Clark Colborn's latest release, Frank Made Me Do It, is ostensibly a loving homage to legendary composer and musician Frank Zappa, but is really much more. Colborn never sets out to ape Zappa's style, but instead uses his music as inspiration for stretching out in thrilling, unpredictable ways. This is a tribute album in the purest sense of the word, an aural thank you filtered through Colborn's own unique musical consciousness.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

The first song, "Gimpy the Weasel,” is an extraordinary musical workout. The sound recalls mid-80s King Crimson more than the production style typically heard on Zappa's work from the same or earlier periods, particularly in its hyperactive guitar work. Colborn's playing reminds me of Jackson Pollock's "drip" painting - to the uninitiated, it can initially sound nonsensical or unmanageable, but the attentive listener can hear how these individual notes accumulate into a discernible musical shape and feel.