Frank Zappa — Cynic, Satirist, Social Anthropologist

Posted on February 18, 2010 by urbangraffito

Frank Zappa had been referred to as a lot of things throughout his thirty year career – some complimentary (genius, iconoclast, family man) and some not so complimentary (misogynist, anti-semite, misanthropist) – yet all one need do is listen to some of the myriad of interviews Zappa gave during his life (beginning with an excerpt from the Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 1 Interview, above) and evidence becomes overwhelmingly clear: besides being a musician and composer, Zappa was a life-long cynic, satirist, and a social anthropologist:
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Posted in Bizarre, Frank Zappa, Interview, Miscellany, Music, Personal, Politics, Pop Cult, Religion, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Zappa, Frank – 200 Motels DVD

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

As mentioned in the comments by LA Guru, heeeere’s Zappa’s 200 Motels:

Released on DVD for the first time, by original director Tony Palmer, is this flawed masterpiece of circa 1970 Frank Zappa craziness. Obviously shot in a very short time on a very low budget, some of this drags, but some of it is really funny and/or spot-on; I still see the ‘re-education camp for musicians’ sequence in my dreams

Previously.

Posted in Frank Zappa, Movies, Music | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Botswana Ronnie Whips It Out

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

This is just plain fantastic — behold:

More at Bokete7’s YouTube channel. (Via Yo Contra El Mundo)

Posted in Music, YouTubery | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Dweezilla!

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Looks like Dweezil is branching out into new territory. From the inbox:

Get ready to expand your harmonic horizons and ignite your musical creativity this summer at DWEEZILLA! DWEEZILLA is a unique five-day experience where musicians will be surrounded by Dweezil Zappa and members of his core band for a musical bootcamp. From June 21-24 in the Catskill Forest Preserve in upstate New York, DWEEZILLA offers aspiring musicians a wide range of master classes at all skill levels in addition to one-on-one sessions with Dweezil himself.

DWEEZILLA

Quoth The Dweez: “I decided to create a diverse music boot camp for people of all skill levels hoping to increase their musical prowess. It would make me very happy if I could help a fellow musician take their skills to the next level.”

Pricing? Here’s the cheapest admission as stated in the Dweezilla press kit: $485 — Day Use (No Accommodations/Camping): Includes all daily activities and workshops from breakfast to the evening activities.

More Dweezila info here.

Ahem… is this the beginning of the end of ZPZ?

Posted in In The News, Music, Zappa Plays Zappa | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Zappa Timeline

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Barry's Imaginary Publisher

Ward Shelly paints timelines. The history of avant garde, Andy Warhol, …and Frank Zappa:

FZ timeline

Big version here — even bigger version cached here at KUR.

(via Kottke)

Posted in Frank Zappa, Miscellany, Visual Arts | 2 Comments

The Muffin Men @ Fairport & Elsewhere

Posted on February 12, 2010 by urbangraffito

In 2008, The Muffin Men – a British band, based in Liverpool, England which primarily plays the music of Frank Zappa – performed at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, performing such Zappa classics as “Zoot Allures”, “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” and “Black Napkins” (above) as well as “Road Ladies“, “San Ber’dino“, and “My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama“.
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Posted in Alumni, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Interview, Miscellany, Music, Personal, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Muffin Men @ Fairport & Elsewhere

The Magic Band – Peel Sessions, July 2004

Posted on February 6, 2010 by urbangraffito

Besides being an avid collector of Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention bootlegs and field recordings – as well as a collector of Captain Beefheart‘s various and sundry recordings (and a collector of all the related recordings of the various alumni who, at times, played in both groups) – I’m also an avid collector of live radio broadcasts. I’ve always found something intrinsically interesting about an artist’s and group’s live radio performances (as though they put on that little extra show for the benefit of the radio listener).
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Posted in Alumni, Captain Beefheart, Miscellany, Music | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ian Tanner Strikes Back

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Balint

…this time with Punky’s Whips. Excellent, as usual:

Posted in Frank Zappa, Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

The Mothers on WESU-FM’s Psychedelicatessen

Posted on February 3, 2010 by urbangraffito

Once a year, on and around Father’s Day, Wesleyan University radio station WESU 88.1 FM in Middletown, Connecticut puts on an Annual Father’s Day Zappa Marathon – Father’s Day with the Mothers – hosted by Psychedelicatessen’s Psychedelic Rick. Usually broadcast on each Sunday evening between 9pm-1030pm, Psychedelicatessen is described as “A mind trip through the musical vaults of NYC, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Rio and beyond. FM Radio the way it used to be.”
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Posted in Frank Zappa, Interview, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Die Beistelltische – Are You Hardcore, Enough?

Posted on February 1, 2010 by urbangraffito

Die Beistelltische is a German sextet (from Göttingen) that performs Frank Zappa’s music a cappella. In 2007, they contributed a special edit of their a capella version of ‘The Idiot Bastard Son’ to “20 Extraordinary Renditions”, that was released on Cordelia Records. Check out their hilariously funny and offbeat a capella version of ‘Billy the Mountain’ which bounces back and forth between German and English. Are you hardcore, enough?
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Posted in Bizarre, Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, Music, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment