Board 8 > The Frank Zappa Appreciation Topic! Part 10.2

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Page List: 1, 2, 3, 4
Mr Lasastryke
12/19/18 6:58:04 PM
#1:


After I accidentally let the last topic purge ages ago, I'm finally bringing this back!

Not sure if I'm still going to do the Song of the Day thing (hence why I took that part out of the topic title) but I'd at least like to have a place to talk about some Zappa-related stuff.

General Info

Zappa Wiki Jawaka: http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Main_Page

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa

Song of the Day

http://zappasotd.tumblr.com/

YouTube

The official Frank Zappa YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/zappa

Information Is Not Knowledge

My Frank Zappa board on this site: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/1135-information-is-not-knowledge
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Mr Lasastryke
12/20/18 10:04:25 PM
#2:


bump
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-Abomstar
12/20/18 10:15:51 PM
#3:


Yo, Lasa. Noticed you had mentioned Civilization Phaze III (iirc) recently and am stoked to see this topic. Ive been a Zappa fan longer than Ive been playing video games, even, ever since my dad introduced me to songs like, Hungry Freaks, Daddy, Elvis Has Just Left the Building, and Lets Make the Water Turn Black. In my teens when I began listening to music more intentionally, one of the first albums I chose to focus on, somewhat spontaneously, was The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, and have been inching toward discog completism ever since. Among my enduring favorites are Absolutely Free, The Man from Utopia (big fan of The Dangerous Kitchen and anything written in that style), and Jazz from Hell (all the Synclavier output is priceless).

What I admire most about listening to Zappa today is that it puts into perspective how much of recorded music is so reliant on putting its cathartic or emotionally-resonant aspects at the forefront, and how that can be limiting. A lot of other experimental rock, while often full of exotic sounds and hysterical intensity, is usually more deliberate in choreographing its dramatic intent than most of what Zappa was doing; broad sonic palettes, unusual juxtaposition of elements, often extraordinarily difficult to parse conceptually. For that reason, Zappa ends up not being music I want to put on at a moment's notice a lot of the time these days, but as a dabbling musician I definitely try to remember those lessons of sonic and creative depth of field. Going to read your song writeups soon and hopefully will learn a lot.
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Mr Lasastryke
12/21/18 9:37:25 AM
#4:


Hey, nice to see you here, Aborn! I actually mentioned you a long time ago in one of these topics. I remembered when you did your top 100 albums project, your highest ranked Zappa album was Absolutely Free, which is kind of an unusual choice for best Zappa album (not a bad choice, mind you; it is a fantastic album).

You're right about Civilization Phaze III, I did bring that one up on Raetsel_Lapin's music topic not too long ago.

As for writeups, the Tumblr actually doesn't have any writeups. I used to do the writeups with SmartMuffin in these topics and obviously the old topics have all purged (I have 90% of the writeups saved on my PC and my external hard drive, though). GMUN's site has a few of the old topics saved, however. You can check out the previous topic here, for instance:

https:/l ogfaqs.com/topic.php?id=75986584&db=0 - remove the space

Also, you can check out writeups for Zappa songs I've done in order of release on Information Is Not Knowledge, my Frank Zappa board I linked to in the opening post. I was planning on doing the entire catalog but I didn't make it further than "Pygmy Twylyte" from Roxy & Elsewhere. I do still plan on finishing that project eventually, though. Unlike the Song of the Day writeups, these writeups were meant to be purely informative, so I didn't insert my own opinions into them. They were less "OMG this guitar solo is awesome!" and more "this guitar solo is over two chords."

I will say that if you want to learn stuff about music theory, the SotD and IINK writeups don't have much to offer, though. I did get a bit more into the technical stuff in IINK than I usually did in SotD, but I'm far from a music expert. While it's not Zappa-related, if you want to read writeups that teach you stuff about music theory (particularly time signatures), I recommend MycroProcessor's Odd Time VGM of the Day Tumblr. Great, highly informative writeups. Here's the link: http://vgm-in-irregular-time-of-the-day.tumblr.com/

Also, for a long time, I've been toying with the idea of creating a website where I list the entire Zappa catalog and post all the SotD writeups Muffin and I have done over the years, as well as YouTube links to all the songs (if they are available). It would be a MASSIVE undertaking (Muffn and I started doing this in 2013) ^_^; I think it would be really cool, though. It would also be helpful in determining which songs Muffin and I have discussed and which ones we've never touched on - it's become bit difficult to see the forest through the trees after all these years and so many writeups. Unfortunately, when I tried to create an HTML website years ago, it didn't work - there was a problem with my proxy server or something. Well, we'll see if I end up doing something with this idea.
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Mr Lasastryke
12/22/18 9:07:35 PM
#5:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
12/24/18 11:27:16 PM
#6:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
12/26/18 9:11:19 PM
#7:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
12/29/18 12:32:48 AM
#8:


and up
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Mr Lasastryke
12/30/18 6:39:33 PM
#9:


Friendly reminder that if you go to the official Zappa YouTube channel (linked to in the opening post) and click on "playlists," you can - totally legally - listen to a number of Zappa albums. For some reason, these videos used to be blocked for me (possibly because of some European copyright stuff) but now they're not anymore. Yay! At the moment, the following albums are available over there (listed in chronological order):

Freak Out!
Absolutely Free
We're Only in It for the Money
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets
Hot Rats
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Chunga's Revenge
The Grand Wazoo
Over-Nite Sensation
Apostrophe (')
One Size Fits All
Bongo Fury
Zoot Allures
Studio Tan
Sleep Dirt
Sheik Yerbouti
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
The Man from Utopia
Them or Us
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention
Jazz from Hell
The Yellow Shark
Everything Is Healing Nicely
Road Tapes, Venue 1
Dance Me This
Chicago '78
Halloween 77: The Palladium, NYC
(the costume box set edition)
The Roxy Performances
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SmartMuffin
12/30/18 6:58:47 PM
#10:


I looked for this a couple weeks ago because I had something Zappa-related to say.

But now I don't remember what it was.
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Mr Lasastryke
12/30/18 7:19:09 PM
#11:


aww
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Mr Lasastryke
01/01/19 9:00:13 PM
#12:


bump
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-Abomstar
01/04/19 2:00:53 AM
#13:


Currently waiting on a copy of Charles Ulrich's The Big Note, said to be the definitive Zappa reference guide.
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Mr Lasastryke
01/05/19 11:05:12 PM
#14:


Nice! Charles Ulrich has a fantastic Zappa site. Didn't know he had written a book!

http://www.fzpomd.net
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Mr Lasastryke
01/07/19 10:52:52 PM
#15:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sn8H42FZcI" data-time="


kinda young, kinda wow!
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Mr Lasastryke
01/09/19 10:03:25 PM
#16:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
01/11/19 11:41:54 PM
#17:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
01/13/19 11:03:20 PM
#18:


and up
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Mr Lasastryke
01/15/19 8:45:27 PM
#19:


and bump
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Mr Lasastryke
01/17/19 10:00:44 PM
#20:


hmm
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Mr Lasastryke
01/20/19 6:24:10 AM
#21:


let's bump this
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Mr Lasastryke
01/21/19 10:20:08 PM
#22:


yes
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Mr Lasastryke
01/24/19 5:09:03 AM
#23:


up
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Mr Lasastryke
01/25/19 10:55:46 AM
#24:


Zappa News: Two new albums announced: Zappa in New York - 5CD Deluxe Edition and Zappa in New York - 3LP 40th Anniversary Edition. Release date for both of these: 3/29.

Here's the news article from zappa.com about it:

Frank Zappas Beloved Live Double Album 'Zappa In New York' Celebrated With Suite Of 40th Anniversary Releases

ORIGINAL MASTER MIX, NEWLY REMASTERED AND AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE ITS DEBUT

5-DISC COLLECTION FEATURES OVER THREE HOURS OF UNRELEASED PERFORMANCES FROM THE LEGENDARY 1976 FOUR-NIGHT STAND PLUS EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL FROM ZAPPAS VAULT

AVAILABLE ON MARCH 29 VIA ZAPPA RECORDS/UMe

PRE-ORDER LAUNCHES TODAY; DIGITAL PRE-ORDER INCLUDES INSTANT GRAT DOWNLOAD OF UNRELEASED RARITY THE PURPLE LAGOON/ANY KIND OF PAIN

Los Angeles January 24, 2019 In 1976, Frank Zappa played four historic sold-out concerts at The Palladium in New York City the week between Christmas and New Years. These thrilling shows described by band member Ruth Underwood as theatrical, outrageous and raucously funny, but also filled with startling and gorgeous music, dating from Franks 1960s output to literally the moment the curtain went up served as the source material for the live double album Zappa In New York which was constructed from the best-played performances with overdubs later recorded in the studio. Originally slated for release in 1977, the album was delayed for a year due to record label censorship issues, mostly over the controversial song Punkys Whips, and finally released in 1978. One of Zappas most beloved collections of songs, the now classic album included a sensational live version of Sofa alongside nine new compositions, including the complex percussion-based piece The Black Page, which has become infamous in the drum community as the ultimate challenge, the Devilish comedic sendup Titties & Beer, and the notorious aforementioned Punkys Whips about Punky Meadows, the flamboyant guitarist for the band Angel.

In celebration of its eventual release in 1978, Zappa In New York will be released on March 29 via Zappa Records/UMe as a suite of expanded anniversary editions to commemorate the albums recent 40th anniversary. Overseen by the Zappa Family Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the expanded versions will be available as a 5CD box set, 3LP on 180-gram audiophile grade vinyl and digitally. The 5-disc collection, which will be housed in a limited-edition metal tin shaped like a NYC street manhole cover and includes a replica ticket from one of the shows, consists of the main album in its original mix, newly remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2018 and available for the first time since its debut. The four additional discs are loaded with relevant Vault nuggets and more than three hours of unreleased live performances from the NYC Palladium concerts, representing every composition played during the concerts and the best alternate performances of every tune Zappa picked for the original album, all newly mixed in 2018. To achieve the highest-level sound quality, the audio team went back to the original two-inch 24-track multi-track master tapes and transferred every reel at 96kHz 24-bit wavs.


(Continued)
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Mr Lasastryke
01/25/19 8:12:43 PM
#25:


The Zappa In New York 40th anniversary editions are available for pre-order now and all digital pre-orders will receive an instant grat download of the unreleased rarity The Purple Lagoon/Any Kind of Pain. Recorded on the first night of the four-night stand, the track features Zappa performing the chorus of the song Any Kind of Pain in the middle of The Purple Lagoon. What makes this so significant is that nobody knew this existed or that Zappa had the idea for this song more than a decade before it was released in 1988 on the live album Broadway The Hard Way until the Zappa Family Trust archived the tapes and made the fascinating discovery. More proof that Zappa was creating at an unmatched pace and always thinking years ahead. Pre-order Zappa In New York 40th anniversary edition now: https://ume.lnk.to/ZappaInNewYork40

We are excited to bring you this new Deluxe version of Zappa in New York: an opportunity to re-examine and celebrate the source material of a great album while exploring the events of Franks life in late December 1976, Collections like these really show of the work ethic of a musical genius, exclaims the Zappa Family Trust in the album notes.

Zappa in New York includes expanded packaging which features previously unseen live photos by Gail Zappa alongside extensive liner notes by band members Ruth Underwood and Ray White (who were part of Zappas band for these shows) as well as an insightful essay by Joe Travers with Australian writer Jen Jewel Brown. Underwood also contributes a solo piano version of The Black Page that has been newly recorded for this special edition. The Black Page has proven to be one of Frank Zappas most intriguing and enduring compositions. It is performed in many kinds of venues all over the world. It is taught and studied in schools. Perhaps most exciting is that it is adaptable and lends itself to a variety of orchestrations and re-workings, as FZ himself demonstrated. I am proud that after forty years, mine is finally among them. It is my love letter to Frank and Gail, Underwood writes in the liners.

The 3LP set, pressed at Pallas in Germany, features all-analog mastering of the original album mix, unavailable since first issued. Plus, an additional LP of select bonus content from The Vault. The digital release marks the debut of the original mix.


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Mr Lasastryke
01/25/19 8:27:36 PM
#26:


Zappa In New York capped off a terrific year for the ever-prolific and always-moving musician which included shows around the globe including his second Australian tour and one and only Japanese jaunt, the release of his album Zoot Allures and Grand Funk Railroads record Good Singin Good Playin, which he produced, a string of Halloween shows and a performance on Saturday Night Live which ended up having a profound impact on the Palladium shows. Following an on-air collaboration with SNLs announcer Don Pardo and the shows house band, Zappa invited them to be a part of the shows after three of the horn players so loved playing with Zappa that they asked if they could be involved. As Travers and Brown write in the illuminating liner notes: Out of nowhere, the concept of adapting horns to the scheduled concerts became a reality. Frank was immediately swept up in the pleasure and challenge of writing and arranging parts for the existing material.The collection showcases some of Zappas most masterful guitar playing and electrifying arrangements as he leads an exceptional band featuring Ray White on vocals and guitar, Terry Bozzio on drums and vocals, Eddie Jobson on keyboard, Ruth Underwood on percussion and synthesizer, Patrick OHearn on bass and vocals and David Samuels on timpani and vibes. Don Pardo provided sophisticated narration and the brass section, featuring jazz duo the Brecker Brothers with Randy Brecker on trumpet and Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, was rounded out by the SNL players: Lou Marini on alto sax, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax and Tom Malone on trombone.


I don't have much to add to this but I will say that the Zappa in New York band is actually my favorite Zappa lineup of all time (why did they only play 4 shows?! We needed a whole tour with these guys!). So yeah, the fact that we're finally getting all of the full concerts they played - plus a bunch bonus content - is awesome news to me. Pretty high chance I will be buying the 5CD box set version of this.

I take issue, however, with the notion that "nobody knew" "Any Kind of Pain" existed way before the 1988 tour. We diehard Zappa fans have known this for ages! Speak for yourself, news article writer person!!
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SmartMuffin
01/25/19 9:01:14 PM
#27:


How many of these cuts will feature Don Pardo?
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Mr Lasastryke
01/25/19 9:05:46 PM
#28:


Don't know, but he was there for all four of the shows.
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Mr Lasastryke
01/27/19 10:13:42 PM
#29:


Aww yeah Hot Rats GET. No, I actually didn't own this classic on CD before. Got it yesterday as a belated birthday present.

Unfortunately, it's the '12 Universal version, which is the same as the original vinyl version with the inferior, shorter edit of "The Gumbo Variations." I'd like to get the Rykodisc version sometime, though it might be a bit hard to find at this point...
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Mr Lasastryke
01/29/19 9:41:11 PM
#30:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
02/01/19 12:32:18 AM
#31:


up
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Mr Lasastryke
02/02/19 4:50:14 PM
#32:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
02/03/19 11:37:21 PM
#33:


up
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Mr Lasastryke
02/05/19 9:04:59 PM
#34:


bump
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Mr Lasastryke
02/07/19 10:27:44 PM
#35:


up
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TheCodeisBosco
02/09/19 1:14:29 AM
#36:


I just set up my U-Turn Orbit turntable, after eyeing it for months. You bet your ass "Hot Rats" and "Sheik Yerbouti" were among the first records to get played.

Few things in life are funnier than singing along to "Willie the Pimp".
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Mr Lasastryke
02/11/19 10:31:13 PM
#37:


Nice!

My vote for funniest Zappa song is still "Stink-Foot" (though it used to be "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama").

Also, the Bizarre World of Frank Zappa tour, featuring Ray White, Mike Keneally, Robert Martin and Scott Thunes, is coming to Amsterdam on 5/17. I'd like to go (White and Keneally are two of my favorite Zappa band members) but tickets are kindey pricey (about 60).
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Mr Lasastryke
02/13/19 8:47:20 PM
#38:


up
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SmartMuffin
02/14/19 8:03:12 PM
#39:


feedme feedme feedme feedme feedme feedme feedme feedme LOAF
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Mr Lasastryke
02/14/19 8:07:35 PM
#40:


...now!
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TheCodeisBosco
02/15/19 5:56:40 PM
#41:


Stink-Foot is wonderful. Another dark horse contender for funniest Zappa song is "Jelly Roll Gum Drop." It's so over-the-top that it gets me every time. I also love singing it to my girlfriend, to her chagrin.

I have an LP copy of "Cruising with Ruben and the Jets" arriving in the mail any day now. Can't wait to own this one!
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Mr Lasastryke
02/15/19 9:16:02 PM
#42:


Nice.

"Jelly Roll Gum Drop" doesn't make me laugh so much but it's one of my favorites on CWR&TJ. One of those highly underrated Zappa gems.
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Underleveled
02/15/19 9:19:38 PM
#43:


In college I was a campus radio DJ and I once got a request for a Zappa Plays Zappa song. I think it was Peaches En Regalia but this was at least 5 years ago, I can't remember for sure. I simply looked up song titles and that sounded familiar.
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Mr Lasastryke
02/21/19 10:32:35 PM
#44:


Zappa Plays Zappa did a great job at "Peaches en Regalia."
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SmartMuffin
03/01/19 10:48:00 PM
#45:


FYI - The hologram Zappa tour is coming to Amsterdam (but in the US seems to only be playing in a small handful of northeastern cities... nowhere near me)
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Mr Lasastryke
03/02/19 9:01:50 AM
#46:


Mr Lasastryke posted...
Also, the Bizarre World of Frank Zappa tour, featuring Ray White, Mike Keneally, Robert Martin and Scott Thunes, is coming to Amsterdam on 5/17. I'd like to go (White and Keneally are two of my favorite Zappa band members) but tickets are kindey pricey (about 60).


I was talking about the hologram tour here. Still not sure if I'm going...
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TheCodeisBosco
03/08/19 12:26:55 AM
#47:


My curiosity is finally getting the best of me. At some point this weekend, I'm going to listen to "Thing-Fish" front-to-back for the first time. Should be a good time lmao.

If nothing else, I already know "Brown Moses" is fucking outstanding.
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Mr Lasastryke
03/08/19 10:21:33 AM
#48:


I would never discourage anyone to listen to Zappa but Thing-Fish is one of my least favorite Zappa albums >_> It also works way better if you're familiar with at least half of the Zappa catalog, as it contains a lot of inside jokes and deep cut references.

That being said, "Brown Moses" is amazing, yeah. "The 'Torchum' Never Stops" is really good, too. I also have a soft spot for "You Are What You Is," as it's one of the first Zappa tracks I ever heard (my dad owned the Cheap Thrills compilation). Nowadays, I'd rather listen to the original version of that song, though.
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SmartMuffin
03/08/19 7:52:31 PM
#49:


Cheap Thrills is such an amazingly effective compilation for what it is.
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Mr Lasastryke
03/08/19 8:05:58 PM
#50:


Yeah, it actually worked really well as my first Zappa album. Totally succeeds at containing a bunch of quality tunes and a nice (though obviously incomplete) overview of the many facets of Zappa music.

It's funny because the first proper Zappa albums I heard were Hot Rats and Apostrophe (')... and I didn't care much for Apostrophe (') and thought Cheap Thrills was way better >_> Immediately loved the fuck out of Hot Rats, though.
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