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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1988)
Arts & Entertainment Lincoln band Metacrats think, say a lot By Mark Lage Staff Reporter Lincoln’s political-metaphysical duo, The Metacrats, played an inter esting and somewhat seasonally eerie set at the Burkholder Project, Friday night. COnr-fJci,, Since March 1986, The Metacrats have consisted of Paul Nolan, who nla> s synthesizer and writes nearly all the music and lyrics, and Mark Lay ton, who plays guitar, tenor banjo and sings. Unlike many other Lincoln bands, the Metacrats don’t focus on UNL students, band members said. “The college student of today may as well be a high school student,” Layton said. and completing an education degree. ‘We think a lot, and we have a lot to say, Layton said of the Metacrats. Their musical style is unique, to say the least. It features eerie, almost carnival-like synthesiser swirls from Nolan, with muted, weirdly effected guitar or banjo strumming from Lay ton. Layton delivers Nolan’s often bizarre lyrical sensibilities in a clipped, chant like style. He said that he plans to employ a voice coach in the near future to work on improving his vocal range. Any band must worry about song variety, and this is especially true for a two-piece unit. The Metacrats could use some w'ork in this area, as towards the end of the set, Ute songs tended to be a little redundant musically. The same cannot be said about the lopics dealt with by Nolan’s often bizarre lyrics. They range from politi 7 believe that all beings pass through the human stage, although not always physically. Out of the zillions of beings that there are, billions will reach the su perhuman stage. Every atom will be a human being at some point. ’ —Nolan •••»•>■>■xwxwwW!W5W»S So while students spend their time at “evil places," like Mingles and Bash Riprocks, Layton said, he hopes to bring the band’s music and ideas to a part of the university community which he said would by more suited to their style — professors. When The Mctacrals play at Burk holder again in two or three months, Layton said thatevery UNLprofcssor will receive an invitation. Layton said he has spent a good deal of time on the UNL campus. From 1975 to 1984 he accumulated IS I credit hours before deciding on cal satire, metaphysical ideas, as well as the personal satire of their “famous person medley.” This medley is made up of three songs: “Andy,” dealing with the art of Andy Warhol; “Marilyn,” about Marilyn Monroe; and the rather puz zling "Tokyo Rose,” which features verses like, ‘Tokyo Rose/Tokyo Rose/Japanesc Mitsubishi better than Pcugcot/Tokyo Rose/Tokyo Rose/ Japanese Toyota better than Ford.” Another lyrical puzzler was “American Idols,” in which Nolan espouses the theory that Washington, Lincoln, Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt are the most popular U.S. presidents because they won, respec tively, the Revolutionary War, The U.S. Civil War and World Wars I and II. Carrying this further, Layton sings that Nixon “lost” the Vietnam War, and “ran away.” No mention is made of that other incident more commonly believed to have led to Nixon’s de mise, Watergate. The first song of their two song encore was “The Gods arc Watch ing,” which moved Layton to tears as he sang it. After the show, Nolan talked about the song and his meta physical reasoning behind it. “I believe that all beings pass through the human stage, although not always physically. Out of the zil lions of beings that there are, billions will reach the superhuman stage. “Every atom will be a human being at some point,” Nolan said. He added that a sort of chain is formed, where animals are gods to plants, humans are gods to animals, and something is god or are gods to hu mans. “And the gods are watching, be cause earth is a very important place,” Nolan said. “I’m into metaphysics,” he added. The Metacrats have previously played at various Lincoln sites like NebSskSn the Drumstick, Chesterfields and Duffy’s, and hope to continue to do so. Their big goal, they said, is to acquire a recording contract. But, for the meantime, their goal is to attract more people, professors or not, to their shows, especially the next Burkholder show. Layton promised that it will feature an entirely new song list, as well as a more visual, performance art type of presentation. Layton said he hopes to rectify what he sees as one of Lincoln's big problems. “I don’t think there’s any good entertainment in Lincoln,” he said. “And people get tired of going to movies.” Hanna serves satirical university recipes to students By Jim Hauna Staff Reporter A cute sign above my grandmother's stove explains it all. I’ve always wondered how she managed to have such a happy, successful home and now I know her secret. It seems there is a recipe for a happy home and this recipe is spelled out on a sign in her kitchen. It goes something like this: Two cups of love, Ml a cup of faith, two heaping teaspoonfuls of good humor, one cup of sifted honesty, etc. If you take all of these ingredi ents and blend them thoroughly, you will end up with a happy home. That is so cool — 1 had no idea it was so easy. Well, I’ve been doing a little rcscarc h and I’ve found a few more recipes that explain how to make things we find in our everyday lives as students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They’re real handy. If you like, you can cut these out and paste them to a 3 X 5 index card and put them in your regular recipe file. Then you can make this stuff on your own. FINANCIAL AID OFFICE DELUXE 5000 tons of mindless paper work 10-15 evil human beings with their hearts cut out 1 computer system that does not work 2 cups bitter impatience 1 shoebox-sued office 25,000 disgruntled, penniless students This recipe is easy. Mix the paperwork, evil human beings, computer system, and impatience in the shoebox-sized office (it will be a tight fit, some of it might spill over). Then, close the doors to the office and do not allow the 25,000 disgruntled students inside. Serve with fruit garnish. Serves about 1 per hour. FOOTBALL SATURDAY All JUS 2 football teams 76,000 brain-dead drunks Money 1 football stadium 1 Corporate Athletic Depart ment Stew the brain-dead drunks on low heat for 3 hours. Slowly add in the football teams until the drunks rise to a rolling boil. Skin each drunk, removing all of their money. Liberally baste the univer sity athletic department in the drunks’ money. Serves the entire state. LIED CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ME RINGUE 10 trillion bland beige bricks Money 25 men who know how to whistle 1 cup of total disregard for the artistic and financial ideals of the students at UNL 4 cups of sifted self-indulgence More money Whip the bricks and the men together until stiff enough to hold a peak. Add a lot of money. Appear to show concern for the student body and smugly tell them that the facility is for them. Bake until done (sometime around 1995). Powder the top with self-indulgence and sprinkle with even more money. Mmmm! Happy cooking!