LA STPO - LE COMBAT OCCULTE / TRANCHES D'OMBILIC

• La STPO : Le Combat Occulté / Tranches d’Ombilic
      (2006, cd, USA, beta-lactam ring records mt047b) – limited edition of 500 copies

La Société Des Timides Á La Parade Des Oiseaux released "Le Combat Occulté" as a 12" EP in 2005.

In 2006, the tracks got combined with another set of alternate, unreleased, rare & live tracks for "Le Combat Occulté / Tranches d'Ombilic" CD, released in a limited edition of 500 copies.

The first 11 tracks ("Le Combat Occulté") got recorded in 1992-1993.Tracks 13-22, "Tranches d'Ombilic", in 1984-1989.

Experimenal / dada / ...
A fine discovery !!

Here's 'Dada Max Stellt Loplop Vor', from 1995. (Not on the above mentioned album)

REGAL WORM - WORM !

The day kicked off with an album by Regal Worm, a UK-based psychedelic progressive rock band.
= a Jarrod Gosling project. 

I enjoyed "Worm !", from 2022, an album that I received as a digital download.
My ears and my mind had to get used to the upbeat drum machine electronics. It's a strange mix, but it works somehow.

JOHN TABACCO - WUSB 90.1 FM

 A new and funny release by John Tabacco.

John's brand-new “WUSB 90.1 FM” album collects a set of jingles for Stonybrook’s “WUSB 90.1” radio station.
No clue if they're real and if these were actually used, or just produced for the fun of it, but they sound great.

• WUSB 90.1 FM (station i.d. No. 1)
   - uses parts of Brown Shoes Don’t Make It

NEEDLEPOINT

Norwegian band Needlepoint mixes rock and jazz with references to 60s and 70s psychedelic and progressive rock.

I was familiar with their "The Diary Of Robert Reverie" and "Walking Up That Valley" albums, so I was quite happy with the additional two digital downloads that I received.

• Needlepoint: In Concert
      (2023, cd, Norway, bjk music)
      (2023, lp, Norway, bjk music)
  
  

• Needlepoint: Remnants Of Light
      (2024, cd, Norway, bjk music)
      (2024, lp, Norway, bjk music)

True, the vocals are a bit shaky at times, but the music is great !!
Check them out.

BELEDO - FLOTANDO EN EL VACIO

• Beledo: Flotando En El Vacío
      (2024, cd, --, moonjune records)

Leonardo Pavlovic recently hosted the MoonJune Records Festival in Toledo, Spain.
We hesitated but finally decided not to attend. It just didn't fit too well in the schedules.

To make up for it, I ordered a bunch of MoonJune artist albums. One of these was José Pedro Beledo's latest album, "Flotando En El Vacío".

On the MoonJune bandcamp page, Beledo adds:
It was really a wonderful surprise when Leonardo told me that he wanted me to record an album with Carles Benavent and Jorge Pardo. Leonardo always comes up with ideas that make my head spin for a good reason. It was almost too good to be true.

After pinching myself to make sure I was not dreaming I had to navigate through the idea and figure out what kind of material I would bring to the table. Carles and Jorge participated on Paco de Lucia’s “Solo Quiero Caminar” which is one of the best albums ever made and Carles and Paco duo “Monasterio de sal” is not only an extremely difficult song but it is one of the most impressive compositions ever written. That said, I knew that my album had to be completely different than that but my extreme desire for excellency would find a common ground where these exceptional musicians would feel comfortable using their amazing skills over my compositions. On top of that, we were going to have the incredible amazing Asaf Sirkis on drums who can jazz and rock hard but has an incredible vast knowledge of diverse ethnic music from around the world. We could not go wrong.

And Beledo was right. It did not go wrong.
With Carles Benavent on the bass, Jorge Pardo on the flute, and Asaf Sirkis on the drums, Beledo had the perfect team.
Add special guests Gary Husband and Ramon Echegaray for the some additional flavor and you get an amazing album.

A beautiful mix of world music and fusion jazz.

Love it.

QUARTET DIMINISHED - DEERAND

• Quartet Diminished: Deerand
      (2024, cd, USA, moonjune records)

Quartet Diminished was established in Iran in 2013 by guitarist Ehsan Sadigh. This is their fourth album. Their music is stylistically diverse, drawing freely from contemporary jazz, art rock, and avant-garde music. The membership has been relatively stable. Sadigh (electric guitar) has had bandmates Soheil Peyghambar (woodwinds), Mazyar Younessi (piano, voice), and Rouzbeh Fadavi (drums) on most of the group’s albums.

The instrumentation suggests many possibilities, including chamber jazz, Rock In Opposition-style art rock, and free improvisation, and the compositions have often been credited to Sadigh. But here the music is credited to the entire band, just as it was on the previous album. The practice of adding players from outside the quartet to the sessions was also repeated: the personnel includes bass guitarist/Chapman stick bassist Tony Levin, and touch guitarist Markus Reuter–who are also given co-composer credits. It makes for a bigger sound–the quartet is effectively a sextet most of the time–and clearly, the situation was an inspiration for all of the players.

The music that's presented on "Deerand" is quite diverse. Some parts sound like improvised soundscapes while other parts seem to have been written out for the entire ensemble.
Unfamiliar with their previous albums, this was a fine introduction.

NEW RELEASE BY MEN & VOLTS

More music from the Men & Volts archives: a new album entitled "Red Hair Girl".

You get 17 versions of 'Red Hair Girl', from the original album track (from 1983) to various live recordings.

For those who are into the music of Captain Beefheart !!

MOON ZAPPA AUDIOBOOK

• Moon Zappa: Earth To Moon – A Memoir
      (2024, mp3 cd, --, harper audio)

There's an Audiobook of Moon Zappa’s “Earth To Moon”.
Read by the author.

84 chapters, 101 mp3 media files.

It was (still is?) available from Amazon.

Yes, this is an audiobook about growing up in the shadows of Frank Zappa, in a sexually free, but also dysfunctional world in 1970s LA.

DWEEZIL ZAPPA'S "ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA" BAND

Dweezil says:

WATCH MY BAND SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2kvyWI_e3I

QUANTUM FANTAY - LIVE AT MIMESIS CLUB (BARCELONA)

• Quantum Fantay: Live At Mimesis Club (Barcelona)
      (2020, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)

Belgian space rock band Quantum Fantay release "Live At Mimesis Club (Barcelona)" in April 2020.

This live show was recorded during the protests in Barcelona on October 18th, 2019, during one of the psychedelic nights of Mimesis in the Wolf Club.