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

Tourette’s

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

Stanley Zappa writes, and does so admirably well.
On moving from Portland to LA (among other things):

Long after the radio had been turned off you could still hear construction dudes singing “yo soy back on el chain gang, “aaaaaaaaaa yiiii yiiii yiiiiiiiii !” and “los boys are back in town, back in town, “aaaaaaaaaa yiiii yiiii yiiiiiiiii !” as if they all had Tourette’s syndrome and Thin Lizzy and the Pretenders were their tics.

Believe it or not, that always started my day with a smile, even if that smile only lasted 10 to 15 minutes.

Barry’s latest pick: It Is Not Mean If It Is True.

Be sure to check out Stanley’s 2003 album Visions by the way:

Abridging customary delineations of foreground/background, or concerto grosso layout, the group has found means to telescope complex interactions into brief and concentrated spans.

Wowie Zowie…

Posted in In Writing, Music, Pop Cult | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Aphex Twin – Windowlicker

Posted on March 21, 2008 by urbangraffito

Aphex Twin (aka Richard David James) was born on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland and is an English electronic music artist. He has been described as “the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music.

While not to everyone’s taste, this particular video is both a hilarious and excellent example of Aphex Twin’s subversive and sardonic view of contemporary music culture (in plain English, rap videos).

Warning/Promise: the full uncut version of this video contains explicit language (lots of four letter words and words that people with a certain skin color are never suppose to use).

Posted in Music, Pop Cult, YouTubery | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments