Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger

Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger is a 1984 album featuring the music of Frank Zappa, conducted, in part, by Pierre Boulez. It is also known as, simply, The Perfect Stranger. It was issued on vinyl in 1984 and on CD in 1985 by Angel, and then in remixed and resequenced form on CD by Barking Pumpkin in 1991. Boulez conducts three tracks - "The Perfect Stranger", "Naval Aviation in Art?" and "Dupree's Paradise" - which were recorded at IRCAM, Paris on January 10 and January 11, 1984, and are performed by Boulez' Ensemble InterContemporain. The title track was also commissioned by Boulez, and contains references to Zappa's 1971 film, 200 Motels. The remaining four tracks are credited to 'The Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Consort'; in fact, Zappa's Synclavier. "Outside Now Again" is a Synclavier performance based on a transcription of Zappa's guitar solo in the song "Outside Now" from the 1979 Joe's Garage album.