Sunday, August 16, 2026

SØREN BEBE TRIO

Over the past few days, I’ve been immersing myself in the music of the Søren Bebe Trio.

Recommended by my pal Mick and I am quite impressed.

Led by Danish pianist and composer Søren Bebe, the trio produces a nice balance of sparse piano chords, smooth percussion, and a powerfully gentle double bass, resulting in quite lyrical and melancholic voyages.


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-- info: Mick Zeuner

TU-NER - RENDEZVOUS RODEO

  • Tu-Ner: Rendezvous Rodeo
        (2026, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
        (2026, cd, USA, 7d media)
Tu-Ner’s Rendezvous Rodeo is a splendid example of hyper-disciplined avant-garde rock, capturing a high-wire live performance that blurs the line between tight structural math rock and raw, unpredictable improvisation.

Released on 7d Media, this third album from the power-trio - featuring King Crimson veterans Pat Mastelotto (drums) and Trey Gunn (Warr guitar) alongside Markus Reuter (Touch Guitar) - was recorded completely live in a single night at The Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, on August 25, 2025.

I'm very happy with the download that I received over here at the United Mutations headquarters as this record delivers the exact kind of dense, boundary-pushing complexity we thrive on.
That's exactly why "Rendezvous Rodeo" demands your immediate attention.


-- info: Harald Haering

THE FUNK 'N' BLUES KITCHEN - THE FUNK 'N' BLUES KITCHEN

  • The Funk ‘n’ Blues Kitchen: The Funk ‘n’ Blues Kitchen
        (2014, cd, Germany, pottpeople)

The Funk 'n' Blues Kitchen's 2014 self-titled CD is an excellent, genre-bending masterpiece that seamlessly blends real instruments with modern digital samples and loops. 

Released on the German POTTpeople label, this 13-track instrumental album is the brainchild of guitarist and composer Martin "Ludi" Ettrich.

Instead of capturing a standard live studio band, as he does with The Almost Three, Ettrich acts as a musical chef in his "kitchen," assembling a highly unique instrumental menu. He uses several distinct guitar and production techniques across the album. There's funky rhythms, a vocoder / talk box, Texas blues licks, nice jazzy octaves, ... 

For "The Funk 'n' Blues Kitchen', Ludi recruited eight of his talented bass-playing friends (including musicians associated with progressive outfits like Birth Control, Helge Schneider, and N.O.H.A.) to record independent, live bass lines, adding different flavours to each track.

Perfect party and/or road trip music (although I enjoyed it through my headphones while working on my computer).


Saturday, August 15, 2026

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:



Friday, August 14, 2026

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: