OJAI Music Festival 2010

OJAI Music Festival artistic director Tom Morris and Doug McLennan of ArtsJournal.com discuss the programming for the 2010 Festival including works by Frank Zappa, Messiaen, Boulez, Stravinsky, and Indian Ragas presented over four days from Thursday, June 10th to Sunday, June 13th.

The World of Zappa symposium featuring speakers Gail Zappa and Ian Underwood are scheduled on Friday June 11th, between 11a.m. and 2:15pm. Concert by the Ensemble Modern in the Libbey Bowl at 8p.m. (June 11th).

For complete Festival details, click here.

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Immaculate Voodoo Butter Mix – Part III

In the prior two installments of the Immaculate Voodoo Butter Mix, tracks focused on the improvisational abilities of Frank Zappa and those of the individual members of his various bands (through solos). In part three, though, I’ve focused primarily on Frank Zappa‘s guitar work. Track for track, from 1976 to 1984, Zappa is ripping hot, giving the musically educated listener an ongoing guitar workshop. For the non-musician, slip those headphones-to-oblivion back on and prepare yourselves for some sustained guitar therapy as only Frank Zappa can deliver.

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

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Zappa in Yugoslavia

Great article from The Tenessean Showcase, 1975 about FZ’s visit to Zagreb and Ljubljana. The story of the 3 shows behind the Iron Curtain – via: FZ in Hungary.

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Not Just Another DIY Musician: Louis Cole

Louis Cole is one of those young musicians who “get” the potential of the internet as a medium for getting your music out there. In the past, he’s collaborated with such people as Jack Conte of Pomplamoose fame (previously). Here they are, performing Passenger Seat:

A couple of months ago, blissfully bypassing any record label involvement big or small, Cole released his first, self-titled solo album, which I happen to like a lot. The album is available on iTunes here.

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Zappa at Montreux Prog Nights, 2009

Since 2006, the goal of Montreux Prog Nights has been to to promote progressive music in Switzerland, especially in Montreux, by organizing three or four events each year in various venues. In 2009, the band FiDOplaysZAPPA performed a Zappa Night on January 23rd, while French band Lazuli also performed selected Zappa compositions on November 7th. Both performed at Ned’s Music Club.
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The Cognitive Bias Song

Note to self.

(via Michel)

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BluBlu a la Zappa

While surfing YouTube recently I came across this wonder piece of stop motion animation, entitled MUTO, from the walls of Buenos Aires by graffiti and animation artist BluBlu which someone has added Frank Zappa‘s “The Torture Never Stops” from Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, January 20th, 1976. Amazing hardly begins to describe it.

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An Interview With Lorraine Belcher

Andrew just published an interview he did with Lorraine Belcher, full of wonderful little nuggets such as this one:

He told me that his wife never made a sound during sex. This made him feel bad. One day, after he’d been on the road to a meeting in LA for awhile, he realised he’d forgotten something and turned around. When he got home he found his wife passed out on the bed with a potato carved like a dildo. He was originally very upset, since she’d apparently been so satisfied she had to take a nap! Then he asked her to tell him about the potato. She had apparently tried all the other vegetables and found the potato to be the most harmonious with the vaginal canal….pH balance, etc. It didn’t produce any kind of infection or discharge, and held up well. That’s why he wrote Call any Vegetable.

Check out the full interview here.

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Selected Idiot Bastard Sons

As a big fan of all Zappa and Zappa-related recordings, I’ve accumulated an immense number of live concerts, shows, and radio broadcasts via Zappateers and purchased elsewhere (far, far too many to name in this post). Among them, certain shows and recordings stand out as being exceptionally good.
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Project/Object In Europe

Zappa tribute band Project/Object will be touring Europe this May (check out the flyer). No Belgian venue though… André?

(Thx Thomas Böhme)

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