Italo Zappa

Funniest thing: two Italians writing in with Zappa related links almost simultaneously.

First up, Andrea Rizzardo, who pointed me to this Italian band called Elio e le Storie Tese, in concert with special guest Ike Willis:

There’s more

Then there’s Il Signore Sterbini who introduced me to a band called The Cardiacs. These guys merge FZ’s rhythmic sophistication with the “educated” punk of The Clash — and then some:

Good stuff — and yes, there’s more

20 thoughts on “Italo Zappa”

  1. Good god, did you not know about Cardiacs? (no definite article, by the way). They’ve been around since the early 80s and have a sizeable cult following here in the UK. I’d recommend A Little Man And A House and On Land & In The Sea as good starting points. Sadly, the main man Tim Smith is presently out of action having suffered a cardiac arrest last year.
    Also recommended if you can track their stuff down are The Monsoon Bassoon (Tim Smith produced their album I Dig Your Voodoo and guitarist Kavus Torabi is now in Cardiacs); and Max Tundra who draws on FZ’s synclavier work as one of many influences – new album Parallax Error Beheads You is a corker.

  2. BIG BIG BIG THANKS BARRY !!!
    Cardiacs (without the “the”, if you want to save your head!) deserve all the attention this great site can “produce” !
    They’re really my favorite band (being FZ my favorite solo artist 🙂 so I hope people will feel the need to discover more by them, they made lots and lots of great songs…

    That’s RES
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNdnOTvGbJQ
    (listen to the instrumental middle part…)

  3. [quote comment=”4675″]Good god, did you not know about Cardiacs? (no definite article, by the way)…Sadly, the main man Tim Smith is presently out of action having suffered a cardiac arrest last year.[/quote]

    Is that irony, or what?

  4. Elio e le storie tese (EELST) are one of the best (famous and respected) band we’ve got in Italy.
    They’re Zappa fan’s, they’re amazing musicians and, of course, they play zappesque music.

    Cheers,
    Mr. Rizzardo.

  5. [quote comment=”4688″]Cardiacs?!?!.. Wooaaahh! Not bad, to say the least!! 😀
    Totally new to me, BTW.[/quote]

    Believe me, you will be amazed. Find the time to listen to Sing to god, 96 or some live stuff from Mare’s Nest, 1992. You won’t be disappointed !!!

    Progarchives has a lot of mp3 and reviews, go for it…

  6. Um yes elio e le storie tese… i’m kind of biased because i sort of work for them 🙂 Nonetheless, i can’t help recommending their entire musical output.

  7. [quote comment=”4681″][quote comment=”4675″]Good god, did you not know about Cardiacs? (no definite article, by the way)…Sadly, the main man Tim Smith is presently out of action having suffered a cardiac arrest last year.[/quote]

    Is that irony, or what?[/quote]

    Only in the cosmic, Alanis Morrissette sense. Not really, then. Even though they were at one time called Cardiac Arrest before shortening the name to Cardiacs.

  8. Doesn’t surprise me the guy had a heart attack (just going by that one clip). I must be getting old, but that track just sounded like a bunch of noise, and with all those start/stops that people consider to make something “progressive” these days. Bashing in 4/4 is still just that, ala that Fantomas. It certainly ain’t the good ‘ol classic odd-time sig. prog rock that i still love!

  9. @Harry Barris

    [quote post=”1342″]I must be getting old, but that track just sounded like a bunch of noise, and with all those start/stops that people consider to make something “progressive” these days.[/quote]

    Whether you liked it or loathed it, Jibber & Twitch was released in the early 80’s, so you can’t accuse Cardiacs of being whippersnappers! In fact, they have a massive back catalogue stretching back over 30 years. Check them out – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the variety and invention of their music.

  10. Oh, I was just wondering if someone really tried to go deeper with Cardiacs… 🙂

Comments are closed.