Britain, Britain, Britain

Posted on Monday, 02/26/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

A layman’s guide to Britain:

People who don’t live in London are called “provincials”, and are not allowed to meet the Queen or get married. Their suicide rate is high.

Posted in Amusing, Randamonium | 4 Comments

Ensemble Ambrosius Is Good

Posted on Monday, 02/26/07 by Balint

Ensemble Ambrosius gave a concert in Brugge Concertgebow, Belgium on the 25th of June 2004. Belgian Broadcasting Company recorded the concert and we have put here available some Zappa pieces for our Zappa-obsessed fans: Toads of The Short Forest/Dupree’s Paradise/The Black Page/G-Spot Tornado.

Go to the Downloads section!

Posted in Music, Zappa Audio/Video | 4 Comments

Slick!

Posted on Monday, 02/26/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

You’ll have to excuse the bad footage quality, but Grace Slick is, well, hilarious in this interview with FZ, from somewhere in the deep dark eighties:

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 3 Comments

40 Minute Psychedelic Version

Posted on Saturday, 02/24/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Remember this short clip shot by Ed Seeman? He described it as “a small portion of the 14 hours I shot with FRANK ZAPPA & the Original Mothers of Invention over a two year period from 1967 to 1968”. Well, there’s now a 40 minute DVD available for $19.95. Although, having mentioned this on a widely read weblog such as KUR, I’m sure I’ll get one for free! Just kidding, Ed.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 6 Comments

Rehab

Posted on Friday, 02/23/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

When was the last time a female singer grabbed you by the gonads? Was it Joni Mitchell? Aretha Franklin? Rory Block? Sheryl Crow perhaps? Chrissy Hynde? As for me, it would have to be Amy Winehouse: a foulmouthed Brit with a wonderfully off-beat, nagging, raw voice. Her latest album Back To Black sounds like a classic 60s Motown Record — From Hell. It’s brilliant. Give it a listen. Rehab alone is worth the price of admission.

Posted in Music | 11 Comments

Albuquerque ’81

Posted on Thursday, 02/22/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

It’s been a while since we featured a Zappa show from the ’81 tour — come to think of it, we haven’t had many of those around here altogether since the Friday Boots saw the light of day some four years ago! To make up for that, here’s Albuquerque, October 11 ’81: sound quality B+ and a whopping 22 tunes for your downloading pleasure, no less. Go eat some bandwidth. Enjoy! With thanks to Gilles, as always.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | 13 Comments

Yatta!

Posted on Wednesday, 02/21/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Um, wtf?

Posted in Bizarre, Music, Silly | 12 Comments

Second Coming, Puerto Rican Edition

Posted on Tuesday, 02/20/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

How refreshing: a minister with the number 666 tattooed on his arm:

Although it’s a number usually associated with Satan, not the son of God, de Jesus says that 666 and the Antichrist are, like him, misunderstood. The Antichrist is not the devil, de Jesus tells his congregation; he’s the being who replaces Jesus on Earth.

Funniest quote from the article though:

De Jesus’ claims of divinity have angered Christian leaders, who say he is a fake.

Posted in Bizarre, Religion, Silly | 2 Comments

The Voice Of Cheese: Michael Pabst

Posted on Tuesday, 02/20/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

It’s time for another Voice Of Cheese! This week’s contribution comes to us from Michael Pabst and his band The Research Institute. The track, entitled 4 12 93 was composed by Michael and features him on bass. Quite Zappaesque if you ask me… Have a listen:

[audio:004_4_12_93_The_Research_Institute.mp3]

Like it? Download it.

Posted in Music, The Voice Of Cheese | 12 Comments

Jingle Cheese

Posted on Saturday, 02/17/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Cool! Duncan, wiki contributor and KUR-reader has produced a jingle for The Voice Of Cheese with the aid of the, um, VX-323. Be sure not to miss the second ditty which if you ask me, is itself a perfect fit for the VOC. Anyway, here’s that jingle for you:

[audio:000_voiceofcheese-jingle.mp3|loop=yes]

(Note to Balint: it loops!)

Posted in Music, The Voice Of Cheese | 2 Comments

Amsterdam ’77

Posted on Friday, 02/16/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

This week’s Friday boot takes us to the Jaap Edenhall, Amsterdam. It is the 5th of February 1977, and a bunch of classic tunes are about to be performed…

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | 8 Comments

Maestro

Posted on Thursday, 02/15/07 by Balint

Five minutes before his big performance, the Maestro and his persistent mechanical assistant are in preparation mode. As the clock ticks, life at the top is not all it seems. The multi award-winning Maestro blends an operatic aria with CG animation.

Hungarian animation. An Oscar nominee. Hah.

Posted in Film, Silly | Comments Off on Maestro

Humo(u)r Me

Posted on Thursday, 02/15/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

English vs American humo(u)r? Turns out it’s not at all that different — or so thinks comedian Simon Pegg:

Americans can fully appreciate irony. They just don’t feel entirely comfortable using it on each other, in case it causes damage. A bit like how we feel about guns.

Regardless: I’m pretty sure 99,99% percent of you won’t get this prime example of Belgian West-Flemish humor… :)

Posted in Amusing, Pop Cult | 3 Comments

Freak Out In Cucamonga

Posted on Thursday, 02/15/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

It’s taken a long time (see previous reportage), but now a release of the Cucamonga documentary is imminent! Check out the brand new website and the trailer (which features some artwork by Dr Sharl and myself). Lookin’ mighty good, Mr Fiorenza…

Posted in Film, Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 7 Comments

Disney Dupree

Posted on Wednesday, 02/14/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

At the Walt Disney Concert hall next January 5 and 6 2008: the LA Philharmonic to perform Zappa’s Dupree’s Paradise. Via David Ocker, who adds:

It’s been quite a while since the LA Phil has done any of Frank’s music, so even this modest programming of one piece is pretty remarkable.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Zappa Audio/Video | 5 Comments