Author Topic: The Zappa Thread (Read 81540 times)

Podaar · « **Reply #630 on:** December 19, 2014, 06:21:01 AM »

Oops, I guess I should have prefaced my comment with a spoiler alert.

Sorry Nihil-Morari!

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #631 on:** December 19, 2014, 08:45:27 AM »

Haha, no problem! I guess you can see it coming. It starts off as a love story more or less, but since her name isn't Gail, you can see trouble.

Oh by the way, last month I ordered something off of Zappa's official website. Apart from the fact that it apparently takes ages, the shipping rate is really high. So I thought I'd order a whole lot at once, y'know, to balance out the shipping costs. I ordered:
Joe's Corsage
Carnegie Hall (can't wait to have that one!)
Imaginary Diseases
Buffalo
One Shot Deal

But since it's taking this long, I couldn't contain myself this afternoon at a second hand store and bought:
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore 5
YCDTOSA 6
Trance-Fusion
and some sort of weird bootleg, great quality, I believe I don't know the recordings, so that's awesome 'Live in USA' (recorded in 63, 67 and 68)

Orbert · « **Reply #632 on:** December 19, 2014, 09:56:02 AM »

Quote from: Nihil-Morari on December 19, 2014, 08:45:27 AM

'Live in USA' (recorded in 63, 67 and 68)

What?! That would predate The Mothers. Frank always said he recorded everything and kept everything; are these recordings of his high school garage band or something?

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #633 on:** December 19, 2014, 10:25:25 AM »

Nothing new, a track he performed on his high school (I believe), it's on The Lost Episodes, or Mystery Disc (Opus 5). The second track they date to 1963 is called 'We Are The Mothers, This Is What We Sound Like'. Which is bullshit of course. 1963 is pre-mothers, and it's impossible that Opus 5, and that track were performed at the same venue in the same year. I believe it was a piece of spoken word anyway. Will have to check back.

Anyway, as if the mailman heard me, moments after my last post the doorbell rang, and my 5 Zappa records albums are in!
Oh man, I've got 15 cd's to check out, and 2 weeks of holiday in front of me.

Orbert · « **Reply #634 on:** December 19, 2014, 02:25:48 PM »

Ha ha, good luck!

Sycsa · « **Reply #635 on:** December 21, 2014, 01:19:08 PM »

I asked this on the DT side, with no answer so far, so I concluded I'd have a better chance here:

Which Zappa song(s) inspired the solo section of Beyond this Life? Thanks!

Mosh · « **Reply #636 on:** December 21, 2014, 05:44:45 PM »

On the commentary for Metropolis Live, MP mentions the album Tinseltown Rebellion. I think specifically the song Easy Meat.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #637 on:** December 21, 2014, 06:32:35 PM »

I always thought it was more the overall sound. The poly-brass-like keyboard sound, with a bit of marimba in it, and the weird tuplets. Some sort of Black Page-very-light-version on a beat.

Orbert · « **Reply #638 on:** December 21, 2014, 09:04:18 PM »

Same here. I don't think it directly mimics any particular song, but overall it has a very Zappa sound.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #639 on:** February 08, 2015, 10:29:34 AM »

So last week I entered the last two additions to my Zappa collection in my excel sheet of all the records I've got, and I noticed that I've gone from 98 to 100 Zappa items in my collection. So today I spread out all my Zappa Cd's, Dvd's, Lp's, and vinyl singles, together with all the Zappa books and Zappa-covered magazines on a table and just stared at it for a couple of hours.
Man this man made a lot of music, and man I've got a lot of it. I counted that I still don't own 27 official releases (23 if you don't count the three Old Masters box sets, and the Itunes only release of Baby Snakes' audio), most of those are only available through his site, with extreme shipping costs to Europe. Well, maybe you'd like to see pictures, so here goes.
Please note the Zappa moustache on brushed aluminium that was made especially for me a year ago.

jammindude · « **Reply #640 on:** February 08, 2015, 10:49:14 AM »

Does this mean an album discussion thread is in the works? And yes...I understand that this would be a two year undertaking.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #641 on:** February 08, 2015, 11:22:24 AM »

Quote from: jammindude on February 08, 2015, 10:49:14 AM

Does this mean an album discussion thread is in the works? And yes...I understand that this would be a two year undertaking.

It's totally in the works. I'm trying to work ahead, I've written a preamble and the first two albums (sorta), so there's only 97 albums left.

In all seriousness, I'd love to do it, but I've gotta work ahead maybe 15 records so that I can keep up when I actually start posting.

bout to crash · « **Reply #642 on:** February 08, 2015, 11:37:53 AM »

That's awesome

My collection is growing but still just a small fraction of that.

Hey, do you have Civilization Phaze III? I just recently read about it so I ordered it but have not had time to listen yet.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #643 on:** February 08, 2015, 12:38:26 PM »

Quote from: bout to crash on February 08, 2015, 11:37:53 AM

That's awesome

My collection is growing but still just a small fraction of that.

Hey, do you have Civilization Phaze III? I just recently read about it so I ordered it but have not had time to listen yet.

I do! I wonder how yours looks, I know they still make it, but I don't know in what way or form.

Well, it's somewhat acquired taste. It's Zappa MAGNUM OPUS, as the critics tend to describe it. But the fact of the matter is that it's a synclavier album. And that's not for everyone. If you like albums like Jazz From Hell, or the newer Feeding The Monkies At Ma Mansion, then you're in for a treat. But if you don't it'll be a difficult one to get through.

The best part for me is the direct link to Lumpy Gravy, Zappa's first real solo album. It's made up of noises, and surreal conversations along with composed music. Where on Lumpy Gravy that music was done by an orchestra on CIII it's done by some sort of early sampler. I'd love to hear what you think of it. I think I'll give it a spin right now, it's been too long.

Orbert · « **Reply #644 on:** February 08, 2015, 12:53:44 PM »

That's really, really impressive. I'm rather proud of having over 40 albums, a few dozen of which are original vinyl, but your collection blows mine away.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #645 on:** February 08, 2015, 12:59:11 PM »

Well what can I say? It's a good time to be a Zappa fan. Most of the times when I buy a random album, by any artist, I'll add a Zappa album to my basket. Mostly they're just 8 or 9 euro's, there's just a couple items in my collection that we're over 20 euro's. Things like the two box sets, and the bootlegs, well and the things Gail put out. They're really expensive. I believe Carnegie Hall was 35 euro's (like 40 dollars) and the packaging isn't that nice.

bout to crash · « **Reply #646 on:** February 08, 2015, 04:36:53 PM »

Yeah, a lot of the stuff that's being put out now is so expensive, but one of the local stores here has an awesome collection and a lot of the used stuff is cheap and in fine condition. They also have a lot of vinyl, but many of those are very pricey.
As for Civilization Phaze III, I do not believe it's still in print. I got mine for $30 on Amazon and what's left on there now is more expensive (from $38 used up to $157 new!). I can take a pic if you want, though, and will definitely let you know what I think! Maybe I should listen to Lumpy Gravy again first, cause it's been a while.

Ultimetalhead · « **Reply #647 on:** February 08, 2015, 07:27:23 PM »

Hell, I've only got 43 albums (only digital, sadly), and it's still a daunting amount of music. I've started listening to them all while wasting my life on Candy Crush Saga. It at least makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. I just listened to Uncle Meat all the way through for the first time and it was quite good. I was always scared off by it being 2 hours but there's a lot of great stuff on it.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #648 on:** February 09, 2015, 01:36:58 AM »

Quote from: bout to crash on February 08, 2015, 04:36:53 PM

Yeah, a lot of the stuff that's being put out now is so expensive, but one of the local stores here has an awesome collection and a lot of the used stuff is cheap and in fine condition. They also have a lot of vinyl, but many of those are very pricey.
As for Civilization Phaze III, I do not believe it's still in print. I got mine for $30 on Amazon and what's left on there now is more expensive (from $38 used up to $157 new!). I can take a pic if you want, though, and will definitely let you know what I think! Maybe I should listen to Lumpy Gravy again first, cause it's been a while.

Yeah, especially vinyl is terribly expensive. Listening to Lumpy first could be a good idea, I'd love to hear what you think about Civilization!

Quote from: Ultimetalhead on February 08, 2015, 07:27:23 PM

Hell, I've only got 43 albums (only digital, sadly), and it's still a daunting amount of music. I've started listening to them all while wasting my life on Candy Crush Saga. It at least makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. I just listened to Uncle Meat all the way through for the first time and it was quite good. I was always scared off by it being 2 hours but there's a lot of great stuff on it.

I once did a 'Zappathon' too. With every album you get more respect for the amount of music that man has made. I must say that after that 9 or 10 months I felt like he's put out a lot of filler too, but it was an amazing project. As for Uncle Meat, I think it's a great album, I still love King Kong, even after the 150th version, and the first disc is a great collection of old Mothers music.

Orbert · « **Reply #649 on:** February 24, 2015, 09:51:24 AM »

This headline (from my Yahoo! News feed) is quite deceiving, but I had to read the article anyway.

How Frank Zappa ruined Jeb Bush's wedding pictures

Since I have a brain, I have very little respect for any of the Bushes, and the idea that Frank Zappa ruined one of their weddings amuses me. Sadly, that's not what happened at all. It was simply one Bush screwing things up for another Bush, and blaming Frank Zappa, who had literally nothing to do with it other than being the subject of some other pictures that the photographer took.

Nihil-Morari · « **Reply #650 on:** February 24, 2015, 10:17:56 AM »

Wow...

That's hardly ruining someones wedding, now is it?

bout to crash · « **Reply #651 on:** April 30, 2015, 02:41:22 PM »

Forgot to post this in here! Saw ZPZ at the local symphony hall last week, and what a fucking show! They even brought five players from the symphony on to play The Grand Wazoo and Peaches, which was amazing! We had seats in the dress circle right behind the symphony people so that was really cool to watch. Dweezil was conducting them and the audience in our cheering

The set was kickass. Some other highlights for me were Sinister Footwear (

), Montana, Cosmik Debris, Status Back Baby/Big Leg Emma (was not expecting that!), I'm So Cute, Dancin' Fool, pretty much everything else... and of course it was cool to hear One Size Fits All in its entirety (40th anniversary), even though it's not an album I'm incredibly familiar with.
Really fucking fun show.

Orbert · « **Reply #652 on:** April 30, 2015, 03:50:15 PM »

Sounds pretty awesome. One Size Fits All was the first Zappa/Mothers album I ever heard. Our local FM station used to have the "Midnight Album Hour" where they'd play an album in its entirety. It was new at the time, and as you might expect, I'd never heard anything like it. I specifically remember "Po-Jama People" and "Evelyn, A Modified Dog". It's still one of my faves today, and part of the reason I'm so messed up.

Who sang "I'm So Cute"? Terry's not back with them, is he?

Podaar · « **Reply #653 on:** April 30, 2015, 04:37:10 PM »

Ah, good ol' One Size Fits All! I clearly remember sitting around with my pals...*ahem*..partaking...and listening to "Evelyn" over and over until we could sing it word perfect. When my pal Scott got his own apartment, he got a puppy which he named "Arf". Several months later, when he had her spayed, he renamed her Evelyn...well, because she was now modified.

Orbert · « **Reply #654 on:** April 30, 2015, 04:49:52 PM »

Wow, let's see if I can do this from memory.

Evelyn, a modified dog, viewed the quivering fringe of a special doily draped across the piano with some surprise. In the darkened room, where the chairs dismayed, and the horrible curtains muffled the rain, she could hardly believe her eyes. A curtain breeze of garlic breath which sounded like a snore, somewhere near the Steinway, or even from within, had caused the doily fringe to waft and tremble in the gloom. Evelyn the dog, having undergone further modification, pondered the significance of short-person behavior in pedal-depressed panchromatic resonance and other highly ambient domains. "Arf!" she said.

That's gotta be pretty close.

Orbert · « **Reply #655 on:** April 30, 2015, 04:51:40 PM »

Also, I completely love the chords that George plays. I need to learn that song sometime.

Podaar · « **Reply #656 on:** April 30, 2015, 04:54:35 PM »

The only lyric I had different is.

"A curious breeze of garlic breath..."

I may be wrong.

Podaar · « **Reply #657 on:** April 30, 2015, 04:57:12 PM »

Speaking of the piano, I always had the image in my head that it was played on one of those plastic toy pianos. Do you know what it was played on, Orbert?

[edit] I just listened to the song and realize it's just a normal piano!

Man, I really needed to lay off the hooch back then. [\edit]

bout to crash · « **Reply #658 on:** April 30, 2015, 05:18:22 PM »

Orbert, if I remember correctly the keyboardist (Chris something) sang "I'm So Cute." That guy can get quite high!

Orbert · « **Reply #659 on:** April 30, 2015, 08:36:43 PM »

Quote from: Podaar on April 30, 2015, 04:54:35 PM

The only lyric I had different is.

"A curious breeze of garlic breath..."

I may be wrong.

No, you're correct. I knew the right word (really!) but wrote the wrong word. Still thinking about those horrible curtains.

Quote from: bout to crash on April 30, 2015, 05:18:22 PM

Orbert, if I remember correctly the keyboardist (Chris something) sang "I'm So Cute." That guy can get quite high!

Trying to find out who it was online. Failing. So thanks!

bout to crash · « **Reply #660 on:** April 30, 2015, 08:41:16 PM »

His name is Chris Norton, and you would think he was a girl if you only saw the back of his head while hearing him sing

Orbert · « **Reply #661 on:** April 30, 2015, 09:06:20 PM »

But... is he so cute?

bout to crash · « **Reply #662 on:** April 30, 2015, 10:48:09 PM »

Maybe just regular cute.

Orbert · « **Reply #663 on:** April 30, 2015, 11:00:09 PM »

Good enough.

Cyclopssss · « **Reply #664 on:** May 01, 2015, 12:27:28 AM »

That sounds like a kick-ass show, Jackie! There is another Zappa tribute band out there comprised of some ex-bandmembers. (I think Ike Willis is in there) called Banned From Utupia.

They're touring quite a bit as well.

News: The staff at DTF wish to remind you all that a firm grasp of the rules of Yahtzee can save your life and the lives of your loved ones. Be safe out there.

Author Topic: The Zappa Thread (Read 81540 times)