Hidden between an abandoned Japanese movie theater and a Latin
bar just off of Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, adventurous
music fans can only access The Smell through a nondescript back
alley entrance.

There’s no reason children’s music can’t rock,
at least in Dan Zanes’ opinion.
Zanes, his bandmates and friends will be performing their brand
of folksy rock music for kids this Saturday and Sunday at
UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall.

John Cage, one of the most recognized composers of the 20th
century, may be best known for a time when he was silent.
One of his most famous pieces, “4’33,” is four
minutes and thirty-three seconds of a pianist onstage, not playing,
where only the noise generated by the audience and ambiance of the
concert hall are considered the “music” of the
piece.

Rock music often looks at the tensions between man and machine,
sometimes casting technology as a force that takes the humanity out
of the songs, reducing musicians to cogs in the OK Computer.

Christian Marclay went to art school to learn how to be a
sculptor. However, he left the Massachusetts College of Art in 1980
as one of the early pioneers of turntablism.

Electronic music is often associated strictly with the
subcultures surrounding it, from hip-hop clubs to raves to basement
turntable parties. But, particularly in Los Angeles, growing
respect is being given to electronic and dance music as art worthy
of attention in its own right.

A cappella singing is gaining a stronger voice at UCLA. In the
last several years, a handful of new a cappella groups and music
events have sprouted up on campus, offering more and more students
a chance to create music using only their voice.

Finals are no fun. But imagine if instead of a term paper or
in-class exam you had to deliver a summary of all you’ve
learned at UCLA to a room full of professors, fellow students and
your family.

If the idea of a cozy office job after graduation has you waking
up in a cold sweat, Jonathan Zeitlin can probably relate.
Instead of settling for fluorescent lights and fax machines,
Zeitlin will be heading out on the road for a year upon graduating
this month.

They Might Be Giants has tried its hand at TV theme songs,
children’s music and an homage to dead president James K.
Polk. Maybe it was only a matter of time before the band gave
literature a shot.