It may come as a bit of a surprise but Little Rock, Arkansas has a legitimately cool music scene. It's filled with punk bands, DIY venues, and a real sense of community that rivals cities like Memphis and Dallas. "You're the smallest thing around, so you've got to kind of stick your chest out and be proud of what you have," says Little Rocker Graham Cobb, "and we have an unbelievable music scene."

When the scene first started in the late '80s, the Little Rockers had to improvise in order to meet their own definition of punk music and fashion. Without the aid of the Internet, punk fans relied mainly on magazines, including a local rag called Barking at Life by future Upright Citizens Brigade member Matt Besser. Slowly, punk scenes across the country started to take notice, especially when local favorite Trusty became the first out-of-town act signed to legendary D.C. punk label Dischord Records.

Thanks to the Internet, it's pretty easy to find new music for free (including, ahem, yours truly's MP3 of the Day). But for some, the joys found in physical mixtape-making are still alive and well. Cue "The Mixtress" -- Portland, Oregon's one-woman operation with a quest to "connect the world through music." Jules Bennett looks like your average indie rocker. Dyed hair? Check! Headphones perpetually glued to her head? Check! But she's more than just a casual fan -- she aims to showcase unsigned musicians via mixtapes that she and her "ninjas" leave near park benches, ATMs, and other unlikely locations in cities all across the country. Bennett also allows music geeks to purchase anonymous mix CDs on her Website, each of which arrives with her own carefully crafted monthly mix CD.

Formed more than 12 years ago, Britain's Heavy Load, who call themselves "Brighton's answer to the Ramones," is comprised of members with and without learning disabilities.

The band began by playing gigs at social services and disability centers, and eventually gained enough clout to hit the UK festival circuit. And with last summer's rockumentary 'Heavy Load: A Film About Happiness,' courtesy of 'Deep Water' director Jerry Rothwell, their story was made available to an even wider audience. The film, which follows the band while they record their debut album, 'The Queen Mother's Dead,' was called "a triumph of disfunctionalness" by rock icon Wreckless Eric, and was well-received when it aired at SXSW and on IFC.

With over 200,000 casualties and at least 20,000 rape cases reported, 1937's Nanking Massacre is one of World War II's most overlooked tragedies. However, the documentary 'Nanking' is bound to change that. The film, originally released in 2007, sets out to educate those who never had the chance to read about the incident -- which some have called "the forgotten holocaust" -- in their history books. Recounting both the massacre and the heroic efforts of those who tried to stop it, the film uses historical footage, staged readings of the heroes' diaries with the help of actors Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and others. In the end, 'Nanking' is both educational and engaging and, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms, now available to watch free online.

The film's already found a fan in Lou Reed, who was so affected by it, that the rock legend wrote two songs about the massacres. Though the songs don't appear in the movie itself, they pretty much serve as a companion piece to it. 'Gravity' is the moodier of the two songs, providing dark instrumentals that perfectly capture the incident's atmosphere. On the other hand, 'Safety Zone' uses its lyrics to outline his thoughts on the tragedy itself. Thanks to both 'Nanking' and Reed's new tracks, the victims of the Nanking Massacre may finally get the recognition they deserve. Who says rock 'n' roll can't change the world?

There's more to Jack Johnson than his gentle-giant demeanor and penchant for breezy pop tunes. The Hawaii native is also an accomplished surfer, filmmaker and now, teacher.

Philanthropic organization Explore teamed up with Johnson to visit Hawaii's Sunset Beach Elementary School, where the father of two performed and taught youngsters how songs can solve problems, help save the earth and be super fun to sing out loud with your friends. The sing-a-long rendition of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' (complete with adorable dog) below is not to be missed.

Catch all six video lessons free on SnagFilms.

For their third album, Canadian electro-pop duo Junior Boys looked to one of their own -- film maker Norman McLaren. 'Begone Dull Care,' the title of their new record (due April 7), comes from the 1950 McLaren film of the same name, but Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan says that the album is more of a reflection of his body of work, and not just the one title.

"I was becoming more obsessed with McLaren's movies, and so he became, in my mind, an ideal artist," Greenspan tells Spinner. "He was into exploring new techniques in his field, which I think I try to do. And the fact that he was Canadian was a big thing for me -- He sort of set the tone for Canadian art in the '50s. All of those things conspired [on this]."

This year's Oscars telecast saw a lot of tricks to improve sagging ratings, from keeping the presenters a surprise, to some additional musical numbers. But after attending Prince's post-Oscar bash at Hollywood's Avalon, we have a simple solution for the Academy -- make Prince and his group the house band.

Sure, there might be some nervous moments. Though doors were scheduled to open at 10 p.m., and the line down Vine St. was still there at midnight as Prince wrapped up his sound check. And as you'd imagine, the one a.m. scheduled start time actually became 1:45 before the Purple One took the stage. But as soon as he laid down the licks to the Edgar Winter Band classic 'Frankenstein,' the funkiest Oscar party in history was on.