No one could accuse artist Robert Rauschenberg of being out of touch with American life. Viewing Rauschenberg’s 70 pieces currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art is at times like stepping into the 1950s, with the exhibit’s liberal use of newspapers, neckties, Coca-Cola bottles, baseballs and even pin-up girls cut from magazines. Read more...

It’s almost June, and you know what that means: time for a mid-year top-10 albums list. Last year started off with a bang, with most of my favorite albums of the year (Andrew Bird, Okkervil River, The National) coming out early. Read more...

Nine-year-old Will Magid had a trumpet and dream: to play like his idol Louis Armstrong. About 10 years later, with his friends Dan Marschak on keyboards and Aaron Leibowitz on saxophone, Magid would form The Goop with one mission in mind ““ to make instrumental jazz music understandable and enjoyable for the masses. Read more...

Santa Barbara transplant Ross Flournoy cautiously maneuvers his way down Wilshire Boulevard’s rush hour traffic in true Los Angeles fashion: on a cell phone. However, the band he fronts, The Brokedown, defies many typical L.A. Read more...

Regina Spektor “Begin To Hope” SIRE RECORDS Regina Spektor is that weird girl at your fifth-grade sleepover ““ shamelessly quirky and completely charming. Except that instead of lip-syncing into a hairbrush for her friends, she is singing pop songs she wrote herself for whoever is bold enough to listen. Read more...

I spent this past holiday weekend out of town, like many people across the country and at UCLA. Instead of visiting family, however, I was in Keystone, Colo., for my friend Ken’s wedding. Read more...

The Walkmen “A Hundred Miles Off” RECORD COLLECTION Good things happen to people brave enough to limit themselves. Maybe using a well-defined set of sounds brings out a bit of creativity that open space intimidates away, or maybe it crafts a theme for an album as elements intertwine, reinforcing each other. Read more...