In the fast-paced world of music criticism, where the blogosphere fuels hype and backlash all before an album is even officially released, The National is pulling off an incredible feat.

The recipe for The Hold Steady Album Review Cocktail: three parts alcohol of choice, two parts ’70s rock and roll, string together your favorite Craig Finn lyrics, shake well, top off with a reference to Bruce Springsteen.

Many campus organizations are dedicated to things like giving back to the community, putting on musical concerts or even just promoting school-wide unity. SLAM does all three.

With all of the twee pop and slow-as-molasses indie music clogging the music industry, it’s a breath of fresh air to hear a rock band unafraid to see if there’s a little mileage left in a good guitar riff and straight-forward songwriting.

Performing famous classical music pieces is par for the course for the UCLA Philharmonia’s student-musicians, but performing them without a conductor is charting a bit of unfamiliar territory.

If you walk anywhere near Fowler Museum tonight, you might think you’re hearing the rumbling destruction of a small earthquake coming from inside.

The hardest record to make is the sophomore record. It can make or break a career, and any important decisions about who you will be as an artist are often determined by how you handle the pressure of defining yourself with your second record. Some sophomore records changed everything.

On their first ever tour on this side of the Atlantic, Wild Beasts commanded the stage like veterans, filling the small Troubadour club with enormous sounds.

There’s something funky in the water in Brooklyn. In the last few years, bands based near New York City that once dabbled in psychedelic sounds or played raw and energetic rock music have been polishing up in the studio, adding danceable beats, keyboards and massive hooks to their musical repertoires.

When thinking of ways to help Haiti in its time of need, many people turn to making donations to the Red Cross or other organizations, but some turn to the arts.