This
page list a few sites devoted or related to the late American composer,
Frank Zappa. If you are over 40, you probably remember Frank Zappa as a
rock musician with a predeliction for obscenity. If you are under 40, you
probably don't know what I'm talking about. I've chosen Frank Zappa for
2 reasons:
-
An
important part of Zappa's work involved the invention of an infinite series
of relationships, musical, social, or anything else that came to mind.
In seeking to chronicle these relationships, many of the web sites created
by his fans document in extraordinary detail Zappa's life and art. In many
ways, the non-linear nature of the internet is the ideal place for Zappalogists
to conduct their research.
-
Zappa
sites manage to be entertaining as well as informative. For entertainment,
I particularly recommend "Ralf".
This
is probably the most comprehensive list of Frank Zappa links on the internet.
A good example of the Zappa world's obsession with connections. The images
are nice, too.
One
criticism of the site might be that the sheer number of links is overwhelming
and there's litte text to say what the sites are and where they go. This
is no problem, however, to the average Zappaologist and the long unexplained
list of names is particularly helpful.
I
find sites annoying where they try to break subjects into categories and
send you off to different pages in order to find out what's in the category.
Personally, just a long list of what's available is easier. I don't trust
search tools either. This is especially the one devised by the Department
of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
This
is to illustrate the degree of scrutiny applied to Frank Zappa's music.
This is rock guitar music, of a sort. Nowadays his stuff is judged in the
context of contemporary classical music, with links to figures like Anton
Webern, Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Conlon Nancarrow,
Charles Ives, Spike Jones, and more.
More
music analysis. This time it relates to FZ's recording techniques. For
example, some of the music here contains other songs of his but played
backwards. He probably did this to annoy the lobby in '80s USA that claimed
certain rock groups were including Satanic messages in their songs recorded
backwards.
Another
sample illustrates Zappa's technique of 'Xenochrony' - mixing together
instruments recorded at different times playing wholly different pieces.
To
illustrate the obscure depths to which Zappalolgists sink. This is a collection
of stills from a mid-sixties exploitation film (of sorts). Before they
hit the big-time, Frank Zappa's group The Mothers of Invention were hired
to play the exotic entertainment in a film about degenerate life in Hollywood.
(There's a reference in a page linked to the photos that notes the film
was banned in France on the grounds it would be injurious to the nation's
mental health.) The photos are the only record of the Mothers of Invention's
participation in the film, because their efforts ended up on the cutting-room
floor.
John Cage's notorious
silent piece "Four minutes and thirty-three seconds" was the last thing
FZ performed, at a John Cage festival in Germany, before his death in 1993.
A suitable end
to his career, in a way. He shared with John Cage an interest in Zen Buddhism.
(There's nothing wrong with your browser. The web page is visually 'silent'.)
I
have the sheet music for this. It's in three movements.
Ralf
This
web site was created by Cal Schenkel, the artist responsible for many of
Frank Zappa's album covers and related art work. The site seems to me unique
in the way it plays about with characteristics of the net, such as 'hot-links'
and the metaphor of 'cyberspace'. (His personal version of cyberspace exists
through a hole inhabited by Ralf.
The
cheapness and informality of the site is nice. If you can find them, the
chronicles of his trips around the USA, and the accompanying snaps, are
interesting because they're so mundane.
