9 thoughts on “Blow Your Harmonica, Son”

  1. Well, this used to work pretty well with my former Nokia 6680.
    The kid could have tried other phonemes than just “wah wah” as this trick almost behaves like a talkbox.

  2. I think it’s amazing that this kid even heard of Frank, let alone like, or be willing to do this bitchen cover of Inca…

  3. Visually this kid reminds me a lot of Frank as a kid (at least on picture).
    What about a rebirth? 😉

    Th.

  4. [quote comment=”8806″]Visually this kid reminds me a lot of Frank as a kid (at least on picture).
    What about a rebirth? 😉

    Th.[/quote]

    I seriously doubt that, Thinman. After 30 years of listening to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (and their alumnus various incarnations) and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (and their alumnus various incarnations) – I have yet to hear an individual musician or group that even remotely comes close to their level of musical genius. FZ and CB (and their alumnus) were of a era and of a culture that doesn’t exist anymore which shaped their views, outlooks, attitudes, social and political leanings.

  5. [quote comment=”8831″]After 30 years of listening to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (and their alumnus various incarnations) and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (and their alumnus various incarnations) – I have yet to hear an individual musician or group that even remotely comes close to their level of musical genius. FZ and CB (and their alumnus) were of a era and of a culture that doesn’t exist anymore which shaped their views, outlooks, attitudes, social and political leanings.[/quote]

    Did politics and pop culture effect Frank’s musical capacities? I doubt it. Sure, they made excellent fodder, but a man of his talent and sensibilites comes out stillborn, as if in a vaccuum. What I mean is, no matter when he was born, he would still take his environment and turn it into something Zappaesque, AND no one else from any era could be Zappa… no in a metaphysical sense, just the fact that he was an original.

    That’s why no matter what era, musician or instrument, he was able to adapt his music and allow his aesthetics to survive and progress. Though actually, this era is more in keeping with Frank’s style than any preceding era, with compliationists like Girl Talk standing as the true heirs of the AAFANRAA technique. Unfortunately, this also marks the bloat and decay of such a technique, which, though novel is inevitably derivative blah blah blah Poundesque rantings on what Donne did…

    For what it’s worth, the reason why I think there hasnt been anything coming out like these people has more to do with the systematic decline of interest in intricately layered music in favour of a minimalist aesthetic (The VU, Philip Glass, Eno’s ambiance aand Industrial).

    This in itself is a reaction to the lush melodic structure which came into vogue in the early 1800’s, peaked commercially with the Impressionists, peaked artistically with the modernists (Ravel, Stravinksy et al) and began to churn into aesthetic novelty and technique with fast-fingered be-bop and fusion.

    With Trout Mask’s lush and organic ‘math rock’ superstructures standing as an eloquent epilogue, while Cage and that crowd continued to study silence rather than filling or expressing it.

    This minimalist sensibility slowly became the popular standard over the past 3-4 generations, working toward reductivism, form and loud as melody. Which is why a Charlie Parker solo, despite being 60 years old comes off as jarring to thrash metal fans (I’ve actually witnessed this), and why tunes like Moggio and RDNZL come off as nauseous noise, the popular ear just isnt trained for complex structures.

    And cows go “moo”, right?

    Anyway, speaking of vaccuum people, Captain Beefheart being a product of the socio-political climate??? jeez, maybe on Mars…

  6. [quote comment=”8831″]I seriously doubt that, Thinman. After 30 years of listening to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (and their alumnus various incarnations) and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (and their alumnus various incarnations) – I have yet to hear an individual musician or group that even remotely comes close to their level of musical genius. FZ and CB (and their alumnus) were of a era and of a culture that doesn’t exist anymore which shaped their views, outlooks, attitudes, social and political leanings.[/quote]

    I’m afraid, you are right.

  7. the co-pilot always plays the harmonica

    the navigator always gets killed by a Bad Space-Person

  8. Both Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart were products of 1950s America, in my opinion. Of all the biographies and critical works about them that I have read – none have ever truly addressed this aspect of their development as artists and icons. Could Canada have produced a Zappa or a Beefheart? Belgium? Germany? Holland? United Kingdom? I think not. Surely we fans would love to adopt them as our own, yet both these men – as artists, composers and musicians – were quintessentially American. It affected everything they did and everything they created. From ‘Freak Out’ and ‘Absolutely Free’ to ‘Safe As Milk’ and ‘Trout Mask Replica’. They were both social critics. I’m certain the profound isolation, bigotry, and conservatism of 1950s Lancaster formed a lasting bond between these two – that, and their love of Chicago blues, doo wop, and their own particular ethnicities which put them at ever increasing odds with the growing “white wonderbread culture” soon to arise out of Ronald Reagan’s California, with all of it’s implied processed culture.

    Neither recieved any great radio play, if any at all. Still, today, we speak of their effect while those popular artists of their day have long since retreated back into the mists of time.

    Perhaps they too will retreat back as well – yet due to their uniqueness, and their unique relationship with the times and places that they lived – their music is as relevant now as the day it was first recorded.

    Perhaps that is all we can really ask. Relevance.

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