm to 10:30pm in Exposition Park (by USC). There will be DJ's playing throughout the museum as well as a couple full bars. Headlining this event will be the Rhode Island band, Deer Tick.