4. The Mothers Of InventionUncle Meat
I was probably 12 or 13 when I first heard Zappa. I was on a holiday in Poland with my folks and a family friend, a guy who was probably 18 at the time, knew that I was really into Tool and Primus. He took his best shot at introducing me to some shit he thought I might like. I walked out with ten CD-Rs and I gave each one of them a good Aussie go. I can’t for the life of me remember what the other eight were, but there was an Einstürzende Neubauten record (pretty bold!) and Sheik Yerbouti by Frank Zappa. I fell in love immediately. I thought it was so clever, so naughty and so funny, perfect for my 13-year-old tomboy humor. Listening to the record was like watching an X-rated episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I can’t say that I ever truly connected to it on a musical level, and it took me a few Zappa records to really find that sweet spot. Uncle Meat is my all-time favourite. The front cover is a perfect example of the music: it’s grotesque and random, a Dadaist collage. Orchestral jams collide with tape manipulation, it often sounds like a monkey mashing a MIDI keyboard with instruments chosen at random. I love it. Almost every song, the drums are sped up and have this awesome, urgent tone. ‘Prelude To King Kong’ is my favourite Zappa-does-jazz track and ‘Dog Breath, In The Year Of The Plague’ is the song I like to play to people who think they hate Zappa (you don’t hate Zappa…).
