London ’72

Posted on Friday, 10/12/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Are you up for some vintage Grand Wazoo? Of course you are. Gilles will be providing your fix in the week to come: The Oval, London, 16 September 1972 — up for download as of… now! Enjoy.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Foot Badminton

Posted on Friday, 10/12/07 by Balint

..well, with nothing to do with Frank Zappa, sorry. But it looks crazy! Here are some pictures of the recent world-championship – and here’s a tiny video. Isn’t it amazing?

Posted in Amusing, Randamonium | Tagged , | 5 Comments

What A Pumpkin!

Posted on Thursday, 10/11/07 by Balint

The world’s largest pumpkin – in Scituate, Rhode Island, now in the Guinness Book of Records. Arf.

Posted in Randamonium, Silly | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Zappa’s Not Rock ‘n Roll

Posted on Wednesday, 10/10/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Michael says:

I have some friends that say “Zappa’s not rock and roll”. Now that is mostly true as we all know there was much more to Frank, but he did produce some of the most smoking rock and roll out there. I want to put together a playlist to prove it to my buddies. So I need help in naming the all time best pure rock and roll songs that FZ or the MOI did.

Troops? Rally!

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music | Tagged , , | 28 Comments

FM TV — Documentary

Posted on Wednesday, 10/10/07 by urbangraffito

A special type of entertainment for a specialized audience. That’s how Frank Zappa describes his own music in this obscure FM TV documentary first broadcast on July 13, 1982 — featuring interviews with FZ, Don Preston, Adrian Belew, and Terry Bozzio; plus footage of “You Are What You Is” as well as videoclips of “Punky’s Whips” and “Black Napkins” from Baby Snakes.

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

ZPZ DVD: Sneak Preview

Posted on Tuesday, 10/09/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

So the Zappa Plays Zappa DVD is finally for sale at concerts since the Paris gig (Oct 5). Want to have a look at the goodies? Here’s a little sneak preview to whet your appetite…
Continue reading →

Posted in Zappa News, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

The Voice Of Cheese: Pablo Contursi

Posted on Tuesday, 10/09/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

VOC #34! Pablo says:

Here it is my contribution to VOC. This tune is named “La danza de los colibríes esquizofrénicos” (“Dance of the Schizophrenic Hummingbirds”) and I did it all by myself on my PC.

I don’t have much more to say, except I’m a 33 year-old drummer who lives in Argentina, plays in a band called Panza and has a blog (in Spanish). In near future, I’ll upload more sounds to this site on MySpace.

A very nice track, which carries a whiff of Mahavishnu Orchestra, dixit Dr Sharl. Have a listen:

[audio:034_Pablo_Contursi-Dance_Of_The_Schizophrenic_Hummingbirds.mp3]

Like it? Download it!

Posted in Music, The Voice Of Cheese | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Kansas City ’74

Posted on Friday, 10/05/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Dr Sharl and I are preparing for a nice little weekend-trip to Antwerp — and ZPZ obviously. While we’re out of the office, enjoy this week’s Friday Boot: Kansas City, 8 March 1974: a bunch of classic FZ tunes if ever I saw one.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Zappa Wiki Jawaka: Upgraded

Posted on Wednesday, 10/03/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

It took some blood, sweat ‘n tears, but Zappa Wiki Jawaka has (finally) been upgraded from its ancient 1.4.2 incarnation to MediaWiki‘s newest, super shiny 1.11.0 version. Spambots be gone! I hope!

Posted in Geek, Site News, Zappa Wiki | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Sound Theories

Posted on Wednesday, 10/03/07 by urbangraffito

Sound Theories

Yes, yes. The amazing new double album is out now. Order the limited edition digipak for your chance to win a Sound Theories Tour Aftershow Pass!

But read the small print first:

SOUND THEORIES AFTERSHOW PASS
2500 red satin passes SOUND THEORIES AFTERSHOW PASSES were randomly inserted into our limited edition 10,000 Sound Theories Vol. I & II digipaks – sold only through the Vai.com Online Store. Please read the following information about the Sound Theories Aftershow Passes carefully:

a.. The Aftershow pass is for ONE person to attend ONE aftershow meet and greet at any Sound Theories concert in the USA, Canada and South America. The pass does not allow you to bring a guest or guests.
b.. Passes remain the property of Light Without Heat/Euphoria Inc. and can be revoked at any time.
c.. Passes cannot be resold on sites such as Ebay. Passes sold on Ebay will become void and purchaser will be denied entry into the aftershow.
d.. Passes cannot be re-used.
e.. The aftershow pass is NOT a backstage pass, and does not allow you any special privileges, backstage or dressing room access, or pre-show soundcheck access. It will ONLY allow you into the aftershow meet and greet at the end of the concert.
f.. The Sound Theories aftershow pass is NOT and EVO Premium Experience pass. Please do not come to the show early and use it to try to get into the EVO Experience. You will be turned away.
g.. After the concert, you will need to come to the front of the stage and show your pass to security. You will then be taken to where the aftershow will take place. Your pass will need to be stamped or dates by a member of our touring crew. DO NOT stick the pass to your clothing before we have written on it.
h.. We reserve the right to cancel or cut short the aftershow meet and greet at any time in the event that Steve is unwell, or due to venue curfew. In the even that the aftershow is cancelled, you will be able to use the passes at a different show on the Sound Theories Tour.
i.. We reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone.

Remember when it was all just about the music?

Posted in Frank Zappa | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The Voice Of Cheese: Toupé

Posted on Tuesday, 10/02/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

VOC#33, with Grant Sharkey. Grant says:

We’re called Toupé (myspace link) from the UK. Get compared to FZ a lot (mainly lyrically) and to Primus, musically – though there is a lot more in there. We’ve just released our third album ‘Chat!’ and would love to get some exposure to some FZ fans.

… and about the song, entitled Big Ones:

We went out to Knoxville, TN to play our first every show in a America. After the show, this girl with giant breats comes up to me and says “she didn’t like that song with all the cussin” – so I took her to the bar and explained it. Things hit off, started writing down my hotel room number for her, until she pops the big question: “will the love of jesus christ be in the room with us?” – i make a few jokes about a threesome with Jesus and she walked away.

Did you see that coming? I didn’t! Have a listen:

[audio:033_Big_Ones_Toupe.mp3]

Like it? Download it!

Posted in Music, The Voice Of Cheese | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

28. 10. 1977 New York City, Late Show

Posted on Sunday, 09/30/07 by Balint

A few days before the Baby Snakes show, with a setlist quite similar to that one. From aaafnraa.de. Though the Tape Reviewing Society says:

This is one of the few tapes of this band that I don’t recommend. I can only think of two reasons to have it: completism and Wild Love. The main drawback is that it’s far from complete – the taper seems to have turned his deck on and off, leaving out most of the really interesting songs (= solo vehicles). (…) But as I hinted above, there is one exception, spelled Wild Love.

Well, who knows? Lets check it.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, Zappa Audio/Video | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Live from The Pier in NYC 1984

Posted on Sunday, 09/30/07 by urbangraffito

On the sixth month anniversary of my divorce judgement, and fulfilling the requests of two KUR aficionados, here’s an excellent cover of The Allman Brothers Band classic “Whipping Post” by Frank Zappa’s 1984 band (solos and all). Hey, don’t you feel better already…

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

Upgrade Ahoy

Posted on Saturday, 09/29/07 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Your attention please: we’re about to upgrade to the latest WordPress version. Things might look a bit wonky in the next half hour or so…
Update: Well that seems to have gone over rather smoothly. Let me know if you encounter any weird stuff…

Posted in Site News | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Frank Zappa Radio Spots

Posted on Friday, 09/28/07 by Magic Fingers

“It’s Halloween. Ding ding ding. Your doorbell rings. A chorus of small really weird voices yell “Trick or Treat”. Will you then turn the tables on your young visitors and offer them your own version of Trick or Treat? Will you give them teeth damaging cookies, candy and other sugary offerings – the trick – or the healthy treats of nuts, fruit, or popcorn maybe?”

This week something completely different… a veritable cornucopia of FZ album promos, anti-drug messages and weird stuff in general. So, Suzy Speedfreak, settle back and listen to the voice of your conscience…

Posted in Frank Zappa, Friday Boots | Tagged , , | 10 Comments