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Frank Zappa: “Amnerika”
From the album Civilization, Phaze III (1994)
Finished shortly before his death, Civilization, Phaze III represents in my mind the apex of Frank Zappa’s remarkable musical production. I admit that I have some trouble getting into the aesthetic mood of his grittier, more rock-influenced music of the 1960s and 70s, but Zappa’s later albums— especially Civilization, Phaze III and his 1986 release Jazz from Hell— consistently manage to blow my mind. In these late works, Zappa made extensive use of a groundbreaking digital sampling technology called the Synclavier, which allowed him to unleash the spasmodic, mercurial musical creatures that were bouncing around in his head. The sound of the Synclavier— plastic, artificial, and perhaps even self-consciously “cheesy” and cheap— forms the perfectly bizarre vehicle for Zappa’s musical expression, at once sincere and outrageous.
Played 90 time(s).
June 30, 2009, 1:41pm
