Zappagram #10
Diving deeper into playlist curation and wanting your feedback, Ozzy undergoes surgery, Weezer fans get their own chia pet, get yourself some Spotify pie
Hey friends,
I’m thinking of diving deeper into playlist curation, compiling and releasing new themed playlists throughout the week, and I’d like to get your feedback on this idea.
Do you follow me on Spotify or Apple Music? Are you interested in great playlists curated by a real human, not by an algorithm? What genres and eras of music are you most interested in? Reply to this email or leave a comment below and let me know.
Lastly, a friendly ask that you consider supporting my work with a modestly-priced paid subscription. I’m working hard to keep going and growing, and your support is the only thing that allows me to do that. (Kids are more expensive than gas right now, which is really saying something.)
Hey! Ho! Let’s go!
“The more you love music, the more music you love.”
―author Tom Moon, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die
RECENT ESSAYS
The latest music essays by Chris Zappa
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Dee Dee Ramone Died 20 Years Ago Today
Remembering the legendary Ramones bassist
Half a Century of Exile On Main Street
The classic album made in exile takes an inevitable journey to Main Street where it remains relevant fifty years on
The Voice of Jeff Buckley Defines the Word Grace
The phenomenally gifted singer died 25 years ago today
HEAVY ROTATION
New weekly playlists highlighting great music
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SPINNING THIS WEEK
Cautious Clay • Punch Brothers • David Mead • Alex Ebert • JayWood • The Sundays • toe • Dehd • London Grammar • Frou Frou
WEEKLY PLAYLIST #10
MASTER PLAYLIST (ALL WEEKS)
RECOMMENDATIONS
Great content to check out this week
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This week’s recommendation is Deep Cuts, a YouTube channel dedicated to diving deep into artists and their repertoire. The release of new shows has slowed down a bit over the past few months, but you can’t beat the informative quality of these guides for those who wish to get more familiar with artists like Miles Davis, Brain Eno, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and so many more. Highly recommended. [Deep Cuts]
MUSIC NEWS
The latest happenings in the world of music
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Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts died last week at the age of 80. [via Variety]
Tribute concerts for the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins were announced this week. The concerts, being billed as an “all star rock and roll show” will take place Sept. 3 at Wembley Stadium in London and Sept. 27 at the Forum in Los Angeles. [via Spin]
Ozzy Osbourne is undergoing major surgery today, Monday, June 13, in a Los Angeles hospital, which his wife Sharon describes only as a “very major operation that could determine the rest of his life.” As always, we wish the Prince of Darkness all the best. [via Billboard]
Julee Cruise, longtime collaborator of David Lynch as singer in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, died last week at the age of 65. [via Rolling Stone]
Pixies have announced a new album, Doggerel, which is slated for released on Sept. 30th, and the band just shared a new video single, “There’s a Moon On.” Check out the video and the track listing here. [via Pitchfork]
An exciting Bowie tribute tour may be coming to a city near you. Todd Rundgren, Andrian Belew, and several other musicians are featuring in the “Celebrating David Bowie” tour in which they’ll perform Bowie’s music over a series of 15 U.S. dates kicking off in October. [via Consequence]
The Thom Yorke/Jonny Greenwood/Tom Skinner project The Smile just announced U.S. tour dates for late fall. Check the listing at the link for a show in a city near you. [via Stereogum]
NEW RELEASES
Dig on these recently dropped albums
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Billy Howerdel
What Normal Was [listen]
Charlotte De Witte
Universal Consciousness EP [listen]
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Does Judy At Capitol Studios [listen]
UPCOMING RELEASES
These albums are coming soon
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JUNE 17
Alanis Morissette: the storm before the calm • Alice Merton: S.I.D.E.S. • Foals: Life Is Yours • Nick Cave: Seven Psalms
JUNE 24
Caamp: Lavender Days • James Vincent McMorrow: The Less I Knew • Soccer Mommy: Sometimes, Forever • Wire: Not About To Die
JULY 8
Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Toast
JULY 15
Interpol: The Other Side of Make-Believe
VIDEO SPOTLIGHT
See it to believe it
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This short clip of Stevie Ray Vaughan playing a solo in his song “Texas Flood” clearly demonstrates why the Texas blues guitarist was one of the greatest and most powerful guitarists ever, and why there will never be another like him. He is very sorely missed. This entire clip is pure 🔥 but around the 0:15 sec mark he just completely shreds it. [via TikTok]
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ON THIS DATE
Musical happenings of historical significance
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JUNE 7
Birthdays: Prince (1958) • Dave Navarro (1967) • David Bowie played a concert in West Berlin in front of the Reichstag with speakers pointing towards the Berlin Wall where thousands of young East Berliners stood and listened. (1987)
JUNE 8
Birthdays: Boz Scaggs (1944) • Mick Hucknall (1960) • Tears For Fears started a two-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” (1985)
JUNE 9
Birthdays: Cole Porter (1891) • Les Paul (1915) • During an evening session, Bob Dylan recorded “Mr. Tambourine Man” at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City. (1964)
JUNE 10
Birthdays: Howlin’ Wolf (1910) • Kim Deal (1961) • Jimmy Chamberlain (1964) • Joey Santiago (1965) • Joe Strummer and Nicky Headon from The Clash were each fined £5 ($8.50) by a London court for spray-painting “The Clash” on a wall. (1977) • Ray Charles died aged 73. (2004)
JUNE 11
The Rolling Stones started a two-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Paint It Black.” (1966)
JUNE 12
Birthdays: Chick Corea (1941) • Roy Harper (1941) • Radiohead avoided a blackmail attempt by releasing 18 hours of music recorded during the making of their classic album OK Computer. Tapes from the sessions had been stolen by hackers who demanded $150,000 for their return. Instead, the band released the tapes in full, with profits going to climate crisis activists Extinction Rebellion. (2019)
JUNE 13
Birthdays: David Gray (1968) • Rivers Cuomo (1970) • A roadie who worked for Oasis and Elton John was arrested and charged with smuggling millions of pounds worth of Ecstasy into the U.K. (2000)
OFF TOPIC
May or may not be music-related
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SAY IT AIN’T SO
Fan of Weezer? Also into chia pets? It is your lucky day. [via Stereogum]
PIE IN THE SPOTIFY
Have you seen Spotify Pie yet? Coded by Darren Huang, this open-source project analyzes your Spotify listening habits and gives you a genre-based pie chart (and artist listing) showing what you’ve listened to most during a given month. [via Spotify Pie]
PORTRAIT OF A PUNK
Dee Dee Ramone did a fascinating and eye-opening interview with the great Legs McNeil back in 1989 just after he quit the Ramones. Read the interview in its entirety on Legs’ site. [via Legsville]
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Inquiring minds want to know
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What’s the last concert you attended? Who was it, when and where was it, and was it a great show or no? Who was the opening act? Leave a comment and let me know.
As always, thanks for being here.
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Peace, love, and rock & roll,
CZ 🤘🏻
Last show; Jason Isbell last November. really good but not as good as two years before. Didn't know Julee cruise died and I've written a couple of columns including her recently. been on my mind. Sigh.
I think my last show was Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field in 2018 or 19? Can't believe it's been that long, but that might be it as far as an "official" show. Outside of that, I've seen Mark Croft play a few times at places around town.
Also: in news that'll surprise no one, I'm really excited for the Wire record to drop.