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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1990)
Arts & Entertainment Omaha first site of Soul Asylum siege By Michael Deeds Senior Editor__ Even with all the media hype, the industry competition, the internal pressure, guitarist Dan Murphy isn’t too worried about Soul Asylum’s new album, “Soul Asylum and the Horse They Rode in on.” “For us, the kick was always get ting in the van, going to a town where we don’t know anybody and making a racket,” he said in a telephone inter view from Minneapolis. “Making records was always secondary.” But that’s not to say Murphy doesn’t care about the album. Murphy and vocalist/guitarist Dave Pimer have just spent all day on the phone spew ing out quotes for writers, promoting the LP and the tour they will kick off tonight at Omaha’s Ranch Bowl. “This new record’s got some seri ous stuff on it,” he said. “It’scertainly a lot different than anything we’ve done. But it still sounds like Soul Asylum. It’s kind of weird. It’s hard to put it in its place because it’s just come out.” After eight years of critical ac claim and a large alternative follow ing, Soul Asylum really is getting serious. “The Horse They Rode in on” has been released on A&M Rec ords, a major label, and the support ing tour will take Murphy, Pimer, bassist Karl Mueller and drummer Gram Young around the United States and Europe. And after that, Murphy said, the band is going to start shopping around for a “big” band that needs an open ing act for an arena tour. “People seem to think it’s time we got our feet wet playing hockey rinks,” Murphy said. “You know, join the mega-stars.” Soul Asylum the mega-stars. Seems a little weird, even to Murphy, who isn’t setting any excessively high expectations. “When you’re in a band, you al ways know it could go to shit tomor row,” he said. “So you’ve got to pace it.” Soul Asylum was always so nor mal. They look like you and me. But times arc changing. Stardom beck ons. Picture Soul Asylum borrowing hair spray from Warrant, or studying ballet like Kip Winger. “The only ballet we study is at See SOUL on 11 Dan Murphy, Dave Pirner, Karl Mueller and Grant Young of Soul Asylum. Hocus rocus analyzes society, raises questions By Jeffrey Frey Staff Reporter “Hocus Pocus” By Kurt Vonnegut Putnam Kurt Vonnegut is among the most well-respected and original stylists in American literature today. His plain h0<felEVV spoken style and left-of-centrr poli tics pervade his work, typifying his moral outrage with government and humanity. Vonnegut raises questions about not only the future of America, but the future of humankind as well. Vonnegut’s 13th novel, “Hocus Pocus,” raises those same questions while becoming a social, political and philosophical lampooncry that has as its targets nearly all aspects of society; nothing is safe from Von negut’s satirical analyzing. “Hocus Pocus” analyzes aspects of society and raises other questions through protagonist Eugene Debs Hartke, named for Eugene V. Debs, an early American socialist leader. “Hocus Pocus” is set in the year 2001, yet covers the last half of the 20th century with Hartke taking an absurdist’s perspective of human his tory, while narrating his story. Hartke, at the insistence of his father — “a chemical engineer in volved in making plastics with a half life of 50,000 years”—enters a local science fair with an exhibit of crystals dreamed-up and constructed by his father. Dad longs to have a son wor thy of something to brag about as the young Hartke nears his high school See HOCUS on 11 Local radio station honors Bernstein with second full day of programming By Bryan Peterson Staff Reporter Lincoln radio station KUCV FM will devote a second day of programming to works conducted or composed by Leonard Bernstein, whose death Sunday left the world of classical music without one of its most prolific figures. KUCV Chief Announcer Steve York described Bernstein as “one of the most important and influen tial American musicians of this century.” Bernstein directed the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1969, after which he served as a guest conductor for the next 15 years, giving well over 1,000 live performances. According to York, today’s morning programming at KUCV will include the following works composed by Bernstein: •Dances from West Side Story •Portions of a newer Bernstein work, “Arias and Barcarolles” •Bernstein’s Divertimentos for Orchestra. The rest of today’s program ming will feature works conducted by Bernstein, such as : •The Flute Concerto and the Clarinet Concerto of Carl Nielsen •The Brahms Symphony No. 4 •The Symphony No. 2 of Sibe lius. The “Performance Today” pro gram at noon will be dedicated to Bernstein. In the afternoon, a Schumann piano quintet, with Bernstein per forming with the Juilliard School of Music will be played. At 7 p.m., a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, with l Bernstein conducting will be aired. 1 York said a number ofprvumms I such as Karl Haas’ “Adventures in Good Music” and some of the or chestra programs will be preempted to accommodate the special pro gramming efforts. York said Haas’ 9 p.m. program may also dedicate its formal to Bernstein in the com ing week. The tributes to Bernstein will reflect the long and influential career of one of the first American con ductors. Robert Emile, UNL Professor of Music and conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra, said Bernstein used a conducting style which was much more physi cal than prior American conduc See BERNSTEIN on 11 ‘Family Sty le’ offers Vaughan fans an encore By John Payne Senior Reporter Vaughan Brothers “Family Style” Kpic Records Maybe it’s the recency of Stevie Kay Vaughan’s death, but “Family Style,” his collaboration with big brother Jimmie, sure seems like a second chance — one more encore performed especially for broken hearted fans. But true to the uplifting style of both Vaughans, there isn’t so much as a hint of sadness on this wonderful new release. I Recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, “Family Style” is about a lot of things; but mostly it’s about a true love for the guitar. Four of its 10 tracks arc instrumentals, with Stevie Ray and Jimmie taking turns on vo cals and trading riffs back and forth on everything from steel guitar coun try to urban funk. What’s fascinating about this LP is that, for the most part, it stays clear of the purely blues-oriented sound in which the Vaughan mystique is steeped. The artists seem at case throughout, the recording loose. Jim riie even eases into the jam session by telling his sound man to “roll the tape, I’ll just feel something.” Moreover, “Family Style” leaves the impression that the collaboration was just that — a project of equal input from both men, lovingly pro duced by the free hand of studio ace Nile Rodgers. Ihcrc arc R&B rockers like While Bools," that smacks of Fabulous Thunderbirds. There are Stevie’s brief excursions into Austin blues^ with “Long Way From Home,” and “Tele phone Song,” which jump to the same level of his final album with Double Trouble, “In Step.” There’s even some swank to be found on “Good Texan,” a sexy number about cowboys and cowgirls: Make big money, put it in the bank/ Long horn Caddy got a great big tank/do it to me baby like I know you could/ So I can do it to you baby like a Texan should.” The use of effects is limited, with the Vaughan Brothers occasionally stripping things down to dual guitars, percussion and a stand up bass. 1 his is bare, no frills rockin’. Every tunc on “Family Style” basks in a sense of exuberance, an unscripted playful ness that must surely come from a lifelong familiarity. The only real trace of production to be found on “Family Style” is in the record’s first single, ‘‘Tick Tock,” a retelling of one of Jimmie’s dreams. If anything though, its highly pol ished arrangement of keyboards and soulful backing vocals only further the effect of Jimmie’s message: “The sick, the hungry, had smiles on their faces/. .. had family all around/.. . And the children of the world look forward to a future/.. . The worst of enemies became the best of friends.” Every tunc on “Family Style” basks in a sense of exuberance, an unscripted playfulness that must surely come from sibling familiarity. One can’t help but feel that in an age of big-haired guitarists who rely more on fret masturbation than on any distinctive style, the subtlety of the Vaughan brothers is something special. J l_m - _ urtesy of Epic