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. If one doesn’t know where to look, it would be difficult to tell this is a music venue, rather than another […]
Author Archives: Alex Palmer
Musician to perform kids’ tunes that everyone can enjoy
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. But kids are not the only ones who should be interested in checking out the show. Zanes used to […]
Pianist pays homage to John Cage’s work
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 […]
Online: Rock band balances machines, humanity
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. Other times technology is seen as something empowering, giving musicians more freedom and outlets for expression than would otherwise be possible. The […]
DJ Marclay mixes audio, visual in Hammer exhibit
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. “Art school only offered classes on painting and sculpting, but I was interested in live art or performance art,” Marclay said. “There’s no reason […]
A new spin on high art
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. It’s getting attention not as a subculture, but as high culture. […]
A cappella groups turn up the volume on campus
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. ScatterTones is the newest a cappella group at UCLA, having been […]