THE PINK FAIRIES - NEVER NEVER LAND

• Pink Fairies: Never Never Land
      (2020, cd, --, bang records)

The Pink Fairies’ first and maybe also their most famous album, “Never Never Land”, has been re-issued several times.
One of these remastered CD versions included FZ’s ‘Trouble Coming Everyday’ as one of the bonus tracks, performed by Mick Farren who was part of the Pink Fairies for a very short time during their formation. It's the same version that Mick released on one of his solo albums.

Released on the Bang Records label in a limited edition of 500 copies.

The original 1971 LP was co-produced by Neil Slaven who would later write “Zappa, Electric Don Quixote”, a 350 page book.

WARREN HAYNES ON TRACK STAR

 

THE MALLETS OF INVENTION

 For those of you who want to know more about Frank Zappa's percussionists.

https://pas.org/publication-articles/the-mallets-of-invention-a-listening-guide-to-frank-zappas-percussionists/

And you may also enjoy The USM Percussion Ensemble, performing FZ's 'The Black Page'.

ASTRAL MAGIC & PAUL ROLAND - LIGHT OF THE WORLD

• Astral Magic & Paul Roland: Light Of The World
      (2026, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2026, cd, --, astral magic music)

The cosmic gears are turning once again over at the Astral Magic clubhouse.
For "Light Of The World", Santtu Laakso has teamed up with England’s resident psych-pop master and gothic-folk bard, Paul Roland, for a magnificent dive into the deep space.

If you are expecting ambient noodling, you have come to the wrong sector of the galaxy. This is riff-oriented space rock.
Hawkwind-esque synthesizer arrays collide head-on with Roland's hallmark storytelling, acoustic undertones, and eerie psych-pop hooks.

-- info: Danny Mathys

SPIT - SONGS IN THE KEY OF E FLATULENCE

• Spit: Songs In The Key Of E Flatulence
      (1999, cd, USA, spit records)

Vinnie Spit is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and performer. He formed his band SPIT in 1985 and began recording and performing in Wilmington, DE and surrounding areas. He was also a member of Batz Without Flesh and Zoccola.

This one, I brought back from the Zappanale festival.

Raw and aggressive rock.
Combined with provocative imagery, song and album titles.
Fortunately, without fart noises.

His "Songs In The Key Of E Flatulence" included a piece entitled ‘Why Frank Zappa, Who Not Joe Cocker?’.

The Zappa reference is only in the title.

From another SPIT album:

SQUARES

• Squares: Squares
      (2019, cd, --, ear music)
      (2019, lp, --, ear music)

A couple of weeks ago, I read about this CD.
Early demos from Joe Satriani's pre-fame band Squares.
Dusted off and produced by John Cuniberti in 2019.
Being the curious person that I am, I ordered the CD.

Before finding international fame as an instrumental guitar virtuoso, Joe Satriani fronted the 1980s power-pop trio Squares. In 2019, Joe dug into his archives to officially release their long-lost music on a self-titled archival compilation album titled Squares.

The band was formed in December 1979 in Berkeley, California, by Joe Satriani and his brother-in-law, Neil Sheehan. Sheehan served as the band's manager and lyricist.

Despite building a dedicated local club following in the San Francisco Bay Area and opening for larger acts, they struggled to secure a major record deal because record labels found their genre-bending sound difficult to categorize. The group disbanded around 1984 when Satriani briefly joined the Greg Kihn Band before launching his solo career with his 1986 debut, "Not of This Earth".

For fans of early eighties pop music...

GOOSE ON TOUR AND ON BANDCAMP

Goose is continuing their tour and their on the west coast now.
At least as important is that they're releasing all of their concerts on Bandcamp.

Here's the San Diego concert from two days ago: 

STICK MEN TO HIT THE ROAD THIS SEPTEMBER

Stick Men tour dates.

- Tony Levin: Stick
- Markus Reuter: Touch Guitars U8 Deluxe
- Pat Mastelotto: Acoustic and Electronic Drums and Percussion

• September 8: The 13th Floor, Austin, TX
• September 13: Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, BC
• September 15: Star Theater, Portland, OR
• September 16: WOW Hall, Eugene, OR
• September 17: Whiteside Theatre, Corvallis, OR
• September 19: Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA
• September 20: UCSC Music Center, Santa Cruz, CA
• September 21: Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA
• September 22: Winters Tavern, Pacifica, CA
• September 24 and 25: Baked Potato, Studio City, CA
• September 27: California Center for Arts, Escondido, CA
• September 29: Walter Studios, Phoenix, AZ

ASTRAL MAGIC WITH VESA PARTTI - FLOATING IN SPACE

• Astral Magic With Vesa Partti: Floating In Space
      (2024, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2024, cd, --, astral magic music)

It's not easy to keep track of the musical output of Astral Magic.
"Floating In Space" is the bands 40th album !!

Astral Magic (= former Dark Sun member Santtu Laakso) joins forces with Finnish multi-instrumentalist Vesa Partti to deliver an album that perfectly balances space rock with modern psychedelic mastery.

The CD release has some bonus tracks !!

Trippy !!

-- info: Danny Mathys

R.I.P. EARLE DUMLER

Earle Dumler passed away last month.

He can be heard on The Mothers' "Grand Wazoo" album, on Zappa's "Orchestral Favorites", "Joe's Garage", and on several posthumous releases.

-- info: Jan van Kemenade