links: frank zappa, captain beefheart, the residents and others

yes, there's more news, there's always more news...

* captain beefheart & his magic band: grow fins - rarities 1965 - 82
(1999, 5cd, us, revenant records)
Now this is something else. I've been listening to Beefheart for quite some time now. I even picked up a couple of bootlegs and listened to some concert tapes, demos, - you name it. And now there's "grow fins". I've only listened to the first disc (of five!!), read the first two chapters in the booklet and I just managed to get some quicktime images on my pc. This will keep me busy for quite a while. I need a couple of days off to get through all this info, but I can already tell you that it's ESSENTIAL. I've learned more about the Captain and his Magic Band this lasthour than I did the last couple of years. Check out teejo's "Electricity" web-site if you want the details, but you really shouldn't wait that long.
Get it now! This is IT.

* kvhw: 9/28/98 and 10/24/98
(1999, cd, us, -)
Steve Kimock, Bobby Vega, Alan Hertz and Ray White are KVHW. This record shows them live in concert. It has former Zappa sideman Ray White in a prominent role: guitar and vocals. Steve Kimock recently joined The Other Ones (no, not the Grateful Dead but The Other Ones (being the Dead minus the late Jerry Garcia)), and so this side-project found a home in the Grateful Dead Catalogue. The cd has only six tracks. All of them are long jams, a bit like the Dead, only a lot more funky. I like it a lot.

* mike keneally: the tar tapes vol.2
(1998, cd, us, immune records tar-002)
Mike Keneally has been touring and recording with Steve Vai lately. If I'm informed correctly a new Vai tour and record - both featuring Mike Keneally - are on its way. The above mentioned "tar tapes" cd has got nothing to do with all this. The tar tapes are a project from years ago. Mike Keneally made these even before he made his first solo album. This is just a cd-version of the second tape (plus a couple of extras from the fifth 'bonus tape'). The liner-notes explain: "more demos & things for the archeologically-minded among you". The album presents recordings from the eighties. A nice bunch of recordings, if I may say so. Nothing new for those who had the tapes, but the cd does sound a lot better.

- concert: asko ensemble (in Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
june 25, 1999
Oh, I had been looking forward to this. The Asko Ensemble was scheduled to play Varèse and Zappa. And no-one would be able to make me nervous this time: I had pre-ordered my tickets (they were delivered to my doorstep) and I left, tickets in my hand, at five. Amsterdam is only one and a half hour away from my home, but traffic can be hectic and I had almost missed the Residents' concert one week earlier... Three hours later, around eight, I was half-way. The concert was about to begin and I hadn't moved for over an hour. The radio told me that there were traffic-jams all the way to Amsterdam, so I turned the car around and drove back home.
Needless to say this did not really make me happy. Anyway, I'd still like to hear what I missed, and if Aad's info is right, the concert will be broadcasted september 1 on dutch radio four at 20:00h.

* freddy doorn's rhytm & blues sensation: the return of the son of horensleups
(1996, cdr, nl, pissoff records pissoff-cd-96)
The above line says "cdr", but that's only because it's a copy. The original cd (not a cdr) was made in 1996 but is extremely hard to find (if not 'not at all'). The sleeve is all beatles, the title is all zappa, and that sets the tone. This is just some crazy dutch people making music, mostly playing coverversions. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a very funny album and it has an extraordinary zappa coverversion on it: 'dirty love'.

* gong: family jewels
(1998, cd2, uk, gas records agascd008)
Gong's "space jazz rock" should need no introduction. David Allen, Gilli Smyth, Pierre Moerlen, Didier Malerbe and Pip Pyle have been around for quite a while and they've already published a huge catalogue. Gas records originally started out as a fan club (Gong Appreciation Society) but was taken over 1986 to become a mail order network. Gas publishes all sorts of merchandise, including records. "Family jewels" is such a thing. It's a double cd, but more then half of the tracks are taken from previous releases. So it's a sort of "best of" compilation, but with a lot of unreleased tracks. One of the unreleased tracks is 'little house I used to live in' (frank zappa), played by Pierre Moerlen. It's taken from a concert registration somewhere in 1997. It's a great version. On the cd, it's right behind David Allen playing Miles Davis' 'so what', also a superb version. In all, this is an excellent cd. Presumably, Gong fanatics will not be too happy with all the 'compilation'-part of this album, but if you're into fine music and you don't have all these earlier Gong releases, this one is a must.

* sexy death soda: california police state
(199?, cd, us, bong load records bl34)
Judging by the band's name, not to mention the album-title, I expected some sort of aggressive message. My mistake. It's a very poppy cd (too, actually) with some obvious psychedelic influences. Their version of beefheart's 'plastic factory', is the best track on the cd but it doesn't really add anything to the original.

cdrecordables
a forwarded message from Jillis made it clear that cdr is taking over the entire tape-circuit. hundreds of zappa concerts are available on the cdr format. here are some that i really liked.

* hardscore: concert may 22, 1999 ('casino', oostende, belgium) (cdr)
Contemporary composer Frank Nuyts' band, Hardscore, played a very fine concert in Oostende, Belgium. They performed the complete Book 2 and parts from Book 3 and Book 5. Belgian radio recorded and broadcasted this concert. The cdr is superb quality: it's a copy of the cdr that was used to broadcast (= the soundboard recording). But even more important: it's an excellent concert as well. If you're into Zappa, you've got to check this out. (Frank Nuyts only published two cds. They may be hard to find, but they're worth looking out for.)

* brt philharmonic orchestra & rocking teenage combo: concert april 30, 1995 ('de singel', antwerp, belgium)
(cdr)
Yes, I'm talking about "The Purple Cucumber", the excellent Zappa tribute that took place in Antwerp in 1995. I'm convinced that this will be released officially, eventually, but until then, I'm glad that I will be able to listen to it from time to time. Those of you who still don't know what I'm talking about should know that The Purple Cucumber was organised by Zjakki Willems (produced for belgian radio one) and that it had some five or six belgian contemporary composers write a tribute to Zappa. All these compositions were played by the Brt Philharmonic Orchestra plus a couple of Muffin Men, some X-legged Sally members and even (top of the bill) Bobby Martin.

* frank zappa & the mothers of invention: concert may 1969 (toronto, canada)
(cdr)
70 minutes of Zappa & the Mothers in concert. The concert includes various instrumental improvisations & variations. Great.

* frank zappa & the mothers: concert may 23, 1975 (el paso, texas)
(cdr)
The 'Bongo Fury' tour only lasted two months and took the band to the US and Canada. It features the Captain on vocals and harmonica. Soundboard recording.

* sheik yerbouti: concert september 20, 1997 (oberursel, germany)
(3cdr)
This is a recording of the Oberursel concert by Sheik Yerbouti, a german Zappa cover band. It's the complete concert, almost 150 minutes of Zappa music. I've seen it as a set of two tapes as well as a set of three cdrs.

books, books + cds, magazines, etceteras

- uncut magazine, august 1999 + cd
The august edition of the british 'uncut magazine' has a one page article on Frank Zappa and a two-page feature on the Mothers. The enclosed cd is entitled 'Unconditionally Guaranteed' and has a Beefheart track as well as a Mothers of Invention track. Beefheart's 'electricity' is taken from "grow fins". The box will be reviewed in the next issue. The Mothers' 'who needs the peace corps' is taken from "we're only in it...". (Thanx a lot for the info on this one, Teejo!)

short bits: * * * the tea servants cover frank zappa * * * so do los enigmos (from spain) * * * latest bits from the arf-society (thanx jos): THE INTERVIEW by Michael Heinze - FRANK VINCENT ZAPPA, an "Interaktiver CD-ROM-Hybrid / Windows + Macintosh" is out now! * * * More arfs: a couple of days ago, august 6 & 7, the 10th !! Zappanale took place in bad doberan, germany. combos including: Arnie Fruit Quartet , Zapway (both sweden), Sheik Yerbouti , Black Kreuz , Band Project Hamburg , Newts , Tinseltown Rebellion Band (all germany) and Jim Cohen (an american living in germany who'll explain some zappa lyrics) * * * also scheduled: a second Zappanale cd * * * for more info. * * * and belgian band Soulwax samples the residents' Kaw-Liga on their latest single.

(©peter van laarhoven - belgium)

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