Local musicians pool efforts on cassette
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* Jeff Haller/D N
Richard Rebarber, left, Charles Lieurance and Lori Allison are all involved in the making of
a tape, “Floating Opera,” which features all local talent.
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j^^JNOCOVER^^
Female-dominant ‘Opera’ works
If you accept the premise that a
song is simply “bad poetry set to
music,” “Floating Opera” may push
the limits of your definition.
“Opera” is, in fact, pretty good
poetry set to music—and pretty good
music, too.
The list of contributing musicians
on the liner notes reads like a who’s
who of Lincoln music intciligensia:
Tammy Van de Bogart, John Toblcr,
Ron Albertson, Lori Allison and tons
of others; a kind of dream team, re
ally.
The result owes something to the
subversive tunefulness of Kurt Weil
and something to the kind of melan
choly, alcoholic, white male (heir to
Irish princes) music that comes bub
bling out of the underground again
and again in this country.
The lyrics orbit in a kind of para
lyzed fascination with the ghosts of a
personal past—around a baleful femi
nine sun: *‘In the nurscry/picturcs taken
of me. Pretty blond baby/and the
mother who frowns.”
All this is made something like
hermetic by the female vocals that
dominate the album.
“Opera" is a trip, then, through a
world of male anxiety and dread, with
a cushy pillow and a window seal.
— Mark Baldridge
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Ball!
It’s just what we like to do, and every chance we
get we like to take it.
— Allison, lead singer of The Millions
These days I spend every moment of my free time
on music.
— Richard Rebarber, producer, Floating Opera
By Heather Sinor
Staff Reporter
Local talent, a love of music, a
little spare lime and a lot of hard work
form the motivation behind the newly
released cassette, “Floating Opera.”
The cassette, produced by Richard
Rcbarbcr, a UNL associate professor
of mathematics and statistics, and
Charles Licurancc, a UNL alumnus,
was recorded in the upstairs studio of
Rcbarber’s home. The 18 musicians
and two artists featured in the record
ing arc all local.
Rcbarbcr said Licurancc came up
with the idea of beginning the project.
Lieurancc gave him the lyrics, written
mostly about his “screwed-up child
hood;” Rcbarbcr wrote the music.
Rcbarbcr received some formal
musical training in college, but he
said his ability to play the piano was
more important.
“Most people who can play the
piano can write music,” he said.
“But, as I started recording, first of
all I didn’t want to sing on it, so I
wanted to get Lori Allison involved,”
he said.
Allison, the lead singer of The
Millions, has one of the best voices he
has ever heard, he said.
Two of the songs on the cassette
are Allison’s originals. She had writ
ten them for herself, but never per
formed them.
“Lori’s music fits in,” Rcbarbcr
said.
Finding talent was not a problem.
“Lincoln has a very tight-knit mu
sical community,” he said. The musi
cians were all "very interested in help
experiments with college rock
abound on Loud Family album
its sprawling, enigmatic album “Lolita
Nation.” Six years later, you either
haven’t heard of Game Theory, or you
are still trying to f*gurc out the signifi
cance of the reference to Nabokov.
To make things difficult, Scott
Miller is back with a new band (The
Loud Family) and a new album
(“Plants & Birds & Rocks & Things’^
that is packed with more references
than a lost episode of the Dennis
Miller Show.
“Plants” continues the cinematic
sequcnccof experimental college rock
deeper in Miller’s mind. It explores
the individual in our modem world:
poor, inundated by marketing mes
sages, unable to connect meaning
fully with anyone for very long.
If you are graduating soon—faced
with the opportunity to become a
humorless corporate slave — this al
bum may touch you deeply.
Scott Miller and the rest of The
Loud Family are one of the few bands
that can take nifty, digital studio toys
and make sonic art that transcends
vacuous computerized dance.
The result is an album so sideways
that you will have to explain it to all
of your friends. Buy it if you can find
it.
—PohiLongsine
DANCE FOR JOY!
Featuring
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fe»r; 5;
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(402)472-2073
sis—\ Box Office:
( C^/pJ First Floor, Temple Building, 12th & R Streets
W University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ing out.”
“It’s just what wc like to do, and
every chance wc get wc like to take
it,” Allison said.
The music on the cassette is a lot
different from what The Millions usu
ally play, she said.
“It’s a good change.”
Rebarber wrote the basic arrange
ments, but some performers added
their own creativity.
“I prefer it if somebody can change
the part, or improvise,” he said. “One
of the songs on the cassette, ‘The
Nursery,’ was not intended lobchard
driving, but Ron Albertson (the drum -
mer from the band Mercy Rule) had a
really insistent sound that made the
song.”
Although everyone was very co
operative in devoting time to the re
cording, Rebarber said the whole
project took about two and one-half
years to produce. Each song took 50 to
100 hours to perfect, he said.
“These days I spend every moment
of my free time on music,” he said.
The cassette is being sold in most
local music stores for around $6.95.
For those interested in the music, but
unsure of a title with “opera” in it,
Rebarber said that the word “opera”
should be taken lightly. He said it
meant opera in the sense of a collec
tion of people, and “floating” was in
terms of no fixed group of singers.
From the artwork on the cover to
the lyrics to the vocals to the music
itself, contributors really gave their
best work, Rebarber said.
“Thai’s what’s really interesting
about this project.”
Tonight — Big Daddy,
Royal Grove; Lucky Peterson,
Zoo Blues Bar (through Satur
day); Dixie Dregs, Ranch Bowl.
Tuesday — Isaac Stem &
Friends, Lied Center for Per
forming Arts; Fugi’s (Ethnic
Dance) at the Red & Black Cafe;
Big Daddy, Royal Grove; On
the Fritz, Ranch Bowl (through
Saturday).
Wednesday — Uretha
Franklin/Ritual Dcvicc/Unsane,
Duffy’s; Cosmopolitans, Pla
Mor Ballroom; Big Daddy,
Royal Grove.
Thursday — Too Smooth,
9th Street; Loopholes/Rooscvclt
Franklin, The Edge; Randy
Mollncr/Julius Nevis, Red &
Black Cafe; Ripcord, Rockin’
Robin; Big Daddy, Royal
Grove; Omaha Symphony,
Orpheum.
Friday — Sonny Rollins,
Lied Center; The Wrex,
Duggans Pub; Duggan & Doyle/
King Fish, 9lh Street; Strong
Bam, The Mountains; Clay face/
Pullout/Nonc with Guns, Red
& Black Cafe; Hat Trick,
Rockin' Robin; Big Daddy,
Royal Grow; The Confidential,
Howard Street.
Saturday — Hexagon,
Sheldon; Loud Sounding Dream
(LSD) from Kansas City with
Nerve Thang, The Edge; The
Wrex, Duggans Pub; King Fish,
9th Street; Strong Bam, The
Mountains; Emerald Fyre, Rod
& Black Cafe; Hal Trick,
Rockin’ Robin; Big Daddy,
Royal Grove; ThcConfidcnlials,
Howard Stroct; Omaha Sym
phony, Orpheum; Whilccross
with guest rapper, ROC-T, York
High School in York.
— Compiled by Jill O'Brien