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:
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…
March 27th, 2009 at 7:50 pm »
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.
March 28th, 2009 at 4:26 am »
:O:O:O let’s try again when i’m sober. The Cardiacs sound good for now.
March 28th, 2009 at 1:51 pm »
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…)
March 28th, 2009 at 2:29 pm »
A quote from C-H:
Is that irony, or what?
March 28th, 2009 at 6:33 pm »
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.
March 28th, 2009 at 6:34 pm »
Uh! The Cardiacs seems to be play really good stuff.
March 29th, 2009 at 12:35 am »
Cardiacs?!?!.. Wooaaahh! Not bad, to say the least!! 😀
Totally new to me, BTW.
March 29th, 2009 at 2:33 am »
A quote from Bálint:
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…
March 29th, 2009 at 11:01 am »
.. and while you’re at it, find your way to the Cardiacs Museum and forum: http://www.cardiacs.org / http://www.forum.cardiacs.org
March 29th, 2009 at 2:52 pm »
I’m proud to be one of the members of that forum !
March 30th, 2009 at 8:27 am »
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.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:33 am »
btw http://www.elioelestorietese.it (official website)
March 31st, 2009 at 5:29 pm »
yes, a true FZers have to support Cardiacs
March 31st, 2009 at 5:33 pm »
http://www.cardiacs.com/downloads/
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm »
A quote from SOFA – Philostopher/Chef:
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.
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:44 pm »
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!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:38 pm »