THE PETE ROTH TRIO, FEAT. BILL BRUFORD

The Pete Roth Trio return with Group Chat, a striking new CD/DVD release that captures the spontaneity, interplay and fearless musical conversation at the heart of this exceptional band. Led by guitarist Pete Roth, alongside bassist Mike Pratt and legendary drummer Bill Bruford, Group Chat is Roth's third major album and a release of particular significance, marking Bruford's eagerly awaited return to headline performance after a 13-year hiatus, as well as his first appearance on new material in 19 years.

• Pete Roth Trio: Group Chat
      (2026, cd + dvd, UK, cherry red)

OCTOBER EQUUS - SATURNAL REVISITED

"To commemorate fifteen years since the release of October Equus's album 'Saturnal' on the AltrOck label, I delved into our archives in search of all the tracks not used in the final mix. I then created a remix in which I replaced each instrument track with alternative takes where possible, which was the case for almost all the guitars and keyboards. I also grouped the music into two blocks or suites: one composed by me, which we'll call the Saturnal Suite (tracks 1-5), and one composed by keyboardist Víctor Rodríguez, respecting his original concept, inspired by the Central European folktale 'Sandman' (tracks 6-11). I believe this new mix is closer to the sound of October Equus live at that time. In any case, it's not intended to replace the original album, but simply to offer another perspective."
Ángel Ontalva

NEW RELEASE THE FLAT EARTH SOCIETY

November 2023, the Flat Earth Society performed at the café of De Bijloke in Ghent, BE.
The concert was entitled "Zonk Sessie #1" and celebrated the music of Miles Davis.

April 2024, FES would do a second session at the same location, called "Zonk Sessie #2 - De Misha Mengelberg Mutations".

The first session has been made available by FES through their Bandcamp page.
Lovely. And not just because I attended. :-)

MAGMA IN CONCERT AT LE TRITON IN PARIS ON JULY 2, 3 AND 4

From Le Triton:
Some news that’s sure to delight those who missed out last time: following their success in January, Magma are returning in July for a new series of three concerts at the Triton!

“Magma is returning to the Triton. For three explosive concerts! The audience who discovered the core line-up are clamouring for more… They won’t be disappointed. We’ll be back in early July, armed to the teeth. The machines of the celestial powers are running at full throttle! See you soon for thrilling moments, new themes and a burning faith. No compromises.”

and, yes, that's tomorrow.

https://www.letriton.com/programmation

THE ARCHITECT OF TRUTH - THE RITE OF SPRING (PERCUSSED)

'The Rite of Spring (Percussed)'
by Architect of Truth

EXPO MARCEL GOTLIB IN PARIS

The attentive reader must have come across some Frank Zappa references in (the late) comic book artist Marcel Gotlib's oeuvre.

Gotlib.
Displaying a fine musical taste and always fun to read.
One of the greats.
And he's getting an expo in Paris, France, at Huberty & Breyne.

PARIS | 36 avenue Matignon, 75008 Paris

GOTLIB
Rétrospective

Exposition Du vendredi 4 septembre au samedi 10 octobre 2026

ORANG-UTAN

From the Think Like A Key record label:

Eight tracks. One afternoon. Five guys who didn't even know the record existed until it was already in American shops. A young London impresario named Adrian Millar marched a hard-rock outfit called Hunter into one of London's great studios, cut the album with engineer Louis Austin (early Fleetwood Mac, Queen) at the desk, then drove off in a Rolls-Royce with the tapes. The album surfaced stateside in 1971 under a name the band never chose, became a collector's grail, and has been bootlegged ever since — but never from the original source.

Millar's master session tape — recovered from his family's loft years after his passing — is the only tape that matters. The Producer's Cut is the first edition sourced from that multi-track reel. Every previous reissue and bootleg pressed an LP transfer. This is the multi-track itself, freshly remixed, and corrected for the first time: the original tape ran approximately 2% slow, meaning the album the world knows has always been slightly flat and sluggish. Not anymore.

The circulating recording:

STICK MEN - SWIMMING IN TEA

 'Swimming In Tea'
by Stick Men

Three versions / remixes, released as a teaser for the upcoming "Let's Thrak Again" album.

KAPLAN - EVANS - GREENBERGER - QUANTUM FIDGETS

From the David Greenberger (Men & Volts) vault:

Improvised music by Phil Kaplan, Michael Evans and David Greenberger.

HAPPY THE MAN

From the Bandcamp page:

Progressive rock pioneers Happy the Man have been recording and developing Fourth of July: An American Suite, a large-scale musical work composed by Ron Riddle — originally created in the 2000s during Riddle’s years scoring television for Discovery Channel and TLC. 

The music traces its origins to the landmark Houston fireworks spectacular featured in the television series Detonators, where Riddle served as composer for the series. At the time, the Houston event was widely recognized as one of the largest fireworks productions in America, combining massive pyrotechnic displays with live-event drama on an enormous scale.

Written to accompany both the spectacle and the emotional tension behind the production itself, the music moved fluidly between progressive rock, orchestral passages, cinematic Americana, and rhythmically driven soundtrack composition.

Quite theatrical and a bit too much patriotism for my taste, especially if you compare the YouTube movie with the current situation in the USA...
Anyway, here it is:

Also out on Bandcamp.