Zappa - C/D

For me the first three Mothers albums, Hot Rats and Apostrophe are all excellent, but really the only essentials.

throw in the Shut Up albums and Roxy & Elsewhere and this is pretty much my take on the catalog, isolated moments like "Watermelon In Easter Hay" excepted.

yeah bullshit

http://www.youtube.com/v/bXV71xzDdJE&fs=1&hl=en

― ums (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, April 4, 2013 7:44 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

first of all that song came out when they were 24 (I admit the early Ween is pretty rough), secondly that's more dark than cruel, unlike similar Zappa material you aren't really supposed to laugh at it

I'm a big fan of the various chamber ensembles that have performed FZ's work since his death (Ambrosius, Omnibus, Le Concert Impromptu et al). Just discovered a new one -- Inventionis Mater, an Italian guitar/clarinet duo. Some really nice arrangements here, especially of the WOIIFTM stuff.
http://www.inventionismater.com/eng/index.html

Thanks!

Yeah, that is nice. Those melodies take to those kinds of arrangements well. I sometimes wish all Zappa was arranged like the first few minutes of Uncle Meat -- before the snorks kick in.

Snorks are the worst.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhd0vqe0U21qczuau.jpg

This version of "Sofa #2" is the most sublimely beautiful of all the ones I've ever heard. I want this played at my funeral, for real. (And "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" played at my wake.)

I think that's my favorite of the tracks I sampled.

And I promise no snork references at either your wake or funeral.

No snork references?! Hell, my will is going to include $100 prize money for a "best snork" contest at the wake.

Is there extra money if I bring up the Trollkins?

WilliamC, are you familiar with Trio Cucamonga? They're new to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TAb6iYyJv4&feature=player_embedded

I'd heard the name before but never heard anything by them. That's a good Meat!

oh, and no money for Trollkins! What the hell are Trollkins, anyway?

Trollkins - the unholy marriage of the Dukes of Hazzard and Troll Dolls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozvYg2i3pS0

I stumbled across this. Maybe it's common knowledge but I never saw it before and it blew my mind...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MewcnFl_6Y

His one shining moment.

The sum total of my experience listening to Zappa:

I've hatred everything I've ever heard, which is, admittedly, not too much. But "wackiness," especially the scatological and puerile kind, is one quality in music I usually can't abide, and titles like "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" have kept me from really exploring, with any seriousness, anything by the man. I also file him under "dudes who make 'psychedelic music' who clearly (audibly) don't take drugs," and, well, I just don't trust that.

I bought Hot Rats because I heard there was no singing, and that Beefheart was on it. I recall liking it OK, but it's been years. I am also aware of the Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar series, or whatever it's called, but have never heard it.

I love Beefheart (perhaps the single exception to my 'no wackiness' rule), and want to understand Zappa; as far as rock icons go, he's something of a final frontier for me. What's good? There's a cheap used copy of Absolutely Free at the record store here, and I understand that's one people like. I don't know any of the Mothers stuff at all. My mind is as open as it's likely to ever be.

listen to one size fits all and roxy and elsewhere

To see if you're interested in FZ the composer, try these:

The Zappa Album - Ensemble Ambrosius (FZ played on Baroque instruments)
Music by Frank Zappa - Omnibus Wind Ensemble (woodwind ensemble, obviously)
Prophetic Attitude - Le Concert Impromptu (woodwind quintet)
Ensemble Modern Plays Zappa - Ensemble Modern (smallish chamber orchestra; they worked with FZ directly before he died)
Plays the Music of Frank Zappa - Ed Palermo Big Band (...)
There's also a brass quintet called the Meridian Arts Ensemble which has played a lot of FZ, but their stuff is not very well recorded.
Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong (1969 jazz album mostly of FZ work; arranged and conducted by FZ, and he plays guitar on the one track he didn't write iirc)

Those records give a sense of the music without having to deal with shitty comedy lyrics. After getting that amount of insulation, if you're still interested, go with these:
FZ - The Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka (big band arrangements; my favorite pedal steel solo ever recorded on W/J)
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Volume 2 (a complete 1974 concert by his hottest band)

After that, you're either committed to the stuff or gave up on it days ago.

Grand Wazoo is an amazing freak out jazz album

I really like that stravinsky/gamelan/whatever thing the band has going on in the early 70s. Could be best around 74 when the gig doesn't mainly consist of the 60s MoI tracks.
Really don't like the self congraturily smut stuff.

Self congratulationarily smut stuff.

Also worth checking out: George Duke's Feel (Duke was the keyboardist in Zappa's band from roughly 1971-75; Zappa plays guitar on two tracks on Feel).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4uW5ujGUyk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9DqykUsqRY

I've been listening to Just Another Band from L.A. lately, I'm floored by how tight and coordinated the band is, "Billy the Mountain" has all these crazy stops and little jerks and syncopated comedy bits that require everyone to get in line for like 3 seconds. But it's barely listenable, like the kind of thing that was written in the span of two or three hours, and so much of it is Flo & Eddie making "mouth noises" ("and there were some birds!! CAW CAW CAW AIIYAIYAIYAIYAI!!!"). At least it's just stupid as opposed to stupid and disgusting, like "Magdalena" on Side B is.

What I really want is more of those sort of mutated and complex pop songs that Zappa did so well in his early days, the sort that were catchy as sin despite being so complex and full of left turns. Y'know..."Dog Breath", "Absolutely Free", "Concentration Moon", "Oh No", "Mother People", "Peaches en Regalia"...did he just stop writing these?

No.

(longer answer after I'm past current work deadlines)

We're Only in it is the natural entry point (and his best IMO)
1st disc of Uncle Meat, Hot rats and the debut Freak Out are pretty welcoming too.

^^^ agreed, although all of them contain "wackiness" to some degree. I had never heard "What's New In Baltimore" before, that and "Watermelon..." are essentially jazz fusion not far removed from, say, Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow.

I'm a fan, if not a regular listener, of his orchestral writing, much of which WilliamC recommended, which would likely satisfy someone into Kronos Quartet (or Carl Stalling's cartoon scores.)

The Ensemble Modern released a cd with Zappa songs not everyone knows about and it´s pretty good called ´Greggery Peccary and Other Persuasions´.

'Orchestral Favorites', ´Sleep Dirt´ and ´Studio Tan' all contain 'serious´ music. The Zappa Family Trust just released ´Dance Me This´ but no reviews have surfaced yet.

i like jazz from hell

Very much enjoyed Hot Rats and was surprised by the warmth of it.

My Zappa listening is mostly a thing of the past, but I've never seen Dweezil, and setlists from the current tour look deep and interesting to me. Should I go?

I imagine it'd be a fun time and I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

I've never heard a single bad word about Dweezil's show

I'd like to see his show

Pretty classic in a random mix go from Zappa's "Call Any Vegetable" to the Ohio Players album track "Rooster Poot" - which sounds EXACTLY like something off a FZ record. Don't think that skit song had ever really purked up my ears in the couple times I checked out that Ohio Players album, but this listen was notable.