the big nOte files - 2002/12/22

there's two excellent new releases that are just screaming to get your attention:

two other discs that i'd really like to hear are the two project/object albums.  "absolutely live" and "dream of the dog" (and not 'dawn' as i said last time).  the latter one should be out real soon, but i don't get any answers as to how and where one can obtain a copy of "absolutely live".  if anyone can help me out with this, mail me  -> bignote@yucom.be

* * * * *
subsribers to the zappa.com newsletter received the following message:

Dear Subscriber You,

818-Pumpkin and Barfko-Swill are happy to announce our first very Merry Barfko-Swillmas. Your mouse will soon be stirring when you see our cornucopia of savings. The deals are so robust as to make even the Dick's Picks Scroogulent types happy for the holidays. Included for a limited time only are FZ Picture Disk LPs, T-shirts, wrapping paper, and even a special price on the excruciatingly wonderful Everything Is Healing Nicely CD.

See what's on sale at: http://www.zappa.com/cheezoid/whatsnew/christmas/

Also in the news is the upcoming release (as promised) HALLOWEEN on DVD-A. The mad scientists of Vaulternative Records have been cooking this one up for a while and it is guaranteed to delight discerning disciples! HALLOWEEN will be available in early 2003 from DTS Entertainment and should be shipped directly into your DVD player for immediate audio/visual consummation. And that, kiddies is only the beginning of our treats for 2003.

For now, Happy Hollydaze and a very Zappa New Year.

xxx

The Barfies

http://www.zappa.com

* * * * *
geoff wills updated his excellent piece on buzz gardner.  take a look at it at:

buzz gardner - random notes / biography  (by geoff wills, 2002)

* * * * *
there's more info on the whatchamacallit concerts that i mentioned last time:

both concerts start at 21.00h and 'de vieze gasten' is located at the reinaertstraat 125, in gent, belgium.
tickets are 7.00 €, which is almost for free.  i'll be there.

* * * * *
and here's a nice residential message from dr.andrews, as forwarded by uli mrosek - thanx, uli.

"Dr. B Kim Andrews" wrote:

Hi!   Just a little note to let you know that things will be firmed up this week for more of the Demons Dance Alone tour. I expect a Cryptic Announcement to make it Official soon.  Rumours have the European leg starting in Oslo around the 22nd of Feb and going through places like St. Petersburg, Warsaw and Germany, ending mid-March...  Also likely is a second round of US cities after they return from Europe.  Expect a nice live version from the 1st leg of the USA tour to be made available...  

* * * * *
zappanoia, the band from portugal, has send me an updated list of the zappa songs that they perform.
they also played a concert on frank zappa's birthday in lisbon.
looking at the poster, it seems that this already was the 7th time they organised something on zappa's birthday in portugal.  good for you, guys.

about the zappanoia logo that i mentioned last time, joao said
Forgot to let you know that the poster relates to an event scheduled for the
21st of December. Zappa's birthday will be celebrated with a Zappanoia two
and a half hour concert, screenings of our home videos of this year's
Zappanalle Festival in Germany, as well as footage from Zappanoia's
rehearsing and on the road.
All invited. All welcome.

* * * * *
germany also had its "frank zappa birthday party" at the frankfurter hof in mainz.  concert by sheik yerbouti plus special guests.

* * * * *
Bossk (R) wrote to alt.fan.frank-zappa about a new coverversion:

Hi all, I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned here. As you may or may not now, "Bobby Brown" was a pretty big hit in Sweden and a lot of people know who Zappa was at least to the extent that they associate him with that song. This year, a comedy character called "Dan Bäckman" (played by comedian Felix Herngren) has recorded a cover of "Bobby Brown", with Swedish lyrics, called "Jan Banan", which has been mildly popular - you can find it on your favourite file-sharing service. I wanted to post the lyrics, with translation and discussion, but realised they would only look unfunny in English. Instead, some brief background: Jan is a male name in Sweden; Banan means "banana". For some reason, "banana" was a word used by a 1950s counter-culture of outlaws who drove American cars and listened to Elvis ("raggare") to ridicule what they saw as common people ("Svenne banan"). "Dan Bäckman", a long-running comedy character from TV, is a cultural elitist. In the three verses of the song, he attacks the working class, upper class and middle class, respectively (dumb, fat, plastic). In the chorus, he calls them all "Jan Banan". The production is sub-standard, though I like Herngren's oddball delivery. The lyrics, I think, work a bit like certain Zappa material in that they cut both ways: while Bäckman certainly is a character played for laughs, his social critique works on its own merits :)

* * * *
remember the george duke concert in holland, from a little while ago?  here's some pictures from the black page website:

http://www.geocities.com/pdoelder.geo/HotBarfse.html

* * * * *
www.zappa.com also mentioned a concert by the american composers orchestra, 2003/03/02 at carnagie hall, nyc, ny, usa.  they will be performing dog breath variations, uncle meat, g-spot tornado, the adventures of greggery peccary, and peaches en regalia

* * * * *
new entries or additions - the record part, including pictures: (it's about time i got back to these...)

additions, corrections

hopla, talk again to you soon,

peter van laarhoven