http://forum.zappa.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=26957Which links to https://www.facebook.com/AdrianBelew/posts/10150589290144995
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 December 2020 04:47 (three years ago) link
Here's the original Adrian Belew post:https://www.facebook.com/AdrianBelew/posts/10150588871654995
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 December 2020 04:50 (three years ago) link
The radio in Detroit wasn't that great, but nowhere near as bad as it is now. You could hear the Beatles, Stones, Ronettes, Wailers, Booker T, early Motown, Jackie Wilson, the Kinks, and other good stuff on CKLW, the Detroit AM station, but you had to be patient and listen to lots of shit like Peter and Gordon, Freddie and the Dreamers, Leslie Gore, Frankie Avalon, etc. to hear what you liked.
― Qui-Gon's Noble End (morrisp), Thursday, 24 December 2020 04:51 (three years ago) link
I have a soft spot for the first two acts as well.
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 December 2020 04:55 (three years ago) link
At his best, Zappa's work has a tension between respect for the "mystery of music" and cynicism about the potential manipulativeness. When Frank parodies something, the subtext is that HE is the one letting the listener hear the truth while the subject of the parody is in fact the cynical one. He's a little like Godard in trying to reveal the mechanisms behind the art to enlighten the audience.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 24 December 2020 13:24 (three years ago) link
a little
― mark s, Thursday, 24 December 2020 13:28 (three years ago) link
i mean i dont think this is an awful comparison but it isn't one that leaves frank looking good
― mark s, Thursday, 24 December 2020 13:37 (three years ago) link
Sure, Godard is one of the greatest filmmakers ever and Frank is in his weird niche.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 24 December 2020 13:42 (three years ago) link
swap out maoism swap in fart jokes, sorted šø š
― mark s, Thursday, 24 December 2020 13:50 (three years ago) link
Spotify's This is Frank Zappa playlist starts off with the execrable Bobby Brown Goes Down, which seems like a pretty terrible ice breaker for a curious listener in 2020
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 24 December 2020 13:54 (three years ago) link
tbf not sure a playlist, whether created by a person or algorithm, is any kind of ice breaker for dude's music to begin with
― Paul Ponzi, Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:17 (three years ago) link
Lol, Mark.
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:26 (three years ago) link
lol so i played thru all five FZ items on the spotify alg (all bad sorry frank) and the next item that came up was "little house i used to live in (piano intro)", as played by the meridian arts ensemble on an LP *so* tailored towards me that it's called ANXIETY OF INFLUENCE lol (=music by zappa debussy barber), which is a bit of a (what bloom wd call) CLINAMEN aka SWERVE to be sure, follwoed by something from THE YELLOW SHARK (1993)
― mark s, Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:30 (three years ago) link
i mean my alg is my fault obv and sux to be me but so far (like 12 songs in) apart from one song or section from tYS i've had *nothing* in my FZ selection but orchestras ploughing thru his works making them sound like try-hard nothing-special pastiche of (better) early 20th C "serious" music (with bits of film ST thrown in now and then)?
at least he's not singing i guess
sorry i don't know why i'm doing this, it's irritating for actual fans i know
― mark s, Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:43 (three years ago) link
it's irritating for actual fans
(Frank from grave): "Mission ... accomplished ... "
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
sorry i don't know why i'm doing thisPandemic Holiday etc. stress induced search for novelty as a Way Out, perhaps?
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 December 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link
i switched to the "new" kraftwerk joint that just dropped and am currently exploring which corners of my flat don't have wifi or bluetooth coverage as i clean it
― mark s, Thursday, 24 December 2020 15:05 (three years ago) link
I saw Walter Boudreau's Dangerous Kitchen chamber group in 1996. I thought it was incredible at the time, although tbf I was 17.
― They sold me a dream of Christmas (Sund4r), Thursday, 24 December 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
Duh, I can't believe I forgot about the smallest slice of the Venn diagram between Zappa, prog and jazz: Chester Thompson. Played with Zappa from '73-'75, subsequently joined Weather Report for a bit, then was hired by Genesis and Phil-solo based on Phil's appreciation for his playing with Zappa.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 25 December 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
after i ran through his discog this summer, i made a 50-minute playlist intended both as a representation of what i think is his best work and also as a semi-approachable zappa primer. it is almost entirely instrumental aside from the roxy tracks iirc https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4GmFgY6pZynEqNquwTESju?si=0PlUD-2NSRSf3bOS7QD7iw
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 18:44 (three years ago) link
both and also??? you heard it here first
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 18:47 (three years ago) link
anyway my playlist is good
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 18:49 (three years ago) link
good title. but no Watermelon, Pound for A Brown, Blessed Relief, St Etiene, RNDZL, or Black Napkins?!
The Village > Arf > Wash triptych is sorta like Frank's Help > Slip > Franklin huh?
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 25 December 2020 19:19 (three years ago) link
rndzl and black napkins were cut from earlier versions of the playlist bc i wanted to make it short
"watermelon" ruined somewhat by being embedded in the story of joe's garage
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 19:23 (three years ago) link
oh "blessed relief" was on there too, just felt like too much wazoo with "eat the question" as well
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 19:24 (three years ago) link
right on. solid primer
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 25 December 2020 19:24 (three years ago) link
ā Paul Ponzi, Friday, December 25, 2020 12:19 PM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
also, good call, no wonder they're my favorite zappa and dead things respectively
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 19:26 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqzA1VOiC-M
― And Then Thereās Maudit (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 25 December 2020 19:45 (three years ago) link
Sorry, I canāt even look at the titles.
― And Then Thereās Maudit (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 25 December 2020 19:57 (three years ago) link
(my life in BradNelson neatly pointing me an unexpected way into 60s colossi i have kinda given up on getting and lazily hate out of habit as much as anything)
― mark s, Friday, 25 December 2020 20:06 (three years ago) link
A hard habit to break though.
― And Then Thereās Maudit (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 25 December 2020 20:16 (three years ago) link
NO SINGING is a very important factor
― mark s, Friday, 25 December 2020 20:18 (three years ago) link
starting the playlist off with a brief fusion jam called "i promise not to come in your mouth" is me acknowledging there's no such thing as an accessible zappa primer
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 25 December 2020 20:19 (three years ago) link
he really is the guy who dug an entirely different tunnel out of the 50s -- via stan freberg lol -- that paid no fair mind to just about anything that came afterwards (except maybe some TV themetunes and cokerock production techniques)
(i even feel like he got to "fusion" via his own route tbh)
― mark s, Friday, 25 December 2020 20:24 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDowitqL1Rc
― And Then Thereās Maudit (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 25 December 2020 20:26 (three years ago) link
https://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Jeff_Beck
― They sold me a dream of Christmas (Sund4r), Friday, 25 December 2020 20:28 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H84WlVbCCdo
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 January 2021 07:18 (three years ago) link
Music streaming sites are great for exploring artists like Zappa who have way too many albums. Imagine being a die hard fan in the 70s like āaw fuck now I gotta go buy Joeās Garage vol 2 and 3?ā. It broth to mine how much it really sucks that very little of Zornās stuff isn on the streaming services because it would be even more ideal for gettting into his work. .
― āBigā Don Abernathy, Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:07 (three years ago) link
*brought to mind
I really donāt see how you can hold your head up high as a Zappa fan without an appreciation of Joeās Garage Volumes 2 and 3.
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:12 (three years ago) link
The only salvageable track from the whole trilogy is on Vol. 3!
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:14 (three years ago) link
I agree! I meant before the album is coming out and your the type who buys everything. There are probably better examples.
― āBigā Don Abernathy, Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:17 (three years ago) link
Maybe I shouldnāt go there but perhaps FZ is not all bad if disdain for or at least indifference to or suspicion of him can unite such disparate posters as unperson, sinkah, Tom D, veronica m, to name but four.
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:20 (three years ago) link
I consider Packard Goose into Watermelon Hay the highlights. āOnly salvageableā is a stretch although there are embarrassing lyrics you have to be willing to overlook/compartmentalize. Catholic Girls is a brilliant pop song if you like Ariel Pink imo
― āBigā Don Abernathy, Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:22 (three years ago) link
Zappa is just dated. Thereās nothing all that special about the suspicion of or unwillingness to embrace that..
― āBigā Don Abernathy, Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:29 (three years ago) link
Music streaming sites are great for exploring artists like Zappa who have way too many albums. Imagine being a die hard fan in the 70s like āaw fuck now I gotta go buy Joeās Garage vol 2 and 3?ā... I meant before the album is coming out and your the type who buys everything.
Does it need to be imagined? Wasn't that life for music fans at any point before the mid-00s?
― Sharp! Distance! (Sund4r), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:30 (three years ago) link
I guess before the early 00s if you roll p2p into there.
― Sharp! Distance! (Sund4r), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:31 (three years ago) link
Trying to remember in which epoch the sun turned cold and I would stop dutifully buying every new album by favored artists but yeah.
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:33 (three years ago) link
Zappa is just dated.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts9-4jbFWGg
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:34 (three years ago) link
Given how few cds me and most people I knew could afford to purchase when I was in high school and college the uniquely high volume cult artist who releases at least one album a year who on some level tells their audience āyou have to buy everything to understand meā seems pretty bad in retrospect
― āBigā Don Abernathy, Sunday, 3 January 2021 18:35 (three years ago) link