TRACKLIST FOR THE UPCOMING ED PALERMO BIG BAND CD

 

NEW ZAPPA TITLES ON THE OLDAYS RECORD LABEL

The Oldays record label is keeping a nice tempo in releasing the old Zappa / Mothers albums.

Here's what the latest three look like:

THE FOOLZ

R.I.P. Remco Aalhuizen.
Great guitar player and very nice guy.

THE JOE'S GARAGE ENSEMBLE

Joe’s Garage Ensemble will bring music by Frank Zappa to Tremendous Brewing in St. Peter on Halloween night.

ARTICLE ABOUT FRANK ZAPPA IN DUTCH NEWSPAPER DE VOLKSKRANT

 from De Volkskrant:

2026/10/12

https://www.volkskrant.nl/muziek/frank-zappa-is-lastig-los-te-zien-van-zijn-gitaar-maar-maakte-ook-veel-goede-klassieke-partituren~bf43aeb7/?

CABALLERO REYNALDO & THE GRAND TIEMERSMA

Scheduled to be released on November 15:
"We're Only In It For The Monkey"
by Caballero Reynaldo & The Grand Tiemersma.

Two teasers :

-

NEW ALBUM BY THE ED PALERMO BIG BAND

 A message from Ed Palermo:

ATTENTION! Announcing our newest release.
THE ED PALERMO BIG BAND, IT'S AN ED PALERMO CHRISTMAS! GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE!
CD design by legendary artist Cal Schenkel (Frank Zappa, Capt. Beefheart, Tom Waits).
If you've never seen one of our holiday shows, this is the perfect way to experience Palermo's Xmas Extravaganza right in your own home.

Album Drop on Nov. 13, 2026. Available right here on bandcamp. Stay tuned.

MIKE KENEALLY / BANNED FROM UTOPIA - SLEEP DIRT

 

GREETINGS FROM PAMPLONA

We, Zappa fans, see clues to our musical hero everywhere.

Below picture was sent in by Jeroen, taken in Pamplona. He added:
"Although the resemblance to Zappa is probably more a matter of chance than anything else."

STEPHEN STEINBRINK - UTOPIA TEASED

• Stephen Steinbrink: Utopia Teased
      (2018, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2018, cd, UK, melodic)

Stephen Steinbrink's "Utopia Teased" album arrived a couple of days ago.
As mentioned last month, the album includes a piece entitled 'Zappa Dream', written by Rosie Steffy and previously recorded by La Dee Da.

"Utopia Teased" presents low-fi pop music. The background of this album is heavy. Devastated by the tragic Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, which claimed the life of a close friend, Steinbrink processed his immense grief by isolating himself in his studio. Taking LSD daily and refusing sleep, he poured his fractured psyche directly onto tape, deliberately driving preamps to reflect how "fried" and pulverized his brain felt.

Despite the heavy blanket of trauma, the 12-track album glimmers with surprising lightness, floating somewhere between the delicate pop and the hazy, psychedelic drifts.

HIBUSHIBIRE - PHANTOM FUZZY EXOTICA

• Hibushibire: Phantom Fuzzy Exotica
      (2026, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2026, lp, --, riot season records) – purple vinyl / 300 copies

Japanese psychedelic rock trio Hibushibire's 5th studio album got released in 2026: “Phantom Fuzzy Exotica’.
It included ‘Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Electric Nonsense’, for which the Bandcamp page added:
Hard psychedelic jazz rock. The title is a little nod to Frank Zappa.

Released as a digital download through Bandcamp, the album was also made available in different vinyl variations.

The "retail version" was on purple vinyl and limited to 300 copies. Also sold during the recent EU tour.

Bandcamp:

-- info: Philippe Lamoot

THE BANNED FROM UTOPIA

The Banned From Utopia is still touring !

Here's one of the highlights from their recent concert at De Boerderij, NL

And a fine recording from De Singer, BE

-

17 HIPPIES - BIESTER

• 17 Hippies: Biester
      (2014, cd, Germany, hipster-records hip 016)
      (2014, lp, Germany, hipster-records hip 016 lp)

Fascinating: there are two different versions of the CD. It was made available in both a 3-panel digipack and in a 2-panel digipack. Same label, same reference number.
All versions included 17 Hippies' version of Frank Zappa’s ‘Peaches En Regalia”.

Here's 'Peaches En Regalia':

ALTERATIVE TV - THE IMAGE HAS CRACKED - THE ALTERNATIVE TV COLLECTION

• Alternative TV: The Image Has Cracked – The Alternative TV Collection
      (1994, cd, UK, anagram records cd punk 24)

Somehow, I had missed this 1994 re-issue of Alternative TV's 1978 album.
It's not just a re-issue as it includes 10 bonus tracks !

It included ‘Why Don’tcha Do Me Right’, originally on the 1978 album.

ANDREA ROSSI ANDREA / GROUND PLANE ANTENNA - QSL FROM WEB

• Andrea Rossi Andrea – Ground Plane Antenna: QSL From Web
      (2003, cd, Italy, splas(h) records cdh 2503.2)

Musician and artist Andrea Rossi used Andrea Rossi Andrea as his artist moniker.

His “QSL From Web” album included a piece entitled 'Idioterne'. The full title was mentioned on the back of the digipack:
‘ “Frank Zappa: Quando George Impazzi Asoltando I Pink Floyd Credevamo Scherzasse”. DIOTERNE’,
which would translate to:
‘ "Frank Zappa: When George went crazy listening to Pink Floyd, we thought he was joking”. The idiots’.

TORY SLUSHER - - - AMNERIKA

Frank Zappa's 'Amnerika', performed by Tory Slusher

-- info: Dirk Verschaeve

FLAB - THE BLUE MONK

•  Flab: The Blue Monk
      (2026, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2026, cd, --, --)

Flab features Wolfram Klug and Matthias Zimlich.

In previous years, Wolfram Klug released “Burt The Nerd” (2020) and “Speaking To Ray” (2022), both presenting some Frank Zappa compositions. 

The Bandcamp liner notes for “The Blue Monk” mentioned:

The album explores adventurous auditory landscapes deeply inspired by the playful, boundary-pushing spirit of pioneers like Frank Zappa and Brian Eno.

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - FREAK OUT - 60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

No surprise. The Japanese edition of the "Freak Out" box is on SHM CDs:

5 shm-cd + blu-ray

TWO NEW BOOKS ABOUT FRANK ZAPPA

Two new books, but unfortunately with miserable AI generated cover artwork.

THE IKE WILLIS MEMORIAL BARBECUE AT THE MOSAE ZAPPA FESTIVAL

In about a month, the MOSAE ZAPPA Festival will take place in Heerlen, NL.

It will be the tenth edition already!
https://mosaezappa.wordpress.com/

As a special event, MOSAE ZAPPA will feature The Ike Willis Memorial Barbecue, where Roddie Gilliard and Co de Kloet will share some of their memories, moderated by Tim op het Broek.

Looking forward to it.

 

Let me share three of my Ike Willis moments with you.

My favourite one happened when I was queuing to get enter some club in Delft, NL, to catch a concert by Cuccurullo Brillo Brullo, a fine Frank Zappa tribute band. And on this occasion, Ike Willis would be featured as special guest.
October 2006.
So I’m in line, or I just bought my ticket, and I hear someone explaining to the counter clerk that he is Jeff Hollie and that he’s a friend of Ike Willis. If someone could fetch Ike.
By coincidence, I had just been updating the United-Mutations website with Jeff’s whereabouts (Jeff was performing with Wicked Jazz Sounds and had been living in The Netherlands for some years at the time) so when some of the Cuccurullo Brillo Brullo band members came down to check out this tall, dark fellow, I could explain who he was and they called for Ike.
My mind can be blurred a bit, but I remember it as a touching moment when Ike and Jeff finally saw each other again in person after quite a number of years.
I was happy to be invited to join them at their table while they were reminiscing.
And, yes, Jeff had brought his saxophone and performed a couple of tunes with the band…
What a night.
And it was Jeff’s re-entry into the Zappa world.

The most impressive memory happened at Zappanale #22 in 2011 (if my notes are correct). As those who have attended Zappanale know, Zappanale is a very ‘open’ festival. There are great opportunities to chat with everyone.
Anyway, Doctor Nerve performed at Zappanale in 2011 and at a certain moment, and I don’t recall how this came about, I’m standing next to Nick Didkovsky and Ike Willis.
Nick explained to Ike how he joined the Zappa band on stage during a certain show, as some sort of audience participation, and Ike not only remembered this but started adding details to that story with his infectious enthusiasm, but above all with an incredibly impressive memory.
Loved it.

The most bizarre memory took place in Eeklo, Belgium, when Ike was touring with The Muffin Men. I don’t remember the year.
We were there well in advance and we were not the only ones.
A couple of Dutch guys came in, searched for Ike, and they left together with Ike.
When the concert was about to start, no one knew where Ike was. He had disappeared and only returned much later. He did have issues at the time…

Anyway, November 21, Heerlen will be the place to be.
And add November 20 as well if you’re up for a pre-party with Project Z.