Is there a literary version of Frank Zappa?
I'd like to read it.
>>8112817
You mean fart jokes elevated by purple prose? I wouldn't recommend.
>>8112817
The hypersphere by anon
>>8112826
So Pynchon
>>8112826
>fart jokes elevated by purple prose?
joyce then
>Hi! it's me...
>The girl from the bus...
>Remember?
>The last tour?
>Well...
>Information is not knowledge.
>Knowledge is not wisdom.
>Wisdom is not truth.
>Truth is not beauty.
>Beauty is not love.
>Love is not music.
>Music is the best.
>Wisdom is the domain of the wiz (which is extinct).
>Beauty is a french phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence.
find a better lyricistprotip, you can't
Why does /mu/ always come here thinking that artistic works can be emulated between different mediums?
What would that even be like?
>wow this prose is so Zappa-esque
>this dialogue is like a Zappa riff
>this allegory reminds me of some shitty album or another
Why don't you discern the emotions Zappa makes you feel and ask for books that appeal to that emotion instead of dumbing it down to Zappa-esque literature
>>8112861
I suppose when someone asks for a literary version of Zappa, they're asking for a writer who's a good combination of weird/rebellious/jazzy while having a really good understanding of the medium.
A talentless hack?
it is 100% Pynchon
I am a major fan of both
>>8112826
>>8112856
I don't mean his lyrics (only), but his style in general.
>>8112861
Art has characteristics that are not limited to the medium, for example Zappa's instrumental music is kitsch but simultaneously a demonstration of raw skill (silly things like fast picking and rhythmic complexity and expertise with sound engineering), which could be a characteristic of some writer maybe.
But I didn't want to limit my question to a writer that's "kitschy but skillful in the traditional sense", so I just asked for a "Zappa-esque" writer which might give me better results.
>>8112890
I understood what you meant. He's not the worst but I wouldn't recommend, seriously.
>>8112884
Man there are smart people out there I'm happy to have found you here, I feel like we understand each other. Also, your attempt at communication is clear and precise.
This sounds autistic but I'm drunk so I'm posting anyway.
>>8112903
Nah no problem. I've probably posted more than once while in an impaired state.
Not a huge fan of either by it's totally Pynchon. The mix of technical skill and frivolity and jazz ones is pretty analogous. Can I also recommend Van Dyke Parks and William Gaddis?
>>8112817
I liked his biography... he was a pretty smart person...
>>8112936
By Barry Miles?
Zappa -
>Was extremely skilled but chose to do silly songs
>Experimented outside of rock with jazz, electronic, and classical music
>Was a strong proponent of free-speech and anti-communist
So you'd need a proficient/poetic writer who chooses to write about silly stuff, wrote in more than one genre, and has political themes in his works.
I'm gonna go with Mark Twain.
Probably some tryhard like Thomas Pynchon or DFW.
>>8113009
>tryhard
I remember back when I was in highschool the school staff banned this word because they thought it encouraged harassment toward people who put effort into their work. I wish I was joking
>>8113021
its true though. what is exactly wrong with trying
>>8113032
nah you're right. I just thought it was silly.
>>8112945
...Vonnegut?
Pynchon. Enormous talent, squanders it on cartoon hijinks.
The soundtrack to every Pynchon novel is the Benny Hill theme + a bong rip on loop
>>8113295
>squanders it on cartoon hijinks.
Or perhaps he's trying to say that it's all cartoon hijinks.
Pynchons my fav writer for sure because my fav thing in books is goofs, gags, jokes and rambunctious behavior, and his books are full to the brim of it. Every novel is like one of those novelty snake cans, you open the book & POP you get a face fulla snakes and you fall back cackling. The mad mind, the crack genius, to do it! and then you think hmmm whats he gonna do next, this trickster, and you pick the book back up and BZZZZZZZZZZ you get a shock and Hahahahahah you've been pranked again by the old pynchmeister, that card. "Did that Pynch?" he says, laughing yukyukyukyuk. Watch him as he shoves a pair of plastic buck teeth right up into his mouth and displays em for you- left, right, center- "you like dese? Do i look handsome???" Pulls out a mirror. "Ah!" Hand to naughty mouth. And you're on your ass again laughing as he snaps his suspenders, exits stage right, and appears again hauling a huge golden gong.
>>8113351
Well sed
>>8112826
you don't really know Zappa's music if you think this is all he have to offer
but being on a pathetic board like /lit/ I expected this kind of answer
![Real_frank_zappa_book_front[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/PtYCIzp.jpg "Real_frank_zappa_book_front[1].jpg")
It's pretty good, actually
>>8113009
>>8113021
>>8113032
>>8113036
Tryhard is a derogatory word against smart people used by stupid people.The stupid people are frustrated that the smart people can pick things up easily, while the stupid people may study for hours and cannot understand it. They then assume that the smart people just "try harder" than they do or else the stupid person would be able to pick things up just as easily.
>>8113763
Martin prince all grown up & bitter
Zappa is just a poor man's Beefheart
>>8112890
>I don't mean his lyrics (only), but his style in general.
"WE HATE YOUR DOTS"?
i can only imagine the sigh of relief Frank Zappa gave when he discovered the synclavier and he didn't need to try to force musicians to follow his notation any more.
>>8112817
you could always read his autobiography. It's really well written and worth the read it you're a fan.
>>8114055
Beef heart wouldn't exist without Zappa. He also had one or two good albums while Zappa had at least ten.
>>8114172
Zappa is overrated and has 0 good albums. They're the Beatles of their genre.
>listening to genre music at all
>>8114176
What are you even talking about
>>8114176
hey there, my name is bobby brown.
>>8114193
They say I'm the cutest boy in town
>>8112826
this man knows
>>8114172
>Beefheart
>1-2 good albums
Safe as Milk
TMR
Lick My Decals Off, Baby
Clear Spot
Doc at the Radar Station
Ice Cream for Crow
I'd even count Mirror Man/The Spotlight Kid/Strictly Personal but they don't hold as much critical acclaim
Awful taste
>>8113351
laughed too hard at this
>>8112945
I like the long build up to what is actually a shit and inaccurate comparison. Great job.
>>8112945
dude, he did some searious stuff too you know...
>>8113351
you guys laughing at pynchon but I think John Irving is a bit more immature than pynchon...cant really put my finger on why though
>>8114331
TMR is miles better than any of Beefhearts other work. Decals and safe as milk are good too, but that's about it.
>>8112861
>>this dialogue is like a Zappa riff
"Zing zangwalllobooyta, my back my back my bach! The political DEATH MAh-CHIIIIINE! dum dum dum... whoa honey that's a big load of cum! said Stephen as he stately walked to the BING BANG whoooooooooo?"
page 74 of Album of the Artist as an Overgrown Young Man
>>8112826
What's wrong with fart jokes?
>>8115287
I'm a fanboy or anything, but I wouldn't call Zappa hack-modernism. Ensemble Modern play his compositions fairly regularly, and his music has been featured alongside the likes of John Cage and Stockhausen. Boulez is supposedly an admirer as well.
>>8115479
>Ensemble Modern
>and his music has been featured alongside the likes of John Cage and Stockhausen. Boulez is supposedly an admirer as well.
All hacks; hence 'hack-modernism'.
>>8115508
>John Cage
>hack
... ... ...
(repeat ellipsis for slightly longer than four and a half minutes)
>>8115508
>>8115508
Oh, okay. I didn't know you were one of those, "I don't understand it, so it can't be art," people.
I'd be willing to bet you haven't even heard music composed by any of those people.
I'm not too sold on Stockhausen myself, but John Cage and Boulez certainly don't deserve to be called hacks.
>>8115528
>I don't understand it
Don't project; I've been composing and training for longer than you have lived.
*silence intensifies* and a preteen boy's voice being distorted is trashy, pretentious garbage.
The only good modernism is early modernism/neoclassical a la Bartok, Petrassi, Berg, and Janacek.
Good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4HZpJTw78A
Bad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ykQFrL0X74
>>8115528
>I'm not too sold on Stockhausen myself, but John Cage and Boulez certainly don't deserve to be called hacks.
Yeah, because 4′33″ is a masterwork.
You = transparent pseud.
>>8115598
>4′33″ is a masterwork.
It's alright, not as good as my 7'55", which is in its final draft and ought to be released by this time next year
>>8113351
im crying
>>8115572
I can't really listen to that first one, even; I don't know what is if with these modernists and their obsession with dissonance, as though men didn't have ears that objectively dislike certain sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT0MF4XNjkA
here is music I can listen to; I don't know if it's modernist or not, however.
>>8115572
Oh look, he pulled the "longer than you have lived line."
Also, you took the one artist I claimed I wasn't really a fan of, found the most ridiculous example of his music you could find, compared it to a full-on opera, and labeled it BAD. I agree with you, but look at this:
NOT BAD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BowyUXyNud4
ALSO NOT BAD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmErwN02fX0
>>8115637
now HERE is music I can really listen to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mcxEtyEUw4
>>8115671
>Have you even looked into the story behind the composition or considered the questions it raises about music?
It's a beautiful example about how Duchamp was taken a bit too seriously.
Move this garbage thread back to /mu/, plebs.
>>8115675
But if there's a compelling story behind something and if it raises provoking questions, why not take it seriously?
>>8115662
>Dissonance is used everywhere, even in 14th and 15th century music. It is not unappealing unless you have been brainwashed to think it is.
It is used sparingly and is quickly resolved in older music. In modernist music dissonance is let loose. It has nothing to do with brainwashing, but with nature of the human ear/brain; an unconditioned child can tell the difference between a harmonious melody and a dissonant one.
>>8115671
>Looking at art with the, "This is bullshit; I could do this attitude," is misguided. I'm not exactly sure 7'55" is going to be remembered as well as 4'33".
Looking at art with the, "The greater impact it has, the greater its artistic merit," is misguided. I'm not sure 4'33" is quiet as transcendentally uplifting as 7'55" will prove to be.
>>8115709
I know you're being sarcastic, but 4'33" isn't supposed to be transcentdally uplifting.
>>8113605
I have listened to a lot of his music, that's why I answered with a literary version of it. In a condescending /lit/ way I admit but now you're arguing with a troll and that's pretty funny to read.
So I'll add that the Ensemble Modern performing his compositions might have something to do with the smugness of the character and his artificial low-brow presentation. It's a populist move for them, expanding the corpus to the enlightened masses that adore Zappa-Truth-Telling-Serious-Non-Serious-Composer!
Like I said, he's not the worst, but there's lots of music -and art for that matter- that's infinitely better.
>>8115287
did I say /mu/ was better you gigantic faggot?
lack of reading comprehension on /lit/, who would have tought?
>>8115752
Zappa's not incredible composer by any means, but I don't think Ensemble Modern would choose to play his music as part of a glorified publicity stunt.
this board don't deserve Zappa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMTpSz6OVe8
>>8115782
If we're posting Zappa music, let's add some actual good stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gw2qqcsxlE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haPsdmfNIW0
If you like Zappa I hope you'll love this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGz5xPXydcg
>>8115741
Are you kidding me? 4'33" blows away 99.999% of all Western art music, including Beethoven's entire Œuvre. Get a clue, pleb.
>>8115803
Point taken. Make sure you let me know when 7'55" is about to drop.
>>8115800
I don't care much for Soft Machine or Canterbury scene artists in general.
>>8112817
Pynchon probably.
I feel like his prose is kind of like the equivalent of Zappa's band's excellent musicianship but then that musicianship is used to play goofy music, kind of like how Pynchon's excellent prose are used to describe funny and cartoonish scenes.
>>8115817
>>8115822
wow, something actually related to OP's question
>>8115433
That you can't smell them.
