Zappa - C/D

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.