Category: Community

Zappa Night In Antwerp

Peter of United Mutations dropped me a note about the upcoming Zappa Night in Antwerp, which is to take place this Saturday:

Antwerp Zappa Night

Details:

Doors will open at 21.00 h, and the opening band, Shit-Gun, will take the stage shortly thereafter. Main feature will be the concert by Captain CheeseBeard & The 7 Sisters Of Prevention, and this will probably kick off at around 21.40 h. In the meantime, there will also be some video screenings, and there will be a little market where you might be able to find that one little thing that you have been looking for for so long…

Looks to be a very cool initiative! Oh, and did I mention there be free tickets? Sharl and I would love to attend but, well, you know…

The Rondo Hatton Report

Just spotted over at Andrew’s place: The Rondo Hatton Report, “an independent electronic platform where people can creatively confess their addiction to the music of Frank Zappa”.

A consensus emerged from the 20th Zappanale in Bad Doberan that most of the people who come there just might have something to say, if only they had a place to say it. Ours is no ordinary addiction, after all. We do not come to worship at the Stucco Shrine merely to sing along to some catchy tunes. Many of us have had life-changing experiences at the hands of the Man with the Imperial.

So what’s the deal exactly?

This site is conceived as an online version of an imaginary quarterly journal. We are open to contributions from anyone who has anything interesting to say about the music of Frank Zappa, but to help focus minds and ensure that people a) have a point to make and b) get to it, all texts submitted must be between a minimum of 500 and a maximum of 1500 words.

The first edition of the journal will be uploaded to the site on 21 December 2009, and updated thereafter at three-monthly intervals. This may well turn into something very, very cool…

Valencia Zappa Film Festival

Manuel de la Fuente Soler is a Media Studies lecturer at the University of Valencia and writer of “Frank Zappa En El Infierno” (Frank Zappa in Hell), an analysis of political discourse in Zappa’s oeuvre. He’s the thriving force behind The University of Valencia’s Frank Zappa Film Festival this November.

Each session will be introduced by different experts in Frank Zappa. The final session will be presented by Didier Mervelet, from Les Fils de l’Invention. The Festival will be held at Colegio Mayor Luis Vives in Valencia (Blasco Ibáñez Av., 23). All the films will start at 7.30 pm.

The Program:

5 November (Thursday)
– 200 Motels (1971)
– The True Story of 200 Motels (1989)

12 November (Thursday)
– Baby Snakes (1979)

19 November (Thursday)
– The Dub Room Special! (1982)

21 November (Saturday)
– Does Humor Belong in Music? (1985)

26 November (Thursday)
– Video from Hell (1987)
– The Amazing Mr Bickford (1989)

3 December (Thursday)
– Uncle Meat (1988)

Attendance is free!

Le Labostrophe Videos

Le Labostrophe is a fellowship between freelance audio/video freak technicians, whose goals are :

– To make available to present-day art makers an original & professional video and/or audio creation, in accordance with their own budget and complementary to their own creative universe;

– To combine on each project the most suitable human resources and work method;

– To contribute to display of artists offering an indispensable alternative to present culture;

– To cause an emulation among its members in order to create Labostrophe‘s own projects.
Continue reading “Le Labostrophe Videos”

Audience Misbehavin’

Back before video rentals became big business with the opening of the first Blockbuster Video store in Dallas in 1985, people went out to theaters for much of their entertainment.
Continue reading “Audience Misbehavin’”

Mothers Night: A Ten Hour Marathon

Rich of another Ugly Radio writes:

We are doing a ten hour marathon of The Mothers on Portland OR station KBOO this Friday night starting at 8pm (PST). That’s right, it’s time once again to remember our Mothers. Of course we mean The Mothers of Invention. Frank Zappa’s seminal band of renegade freaks and musical experimentalists. Bizarre and hilarious indigenous “folk” music, borne of the denizens of the streets of 1960s Los Angeles and El Monte.

Join us FRIDAY, MAY 8TH from 8:00 pm until 6:00 am. Featuring rare live performances, “incidents”, interviews, and special Mothers gifts for those who decide to become a MEMBER of Community Radio KBOO during the broadcast.

Folks around the world can listen in on the web at www.kboo.fm/listen.
Some highlights from last year.

The Little Forum That Couldn’t

Back in February, I announced a new version of the KUR forums: newer, better software, and a nicer look to boot. That forum has since turned out to be an avid gatherer of dust and tumbleweeds — mainly I guess, because this weblog has become the de facto place to discuss topics.

And so, we say goodbye to forum.killuglyradio.com. Its predecessor by the way, now an archive of sorts, can still be browsed.

The top main nav “forums” link needed to be replaced with something else, so I brought back a golden oldie: Gilles’ (does that name ring a bell?) repository of field recording CD jackets/covers, which I have dubbed: the crypt.

Check it out!

Zappanale 20 — Jubilee Edition

Despite all the legal intimidation that’s been going on, German ZapFest Zappanale is ready to roll! Just a couple of the confirmed bands/players for this 20th jubilee are:

Check out the flyer front / back, and the poster for more detailed information.

A Lumpy Legacy

Yesterday, an eight minute feature aired on NPR entitled Frank Zappa: A ‘Lumpy’ Legacy’. From the intro:

Gail Zappa is going after cover bands she accuses of “identity theft.” Her lawyers have sent scores of cease-and-desist letters. But many of the people who continue to perform Frank Zappa’s music say they don’t need permission.

The mini-docu contains quotes from Andre Cholmondeley, Ike Willis, David Fricke, and of course: Gail Zappa… Happy listening! 😉
(thx John W. & Rick W.)

Update 04/11: From the NPR page: “After our story aired, NPR was asked to take down the two Frank Zappa pieces we had been given permission to stream.” Part of the ZFT marketing department’s effort to further promote Zappa’s music, I reckon?