Captain Beefheart's legendary and widely bootlegged record Bat Chain Puller is going to be officially released for the first time. The original tape was never mixed and released, but alternative versions of some of the tracks appeared on Beefheart's Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), and as bootlegs.

Wire contributor and Beefheart biographer Mike Barnes says "The tape is owned by the Zappa estate and although Don didn't want it released they've been true to the work. Not only that, its availability was announced on the anniversary of Don's death and will be released on his birthday."

This release has been mixed by Magic Band members Denny Walley and John French, who also provide liner notes. It contains the 12 original album tracks plus three bonus tracks and is expected to arrive around the 15 January 13 February. Scant info and ordering details here. Watch "Bat Chain Puller" being performed live below.

Update (16 January): Bat Chain Puller has been delayed by around a month. A mailout said: "The Bat Chain Puller pre-order has been extended due to delays in manufacturing. We believe we will now be shipping the week of 13 February."

Here with another brief bite of Will Oldham news following last week's announcement that five Palace releases will be reissued. Wire contributor Alan Licht has edited a book titled Will Oldham On Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, a collection of conversations and interviews between Oldham and Licht, his friend and long time associate. The book will be published by Faber And Faber in March 2012. More info here.

The Random Acoustics label, which released work by John Butcher, Philipp Waschmann and others in the 90s, has relaunched this month with the release of a catalogue and DVD. The 116 page catalogue and five hour DVD documents 27 nights of music, readings and film screenings produced by George Graewe for RUHR.2010, and is titled grubenklang.reloaded 2010.

Graewe says he has plans to release solo piano, duets with Isabelle Duthoit from 2010, recent and recordings of a large ensemble at a three day portrait of his music in Vienna. "These will come out on CD," he says, "but I am also planning on a video production of my last opera Barbara Strozzi Or The Avant Garde Of Love for DVD release... RA will also have a 'debut' line for new and upcoming artists as well, and we are working on making the back catalogue available for download. So, lots of plans - most of which I hope to realise next year. Why now? I've hardly put out anything over the last 10 years, because I didn't really want to. Somehow It just feels right now..."

The catalogue has been produced in a limited run of 1000 copies, and includes words and pictures by Brian Morton, Steve Beresford, Anja Utler, Tom Thelen and others. Footage included is shot by Christoph Hübner. For more information, head to the new Random Acoustics site here.

The Bristol based Tape Echo collective have published the inaugural edition of their self titled newspaper, a 32 page full colour publication on bass and electronic music. The first issue includes an interview with Pinch and Peverelist on the decision to stop doing their Dubloaded night, plus articles on Ekoplekz, Outboxx, Stardelta and others.

Tape Echo also host a radio show on hivemind.fm, and post print zine runoff content online at TapeEcho.com. Watch their take on a contents page below.

Free Music Archive are running a series of mixes of the best free music of 2011, compiled by curators and Free Music Archive community members. The mixes will be featured on the front page of the site in the run up to New Year.

To make a mix you must be registered at the Free Music Archive, and make a mix tagged with 'bestof2011' and 'year-end lists', posted in the forum. Listen to the first mix below.

Alexander Robotnick will be releasing a series of EPs containing tracks from his archive once a month for the next year. The series, titled Robotnick's Archives, is the result of a clear-out of his library of material, where he worked through tapes, hard drives, CDs, and floppy disks, keeping the best unfinished or unreleased tracks. The rescued audio will be released as a series of digital EPs of two to five tracks containing reworks and remixes.

The first of the releases includes three tracks, "Morning Theme", and two versions of the track "Undecidisco". Listen to Robotnicks' Archives No.1 below. More info here.

Robotnick's Archives Vol 1 by Alexander Robotnick

Gil Scott-Heron's memoir will be published by Canongate in January. The memoir, titled The Last Holiday will be released on 16 January 2012, which is also Martin Luther King Day. As well as covering his involvement with the civil rights movement, the book recounts Scott-Heron's experience touring 41 cities with Stevie Wonder in 1980-81, where he and Wonder successfully campaigned to have Martin Luther King's birthday recognised as a national holiday.

Wilton's Music Hall in London is holding a tribute to Gil Scott-Heron in connection with the book's release on 19 January (6:30pm, £10), which includes Kate Tempest, Ben Mellor, Jamie XX and Gilles Peterson. Watch an interview with Gil Scott-Heron below. more info on the event here.

Hospital Productions record shop has closed its doors for good this month. The record store, run by Dominick Fernow (aka Prurient) was based in the East Village in New York, and stocked noise and experimental music releases. At time of writing Fernow was not available to talk about his decision to close the shop, but East Village Radio reports that the label will continue to operate.

[Hat tip: East Village Radio]

One of this year's trends has been crowdfunded music documentaries, with films on Kathleen Hanna, Matthew Shipp, and Nigerian musical history opting for Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns in the recent months. Today there's word of another, on Charles Mingus by his grandson Kevin Ellington Mingus.

The film is aiming to raise $45,000 which will pay for equipment rental, camera operators and researchers, plus the funds to reach interviewees in the US, Mexico and Europe. At time of writing Mingus On Mingus has five days on the clock. Watch the video below.

A second piece of Ghost-related news in recent weeks, with details of a new album on the way from Masaki Batoh, titled Brain Pulse Music. The album is described as a prayer and a requiem for the victims of the Japan earthquake.

The project was initially intended to consist of music produced from brain waves, but following the earthquake, plans were derailed. In the aftermath of the disaster, Batoh began to see more patients complaining of stress and anxiety at his acupuncture clinic, and the album morphed from a purely electronic album to one which became an attempt to reconcile spirit and body via rhythms, melodies, and instrumentation used in traditional religious practices and festivals.

Brain Pulse Music will be released on CD and LP on 20 February. All proceeds from the record will be donated to the Japan Red Cross.