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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1996)
Arts ©Entertainment Monday, February 5, 1996 Page 10 Sean McCarthy Competition strengthens music stores A friend of mine looked for a com pact disc last month. His search brought him to Homer’s, formerly Twisters music and gifts. The disc he wanted was an EP by Jack Logan, which was difficult to find anywhere in Lincoln. Unfortunately, Homer’s did not carry the EP. Because the artist was on an indie label (Twin Tone), he asked a salesperson if it could be ordered. The salesperson, in a nice tone, fiat out said “no.” Not wanting to inconve nience the salesperson or the com pany, my friend asked for the mailing address or the phone number of the company. Once again, the clerk said “no.” The clerk said he had never heard of that company before. I’m sure the guy had a good reason to say no. He had never heard of the company, so it obviously must not exist, right? My friend left the store; he didn’t want the new one from Bush or even Hootic, he just wanted the EP by Jack Logan. “This would have never happened if that store was still Twisters,” my friend told me in an angry tone. My friend’s problem may not be with the company, it could just be a bad run-in with one of the salespeople there. But there’s more to lose in this case than a rare EP—two local record stores, Pickles and Twisters, exist no more because Homer’s bought both out. The same thing is going on with Blockbuster Video buying out the V idco Station. As bigger cooperations swallow up local businesses, loyal customers arc getting shafted. Around 15 years ago in Lincoln, many ofyour mothers and fathers were buying Air Supply, Christopher Cross and Bee-Gee records at a store called Musicland. The stores were set up all over Lincoln. The company could set prices higher and offer selections it thought the city wanted and little else. Then, a store called Pickles opened up in the basement of a stereo store. It offered records at a lower cost, and because it was local, it could afford to pay attention to customers’ needs. It appears it is time to revive that trend. Though Homer’s is still a far belter place to shop than Wal-Mart for music, it’s more corporately set up than Twisters or Pickles ever were. Small business dreamers take note, Lincoln is in dire need of a local record store. Places like Disc-Go-Round, Back track Records and Zero Street are thriv ing because they can pay more atten tion to their customers. These places have more to lose if they start losing customer loyalty. Of course, these stores mostly sell used CDs. Competition, as ugly as it is, strengthens a business. When Pickles and Twisters were competing, the buyer benefited. If a person wanted a CD the store didn’t have, it would be a safe guess that both stores would order it or at least give out the address of the company to get the CD. Local music stores helped bring an end to music giants like Musicland. That opportunity is here again. The city already has the potential loyal customers? they just need a store to flock to. McCarthy Is a Junior news-editorial major and a Dally Nebraskan staff reporter. Photo courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures Jeff Bridges (center) stars as Capt. Christopher Sheldon, a sailor/teacher who is held accountable when his ship and its crew become the victims of a freak weather occurrence in the new film, “White Squall.” ‘White Squall’ falls overboard By Brian Priesman Film Critic Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” likes his mov ies big. And “White Squall” is no exception. In 1960, Capt. Christopher Sheldon (Jeff Bridges) took 13 young men on hisfloatingprep school, a square rigged Brigan tine called the “Albatross.” The boys were to pur sue a rigorous course of studies while spending a year at sea as the crew of the ship. During their voyage, the boys were pushed beyond human endur ance and adolescence as they ex plored the mysteries of the South Pacific. As the “Albatross” neared the end of her voyage, however, she was struck by a freak weather phe nomenon — a white squall. Within minutes, the small ship capsized and sank, taking the lives of four students and two staff mem bers— including Sheldon’s wife. This true story provides the framework for “White Squall.” But unfortunately, Scott’s love for epics fails him. This excellent coming-of-age story becomes too preachy as the boys are forced to work together and become a crew. Scott Wolf (“Party of Five”), who stars as Chuck Grieg, the story’s narrator and one of the crew mem bers of the “Albatross,” shows why he’s on a prime-time soap opera instead of more feature films. His performance, while acceptable, is nothing spectacular and turns overly melodramatic near the end. The strongest performance of the film was by Bridges as Sheldon. He is wonderful as the chiseled skipper, providing a needed father figure— as well as a friend — to the boys. But the real star is, as in all Rid The Facts Film: “White Squall” Stars: Jeff Bridges, Scott Wolf Director: Ridley Scott Rating: PG-13 (language, subject matter) Grade: C+ Five Words: This ain’t no “Love Boat” ley Scott films, the scenery. The sky never has been so blue, and the ocean never has had more perfect waves than in Scott’s view of the South Seas. “White Squall” is a fine boating film with some great performances, but it doesn’t live up to the epic status it pretends to have. Wait for the cheap seats. Singers perform admirably By Emily Wray Music Critic When the King’s Singers ap peared onstage at the Lied Center wearing simple black suits with white shirts, the audience knew it was in for England’s finest a cappella sound. Close, tight harmonies de scribe ..the King’s Singers Concert Review signature sound, along with an em phasis on a high range with light textures. As expected from an ensemble of its caliber, the group had perfect intonation. An admirable e ffort was engaged in “Simple Gifts,” arrangements of traditional American folksongs by the group’s own tenor, Bob Chilcott. “I Bought Me A Cat,” engaging animal sounds and much irreverent humor was especially appealing. A contemporary collection of pieces by Daron Aric Hagen called “The Waking Father” brought visions of Samuel Barber to mind. Through all five sections, the audience was enthralled with the English accents and dry English humor engaged by the group. At times, they went a little far with the song explanations, though. A lack of British decorum was evi dent with one explanation of an Ital ian madrigal stating that “old women were; worth nothing and should be beaten at the market with sticks.” Needless to say, the elderly women in the crowd were not amused. The rest of the audience was, bestowing about 1.23 standing ovations to England’s finest by the end of the concert. Diversity reigns for Urban Bush Women By Greg Schick Theater Critic — Urban Bush Women attacked the Lied Center stage Saturday night with a performance of four short modern dance pieces. The group of seven women danc ers and a male drummer was as di verse as the dances it presented. Although all were African American, the dances had no chorus line uniformity about them. They were all heights andbuilds, and came from all over the United States, the United Kingdom and Senegal. The founder, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, told a group of about 100 people after the performance that her choreography was influenced by all dance forms. Her specialties in cluded Haitian and Congolese dance, but each member of the group brought her own specialty to the whole. Nothing showed this diversity better than “Vocal Attack”, the first piece the group performed. It was a mostly improvised dance that in cluded vocalizations in the form of chants and skat singing. Similarly, the piece “Batty Moves” incorporated vocalizations and high energy dance with Carib bean and African influences. “Girlfriends” was strictly a dance piece with no music or voices within it. The emotional ride interpreted four girls at a slumber party. The final piece of the night, “Shel ter”, was an excerpt from an evening length piece called “Heat” and fo cused on the efforts of homeless people to find a place to sleep. The three distinct parts of “Shel ter” were beautifully underscored by the percussion of Jamaica native Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn and three powerful narrations, while the dancers resembled a pack of ani mals migrating each night to a new shelter. St. Olaf Choir shows mastery of sound By Emily Wray Music Critic Bringing choral expertise and enthusiasm, the St. Olaf Choir filled Nebraska Wesleyan University’s O’Donnell Auditorium with its cov eted a cappella “St. Olaf Sound” Saturday night. Split into four sections and op tional pieces, the program show cased the group’s ability to master almost every period of sacred choral music. The first section was traditional 16th and 17th century music featur ing the English, Latin and German one would expect from a Lutheran background. In other sections, contemporary music, Australian songs of passage, gospel and arrangements by the choir’s first conductor, F. Melius Christiansen, appeared. - The choir had every characteris tic of one of the world’s greatest ensembles. ' The blend was incredible. Rarely could a single voice be observed. At times, the unison sounded like one solo voice. This ensemble also possessed the “open” sound a choir strives to ob tain. Instead of notes being pinched and hurried, the pitches seemed to float and tumble over each other with no effort at all. The choir’s members were clearly performers, concurrently enjoying the performance aspect and praising God, especially with “Worthy to be Praised,” a gospel piece featuring a soloist and instrumentalists from the choir. Many of these credits can be at tributed to St. Olafs conductor, Anton Armstrong. Only the fourth conductor the ensemble has had since its 1912 inception, Armstrong was obviously in control. The St. Olaf Choir’s benediction was F. Melius Christiansen’s ar rangement of “Beautiful Savior.” After this thrilling experience, the appreciative audience in the al most sold-out auditorium exited with a new appreciation of the “St. Olaf Sound.”