Category: Zappa Audio/Video

Clue #1

Well I guess by now you’ve all had z.com’s Barfies email. For those who haven’t, here’s the poot: “Coming right up in June (not to be interfered or confused with our schedulement of a petite Wazoo outbreak in July) to your very doorstep is the First in a bold, new, Series created at UMRK by your friendly neighborhood Vaultmeister. This is Clue #1. And this can be in your mailbox soon. It will be completely surrounded by music.” Let’s hear it believers & non-believers!

Son of Uncle Beat

Peter (of United Mutations fame) just wrote me an email in which he makes an interesting proposal: “I like the Uncle Beat idea, but I’m allergic to compressed music, so here’s what I suggest: If you can create a relative to Uncle Beat, for lossless music sharing only, I will take part in this. (read: I will start a vine a month)”
Well how could I be against such an excellent proposition! What say ye Brethren of the Great Moustachio’d One?

Acetate Guitar Solo

The acetate version of WOIIFTM (’68) had quite a different tracklist compared to the subsequent release (see comments for full tracklist). Via Gilles, here’s track 7, rather aptly called: Guitar Solo. (And yes, Gilles, it sounds a lot like “Stinkfoot, The Prequel”)
UPDATE 14/06: I’ve put this track offline to save on bandwidth.

Frank Zappa: The Classic Interviews


From UK based Chrome Dreams comes a new FZ-release: The Classic Interviews. It comprises, guess what, interviews that Zappa did with Guitar Magazine’s Stephen Rosen. As the tapes were not meant for commercial reproduction (they only served for Rosen to write his articles – you can hear a woosh…woosh as the taperecorder rolls), the sound quality leaves, shall we say, something to be desired. But who cares! It’s great to actually hear Frank speak in that low, slightly smug, curmudgeonly voice of his, talking about xenochrony, flangers, fuzz, Oberheim small amps, Mod-o-fied Les Pauls, dbx compressors and the like, throwing around some of the quotes that have since started a life of their own (“the hardest thing for me to do is play straight up and down…”). The CD is accompanied by a 16 page booklet with some rare FZ photos and a peculiar foreword written by Rosen. In all, if you’re a Zappa-fan, you’ll need this one in your collection…

“Den legendariske amerikanske rockmusikern…”

Some more from Sweden: documentary in Swedish radio P1, Frippe surely knows what the text means there… As someone in the newsgroup says: “The programme is based on interviews with MOI members and music of MOI and FZ. Its called a documentary but obviously translated to Swedish, and it includes the voices of Swedish (famous) actors.” Sorry, fellas: it was yesterday… Pardon me.

In Nieppe

Today was quite adventurous (Aujourd’hui c’tait l’aventure!)! Well sort of (Bin, plus ou moin). We crossed the border to Nieppe, France, to pick up a DVD containing FZ’s appearances on Saturday Night Live. If there’s sufficient interest (s’il y a suffisemment d’intrt), I could make a vine out of this (je pourrais en faire une chenille)… What say ye (qu’en dites-vous?)?

Read All About It!

Centerville (Roitters) – In what’s been described as one of the most impressive updates in the history of the web, thebignote‘s SOFA today announced the birth of several new features which he described as “nifty, tuf ‘n bitchin'”. “I think I may cry, ” said the editor in chief, his voice trembling as he called us from his Winnebago stationed near Holland Michigan. “I’m particularly proud of our new magazine, ‘I Never Really Cared For Sports, Illustrated‘, but please tell your readers we’ve also got a new Fake Boot, a massive new portion of FZ-related downloads and an essay written by Mike Keneally!” The editor in chief was last seen running down Main Street wearing nothing but a “Beer Makes Beautiful Bodies” T-shirt, yelling “Viola! Viola!”.