the Kronos Quartet performing "Lux Aeterna" The Kronos Quartet is a highly regarded avant-garde string quartet, recognized outside of classical music circles for their collaborations with artists including David Bowie, Allen Ginsberg, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, and playing on soundtracks of the popular Aronofsky films The Fountain and Requiem For a Dream ("Lux Aeterna" is the popular composition used regularly outside of the film). This weekend KCRW presents a concert of the Kronos Quartet......

Released in 1989 and composed and recorded in 1987, American composer Steve Reich's minimalist "Electric Counterpoint" has fascinated, hypnotized and inspired choreographers and musicians alike (think The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds"). Reich explains explains the composition as such: "In Electric Counterpoint the soloist pre-records as many as ten guitars and two electric bass parts and then plays the final 11th guitar part live against tape... Electric Counterpoint is in three movements -- fast, slow, fast......

Los Lobos @ Santa Monica Pier (free) Kronos Quartet @ California Plaza (free) The Dickies, D.I. @ House of Blues The Deadly Syndrome, Let's Go Sailing, The Western States Motel @ The Roxy Angie Mattson, Jason Reeves, The Northstar Session, Matt Ellis Band @ The Hotel Cafe Phathom, Think Alike, A Life like This, The Nixes, Summerfire @ The Troubadour Old Time Relijun, Jail Weddings, the Holy Kiss, Women, Jeremy Jay @ The Echo......

Gogol Bordello - "Ultimate" Stevie Wonder @ Santa Barbara Bowl Crowded House, Pete Yorn @ The Greek Gogol Bordello @ Henry Fonda No Age @ Amoeba Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds @ House of Blues The Watson Twins, King Straggler, Everest @ Spaceland Sally Kellerman, John Clinebell, Mimi @ Genghis Cohen The Mormons, Bad Dudes, The Frescas, The Janitors @ Mr. T's Bowl Lo Mass Republic, The Felice Brothers, Dan Mangan @ Viper Room I See......

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco would probably prefer it if you didn't talk on Wednesday Spinal Tap @ Avalon, tonight Joss Stone @ Greek, tonight Metal Skool, Shapes of Racecars @ Key Club, tonight Stevie Wonder @ Santa Barbara Bowl, Tues Gogol Bordello @ Henry Fonda, Tues Wilco @ Greek, Weds. The Like @ Spaceland, Weds Los Lobos @ Santa Monica Pier, Thurs Kronos Quartet @ California Plaza, Thurs Mat Kearney @ House of Blues,......

They are the rock stars of the string quartet. They've played with everyone and everything (such as 'Purple Haze' to the left). And they, the uber-famous and sometimes over-popular Kronos Quartet, are playing for free this Thursday night Downtown. You can't beat that. There are not many Grand Performances left for the summer. If you've never had the chance, pack some food and alcohol (no red wine allowed, it stains the granite), find a spot......

Tambuco Percussion Ensemble Free at Grand Performances in Downtown LA From contemporary percussion chamber music to world rhythms, this Mexico City based quartet is a staple of the percussion scene . While they do their own thing, you may see the three time grammy nominated ensemble collaborate with the likes of Kronos Quartet and the locally based Southwest Chamber Music. Check out the tunes "Hook" and "Metro Chabacano" on their MySpace page for two......

Most DJs will tell you that their turntables are in fact musical instruments, and they’d certainly have a point. But has any DJ ever taken the instrumental nature of turntables as far as “Sound Artist” Walter Kitundu? A Rochester, Minnesota-born, Tanzania, Africa-raised artist and musician, Kitundu, 33, has become well known for his phonoharps and phonokoras. The instruments are his original inventions, which he constructs in his San Francisco studio, and are best described......

Over the past few years, string quartet tributes to pop culture have flourished and it can seem like it's more of a prolific commodity than an artistic endeavor. Vitamin Records are the ones responsible for those String Quartet Tributes you see out there and we are curious who in their right mind made the decision to make a Clay Aiken Tribute? The L.A. based, The Section Quartet (pictured above) participated on a good number......