Kill Ugly Radio | Frank Zappa & Elsewhere: Frank Zappa news, weird links, lumpy gravy. Wanna bun?

At NPR: an interview with Ed Palermo on making new arrangements for Zappa’s music, with several audio cuts from his new album Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance available for download.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 2 Comments »

Another gem from YouTube (or GooTube if you prefer): here’s a 7:25 minute video from 1981 following Zappa during the recording of You Are What You Is.

… and this, one of the last interviews FZ gave, from NBC’s Today Show:

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 19 Comments »

Coudal asks: How do you get from Jackson Pollock to Bob Dylan in as few degrees as possible? I’d like to ask the same question, replacing Dylan with Zappa.

Posted in Music, Randamonium | 7 Comments »

I noticed Maroual has updated the Trance-Fusion page over at Zappa Wiki Jawaka to include cover art and a track list. Kewl! The wiki has grown immensely in the past couple of months by the way, courtesy of some very dedicated contributors — be sure to check it out.
Meanwhile the ZFT has had a good look at the calendar:

Remember when we said the 2 disc MOFO would be in stores before Halloween? That was a mistake… we meant Trance-Fusion. Trance-Fusion will be in stores before Halloween and the little MOFO will be in stores about 2 weeks later.

Posted in Zappa Audio/Video, Zappa News, Zappa Wiki | 2 Comments »

WFMU has the GTO’s Permanent Damage album available for download, along with “The Groupies” (previously hot-pooped) and an audio version of Pamela Des Barres’ book “I’m With The Band”. Plenty to keep you occupied…

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, Pop Cult, Zappa Audio/Video | 1 Comment »

Steve Reich’s 70th birthday will be marked by festivals and features in several countries under the rubric “Steve Reich @ 70″ - concerts from New York to Budapest this year. Congratulations!
(I’m sure you already know 18 Musicians, one of his major works. Check them all out!)

Posted in Music | 5 Comments »

“Freak Out! The Frank Zappa Story” as hosted on BBC 4 Radio yesterday and presented by none other than Germaine Greer, is currently available via the Beeb’s “Listen Again” facility (until the end of the week). There are contributions from Gail Zappa, Dweezil, Steve Vai, Peter Occhiogrosso and David Butcher (of the Britten Sinfonia). (Thanks Ian!)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 4 Comments »

From Iggy Pop’s concert rider:

You know what would be really nice? If you could make this room look less like a typical rock & roll dressing room and more sort of… Interesting? Are you with me? Just let someone loose with a little bit of artistic flair… Er, do you know any homosexuals? And am I allowed to say that? Probably not.

Posted in Amusing, Pop Cult | 3 Comments »

While we’re on the topic of Phlorescent Leeches: Mark Volman has recently launched a new website called Ask Professor Flo that is “proving to be a valuable tool for struggling and misguided musicians everywhere”.

“For every successful story, there are many more reflecting the outcomes of battered lives left to fade away in the wake of misguided musical choices and decisions… Many, I should say most artists, have no idea of a long-range plan for survival, and the idea of having a plan for a career is so far away from their reality that most will find themselves signing one bad deal after another…over and over again. It is my goal to teach musicians and entrepreneurs how not to be abused by the sharks in the industry,” says Volman.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, Zappa Misc | 1 Comment »

The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie are back, at least for this week’s Friday Boot: Dusseldorf, Germany, 23/11/1971. Call Any Vegetable!

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | 4 Comments »

This might be a re-post, but any video where Frank talks is worth watching more than once! (Part two continues here).

Posted in Music, Politics, Zappa Audio/Video | 15 Comments »

The super-stimulus theory:

The main idea of the theory is that music is a super-stimulus for the perception of musicality, where “musicality” is actually a perceived property of speech. “Musicality” refers to the property of music that determines how “good” it is, how strong an emotional effect it has, and how much we enjoy listening to it.

The book is available as a free download. (via)

Posted in Music, Science | 2 Comments »

… about the radio-silence around here in the last couple of days: I’ve sort of had my hands full with this:

More here and here. Any Tom Waits fans in the house, I wonder?

Posted in Music, Personal | 7 Comments »

… they are quite likely to end up on YouTube…

Posted in Amusing, Randamonium | 1 Comment »

I was lighting designer on the 2003 performance of Thing Fish - An Authorized Adaptation in London. From that production I am currently selling a unique piece of props, a glowing cross from the scene The Meek Shall Inherit … If you could post that on your site (or make it public) I would be very glad.

Well who could turn down such a politely worded request… here be the eBay link.

Posted in Visual Arts, Zappa Misc | Comments Off