Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play (St Martin's Griffin)

Title: Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play (St Martin's Griffin)
Author: Ben Watson
E: 1700621
ISBN: 9780312141240
Publisher: St Martins Pr
Published: 1996
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Edition: Advance Reading Copy
Number of Pages: 621
Section: Biography & Autobiography | Music
Condition Note: Moderate edge wear. Binding good. May have marking in text. We sometimes source from libraries. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description: He has either been condemned as a cynical purveyor of "smut" and scatalogical humor aimed below the lowest common denominator, or championed as the twentieth century's most eclectic composer - definitions that are both inaccurate when isolated. In Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, Ben Watson explains that these characteristics are not mutually exclusive; it is misguided to suppress either aspect of Zappa's genius. His socially transgressive shocks - designed to show up the repressions of contemporary culture - are central to his art, . Watson brings serious critical attention to the musician, dissecting Zappa within his context, and analyzing him alongside such artists as John Cage and Pierre Boulez. Zappa's ideas are interpreted as an extension of a Western radical tradition that encompassed the Marquis de Sade, the Surrealists, and beyond, from musique concrete to doowop, Theodor Adorno to Suzy Creamcheese, Plato to Punky Meadows, the Situationists to the PMRC. Zappa's politics, as well a his wit and relentless attempts to break standard forms, are integral to his music.