Kill Ugly Radio | Frank Zappa & Elsewhere
Frank Zappa news, weird links, lumpy gravy. Wanna bun?
You’ll never guess what I went through this morning, prior to posting this week’s Friday Boot — though you’re free to take a guess.
Say what? Oh, on to the boot already. Yes. That’d be Montreal, Canada, November 2nd 1984, uploaded by Our Man In France.
Have a great weekend! :)
This just in, fresh from the Zappa List:
My copy of the ZPZ DVD arrived today with TWO disc Twos & NO disc One. Has this happened to anyone else? What would be the best way to contact the ZFT to let them know of the error? — David
How’s that for a fuck-up? Foo-eee! As for me, I’ve yet to receive my copy of Zappa Wazoo (and Trance-Fusion, and The Dub Room Special CD; yes I’m a slow buyer), even though Barfko-Swill mailed me on November 2nd saying:
Your order has been shipped by IMEX STANDARD.
Apparently the “IMEX STANDARD shipping method” involves a detour via Ouagadougou, then Zimbabwe through to Machu Pichu via Saskatchewan — skipping Siberia, if you’re lucky. Oh and obviously my credit card has already been charged, regardless of whether I actually received the goodies.
What are your experiences with regard to ZFT/Barfko-Swill product delivery?
This document of the original Mothers of Invention, mostly set to the music from Uncle Meat (with the exception of “The Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich” from Burnt Weeny Sandwich), originally broadcast on April 30th, 1969, as part of The Dilexi Series for KQED TV, San Francisco, California, shows a young Gail, early Blackouts footage, Mothers live with the GTOs, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, the Berlin 1968 riot, and much more. Total length: 18 min. B&W and color.
1/3
2/3
3/3
Thanks to jane23 for the tip…
Or should it be ZapTube?… Anyway, I’ve made a collection of the collectable videos – from the Steve Allen Show (63) till Dweezil’s ZPZ shows. Just to have them together. Have fun!
(The collection is constantly growing.)
An eloquent title if ever I saw one, as you’ll surely agree. Anyway, you may have noticed yesterday’s post which consisted merely of a bunch of links and a bit of light commentary. What’s up with that?
Well, every day I come across links that I figure could be of some interest to you, but don’t warrant a full post of their own (or I don’t have time to turn them into one). I either spot these in my RSS reader, or oftentimes because one of you has sent them to me via email.
Using my del.icio.us account, I’m now bookmarking those, and with the magic of a little WordPress plugin, they will then show up here all neatly bundled into one post.
So if you come across a page, site, article, video clip that you think would fit a Delicious Links entry, by all means: do drop me a note. It’ll either show up here in one way or another — or it won’t. Don’t get mad at me when that happens. Remember: such is life. ;)
Dweezil and Company finished the North American leg of their tour in Edmonton last night to a small yet appreciative audience of diehard Zappa freaks (some of which who, by the way, have waited since 1971 for this chance to hear Frank Zappa’s music performed live again).
Mike Ross in his special to Sun Media:
It was more like a jazz show. From the opening of I’m the Slime, Dweezil and band pulled out insane arrangements like San Ber’dino and What’s New in Baltimore, threw in crazy-ass jazz romps like Filthy Habits, unleashed dad’s biggest bubble into pop culture, Joe’s Garage. A hopped-up crowd shouted out requests. Dweezil came off like a laid-back hipster – having inherited a knowing smirk – playing the role of the ringmaster instead of rock star, his guitar solos excepted.
Cognitive Daily is carrying out an online poll to determine just how audible the fluctuation in quality is between mp3’s that have different encodings:
I created three different versions of two song clips — 64, 128, and 256 kbps MP3 format. Then I re-encoded all of them at 256 kbps so the files are all the same size. Can you identify which recording sounds better? Is there a difference between the listening skills of “audiophiles” and ordinary listeners? Now we’ll find out.
There have been numerous mp3-vs-lossless debates here and elsewhere, so I’m quite curious to see the results of this test. To participate, keep your ears and headset at the ready and click here. The results should be posted at Cognitive Daily next Friday, November 30.
Via Duncan.
Directly from Michigan, U.S.A. is Mokum and Yooper with their unique cover of “Directly From My Heart To You.” And from Pavia, Italy, is the tribute band MN e i CONTENUTI with covers of “The Grand Wazoo,” “Dirty Love,” “Eat That Question” and “Peaches en Regalia.” Smooth listening.
No foolin’…
This week’s Friday Boot, courtesy of Gilles, takes us back to Hamburg (again!), February 20, 1976 — exactly one month after a couple of Australian gigs which were later released by the ZFT as FZ:OZ (wiki).
Check it out. Oh, and as an extra, I’m leaving Magic Fingers’ Hamburg ’88 offering online for another week.
Yes, the way it was played in San Diego, 12.12.1981 (late show).
Some more interesting facts: the very last show of the tour, with Frogs With Dirty Little Lips as a closer, but Whipping Post as a second (!) tune (From aaafnraa.de).
In The Oregonian, Saturday, November 17:
ED CONDRAN: Project Object takes exception to your work. This is what PO’s Andre Cholmondeley told me recently: “Our band is the closest to how (Frank) Zappa did it. We leave room for experimentation. Zappa Plays Zappa plays it by the book. There’s a gross misunderstanding there. Zappa kept it tight but he kept a window open for improv.” Thoughts?
Dweezil: To try to turn this into a competition is stupid. They’re trying to make a living off of material that’s not their own, and they’re doing a poor job.
Dr Sharl and I went to see Rufus Wainwright last night at the Cirque Royal in Brussels.
Nuff said? :)
Seriously though, here’s one talented singer/songwriter if ever I heard one. To switch effortlessly from rock to folk to campy Judy Garland to nigh operatic arrangements — and to somehow keep it all together: that is not a small achievement. Yet Rufus pulls it off, with brilliance and exuberance.
… and a dash of subversive humor. I’m sure Wainwright would’ve brought a big fat approving grin on Zappa’s face — and rightly so.
Now where did I leave my earrings…
