Current ear food ... (my scanner decided to pack up yesterday - otherwise I'd try to supply a series of images from the various Zappa vinyls I've acquired. This will have to wait. In the mean time ...) ... 

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... of the slew of Zappa Family CD releases this looked more than tempting & is of interest

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... this is a 'must' given its status as the last entire album Zappa saw through to the end. 

Synclavier compositions & hard not to hear behind them all sorts of anticipations of The End.

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An absolutely revelatory CD set & very much in sympathy with the Zappa release. Dérive 2 is fascinating & a far cry from the 'dry' & 'cerebral' reputation I've always heard concerning Boulez's music. Probably benefits from a live recording to give it some oomph. 

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In interviews Pina N claims that Schoenberg is so full of emotion. 

I can't say I feel this so far but will persevere ...

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I ummed & ahhed about this one (how many complete sets does one need?) & then accepted that it is one of those that will yield ever more joy & insight over the years. 

Reading the book by the first violinist in tandem only furthers appreciation & astonishment. 

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Because ...

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The closest we'll get to a new Pink Floyd album given the truly dreadful efforts of Dave G & Polly as well as the travesty release of Endless River. While Waters has a distinctly limited repertoire of vocal expression (the husky, home-spun tones we recognise from 'Pigs on the Wing'; the Ginsberg derived litany we know from Dark Side of the Moon & 'Pigs'; the sudden vitriolic scream we've heard on ... well, pick your favourite; &, of course, that trademark fade echo ("echo ... echo ... echo ...")) there is a sense of genuine anger & bitterness & which - finally - seems to have gone beyond his specific preoccupation with the War. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, the many lifts from earlier Floyd albums can be attributed to allusive irony rather than creative exhaustion. Sound effects are more or less justified in terms of the compositions but you wonder what would happen if he really broke free & worked an entire album through sonic collage. Now that would be interesting. B/B+ for effort. (Many millions of dollars through sales & related tours no doubt.)

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