Words can only hint at the thoughtful, intricate qualities of this latest helping of Frank Zappa brilliance. This is music which rewards the serious listener. (read more)

Source: trouserpress.com

FRANK ZAPPA
b. 12/21/40, Baltimore, MD
With the exception of a few solos and the whole of Hot Rats, Zappa's guitar work has always been supportive of or supplemental to his composing, arranging, and bandleading. When he does take one of his lenghty guitar breaks, Zappa does so with a manic intensity that fortifies this repertoire of hard rock and jazz rock licks. When his guitars plays a supportive role (Absolutely Free, the original Ruben and the Jets – great '50s axework, the Fillmore East album), it does so with a combination of serious technical obedience to the piece and off-the-octave cynical hippie humor. And God knows, we could use more of that, no?
• The Blackouts/Soots/Mothers of Invention/Mothers/Solo/variations thereof
• Sessions: Grand Funk, Flint, John & Yoko
• Best work: Hot Rats LP, Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin, My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama, King Kong
• Gibson SG, Les Paul, Hagstrom, Stratocaster

Source: trouserpress.com

Beefheart then, now and in-between.

Source: trouserpress.com

Frank Zappa has always had problems with musicians. As the present-day composer who refuses not only to die but to give any quarter whatsoever, the 38-year-old Zappa is constantly suffering criticisms and complaints from the people he employs, many of whom openly describe him as an authoritarian monster, dictator, asshole, and all of the other derogatory things one might call a guy who wants something done his way, right, and right now. And Zappa – who's gone through more Mothers, ex-Mothers, Zappaites, and sessioners than Kim Simmonds can count – insists it's not just the young punks he employs now. The elderly Mothers are just as liable. Take the band that recorded Ruben and the Jets, the greasy '50s celebration of so-called "cretin simplicity."

"It was fuckin' murder to make that record," relates Zappa with a coldness suggesting he's still a bit pissed off. "There's only two songs on that record that were easy to do – 'No, No, No' and 'Cheap Thrills.' I wrote them, recorded all the instruments, and vocals, and mixed both of those songs on a Sunday afternoon. It took about seven hours and I did both songs from top to bottom. (read more)

Source: slime.oofytv.set

By the time you read this, Frank Zappa's newest new LP, Sheik Yerbouti, will be available on the newly-formed Zappa Records label. I'm sure it will be a good album, but it will have to go some distance to beat February's Sleep Dirt. For my money, Dirt is quite simply the most exciting and complete album Zappa has released in at least four years. (read more)

Source: trouserpress.com

While plowing through the 18 tracks that make up Zappa's latest two-disc gross-out (recorded live, natch), I fought off boredom by making up the following notes: "I Have Been In You": well-deserved pisstake of Frampton's "I'm In You." Still, the title alone accomplishes that; the music and lyrics are superfluous. (read more)

Source: trouserpress.com

Although it is certainly not being hyped as such in this day and age, Joe's Garage is nothing less than a rock opera. It has distinct scenes, a large cast of characters and, best of all, a storyline that is actually easy to follow. (read more)

Source: trouserpress.com

Frank Zappa, approaching 40 years of age and 30 albums, is one of rock's most valuable institutions, a treasure trove of musical lore and sociological oddities. He's also one of the most terrifying figures in the industry. He's the ultimate mad scientist, the skeleton at the cultural feast, the vulture poised to pounce on the slightest pretension. He wields sarcasm like a straight razor in a gang fight, and his rhetorical weaponry is almost as sharp.

    Moreover, he's never made any secret of his distaste for the critical profession. Joe's Garage Acts II and III includes the following categorical denunciation: "All them rock'n'roll writers is the worst kind of sleaze/Selling punk like some new kind of English disease/Is that the wave of the future? Aw, spare me please!" He's sure got Trouser Press's number, as well as several other factions. Even when he's trying to make himself more accessible to the press-this Joe's Garage is his third release for his Zappa label and he wants to give it every chance of succeeding-he promises to be a formidable interview. (read more)

The first thing Don Van Vliet does when you meet him is to bring you immediately into his world. “Those people over there take too many showers,” he said to me seconds after I walked into his manager’s Greenwich Village apartment for our interview. (read more)

Source: trouserpress.com

FRANK ZAPPA/Tinseltown Rebellion
(Barking Pumpkin PW2-37336)

There's nothing on this latest display of arrested development (recorded live) that Zappa wasn't doing in the '60s: lame doowop parodies, excessive guitar solos, cold music and unpleasant juvenile humor ("Easy Meat"). The low point, though it's a tough choice, has to be "Panty Rap," in which Zappa solicits underwear from his female fans. Really cool, Frank.

Source: trouserpress.com, Fulvio Fiore

TP tracks the elusive Don van Vliet to his lair.

Source: trouserpress.com

Watch Your Language
Q. What's the origin of the term "valley girl"?
A. Frank Zappa ... according to Frank Zappa. The mustachioed Mother filed for a trademark on the phrase and has enough merchandising deals for "valley girl" tchotchkes to make Col. Tom Parker jealous.
Naturally, plans for a movie called Valley Girl incurred Zappa's wrath – not to mention a $100,000 lawsuit for false designation of origin, unfair competition and dilution of trademark. The filmmaker, Valley/9000 Productions, says "valley girl" is a generic term and calls Zappa's claim. "absolutely without merit." Isn't this more fun than music? 

Source: trouserpress.com

MOON ZAPPA
1983: It’s been a pretty boring year. I can’t stand listening to drum machines. I respect groups like Van Halen that work for a living, that go out and put their all into it. Or groups like the B-52’s, where you get totally funky and involved in the lyrics. Synth-pop has been the main development this year, and I think it’s pretty bleak.
1984: I would hope bands go back to raw-sounding music, but I see the same thing: techno-pop, boring synthesizer garbage. Everything’s getting so commercial. Pushing buttons just gets boring.

Source: trouserpress.com