One Year Old Scotch Milk

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Today this weblog turns one (although technically, it’s to turn eight in July)!

Having made the switch in February 2008, we instantly lost a whole bunch of readers. The new KUR started out with about 12,000 views per month. We are happy to report a current monthly readership of over 28,000 views. That’s still peanuts, but at least the numbers are going up, not down. 🙂

Throughout the past year, two things have kept us going: your support and comments. 308 posts were made, harvesting 3853 comments — an average of 12.51 comments per post.

So, we say thanks to you, and here’s to another year! Commemorative screenshot here. Oh, and don’t forget to have a taste of KUR’s very own beverage over by the bar…

Posted in Community, Personal, Site News | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

BL – Borlai & Ladányi

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Balint

This is a collaboration between Andrea Ladányi (dancer) and Gergő Borlai (drummer). She holds the drumsticks, he holds her hands (its just a part of their performance). See details and criticism here. (BTW: G. Borlai is a big Zappa-fan, his favorite is V. Colaiuta)

Posted in Music, Visual Arts, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Kent Nagano on How He Met Frank Zappa

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Balint

Posted in Frank Zappa, Interview, Music | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Tuesday Mix: FZ in the 80s

Posted on March 3, 2009 by urbangraffito

Admittedly, there are some Frank Zappa fans who do not enjoy his 80s material quite as much as his music which came out of the 60s and 70s. That said, I really enjoyed compiling this mix together. At first, I thought I wouldn’t have enough tracks, yet, as you will soon see for yourself, Frank Zappa’s 80s set lists were just as varied as those from any other era of his career, and just as intriguing, both musically and satirically.

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

I’d like to thank our webmaster, Barry, for his help in uploading the larger tracks of this mixtape. Thanks.

Update 03/06: Added some Sinister Footwear to the Mix…

Note: If any of the tracks infringe on someone else’s copyright, let us know and we’ll remove them.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music | Tagged , , , , | 38 Comments

Odds & Ends Some More

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Time for another bag of miscellany that may or may not be of interest to you:

Posted in Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, Miscellany, Music | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Bourbon Princess – The Waiting Noon

Posted on February 28, 2009 by urbangraffito

Deep-voiced lead singer/songwriter/bassist Monique Ortiz, who leads the group Bourbon Princess, with original Morphine drummer Jerome Deupree, Either Orchestra saxophonist/leader Russ Gershon and guitarist/pianist Jim Moran, describes their sound as “blue wave: new wave with a little bit of blues and jazz thrown in.”

At times jazzy, other times more rockin’ and hypnotic, this first video release from Dark of Days, the band’s third album (recorded at the legendary HI-N-DRY Studio) has been compared ” in spirit to The Doors, Patti Smith and Nico-era Velvet Underground, as well as the Boston band Morphine.”

Interviewed at Well-Rounded Radio by Charles McEnerney, Ortiz reveals the life of the contemporary working musician in the 21st Century.

Click here for that interview.

Dark of Days

Dark of Days

Posted in Interview, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Confessions Of Robert Crumb

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Am posting this just so I can watch it myself later: a fifty-five minute documentary from 1987 on one of my heroes, Robert Crumb. This film was apparently written by the man himself.

Via Non-Stick Plans.

Posted in Movies, Pop Cult, Visual Arts | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Opium, Morphine, Heroin

Posted on February 24, 2009 by urbangraffito

Illegal Drugs: Opium, Morphine, Heroin Pt. 1

The recent awarding of Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for The Dark Knight made me think about his accidental death from “acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine” as reported by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York. This made me think of how deeply the use, and abuse, of opiods have become a part of global and popular culture: in history, art, music.

This three part documentary (Part 2, Part 3), which first appeared on the History Channel as “Hooked: Illegal Drugs”, shows the history of Opium and how it evolved into Morphine and Heroin, from a completely legal substance to an illegal one.

Posted in Personal, Pop Cult, Science, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Art of the Album Cover

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Balint

Revolutions: from Gatefold to Download, the Art of the Album Cover, curated by Patrick Murphy, charts the history of album covers from the 1930s to the present day, bringing together over 100 designs.

Wow – at Barnsley, UK; admission free (via: dezeen.com – some nice samples there!).

Posted in Pop Cult, Visual Arts | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Let There Be Drums

Posted on February 21, 2009 by urbangraffito

As Terry Bozzio explains in his introduction to “The Black Page“, the modern trap drum set is a very young invention (it was first created in the 1700s), and little has been taught at the post-secondary or university level about it and even less actually written for it. I recall just missing the opportunity to meet Ansley Dunbar in the mid-90s when he was in town teaching a workshop in Jazz Drumming to Jazz students at a local community college (I’m still kicking myself, even now).

The following ten tracks include some of my favorite drummers, drum solos and drum oriented tracks (I’d be interested what other drummers, solos, and tracks KUR readers have as favorites):

Terry Explains – Terry Bozzio (Oosterpoort, Groningen, NL, 4 Apr 2001)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/14-terry-explains.mp3]
The Black Page – Terry Bozzio (Oosterpoort, Groningen, NL, 4 Apr 2001)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/15-the-black-page.mp3]
Electric Cheese – Mats & Morgan (The Teenage Tapes, 1998)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mats-morgan-teenagetapes-23-electric-cheese.mp3]
Uncle Meat – Kroumata Percussion Ensemble (Roots, Avantgarde & Freaks, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, 3 Feb 1996)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/03-uncle-meat.mp3]
Awakening – Mahavishnu Orchestra (Inner Mounting Flame, 1971)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/08-awakening.mp3]
Moby Dick – Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin II, 1969)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/08-moby-dick.mp3]
Stratus – George Duke/Billy Cobham Band (McAlister Auditorium, New Orleans, 18 Feb 1976)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/15-stratus.mp3]
Drum Solo – The Tubes (What Do You Want From Live, 1978)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/13-drum-solo.mp3]
The Orange County Lumber Truck – The Grandmothers (Eating The Astoria, 1998)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/track-19.mp3]
Let There Be Drums – The Tubes (Wild In London, 2005)
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/10-let-there-be-drums.mp3]

[Note: if we are infringing on anyone’s copyright, contact KUR and we’ll remove the offending material.]

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, Personal | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments