Last year’s rumor circulating at the Indio Empire Polo Field was that the renowned Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was moving to another location.

Face it. Particularly in the case of shoegaze, it’s never going to be as genuine as the late ’80s, early ’90s cusp. But entrenched in a battlefield of U.S. v. U.K. musical warfare dating back to the ’60s, many current bands continue to fight the good fight.

Sometimes, the mic can be mightier than the pen.
Peaches, Jello Biafra and Saul Williams will be a few of many performers and speakers at Mighty Mic, a human rights awareness concert which will take place tonight in Ackerman Grand Ballroom from 6 p.m.

The last time Grizzly Bear played at UCLA, the performance consisted of a short-lived set at Kerckhoff Coffeehouse in 2004.
“It was one of the most hilarious shows we did,” said Daniel Rossen, who shares songwriting duties and plays guitar for the indie rock band Grizzly Bear.

Explosions in the Sky
“All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone”
Temporary Residence Limited
4 Out of 5 Paws
It’s almost a stab to a band’s purported musical integrity to enumerate the validity of some albums through words alone.

Clinic
“Visitations”
DOMINO RECORDS
Whether it would be better set to a warped neo-noir chase scene
or looming through the blue mist of a Tennessee Williams playhouse,
Clinic’s music is defined by the uncharacteristic use of its
components: irreverent, clanging rhythms and amplified melodic
effects lend an air that is nothing short of widescreen.

The Shins
“Wincing The Night Away”
Sub Pop Records
More than two years since Natalie Portman insisted that The
Shins would change your life, “Wincing the Night Away,”
the band’s third full-length album, is finally nearing its
long-awaited release date.

For serious writers of fiction, as Mona Simpson calls them,
taking a crash course in writing is not nearly enough to become a
real writer.
But if there was such a course, Simpson’s English Seminar
180.2, titled “Literary Study for Short Story Writers:
Finding Your Own Mentor, Dead or Alive,” could be it.

LADYTRON CONCERT Today, noon Bruin Plaza,
FREE
As far as musical uppers and downers are concerned, Ladytron has
found a way to integrate energy on the stage with its electronic
mood-based ethos.

If participating in a battle of the bands competition counted as
units toward graduation, it would be a college band’s dream
come true.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and balancing school with music
can be difficult.