BRETT SPIVEY - DIE WEIHNACHTSMASCHINE

Die Weihnachtsmaschine (The Christmas Machine)
- A Holiday Tribute to Kraftwerk

brand-new release by Brett Spivey

NEW BANDCAMP RELEASE BY MIKE KENEALLY

"MKAF ‘03"
Mike Keneally & Friends
Live Adventures in Europe

COMING TO BANDCAMP
THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5!

The album will only be added to Mike's Bandcamp page on Friday:

https://mikekeneallymusic.bandcamp.com/

Mike added:

What is MKAF ‘03? Here’s some background:

Since the early ‘00s, concurrent with my Beer for Dolphins activities and the other stuff I get involved with, I’ve also had what I guess you could call my European Power Trio, consisting of me, Jaan Wessman (who lives in Finland) on bass, and Schroeder (who lives in Germany) on drums. We play when we can – three years ago we did the Zappanale Festival in Germany, and last year we played a few shows in Finland. I dearly love any opportunity to play with these guys – it’s a very special, and not widely known, part of my life and music.

Since 2016 we’ve been called The Mike Keneally Report, but when we started doing shows in 2002, and up until 2004, we were called MIKE KENEALLY & FRIENDS.

ZAPPANALE PREVIEW

Added to the Zappanale line-up:

German kraut rockers Agitation Free

Portugese band The Brothers Of Invention

Dutch / German collaboration The Filthy Brillos

= Fred & Armin of the Jeff Hollie trio & Sebastian, Sascha & Flo from the HuSos.

German band Die Miserablen Husos

ASTRAL MAGIC

 Astral Magic is a relatively new project by Santtu Laakso.
Santtu is the bass player for psychedelic space rock band Dark Sun.
His Astral Magic project comes from the same stable.

Kicked off by some home recordings during the covid-19 lockdown, Santtu has released over 40 albums up until today.

Here are the albums that I enjoyed / am enjoying today:

"Cruising The Celestial Highways" (2024)

"Shadows Over Jupiter (Remixed)"

"Strange Sensation"

"Mind Melt Machine EP"

ANTON ROOLAART - THE BALLAD OF GENERAL JUPITER

• Anton Roolaart: The Ballad Of General Jupiter
      (2026, cd, --, moonjune records)

With Anton Roolaart's "The Ballad Of General Jupiter" to be released in early January, the MoonJune Records label is already making one track available as a teaser.

Multi-instrumentalist Anton Roolaart was born in Teheran, Iran, and moved to the USA with his family at an early age. 
In 2007, Anton released his first album, "Dreamer', followed by a second one, "The Plight Of Lady Oona" in 2014.
In 2020, however, after living most of his life in the USA, Anton Roolaart moved to Amsterdam in The Netherlands where he continues to work on new music.

On "The Ballad Of General Jupiter", Anton does not hide his admiration for early nineteen seventies progressive rock music.
Eight tracks. Seven fine original compositions plus Jon Anderson's 'Yesterday And Today' (which fits great).

Blending rich musical textures with evocative and lyrical storytelling, The Ballad of General Jupiter is a collection of sonic tales — snapshots of imagination, emotion, and resilience. With echoes of David Bowie, Pink Floyd, early Genesis and Caravan, Roolaart paints vivid musical portraits shaped by imagination, introspection, and social consciousness as he explores not only personal themes, but also broader reflections on a world grappling with chaos, greed, and injustice.

If you're in or around Amsterdam on December 13th at Teatro Munganga, don't miss Anton Roolaart's acoustic concert. In addition to occasional local shows, Anton will be on a short tour of Benelux and Northern France in 2026, and he will perform at the 4th MoonJune International Festival in Teramo, Italy, in July 2026.

"The Ballad Of General Jupiter" will be out on CD, on LP and on Bandcamp in January 2026.
I was fortunate to give the complete album a listen and this one got a thumbs up from me.

Check out 'Star Child' on Bandcamp.

NEW RELEASE BY CHANAN HANSPAL

Chanan Hanspal's latest album, "Space Nordic", features Mike Keneally !

GUITAR WORLD INTERVIEW WITH MIKE KENEALLY

EXCELLENT Guitar World interview with Mike Keneally.
Talking about playing in Frank Zappa's band, but also discussing performing with Dweezil Zappa, Steve, Vai, XTC,...

 

J DILLA'S "DONUTS" ALBUM GETS ANOTHER RE-ISSUE

J Dilla's "Donuts" album celebrates is 20th anniversary in a couple of months.
Which translates into another re-issue of this excellent album.

The Donuts Audiophile Edition is lacquer cut at Bernie Grundman and manufactured at Fidelity Record Pressing - 2LP 180g vinyl at 45rpm. Deluxe art printed Stoughton jacket.

And here's one of the reasons why I like J Dilla: 'Mash', sampling Frank Zappa.

STICK MEN ON TOUR

Stick Men kicked off their West Coast 'Brutal' tour in Vancouver. 

• Tony Levin - Chapman Stick
• Markus Reuter - touch guitar
• Pat Mastelotto - drums, electronics

 

NEW SAMPLER : JOIN THE BAND! EARLY DAYS AND FAVORITE BLUES OF LITTLE FEAT

• Various Artists: Join The Band! Early Days And Favorite Blues Of Little Feat
      (2025, cd, Japan, oldays records)

The band members' musical history prior to the band's formation and the blues numbers they covered are all on this one disc!

So it's not Little Feat, but the music that influenced them, and music by the bands some of the members played in before they joined Little Feat.
Including The Factory with Lowell George, and The Mothers Of Invention, featuring Roy Estrada.

1.Join The Band / John Davis & Group
2.Smile, Let Your Life Begin / The Factory
3.No Place I'd Rather Be / The Factory
4.Trippin' Out / Something Wild
5.Why Don't You Do Me Right / The Mothers Of Invention
6.Forty-Four Blues / Howlin' Wolf
7.How Many More Years / Howlin' Wolf
8.You'll Be Mine / Howlin' Wolf
9.Wang Dang Doodle / Howlin' Wolf
10.Lonesome Whistle / Hank Williams
11.Framed / Coasters
12.Can't Be Satisfied / Muddy Waters
13.They're Red Hot (Hot Tamales) / Robert Johnson
14.You're Taking Up Another Man's Place / Mable John
15.That's A Pretty Good Love / Big Maybelle
16.Last Night / Little Walter
17.It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry / Bob Dylan
18.Going Down In Louisiana / Joe Hill Louis
19.Big Road Blues / Tommy Johnson
20.My Daddy Was A Jockey / John Lee Hooker

-- info: Jan van Kemenade