Je Suis Dans Ta Vie! (Todeloo Doot)

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

We interrupt this program for a bit of nostalgia for the old European folk (preferably of the French persuasion).

Over the weekend Sharl and I watched Podium — wait, let me rephrase that. Over the weekend I gently persuaded Sharl to join me in watching Podium. Now before you get any weird ideas, Podium is a comedy about a Claude François imitator whose main character is played by Benoît Poelvoorde of Man Bites Dog fame.

Now who is this Claude François character, I hear you ask. Well, behold:

That’s CloClo performing the classic Alexandrie/Alexandra for you, somewhere back in the late 70s. Pretty shocking for those Young Sophisticates among you, I imagine. Yet I need only hear the beginning notes of that tune and BOOM — there I am: barely 10 years old, fresh out of the bath, hair neatly combed, gushing over those background dansers also known as Les Claudettes. Everything, needless to say, was much better in the seventies. Yes? (No? Discuss.)

Anyway, back on topic: imagine our surprise when during the end credits of Podium, this pops up:

To be fair, it was Sharl who spotted this. It was I who freeze-framed the screen and took the picture. But hey, see that? In their “thank you” list, they actually include Frank Zappa! One can’t but wonder why…

Moving on, here’s another tune that you may actually be familiar with:

Pfeh, a My Way cover, you shrug? Quite the opposite.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Movies, Music, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , | 30 Comments

The Dresden Dolls — Post-War Trade

Posted on April 2, 2008 by urbangraffito

In a comment in a previous post I alluded to a new revolution in how new bands, their labels, and their fans are making music, selling said music, as well as interacting regarding individual merchandising. In this regard, The Dresden Dolls have developed a unique relationship with their fan base called Post-War Trade:

…so here it is, the age of over-inter-connectedness and the internet and it’s time to change the world. I want to create an internet exchange forum in which really talented artists and artisans can directly reach out fans instead of posting photos their wares to the internet to get feedback. this is awesome but i would really like to see these artists making MONEY and doing BUSINESS with our fans. so it was that after years and years of discussion, the concept of Post-War Trade was born.

my good friend and fellow artist Katie Kay has agreed to take on the job of trying to organize this conceptual nightmare into a daydream reality, but we obviously can’t do it without YOU. the main idea is to get as many artists and artisans as possible to submit their work, we will pick the stuff we think is amazing enough to be reproduced en masse, and the featured items will be sold on the net with the majority of the profit going back to the artist.

it’s the DEMOCRATIC FUTURE OF MERCHANDISING! how AWESOME!!!!

no artist is too professional or amateur to get involved. ANYTHING GOES.

The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2001, consisting of Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano, harmonica, ukelele) and Brian Viglione (drums, percussion, guitar, vocals). They describe their style as “Brechtian punk cabaret”.

Does their 2004 video, “Coin-Operated Boy” from their self titled debut record remind anyone of a late 1970s FZ song?

Posted in Miscellany, Music, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Twenty Idiot Bastard Sons

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

A cool project if ever I seen one:

Says The Idiot Bastard:

Throughout 2007, this Idiot Bastard, in conjunction with Cordelia Records, was busy putting together a CD of 20 different versions of Frank Zappa’s The Idiot Bastard Son to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the release of the album it first appeared on (We’re Only In It For The Money). Well, we didn’t quite manage to get it together in time, but it’s now finally available.

Contributors include Project/Object, Bogus Pump Orchestra and The Wrong Object — to name but a few.

Oh, and then of course there’s The Idiot Bastard Son #21 — not part of the compilation I’m happy to report.

Small cigar, anyone?

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Live Albums — Dead or Alive?

Posted on March 28, 2008 by urbangraffito

I was tagging songs on my Last.fm account the other day (I like to listen to an eclectic mix of music while I work) when I noticed the sheer number of live albums which were being scrobbled from my music library. In no particular order or ranking (they are all equally excellent listening):

Perhaps it was the advent of the music video, MTV, the videotape recorder/player and the eventual evolution of the DVD player along with the rest of the technological wonders of the last twenty years or so that led to the gradual demise of the great live albums. Has any recent band and/or musician released a live album that measures up to the great live albums like those listed above? Where is the impetus for bands/musicians today to record great live albums if a video or a DVD will suffice? I don’t know. There’s something about a really well recorded live album that sticks with you long after you have heard it. It’s like an artifact of an other time. As much as a video or a DVD may attempt to (and in certain ways it may surpass a live recording) it doesn’t capture this aspect of the live album experience. Perhaps this is why field recordings are still so popular.

Let me ask, if and when a Zappa “Roxy DVD” is released, will it take away any of the mystique from the original vinyl recording?

Posted in Miscellany, Music, Pop Cult | Tagged , , , , | 69 Comments

Top Secret Drum Corps

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Terry Bozzio is alive and well, and currently resides in Switzerland:

I’d love to see these guys performing The Black Page! Via Roger Bourland.

Posted in Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

King Of The Rickroll

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

I’m going to have to mention the name of Rick Astley now, but fear not: it’s for purely sociological reasons. You see, Mr Astley has been rickrolled:

Over the last year or so, Astley has watched with puzzled amazement as “Never Gonna Give You Up” has been mocked, celebrated, remixed and reprised, its original music video viewed millions of times on YouTube, all by a generation that could barely swallow its Gerber carrots when the song first topped the pop charts.

Here’s just one particularly puzzling example.

Posted in Bizarre, Music, Pop Cult | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Not So Wuthering

Posted on March 26, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

If your name is Kate Bush, you may want to look away now.
Be sure to check #6 #1!

Posted in Insane, Music, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

To Protect And Serve

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

With Zappanale #19 right around the corner this August, I figured people will need some appropriate apparel.

Say for instance, a long sleeve T-shirt (click image for details):

stop-gail-cafepress.jpg

… or how about a nice trucker hat (click image for details):

stop-gail-hat.jpg

Now, we have no idea who this Gail person is, but it just sort of sounded right in a mysterious way — and the “to protect and serve” only makes it more intriguing…

Hungry for more? Check out the store!

Posted in Frank Zappa, Miscellany, Music, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

Woven Hand: Your Russia (2006)

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Balint

The sheer power… I’ve seen them 4-5 times, one of the greatest live experience ever. This one is an audience recording, but full of energy: the band (as always) almost explodes.

If you go for better sound quality, you should check the videos on their unofficial site. Or: go and see them live!

Posted in Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Gauthier & Dufour

Posted on March 22, 2008 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Crawling out of the gigantic cesspool that is YouTube, sometimes a shiny gem comes to the surface. Here’s one:

Via Fronk D.

Posted in Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments