Zappa The Hard Way: A Chat With Mr. Greenaway

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

As you may have noticed, Andrew Greenaway (aka Idiotbastard) just had his book “Zappa The Hard Way” published. The book, which will have its official release at this year’s edition of Zappanale, tells the tale of FZ’s (in)famous ’88 tour, while attempting to shed some light on its unfortunate premature collapse. We’ve been talking about the book over email recently, and so I thought I’d share our conversation here…
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Posted in Alumni, Frank Zappa, In Writing, Music | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Mothers of Invention on Vinyl

Posted on July 6, 2010 by urbangraffito

An audio treat for those Zappa and Mothers of Invention freaks who have only heard this music via digital CDs, and a bit of nostalgia for freaks like myself, who first got turned onto the incredibly warm analogue sound of the MOI that you will never get with remastered CDs. Take a listen to the following examples – “Nine Types of Industrial Pollution” and “The Dog Breath Variations” from 1969’s ‘Uncle Meat’, and “Who Are the Brain Police (1966 MONO)” from ‘Freak Out’ – and be your own judge:
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Posted in Frank Zappa, Miscellany, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Bongo Fury – Shock Theatre, 1978

Posted on July 3, 2010 by urbangraffito

In the three short years since Zappa’s 1975 release of his mostly live album with Captain Beefheart and the Mothers at Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas on May 20th through 21st, 1975, it’s affect upon popular culture is astounding…

…Beware, Bongo Fury! Mwwwahhhhhahahaha!

Posted in Bizarre, Heh Heh, Insane, Miscellany, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

The Idiot Bastard Tweet

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Idiot Book Tweet

Click You Here!

Posted in Community, Frank Zappa, In Writing | 3 Comments

At The Roundhouse

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Zappa At The Roundhouse

Of interest to those who live in the London area, Zappa at the Roundhouse:

…a three day festival from 5–7 November that will celebrate the life and music of this legendary American artist. The programme includes performances from his son Dweezil Zappa, screenings of previously unseen film footage, world premieres of unheard Zappa material, Q&A sessions with members of the Zappa family and music masterclasses with various members of Zappa’s backing bands.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music | Tagged | 25 Comments

Richard Burke Photography – Frank Zappa

Posted on July 1, 2010 by urbangraffito

In the 1970s, Richard Burke had a small photography studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Recently, Burke rediscovered old negatives and has been scanning them. Most of them have never been seen. Images of Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty, Sal Marquez and others (of course, we can forgive Burke for getting the dates and years wrong [it’s May 6th, 1973, at the Syria Mosque, Richard, not 1974] – he doesn’t have KUR’s database to fall back on).
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Posted in Frank Zappa, Miscellany, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Chanan Hanspal Plays Zappa

Posted on July 1, 2010 by urbangraffito

Waiting in my inbox today was a missive from an impressive and interesting chap, to say the very least: one Chanan Hanspal, a composer/guitarist of Welsh Indian extraction from Wales. Who is Chanan Hanspal? Click on his name and discover more about how he dove into the London jazz funk world – played, recorded, and toured with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell, and Pharoah Sanders to name just a few.
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Vai Contest, Return Of

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

The jury has done its business, the winners have been notified, and will be receiving their copy of “Western Vacation” shortly! Those of you who didn’t enter: buy the album via these handy links: iTunes | Amazon.

And now for the correct answers…
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Posted in Community, Miscellany, Music | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Rondo Hatton Report #3

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

A new issue of The Rondo Hatton Report is out, featuring the following contributions:

  • The Origins Of IINK / Román García Albertos
  • Cruisin’ For A Ruben / Sue Barashy
  • Zappa’s Music Is A Time Machine / Guillaume Dauzou & Sabrina Bergamin
  • Nostalgia For The Old Folks? / Tom Demonay
  • I’m A Bandleader / Richard Hemmings
  • Ten (Zen) Commendments / Simon Prentis
  • Pourquoi Vouloir Mettre Un Caniche Dans Un Bocal? / John Raby
  • A View From India / Mahesh Ramchandani
  • There Is Such A Thing As Progress / Hugo Vanneck
  • One More Time For The World / English Versions

The free download is available here for your reading pleasure.

Posted in Community, Frank Zappa, In Writing, Miscellany | Tagged | 36 Comments

Steve Vai’s Western Vacation: Free Copies To Win!

Posted on June 19, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Steve Vai‘s record label has a new album coming out next Tuesday June 22nd (more info here):

Steve Vai - Western Vacation

To celebrate the release, the Favored Nations label has generously offered KUR five free copies to distribute among you! Obviously, merely handing them out to the first five who comment on this post is a tad bit boring, so we decided on a little contest…

Update: the contest is now closed! Thanks to all who played along. Some patience please as the jury sorts through the entries…

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Posted in Alumni, Community, In The News, Music | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments