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Preconception: Zappa. Yeah, he does those weird songs with sometimes funny and subversive lyrics. Isn’t this his live album?

After listening:  I have a headache and need to go home, please. To paraphrase our Mr. 40 and Futurama’s Fry, I see what he did there. I am just perplexed as to why he did what he did there.

Fav tracks: Directly from My Heart to You -Two Little Richard connections in one week of the record club? Wow. My favorite track is a cover, so feel free to skip to the bottom of the review, kids. Better yet, Listen to the original mit der linken, and then skip to the bottom of the review. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE3bYRLjVRo

Least fav: Toads of the Short Forest is math not music. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue is nearly seven minutes of just plain mean.

Overall: Headache inducing annoying satire of bad avant guarde jazz or just bad avant guarde jazz? Does it matter? As Zappa was outspokenly anti-drug, perhaps this is a elaborate caper to fleece hallucinogen users of money they would normally have spend on shrooms. Perhaps it’s a practical joke he played on his band by indulging the pretensions of the soon-to-be-disbanded Mothers of Innovation? Maybe he’s straigh up serious. I have always thought Zappa’s clever songwriting was his strength, so I feel a live album of mostly instrumentals doesn’t showcase his talent.

Rating: 1.9. While Massive Attack was entirely too long sleepy and boring songs, WRMF is the same time spent chewing tin foil.

Extra Credit: Sheik Yerbouti- Frank Zappa

Precon: This is gonna be some weird ass stuff. I fully expect to hear screeching, howling, explosions, the scraping of metal like Freddy Krueger dragging his nails across a railing, crude tribal instruments, power tools, crude tribal instruments played with power tools, the sound of colors, the sound a man makes when he dies, the sound a big mustache makes when it bristles against a microphone, weird animal noises, weird people noises, sci-fi sound effects like laser beams and death rays, and definitely some kind of crazy distorted guitar. That’s about the only impression I have of Zappa. The only Zappa song I’ve heard is Joe’s Garage, which seems fairly conventional, so I don’t really have much to base this on, but I can’t shake the weirdo stereotype. I always figured Joe’s Garage is the tame radio Zappa and that the real Zappa is so unwieldy it can’t be broadcast to the masses. It just lays in wait for the brave to seek it out. I could never muster the courage, but now I have to. That’s what’s great about Record Club.

Favorite Track: Get a Little or The Orange County Lumber Truck

Least Favorite: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask and Toads of the Short Forest

Hunter S. Thompson goes on safari.

Bad trip at the beatnik club.

The beginning of Roseanne.

Didn’t count on the annoying laughter, but it’s followed by weird people and weird animal noises. Check two off my list!

How offensive can a saxophone sound before it’s no longer considered music?

I appreciate the unbridled creativity, but this sounds like Satan’s jazz band at times.

I like most of the guitar parts.

I was never too into feedback. I couldn’t figure out why people liked when bands like Sonic Youth used it so much. However, on the closing track here, while not particularly pleasant at the time, the wall of noise and feedback was actually cathartic and I felt a great sense of calm wash over me when it was done.

I have no idea how to rate this. If I have to assign a number I’ll go with 2.5.

Preconceived Notions:  I’m prepared to be afraid, very afraid.  First the title of the album is “Weasels Ripped My Flesh”.  I mean that’s clearly an album that’s looking to make a statement.  Secondly there was a warning email that went out.  Warnings are never a great sign.  I’ve heard of Frank Zappa, but much to most people’s chagrin, I’m sure, I’m slightly more familiar with the Zappa children than with Frank himself.  “Experimental” might be a good word to describe what I guess might be happening

1. Completely frenetic.  Is it possible that Frank had his kids playing piano and bicycle horns on this one?  I like the jazz undertow that seems to be pulling the whole thing along, but it seems like there’s about 4 layers going on all at the same time.  Is this why I was warned to stay awake? Oh and then around 4:30 it moves into a pseudo-Bernstein-esque West Side Story part, which I like. (2.5)

2. Whoa- that’s a change in tone if ever I’ve heard it on two consecutive tracks. (3.5)

3.  I still haven’t learned to fully appreciate vocals without actual words coming out.  Maybe I don’t get it.  I always end up feeling like I should snap my appreciation and remember to return the beret I borrowed from my mom. (1.5)

4.

5. I like the strictly musical here (3.0)

6. This really seems to be perfect stuff for a soundtrack.  It seems like there’s a whole story going on in the music and I like that.  I hate to say I got a little lost the longer this went on.  It seemed to drone a bit in the background, but that could be because I was also trying to work (i.e. checking out EW.com) at the same time.

7.  Like right now, I’m either floating away into space or at a Medieval circus.  Both of which are better than Shelton, CT (3.2)

8. I’m a sucker for a straight-forward song, I suppose.  (4.0)

9. Seriously, maybe I’ve been listening to too much Broadway lately, but this sounds like it might have been left on the cutting room floor of either Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar.  I think it’s something about the rhythm and the way the singing is matched to it so exactly. Which I like.  I also like that the term “I think you’re probably out to lunch” gets used here.  (4.0)

10. Ok, joke’s on me, you got me.  Is the point to wish that weasels were ripping your flesh instead of listening to this.  I told you I’m no good at simple “noise”, sorry to sound like a Grandpa. (0)

After Listening:  I will fully admit to being unfamiliar with the less lyrically based kind of music.  That being said, I’m always glad to try something once.  That means that one listen of the last track is all Zappa’s gonna get from me for the foreseeable future.  But there was a lot of stuff on there that I really liked.  This one was really a track by track kind of thing, for me.  There’s a couple of songs I’d really like to have and a couple that I’d throw back to the weasels.

Stars: 2.8

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Frank+Zappa+and+The+Mothers+Of+Invention/50725550?src=5

I’m pretty sure I got all of the songs on the playlist, but if you feel like making your own because you don’t trust me, the full track listing should be on the Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasels_Ripped_My_Flesh

Reviews:
Riss’s Ramblings
Josh’s Musings
Paul’s Perceptions
Seth Surmises

After Listening: Ok, wow, this album sounds like a mash-up of a David Lynch movie soundtrack, NPR bumper music, gorillas fu*cking and transmissions from some far off galaxy. That being said, there is something really interesting about it all. I don’t get it, like at all, really—or at least I don’t think I get it it—but there is something nonetheless interesting, and skillful?? about it. Wow, I feel woozy.

Favorites: I’ll say the more straightforward songs, Directly from My Heart to You and the song about the murderous guitar are my favorites. Great guitar work in both those songs. As far as the Gorillas fu*cking on NPR songs go, I like the one about that Eric Dolphy fella’s barbeque.

Least: The Toad of the Short Forest song. I don’t know what on Earth is happening in that song—in fact, I don’t think anything “on Earth” was happening in that song, which is the problem, I suppose. Maybe on Mars that song would be pop music.

Overall: Fu*ck it, this album is so profoundly out there and I can sense the talent and feel that there is something sincere about it, despite it at times constituting only noise. Whatever, I guess I’m under its spell or some shit. The fornicating Gorillas win. 4.3 stars

Secret Santa

In the second round we each picked a song for the other members of our club.

Secret Santa’s Singles  ( I know, I know, it sounds like a holiday themed “dance” club, but you’re welcome to come up with something better as the link name)

As a fun game, by the time you’ve polished off the eggnog and avoided Uncle Joey as long as you possibly can, maybe you can guess whose songs are whose.  Or you could just listen and attempt to enjoy.  Don’t forget to save all those gift wrap bows for next year.  They stick just the same with a new sliver of tape

2:30 Clock In

2:40 fold a table of sweaters

2:50 Fold a table of sweaters

3:00 Fold the first table of sweaters again

3:20 Tell a customer that you’re sorry, but no, you cannot call the New York Store and have an item shipped and delivered by the end of day today

3:40 Fold the first table of sweaters again

3:50 discover an empty hanger in the expensive jeans section which means someone is currently putting up a pair of True Religions on eBay that they will make a full profit on

4:00-tell a customer that yes, the sign posted in the fitting room that says 6 items maximum means that, no, she cannot take 10 things in to try on.  And no, her boyfriend may NOT go in to the fitting room with her.

All of this is done to a Bing Crosby-Michael Buble -Mariah Carey filled Muzak soundtrack. Repeat for another 6 hours, until gleefully locking the doors.  Well, in the spirit of the holiday and in solidarity with our currently mall-bound readers, both workers and shoppers, here is our best attempt at our ESSENTIAL holiday tunes.  Don’t worry, if you’re not into these songs, in case you just can’t fathom any other way to say “Baby, it’s cold outside” stay tuned for our Christmas Music Pt. 2 playlist, but for now, do your best to buck up and take the punch of the holiday season full-on:

PLAY

Favorite track(s): Soldierfied, Livin Time, Hellohihey

Least Faves: What if it’s true

After Listening: This record is right up my alley—cerebral, socially conscious rap; nasty beats; a sort of hybrid of old school and new school, and while you can sense their influences, they aren’t overly derivative at all, in my opinion. Overall, I love it.

Rating: 4 stars

After Listening:  I feel like the 1^st track made me a promise that the rest of the album very rarely fulfilled.  It came out with a nice 70’s style funk beat, and nicely paced vocal trade offs.  It’s a formula I would’ve liked to see them stick to, but too often I found the thing dipping into some gimmicky musical or lyrical theme. Most of the “sung” choruses get grating pretty quickly-so of course they’re repeated as frequently as possible.  As with any album in the genre I get the attempts at humor and appreciate it, but too many times it was buried by some aspect I couldn’t stand. Its high points are higher than average, but they are few, and the low points are pretty low.

Favorite Tracks:  “Solderifed”,  “Livin time” – A Pat Bentar rhyme is worth a kudos. “Skeletons” – guess this is the general tone they were trying to hit all album and only got there occasionally.

Least Favorite: “What if it’s true” – kinda corny, and I hate the chorus,  “Fever” – god I loathe reggae and this was somehow worse.  “State of the World.”

Overall:  2.75

Just below average, which is a shame b/c I see the potential there.