TOM WAITS - NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER

• tom waits: nighthawks at the diner
      (1975, 2lp, asylum records)

Managed by Herb Cohen, album design by Cal Schenkel.
And one of his best albums: "Nighthawks At The Diner".
Essential stuff.

TWO NEW ALBUMS BY PRINCE

The end of September will see two new releases by Prince :

Prince & 3rdeyegirl : "Plectrumelectrum"
and
Prince : "Art Official Age"

Both to be released on the Warner Brothers label, together with an "anniversary" remastered re-release of "Purple Rain" (with bonus tracks).

Reason enough to pull out another recent Prince album and to add its data to the United Mutations Archives.

• prince: mplsound
      (2009, cd, usa, npg records)

Originally released as part of the "Lotusflow3r" 3 CD set, "Mplsound" got also released as a seperate album. Somewhere in 2009.

FREAK KITCHEN

Mattias Eklundh and his Freak Kitchen band will be releasing a new album next week.

"Cooking With Pagans".

RABBITOO - NATIONAL ANTHEM OF UNKNOWN COUNTRY

• rabbitoo: national anthem of unknown country
      (2013, cd, austria, nj 624611)

Here's a fine album that got recommendedto me by my friend Till.
Rabbitoo is a Japanese quintet (guitar, sax, keyboard, bass and drums) and as far as I know, "National Anthem Of Unknown Country" is their first release.
The ensemble is led by guitarist Motohiko Ichino who also wrote most of the compositions.

The music on "National Anthem Of Unknown Country" is fascinating.
This is jazz, but not as we know it.

Catchy melodies, impressive solos,...
Air sculptures !
My cup of tea.

Check it out.

Here is a sample :

COWBOYS FROM HELL - MONSTER RODEO

• cowboys from hell: monster rodeo
      (2007, cd, italy, altrisuoni as235)

Swiss trio Cowboys From Hell released their first album in 2007. On the Italian Altrisuoni label.

I was told that "Cowboys From Hell" is the title of the fifth Pantera album. It's not unlikely that our Swiss friends are familiar with Pantera as they mix heavy rock with jazz lines.
Zappa and Panzerballet immediately come to mind.

"Monster Rodeo" is an appropriate titel for an impressive album.
I like it a lot !

Here's Cowboys From Hell at HBC, Berlin, Germany.

ZAPPERLOT 2014 - - - MÖRGLBL

French band Mörglbl was one of the reasons for me to drive to Switzerland to attend the Zapperlot! Festival.
Mörglbl played on day two: Saturday Aug 16, 2014.

I'm a big fan of Christophe Godin's guitar playing and this was a great opportunity to see him in action again.
Ivan Rougny (on bass) and Aurélien Ouzoulias (on drums) completed the trio.
They played a tight and impessive set (despite the electrical power failure break).
It was loud. Well, very loud, actually, but also very good. And funny.
These guys know how to transmit their energy to the audience.

setlist  (thank you, Chato)

• Gnocchies On The Block
• Brutal Romance
• Monster Within Me
• Mörglbl Circus
• Fidel Gastro
• Tale of Thibault
• Rude (new song/working title)
• Glucids In The Sky
• 22 oz
• Metal Khartoom
  
  encore
• Myspacebook

picture by stv

Here's a fragment from their recent live DVD.

MR. DIBBS - THE 30TH SONG

• mr.dibbs: the 30th song
      (2003, cd, usa,  rhymesayers entertainment rs030-2)

Mr. Dibbs sampled Frank Zappa's 'Little Umbrellas' from "The Grand Wazoo" on 'Rhythmic Soaring' from his 2003 "The 30th Song" album.
This is fun.
Another fine addition to The Others Of Invention.

Check it out !!

J DILLA - DONUTS

• j dilla: donuts
      (2006, cd, usa, stone throw records) 

J Dilla sampled Frank Zappa's 'Dance Contest' from the "Tinseltown Rebellion" album in his 'Mash' track on his 2006 "Donuts" album.
Info has been added to the United Mutations Archives.

Actually, the album contains some hundred or so samples.
Look here for the complete list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donuts_(album)

And here's Jay Dee's 'Mash' with the Zappa sample.

OSTRICH VON NIPPLE - QUANTIFIES ABSURDITY

• ostrich von nipple: quantifies absurdity
      (2014, cd, ger, psychofon records)

"Ostrich Von Nipple Quantifies Absurdity" is OVN's third album. It follows "Contemplates The Cosmos" (2011) and "Plays Some Shitty Tunes" (2012).

OVN's output has a very recognisable style. Both music and artwork are very distinct. Yet, both the music and the artwork keep surprising me. Time after time.

Dark. Almost haunting.
With excellent guitar work by Nolan Cook and an unexpected appearance by Molly Harvey.
I love it.

Superb artwork, beautiful packaging & great music.
Fans of The Residents / Nolan Cook / Molley Harvey / Ostrich Von Nipple will not be disapointed.
This is a must-have !!

Go to http://www.psychofonrecords.com/  and order your copy today (as this is a limited edition of 300 copies)

There's also a collectors / "die-hard" edition (33 copies) and a 7" vinyl single with bonus material (50 copies), so don't wait too long.

ERNIE WATTS HAS A NEW ALBUM OUT

Ernie Watts, who was the saxophone player on Frank Zappa's "The Grand Wazoo" (1972), has just released a new album.
It's entitled "A Simple Truth" and it's out on the Flying Dolphin Records label.

Here's a recent live snippet from Ernie Watts with Tino Derado (piano), Rudi Engel (bass) and Heinrich Koebberling (drums).