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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1998)
Film, music run CMJ marathon NEW YORK (AP)—If an athletic marathon is 26 miles long, what exactly is a music marathon? Spread over four days, the College Music Journal’s annual Music Marathon presented more than 1,000 bands performing live, 17 film pre mieres and 93 panel discussions. All of it was attended by more than 8,000 registrants representing all sectors of the music industry and college radio. From rookie program directors at small schools to veteran record label executives, almost everyone found something useful - and that’s not just free CDs and magazines. The panels covered everything from on-the-road touring horror sto ries to new promotional strategies for major and independent labels, to genre-specific discussions on the state of heavy metal, hip-hop and electronic dance music. At night, attendees packed clubs around the city to check out estab lished acts, overseas curiosities from Japan, Holland and Sweden, and dozens of unsigned bands eager to land a record deal. The scope of the conference rep resented the eclectic world of college music, which has expanded since the days of guitar-centric bands like U2, - R.E.M. and The Police. Since the multiplatinum success of Nirvana, major labels have looked to the college charts as a barometer of new tastes and trends and as a testing ground for younger bands. At the same time, hundreds of independent labels rely on the college airwaves as a crucial outlet for their acts, with commercial radio stations increasingly limiting their playlists to guaranteed hits. Today’s college radio stations are a patchwork of specialty music shows and styles. In this crowded market place, getting bands heard is a chal lenge, but translating radio spins to sales can be even tougher. Several panels advocated using the Internet as a way to get around tra ditional marketplace structures. “Retail is dead,” said Paul Stark from Minneapolis’ Twin/Tone records. “There’s no reason to spend thousands on pumping the retail mar ket” Stark sees digital distribution of music over the Internet as a necessary means of survival for smaller labels that can no longer afford the costs inherent in manufacturing CDs and cassettes. Plus, larger retail chains will no longer stock low-selling artists, Stark said. Digital distribution has the poten tial to put music directly into the con sumer’s hand without having to go to a store. Stark is pairing with California based Liquid Audio, a company focused on distributing CD-quality music over the Internet, which was one of many high-tech outfits at CMJ. Two Web sites, http://CDnow.com and http://Amazon.com, offered their services to smaller bands hoping to sell their CDs on the Internet Billboard magazine advertised its Billboard Talent Net Web site, an online showcase for new artists that promotes their music to industry pro fessionals and music enthusiasts. Technology’s influence on music was apparent in many of the nighttime shows during the Nov. 4-7 confer ence. The opening night party focused more on DJ performances than live bands, with some acts blur ring the lines between both. British producers Coldcut per formed from two laptop computers with their music synchronized to video clips. One nightclub offered four floors of DJs representing tech no, drum and bass, house, big beat and other genres of the international electronic dance scene. However, the Music Marathon’s meat and potatoes was based on live bands, and rock fans had hundreds of gigs they could attend. The Cardigans, Afghan Whigs, Morphine and Sunny Day Real Estate were some of the better-known bands. Also performing: The Donnas, a quartet of female rockers from California, and' the Hellacopters, a hard-rock metal group from Sweden. ‘Pterodactyls’ to descend on Community Playhouse Don’t be afraid, Barney hasn’t grown wings. “Night of the Pterodactyls,” which opened Thursday at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, is the most I I —a recent production of the Playhouse series, Children’s Theatre. The whimsical title refers to the active imagination of Cariy, the new girl in town whose creativity and intelligence attract the attention of 12-year-old Walt As their friendship grows, Walt group of male Mends, a k a GAs (Gross Associates), his fondness tor the strange girl. The play addresses childhood and adolescent issues of peer pressure, individuality and honesty. The Children’s Theatre describes its goal ' as “to entertain and edu r cate our youth always ques tioning die choices each ‘char acter’ makes.” The play is appropriate 0 « for children ages 5 and up. Tickets are $15 for adults and $9 for students and children. Show times for thi<! weekend and Nov. 18-22 are Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., ^rrrZT^ay at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Japan’s ‘demon drummers’ to possess Omaha’s Orpheum Tonight, Nebraskans will be given a pounding lesson in Japanese culture. The Omaha Symphony is bringing Japan’s famed “demon drummers,” Ondekoza, for a night of Japanese folk music at 8 p.m. in Omaha’s Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St Ondekoza is a group of 11 members who use bamboo flutes, string msfru. ^ ments and drums ranging in size from a ' finger tom-tom to a 700 pound O-daiko carved from a tree trunk. For 29 years the group has been per forming its unique brand of intense Japanese folk music around the world. The shows demand such rigorous phys ic al work that the members of Ondekoza live in a commune-like set ting, focusing on physical discipline and mental training, when not on tour. While on tour, the group continues to exercise, sometimes by running from city to city. On its three-year tour, start ing in 1990, the group ran 13,000 miles around the United States, performing , 300 concerts throughout its trek, which began and ended with performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Tickets for the performance range from $ 11 to $25 and can be purchased from the Omaha Symphony box office, (402) 342-3560. Marijuana benefit hungry for donations By Bret Schulte Senior editor The local chapter of a national advocacy group is looking for a way to ease the pain of those who suffer from glaucoma, AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Their idea: marijuana. The National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws has worked to decriminalize the drug for both recreational and medical uses since its foundation in 1970. Saturday, the Lincoln chapter plays host to a benefit concert at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Culture Center to promote the legaliza tion of the long-disputed plant. “Nebraska could really benefit from (growing marijuana),” said NORML chapter president Jessica Sievers. “The plant can grow in almost any type of soil, and the fibers have numerable uses.” Local blues and rock act Meandering Blue is lending its time for the cause. “People need to understand that i i i ; marijuana is not as bad as the govern ment says, and it has a lot of good uses for sick and healthy people,” drummer Tom McKee said. The concert will take place the day before National Medical Marijuana Day on Sunday. Among NORML’s goals for marijuana advocacy is the recognition of the plant’s medicinal properties, which seem to be enjoying ever-increasing support by the estab lished medical community. On NORMDs official Web site is an excerpt from last August’s New England Journal of Medicine: “Doctors are not the enemy in the ‘war’ on drugs; ignorance and hypocrisy are. Research should go on, and while it does, marijuana should be available to all patients who need it to help them undergo treatment for life threatening illnesses.” Sievers planned this concert to raise funds specifically for the promotion of marijuana as treatment “We are trying to get the word out on the whole issue,” Sievers said. “It benefits sufferers of glaucoma and 1 I j t I 1 ' ' S ' I I < » r, , , , , , helps ease the pain of HTV and AIDS as well as multiple sclerosis.” California has traditionally been the most tolerant of medicinal uses for mar ijuana, but recent crackdowns by the state attorney’s office and federal judges has led to the closing of most California marijuana shops. But Sievers does have reason to throw a party Saturday. After the elec tion Nov. 3, five states passed voter mandates calling for the medical legal ization of the drug: Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The Lincoln chapter of NORML plans to send some proceeds back to its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The rest will be spent on local advocacy. Sievers said the show will be kept clean of any illegal activity and open for everyone interested in the issue. “With the success of the Democrats and the issue in the last election we want to celebrate,” she said. The all-ages show is $2 with addi tional donations accepted. The concert will run from 9 to 12 p.m. at the Culture Center, 333 N. 14th St v I <• i' I i I «* • I I y I V l . I } | u - y | $2.99 Pitcher 20 cent WINGS BIGGEST MG ST N IN TOWN ^ **^ ***** M***T*:* J*?JT^*r ft ******** **> ********* **m^ar^~— 0 Outback Doors Opan »t 130 |_SWWG XITt - ItlUKSDAY B