THE
GROOVE
By Jeff Randall
Billy Bragg
boldly blends
political ideas
The beat may be nice. The gui
tars may be danceable. The singer
may be the legal definition of suave.
But to me, one of rock ‘n’ roll’s
greatest qualities has always been
its ability to easily accommodate
political ideas. Despite what some
rock “purists” will say, this musical
genre (and all of its offshoots) is
easily manipulated into a vehicle for
far-ranging ideologies and, damn it,
that’s the way it should be.
As a voice for the younger gen
eration since the 1950s, rock ‘n’ roll
simply can’t be beat. It reaches the
masses, it inspires youthful interest
and it can often successfully irritate
large numbers of people who don’t
understand it.
That’s what rock is designed to
do. And that’s what politics, if ef
fectively progressive, should do.
And when it conies to effectively
progressive, irritant rock ‘n’ roll,
there hasn’t been a better creator of
it since Billy Bragg.
Not many people have heard of
Bragg, it seems.
This could have something to do
with the fact that he is from En
gland. But everybody’s heard of
Oasis, right?
Ana n couia nave sumeunng iu
do with the fact that he is a highly
political animal/songwriter. But
who hasn’t heard Public Enemy?
It turns out that Billy Bragg, in
all likelihood, isn’t as well known
as many of his less-talented contem
poraries because he happens to be
a highly political British socialist
songwriter (with the I-just-realized
it emphasis on “socialist”).
His first full-length album,
“Thlking With the Ihxman About
Poetry,” remains one of my album
collection’s most prized possessions
and is undoubtedly one of the best
political/romantic albums ever re
corded.
Bragg tackled weighty issues
such as die Cold War and human
rights with the same lighthearted
flair and poetic charm he used on
issues such as young love and old
love and ... well, just love in gen
eral.
So when you bought a Billy
Bragg album, you didn’t get just a
collection of mind-numbing politi
cal dialogue or a clutch of sappy,
sentimental love poems.
You got a musically eloquent,
sharp-witted album that taught as
much about history, politics, love
and friendship as any textbook or
grandparent could ever hope to re
veal.
But Bragg never really caught
on in the United States; his albums
became rare sightings in record
shops and his influence was felt very
slightly in the few Americans who
did choose to embrace his work.
And if you can listen to a Billy
Bragg album all the way through
and still say music and politics don’t
belongtogkher, I guess you’ll never
learn.
Randall is a junior news-edi
torial nujor and a Daily Nebras
kan associate news editor.
‘City of Angels’ poor excuse for a sequel
By Cliff Hicks
Film Critic
“The Crow: City of Angels” is the
most disappointing sequel ever re
leased by Hollywood. It sucks so much
that it makes a black hole lode like a
Dustbuster in comparison.
I mean it. It’s bad beyond bad.
The movie had potential. Vincent
Perez plays Ashe, the new Crow, and
doesn’t do a bad job, despite his lin
gering French accent The problem is
that he’s following Brandon tee, who
was phenomenal.
But Perez could have done a de
cent job if the script had contained
some merit Unfortunately, the script
was so thin, paint could have been di
luted with it. The screenplay was writ
UPC offers
Crib comedy
By Butunt Kolste
Staff Reporter
Straight-faced people, open bodes,
an occasional noise.
Normal week nights in the Crib
don’t get much better than this. But if
. you happen to walk by “Comedy
Cribstyle” tonight at the Nebraska
Union you might notice a different
scene. -
If you stop in, be prepared to laugh
with Swab-Bob, nicknamed the “mad
man of comedy.” If you’re depressed,
heartbroken or bored, this man is sure
to leave you in hysterics.
“Comedy Cribstyle" is sponsored
by the University Program Council and
will be at 9 p.m. The event is free for
UNL students and faculty.
Nasim Suhayb, coordinator of the
event, said Swab-Bob is not just any
comedian and his performance should
not be missed.
“When you have a comedian as
good as he is come to Nebraska, stu
dents should jump at the opportunity,”
Suhayb said.
Swab-Bob has also been involved
with the nationwide comedy program
Def Comedy Jams. His performance
will focus on his views of the Midwest.
“It is something the students here
at Nebraska should be able to relate to
well,” Suhayb said.
Swab-Bob is also scheduled to per
form Saturday in the union with Kappa
Alpha Psi fraternity.
ten by the guy who penned “The Pup
pet Masters,” so the script’s poorness
is self-explanatory.
Anyone who hasn’t seen the first
“Crow” film will be lost. I went with
my roommate, who hadn’t seen the first
movie, and he hadn’t the slightest clue
what was happening throughout the
film. I envied him.
Having seen the first one, “City of
Angels” made a mockery of everything
that was good before. The little girl,
Sarah, is now grown up (played by Mia
Kirshner) and has a fixation on the
Crow. So when Ashe shows up, you
can guess what she wants to happen.
Kirshner breathes no life into
Sarah’s character, either. She doesn’t
come across as half-way believable,
not even for a minute.
The villains all are mostly just car
bon copies of the villains from the first
film but they’re all worse than the origi
nals, especially Iggy Pop, who prob
ably won’t get any recognition in Hol
lywood for this film.
Worst of all the director, Tim Pope,
doesn’t just hit you over the head with
the gothic elements until you’re sick
—he clubs you in the stomach, smacks
you across die face and shoves it down
your throat until you want to scream.
It’s obvious he should stick to MTV
videos.
Some of the photography is quite
nice, though, with a heavily-tinged gold
lighting. That’s pretty much die only
color m the movie and it gets tiring
after an hour or so.
The ending is the worst part of all,
beingnot only in left field, but way out
in the parking lot. It is improbable,
doesn’t fit and doesn’t work. like the
rest of this movie, it is repugnant, hor
rid and utter rubbish. I’m at a lack of
Rm Sodkbun/DN
AMY CROSS, 21, and Sean “Snake” (keen, 30, both from Lincoln
sit in the cool night air in front of The Coffee House at 1324PSt
words to tell you just how bad this film
is.
Overall, even if this film is at the
$1.50 theater, a person still is paying
$ 1.45 too much. Work on memorizing
the dictionary of cheeses before you
consider watching “Hie Crow: City of
Angels.” Even die-hard “Crow” fens
must skip this film or you will wonder
why you—or the film company for that
matter—even bothered.
— _ -- , y ■
¥m\ ^ferowrCitrofMgelS"
Stars: Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner
Director: Tim Pope
Rating: R (violence, nudity, language)
Grade: F ^
Five Words: New “Crow” drops like
rock.
Dancers appear
at Yiayia’s bar
SUhoutte performers
entertain Thursdays
ByBhett Schulte
Staff Reporter
Swooning shadows dancing above
and thirsty, hungry students staggering
^ below is die new scene for Yiayia’s
^ Thursday nights. Dimitri Emeras,
owner of Yiayia’s, has introduced a
new weekly tradition at his bar: silhou
ette dancing.
“We have people above the crowd,
dancing behind sheets while our disc
jockey, Jim Palgomy, spins vinyl in the
background,” Emeras said.
Last Thursday was the first evening
it was introduced at Yiayia’s and the
techno-altema shadow dancer was
quite a hit among those admiring from
below.
Emeras plans to continue the danc
ing with a few variations. He said a
masquerade and Halloween theme will
be on Thursday nights through Octo
ber.
Although Emeras said he wasn’t
certain if the dancing would continue
every Thursday, it seems likely that it
will be a consistent event The danc
ing begins about 10:30 pjn. so kick
back, munch on some pizza and watch
the shadows on the wall.