He’s Odd
Frank Zappa is odd. That’s an understatement. You can’t help but listen to his music and wonder how it ever got produced. Not because people wouldn’t listen to his stuff—because you have to hear it to believe it—but because it is so–Loose. Untamed and confused to the point of no-control, Zappa’s music is never less than a wandering tangle of lyrics, weird musical instruments and bizarre humour. In other words it’s impressive. In a paradise of over-produced pop-hits, Zappa’s musical garden is the over-grown rampaging stuff of drug-induced nightmares. Ones that shift and tumble and explode. Even Zappa doesn’t seem to know what’s going to happen next–
He really doesn’t know and he also really doesn’t care. And the best thing about Zappa is that he’s honest about his music and his practice. Interviews conducted with the man show a real musician: someone with enough daring to constantly risk breaking new ground–or breaking his own reputation in the process. Books which have anything to do with Zappa also possess a unique quality; it’s something you just don’t find in today’s age of manufactured bands and pop princesses.
But what makes Zappa’s work so interesting and unique is its variety. And you could be forgiven for thinking that there is only so much weird stuff you can do, without it eventually becoming similar to something else. But the man proved again and again that he was the master of weird. If you can get over the initial period of total bewilderment that comes when you first start listening to this rare form of music (usually lasting around a month) you’ll find something in it that can’t be found anywhere else. For that the man with the mustache should be commended. Had Zappa not come along and broken all the rules, music just wouldn’t have been the same.
Finally, I need to have a little bit of a gloat. I have just bought the greatest brooks running shoes that I have ever owned. London Marathon, here I come!
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