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Photo courtesy of Rascal Basket
RASCAL BASKET is, from left to right, Jeff Dunn, Chris Hiller, Brock Beckman and Jeep Zimmer. Zimmer left the band last summer and has been replaced by Adam
Harris (not pictured).
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Band kicks off 98 with new lineup, album
By Jason Hardy
Assignment Reporter
Having conquered the powerful
“Hordes of Venus,” Rascal Basket is
set to emerge in 1998 with a new
addition to the lineup and “Monkey
like Strength.”
The band will start the year off
with a performance tonight at
Duffy’s, 1412 O St., beginning at
9:30. Originally slated to include
Kansas City, Mo., bands Molly
McGuire and Dirt Nap, the $3 show
will go on as planned and mark
Rascal Basket’s first performance
with new bassist Adam Harris. The
band’s old bassist, Jeep Zimmer, left
last summer, moving to New Mexico
to pursue other musical interests.
Guitarist Jeff Dunn said Harris
had only been playing with the band
for the past three weeks but that he
had no trouble learning the songs. He
said Harris had been a fan of Rascal
Basket before, so he was familiar
with most of the band’s work.
“He came over and basically
knew all the songs,” Dunn said.
Even though Harris is only 21
years old and most of the band is
approaching 30, Dunn said the age
difference didn’t affect the band’s
chemistry.
“We’re all big kids,” he said. “We
still collect toys and play Nintendo.
So we’re a pretty good mesh.”
Dunn said he was excited about
tonight’s show and that the band had
been practicing nonstop for the past
three weeks to prepare. Singer Chris
Hiller said he was sure the practice
would pay off tonight and Lincoln
fans could expect a quality night of
music.
“We practice really, really hard,”
Hiller said. “We’re tight and we’re
musical. We’re not just heavy.”
Dunn said the most important
component to playing live was keep
ing the show fun.
“We have a good time,” Dunn
said. “People don’t want to see four
guys stand there still unless they look
really good.”
He said that, having played
together for four years, the band has a
camaraderie that plays a huge role in
its ability to have fun on stage.
“We hang out together, live
Please see RASCAL on 10
Soundtracks, Elvis
highlight new releases I
By Jim Zavodny
Staff Reporter
The arts and entertainment
department of the Daily Nebraskan
would like to welcome you to a col
umn dedicated to informing our
readers about new albums being
released each week.
Every Tuesday, record labels
across the country present their lat
est offerings to the public with the
hope of finding the next platinum
selling artist, and what follows is a
listing of most of those could-be hit
albums.
This week’s releases include new
music from techno artist DJ Shadow,
punk rockers Gas Huffer, ex
Grateful Dead drummer Bill
Kreutzmann’s new band, Backbone,
and singer-songwriter Victoria
Williams.
Original soundtracks from the
movies “Boogie Nights” (Volume 2)
and “Half Baked” also hit the
shelves today.
The second volume of the '
“Boogie Nights” soundtrack fea
tures even more tracks culled from
the music of the late ’70s and early
’80s.
Electronica artists Tricky and the
Dust Brothers produced and mixed
several of the tracks on the “Half
Baked” soundtrack.
Three-piece band Ben Folds Five
offers fans unreleased material left
off their first two albums, along with
some live tracks taken from a few of
their shows on “Naked Baby
Please see RECORDS on 10
Ben Folds Five
“Naked Baby Pictures”
Caroline Records
Grade: C+
The new release from Ben Folds
Five, “Naked Baby Photos,” is a
compilation of 16 songs, some left
off of their first album, some studio
and live rarities.
The album includes 10 new songs
in all, and the nine live versions range
from their first live radio perfor
mance in October of 1995 at Los
Angeles radio station KCRW
through a May 1997 show in
Providence, R.I.
The three-piece band based out of
Chapel Hill, N.C., consists of pianist
and lead vocalist Ben Folds, drum
mer Darren lessee and bassist Robert
Sledge.
After the success of their 1997
album “Whatever and Ever Amen,”
the demand for new material from
Ben Folds Five is at an all-time high.
And that is why Caroline Records
gives us “Naked Baby Photos.”
The album starts off with four
new songs, along with a live version
of “Alice Childress” and the original
version of “Jackson Cannery,” both
songs from their self-titled debut
album.
One of the new songs, “Emaline
displays the first song released by the
band that includes a guitar.
At the seventh track, “For Those
ofYa’ll Who Wear Fannie Packs,” die
album digs itself a hole that it can’t
get out of.
“Fannie Packs” includes a whole
lot of screwing around, gangsta rap
ping and Ben Folds banging on his
piano. At the end of this new song,
even one of the band members says,
“That sucked.”
“Naked Baby Photos” does shine
at moments in its second half with
great live versions of the songs
“Underground” and ^Philosophy,”
another pair of songs from the band’s
debut album.
There are two things Caroline
could have done that would have
made this album' better. It either
should have made all the tracks live
and included more, songs from
“Whatever and Ever Amen,” or used
the first four new songs from the
album on Ben Folds Five's next sin
gle as B-sides.
Only big fans of Ben Folds Five
will enjoy owning and listening to
this album.
- Jim Zavodny