subjects: the ant-bee, whatchamacallit, the cucamonga radio show, john trubee, the residents, frank zappa

part 1 - you can't do that on stage anymore

• 2002/09/20, i went to see whatchamacallit in concert in eeklo (belgium).  whatchamacallit, founded in 2000 by two conservatory students, performs frank zappa's music. i had heard their demo (prevous line-up) and i had already seen frontman pieter claus performing with frank nuyts, but i was quite anxious to find out what they sounded like on stage.  taking into account that this was only their fifth or so concert, i was pleasantly surprised: these guys know their zappa.
  superb drumming, great vibes and an awesome bass player (who sat in because the regular bass player was on holiday).  for my personal taste, the guitar could have used a bit more punch, but then again, playing the guitar in a band that plays zappa's music isn't the easiest task.  as i said, whatchamacallit did a swell job.  my favourite tunes were 'king kong'  (hey, danny, you should have been there), 'cletus' and 'my guitar'.
  keep an eye out for these guys.  try to catch them.
  
• 2002/09/26    the zappatistas played 'the fairfield halls' in croydon, uk
  
• 2002/10/25 - the residents will be celebrating their 30th anniversary with a tour !!  more news soon.
  
• project/object is touring - here's where they're now:
  2002/10/01      concert 'quixote's', denver, co, usa
  2002/10/04      concert 'the rainbow', seattle, wa, usa
  2002/10/05      concert 'lola's at crystal ballroom', portland, or, usa
  2002/10/06      concert 'wow hall', eugene, or, usa
  2002/10/08      concert 'great american music hall', san francisco, usa
  2002/10/09      concert 'the coach house, san juan capistrano, ca, usa
  2002/10/10      concert 'the knitting factory', los angeles, ca, usa
  2002/10/11      concert 'santa cruz civic auditorium', santa cruz, ca, usa
  2002/10/12      concert 'victor's on the bay', san diego, ca, usa
  2002/10/15      concert '32 blue', colorado springs, co, usa
  2002/10/16      concert 'sherpa & yeti's', breckenbridge, co, usa
  2002/10/17      concert 'linden's', ft collins, co, usa
  2002/10/18      tba
  2002/10/19      concert 'fox theater', boulder, co, usa
  2002/10/21      concert 'grand emporium', kansas city, mo, usa
  2002/10/22      concert 'cicero's', university city, mo, usa
  2002/10/23      concert 'high dive', champaign, il, usa
  2002/10/24      concert 'beachland ballroom', cleveland, oh, usa
  2002/10/25      concert 'docksider tavern', erie, pa, usa  (concert without napoleon Murphy brock)
  2002/10/26      concert 'club at water street music hall',rochester, ny, usa (concert without napoleon Murphy brock)
  2002/10/28      concert 'northern lights', clifton park, ny, usa
  2002/10/31      concert 'lion's den', new york, ny, usa
  2002/11/01      concert 'the saint', asbury park, nj, usa
  2002/11/02      concert 'recher theatre', towson, md, usa
  
• and don't forget:
  2002/10/12    wagga jawaka - concert 'the brewery arts centre', kendal, uk
  2002/10/13    wagga jawaka - concert 'the maze', nottingham, uk

• 2002/10/19 & 20        the nasal retentive orchestra
                      concert «salon de la bd», poitiers, france  -  avec frank margerin (comic book artist)
  

part 2 - you can't buy that in a record store anymore

• ant-bee: child of the moon
      (2002, cdr, usa, private release)
  when i received the package that contained this cd, the package was all wrapped up in tape.  the tape said "custom control", and that made me smile.
  please imagine someone at custom control saying "ah, that looks like funny package - let's examine it...".  after opening it, he or she must have seen a couple of cdrs that needed closer examination.  and i wonder how they do that.  do they put the disc in a cd-player, turn the volume up, and dance to it?
  i don't have the faintest idea how (and why) custom control had to check this package, but i for one am very glad that it came through.  it shows that the ant-bee is still out there.  hey, and maybe billy james has a couple of new fans at custom contol as well...
  "child of the moon" presents four tracks:  the jagger/richards classic 'child of the moon' in a far out psychedelic version, 'come with us now' and 'eighteen', two michael bruce / alice cooper compositions of which the second one is a very powerful live version, and 'cirrus minor' (waters).
  my favourite is 'come with us now'.  if you've listened to it once, it stays in your head.
  
• ant-bee: birth  (pre-mix)
      (2002, cdr, usa, private release)
  'birth' is a track from the upcoming "electronic church muzik" album by ant-bee.  this pre-mix version does not yet contain fomer mother of invention bunk gardner's sax.  i'm very curious to find out what bunk will add to this.  this pre-mix version is a very spacy thing.  something between spacy psychedelic and new age.  it makes me wonder what "electronic church muzik" will bring us.
  
• ant-bee: 1996 4-track demos - glissando guitarre
      (2002, cdr, usa, private release)
  wow.  this is something else. i can't make up my mind about this one.  it sounds like some sort of soundtrack for a bizarre movie.  maybe a movie with protozoa, like something don preston used to improvise to in the early sixties.  is this billy james' reaction to karaoké?  the more i listen to it, the more i start to whistle bizarre tunes to it.
  
• the residents: demons dance alone
      (2002, 2cd, usa-ger, ralphamerica - euroralph / ersp033  -  ra13)
  is it me?  am i getting too used to bizarre music?  don't get me wrong, i really like this album.  it sounds great, and it keeps me wondering why they don't play it on the radio.
  fantastic artwork & poppy sounding residents (with lots of female vocal guests & a nice guitar as well).  don't just buy it.  play it loud (and often).
  
• john trubee & the ugly janitors of america: obscure gold from the invisible nigger
      (2002, cdr, usa, private release)
  originally released in 1993 on tape, john trubee made this title available again a couple of months ago.  "obscure gold fromthe invisible nigger" shows john trubee at his best.  the cd takes an excellent start with a piece from a telephone conversation (i wonder if pam knows that she's a rock 'n' roll star now?) and continues with a couple of 'classic' john trubee songs:  the beautiful 'you're getting old', the mother-esque 'the dildo factory', the curtis mayfield composition 'minster and queen', a sound-collage called 'shop til you shit', another poppy tune 'can you hear me', and 'bed and breakfast...' another collage.  the second part of the album consists of 'spiritual insight from delmar conley', which is a telephone conversation with delmar, 'the sound of god smiling', some sort of new age collage and ends with 'they call me mister ugly' another typical john trubee song.
  if you don't know who john trubee is, you should order this.  send US $ 15.00 to:
  John Trubee 
  PO Box 4921
  Santa Rosa
  US - CA 95402
  USA
  
• john trubee & the ugly janitors of america: blind man's penis, prank phone calls, & incredibly beautiful music
      (1999, cdr, usa, private release)
  this is what john has to say about it:
  " Self-descriptive title including BLIND MAN'S PENIS, which is out of print & unavailable everywhere except here. Also includes the original 1987 Ugly Janitors of America recording of WHEN MY SHIP ROLLS IN, weirdo prank calls going back to 1973 (!) including ZSA ZSA GABOR EARWIG, NAZI ARMY MEN, ELECTRIC BEMIS, DRUG HOTLINE IN TRENTON NJ 1980 and many more. Also includes great remixed outtakes from the WORLD OF LYING PIGS album sessions and bizarre electronic works."
  if you do know who john trubee is, you will order this.  send US $ 15.00 to the above address.
  

* * *

part 3 - you can't do that on the radio anymore

• my favourite radio show, 'cucamonga', on belgian vrt1 each monday night, proudly presents a fan-site:
  www.cucamonga.be
  interviews, e-zines, concer-info, audio-fragments & more.
  way to go, zjakki !!

* * *

part 4 - news from affz -

* * *
new addition: hot rats
norwegian band hot rats plays the music of frank zappa.  check out their web-site at http://on.to/hotrats.  not only did they recently add an english translation, they also have some nice mp3s availalbe for download.  nice job, gentlemen: the site looks good and the mp3s sound even better.
* * *
hot rats in concert: 2002/11/15    at 'kjeller'n', olavskvartalet, trondheim, norway
    check out the 'agenda' for more concerts !!
* * *
ben watson's zappanale report:
http://www.militantesthetix.co.uk/Zappanale/ztext.htm
* * *

part 5 - news from the mailbox

charles ulrich wrote:
"I got in touch with the Randy Thornton who was conductor for various Xena and Hercules shows and soundtracks. He did not work with FZ, nor did he work for Disney or perform a piano tribute to Floyd Cramer.
So you should delete all the Xena and Hercules conductor credits from your Randy Thornton page."
* * *
jay fox send me a message in which he said: 
"This is an interview with myself and others about our DC psychedelic hardcore band from the '80's Enjoy. Let me know if you have any interest in anything else about United Mutation(the band)Peace.
jay.fox "
 http://www.dfbpunk.com/features/unitedmutation/index.htm
so it seems that there was a band called united mutation somewhere in the 80's.  cool.
* * *

added data for:

• ed palermo big band - concert 2001/09/28 - late show
• john trubee

* * *

part 6 - various bits of info
* * *
the david kikoski trio recorded frank zappa's 'oh no'.
* * *
jon poole released "what's the uglies part of your body", an all zappa compositions album.
* * *
"the one-all-alone" is a new book by alan clayson.  it's about edgard varèse, modern-day classical composer (1883-1965) and frank zappa's childhood hero.
* * *
if you're not into books, maybe "boulez conducts varèse" can convince you?  i haven't heard it, but muffin men mike kidson told me a while ago that this is the varèse album everyone should have heard.  boulez conducts the chicago symphony orchestra through 'ameriques', 'arcana', 'déserts' & 'ionisation'.
* * *
the latest album by the banned from utopia has been announced for months.  finally, a release date has been set.  it should be out when you read this.
* * *
two new zappa samplers have been announced: "zappa picks, chosen by larry lalonde of primus" and "zappa picks, chosen by john fishman of phish"
* * *
ryko japan are about to release 10 new frank zappa titles in their mini-lp style cardboard sleeve cds: from "lso" to "strictly commercial".
* * *