Tag: CDs

Frank Zappa – The Pier, NYC – August 26th, 1984

It always strikes me as unusual when Frank Zappa actually states that a concert is going to be a very long one – like the The Palladium show on October 31st, 1978:
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Zappanale (Then & Now) — Sheik Yerbouti



Sheik Yerbouti is a band from Kirchberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. They have been performing and recording their unique interpretations of Frank Zappa‘s music since 1992.

Sheik Yerbouti includes Dr. Jörg Heuser (guitar, vocals), Thomas Rath (drums, vocals), Harry Sebel (lead vocals, keyboards), Andy Mertens (bass guitar, vocals), Thomas Jung (keyboards, vocals), and George Rademacher (guitar, vocals), as well as guest appearances by such ex-Zappa alumni as Mike Keneally (guitar), Ed Mann (vibes, percussian) and Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals, sax, flute).

Their recordings include: Insanity Sauce CD (1996), Confetti Music CD (2001), Ouch Patrol (CD + DVD) feat. Napoleon Murphy Brock (2004), Unverschämtheit (Insolence) Vol. 1 (2004). Click on the individual CDs for sample mp3 excerpts.

In 2009, Unverschämtheit (Insolence) Vol. 2, is due for release. A particular focus of the album are songs with the woodwind phrase “Horny Hornz”. Estimated track of the album include: Heavy Duty Judy, Brown Shoes Do Not Make It, The Grand Wazoo, Tinseltown Rebellion, The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing, and Strictly Genteel. Recorded over the last 3 years at various concerts, including the band’s 15-year anniversary at Café Hahn, Koblenz.

On Tuesday, the 11th of August, 2009, in the St.Katharinen Kirche in Hamburg, Sheik Yerbouti will team up with Napoleon Murphy Brock for a “live and unplugged“ session that will kick off Zappanale #20. They will play the festival, itself, on Saturday, the 16th of August.

In the three clips above, Sheik Yerbouti with Napoleon Murphy Brock at the German club Objekt5, in Halle (Saale) on October 14th, 2008, perform “Village Of The Sun”, “Black Page #2”, and “St. Etienne”.

Sheik Yerbouti performed at Zappanale 4,5,8,10, and 14.

Low Rock from A.K.A.C.O.D. & Bourbon Princess

Now for something completely different. A recent order from CD Baby finally arrived in my mailbox before my move into my new downtown apartment (yes, folks, I’m moving on up) at the end of July. First among these CDs was Happiness by A.K.A.C.O.D. (Also Known As Colley, Ortiz, and Dersch):

Former Morphine saxophonist Dana Colley collaborates with Bourbon Princess’ front woman / bassist Monique Ortiz and Larry Dersch of Binary System creating a darkly psychedelic sound which is sensual, cinematic and otherworldly.

Tracklist:

1 Happiness
2 Spanish Fly
3 Bad Weather
4 Cheer You On
5 Fifteen Minutes
6 Minor Key
7 Sun Burns Out
8 Three Chairs
9 DMY
10 Caught Staring
11 Hypnotized
12 Yellowest Leaves

The second CD is Black Feather Wings by Bourbon Princess. Music well-suited for film noir — drony, subtly melodic, with hints of jazz and blues. Potent lyrics. Creepy, smoky, lush. Monique Ortiz’s dark velvety voice is unique.

Tracklist:

1 Stretcher
2 Another Day
3 I’ll Take A Cab
4 The Spider Sings
5 Early Train
6 Sunset
7 The Dream
8 Black Feather Wings
9 Jerkoff
10 Sleep Deep
11 One Of These Days
12 Late Train

The last CD is also a Bourbon Princess release, Dark of Days. It draws from late 70’s and early 80’s post-punk and new wave, with a sophisticated and heady, soulful bite, and has drawn comparisons to Roxy Music, Patti Smith, Jim Morrison and Nina Simone.

Tracklist:

1 Still Asleep
2 The Waiting Noon
3 Blue Kitchen
4 The Hat
5 Dark Of Days
6 Cliché
7 Supergirl’s Complaint
8 In Between Songs
9 Master Manipulator
10 Minor Key
11 So Much Time

Like a lot of “low rock”, you either love it, or hate it. I suggest you click on the CD Baby links and give some of these tracks a listen. Frankly, I was blown away.

Live Albums — Dead or Alive?

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?