October releases from Fruits de Mer Records – including The Electric Prunes, The Pretty Things and The Yardbirds

 

1966-1968 : arguably the golden era for music. ‘The Three Seasons‘ is a bit of a tribute to the psychedelic era – the first buds forming in ’66, the summer of love and the comedown in ’68.

Some of Fruits de Mer‘s best-known artists are joined by some new faces and a few who were actually there at the time and were personally responsible for some of the amazing sounds that we’re celebrating in this vinyl love-in.

The Three Seasons has taken rather a long time to grow into the 3 LP set that will be presented for your consideration in early October – although, in the end, some heavy pruning was necessary to fit everything onto six sides (it could so easily have been a 4LP set, but someone had already knicked the ‘four seasons’ title).

The music ranges from pop-psych to acid-folk, heavy rock to prog, from classic songs to the long-lost – the kind of thing Fruits de Mer was designed for.

So, who is responsible for the two hours+ of music between the grooves? Step forward:

side 1

1. The Past Tense – Magic In The Air (originally by The Attack : recorded in 1967)
2. LoveyDove – Bedazzled (originally by Drimble Wedge and the Vegetations : 1967)
3. Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder – Amelia Jane (originally by Made In Sheffield : 1967)
4. Jack Ellister – Aquarius (originally by The Zodiac:Cosmic Sounds : 1967)
5. Rob Gould – Granny Takes A Trip (originally by The Purple Gang : 1967)

side 2

1. Mark McDowell and Friends – Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire (originally by The Small Faces : 1966)
2. Anton Barbeau – Sunshine Superman (originally by Donovan : 1965)
3. The Electric Prunes – 7 and 7 is (originally by Love : 1966)
4. Moonweevil – Child Of The Sky (originally by The Deviants : 1967)
5. Kris Gietkowski – A-Minor Explosion (originally by Don Shinn : 1966)
6. The Yardbirds – Think About It (live in 2016) (originally by The Yardbirds : 1968)

side 3

1. The Locker Room Cowboys – We Love You (originally by The Rolling Stones : 1967)
2. King Penguin – White Bird (written : 1967, released by It’s A Beautiful Day : 1969)
3. Aunt Cynthia’s Cabin – Solitary Man (originally by Neil Diamond : 1966)
4. The Luck Of Eden Hall – Reflected (originally by Alice Cooper : 1968)

side 4

1. The Honey Pot – Kites (written by Hackaday/Pockriss; recorded by The Rooftop Singers / Simon Dupree and the Big Sound : 1967)
2. Cary Grace – 1983 (A Merman I Should Be…) (originally by the Jimi Hendrix Experience : 1968)

side 5

1. Sidewalk Society – A Saying For Today (originally by The Action : 1968)
2. Jay Tausig – Let No Man Steal Your Thyme (trad. recorded by Anne Briggs : 1963 / Pentangle : 1968)
3. Magic Bus – Tribal Gathering (originally by The Byrds : 1967)
4. Proud Peasant – Down At Circe’s Place (originally by Touch : 1968)
5. Icarus Peel – Beck’s Bolero (originally by Jeff Beck Group : 1966)

side 6

1. The Green Ray – Dusty (originally by John Martyn : 1968)
2. Ex-Norwegian – Winter (originally by Family : 1968)
3. Consterdine – Fly (originally by J.K. & Co : 1968)
4. The Gold Needles – The Smell of Incense (originally by West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band : 1967)
5. The Pretty Things – Loneliest Person (live at the Half Moon, 2010) (originally by The Pretty Things : 1968)

The other new vinyl release comes from Kris Gietkowski, who created the wonderfully-mad solo instrumental version of Egg‘s first album last year from FdM. He’s back and it’s as if Egg have never been away – on ‘Symmetric Communication‘, he moves onto their second album with a cover of ‘A Visit To Newport Hospital‘ and then creates two new compositions that are heavily influenced by the band – again it’s all instrumental and the work of one man – and I think it’s damn good (he said modestly).

 

Sendelica – Cromlech Chronicles III (Fruits de Mer Records, July 30)

Sendelica will be back on Fruits de Mer just in time for their 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus summer festival, and with something of a harder edge for this latest installment in their Welsh chronicles. As it’s Part 3, it’ll have a 3D front cover (& 3D glasses) and come as a set of three 10″ records – all just for the hell of it. Pressed on colour vinyl, naturally.

Here’s a little context to the new recordings:

Back in 2006 Sendelica recorded their debut album, “Entering The Rainbow Light“. at Mwnci Studios in the magical landscape of West Wales.

It was to be almost another decade  before the band returned to that studio in what is turning into a regular gathering of like-minded musical souls in search of new musical paths that have become known as the “Cromlech Chronicle” sessions.

An annual two days of simply playing, improvising and recording to see where the musical muse leads the group members. August 2017 saw the regular Sendelica line-up swell its ranks to a six piece band with the addition of a second drummer Gregory Curvey (from The Luck of Eden Hall) and keyboardist Roger Morgan.

After 2016’s recordings of cerebral ambiance (“Cromlech II“) the new line up explored both pastoral pastures in “Teifi Marshes“, “12 Shades Revisited” and “Star Flower Blossom” alongside searing psychedelic prog workouts “Slow Burner“, “BS“, and “Lost Citi of Cardiza“.

The 3×10” set contains:

1. BS (6:39)
2. Slow Burner (12:41)
3. 12 Shades Revisited (10:58)
4. Teifi Marshes (9:14)
5. Star Flower Blossom (14:40)
6. Lost City of Cardiza (8:43)

Keep up with Sendelica 

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Dirtmusic ‎– Bu Bir Ruya (Glitterbeat 28 January 2018)

There are so many artists and so many releases around us that I am missing lots of them. Luckily enough, I didn’t miss this one…

Dirtmusic is the project that Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts) and Hugo Race (Bad Seeds) founded in 2007.

Their fifth full length album Bu Bir Ruya (“This is a Dream” in Turkish) was recorded in Istanbul and came out in January.

Here they work as a trio with Turkish musician Murat Ertel from the psychedelic Turkish group Baba Zula.

The title of the album describes perfectly the whole thing.

With the opening track, Bi De Sen Soyle, starts a journey into a dreamworld of Eastern psychedelia.

Seven tracks of slow, mesmerizing rhythms, and guiding wispers, ethnic, electronic, and folk merged.

I have a special place in my collection, where I keep some my favorite “different” albums shuch as:
Bill Laswell ‎– Hashisheen : The End Of Law, Hector Zazou ‎– Sahara Blue, Brian Eno – David Byrne ‎– My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, David Sylvian – Gone to Earth, Bob Marley ‎– Dreams Of Freedom (Ambient Translations Of Bob Marley In Dub) and this is where I’ll put Dirtmusic ‎– Bu Bir Ruya.

Thanks guys, you gave us an excellent album.

Dirtmusic are hitting the road in a few weeks.

17.05. – BG – Sofia – Mixtape 5 / A-Side
18.05. – RS – Belgrade – Kulturni Centar Grad (w/ Igralom)
19.05. – RS – Novi Sad – Novosadsko Pozorište
21.05. – CR – Zagreb – Močvara
24.05. – SI – Piran – Druga Godba Festival
01.06. – MK – Skopje – OFFest
28.06. – PL – Lublin – Different Sounds
30.06 – IT – Florence – San Salvi
01.07 – IT – Pescara – IndieRocket Festival
18.07 – CZ – Ostrava – Colours of Ostrava

 

Magic Shoppe – Triangulum Australe (Vinyl edition, Little Cloud Records 2018)

Magic Shoppe’s four song EP Triangulum Australe was originally released “digital only” back in 2012. One of the group’s more obscure records, it has never been available on vinyl…. until now! Little Cloud Records is beyond stoked to finally get this dark, reverberated gem pressed on vinyl.

The EP’s opener, Trip Inside This House displays an overpowering psychedelic atmosphere – it’s heavy and swallows the song in one sweeping bite, but at the same time it offers an unsettling quality that drives the song into menacing oblivion. Josiah Webb weaves catchy vocal hooks through the mystifying haze, which eventually becomes the pattern of the EP.

Shangri-La in Reverse is another snapshot of this troubling psych sound, driven by a sweltering haze and a creepy, slithering beat that drags underneath. Webb’s fuzzed-out vocals are masked by a thick veil of quivering reverb, which already has to cut through that smokey guitar haze to make it to your ears. This track just goes to show the heavily characteristic nature this music has with its broad range of effects, which always makes for an immersing listening session. This is some hypnotizing psych rock.

(Description by Zac Camagna – styrofoamdrone.com)

 

Goldfish: 10 Years of Fruits de Mer Records (Fruits de Mer Records, 30 April 2018)

As a kid I used to turn on the radio, lie down, close my eyes and lose myself to the sounds of music…

It happened again the other day when I started listening to the compilation “Goldfish: 10 years of Fruits de Mer Records”.

Fruits de Mer is an indie record label from Surrey, UK specializing on psychedelia, progressive rock, acid-folk, krautrock and spacerock riding on the back of the vinyl revival, even if there wasn’t one when they started out back in 2008…

In Keith’s own words:

“Established way back in 1715 (that’s a quarter past five in the evening) by Andy and Keith, we started out with the carefully laid-out plan to unearth and reissue long-lost, classic tracks from the sixties and early seventies – but the record companies with the rights to the back-catalogues simply didn’t want to know us. After several weeks of crying into our beer, we thought, “sod it, we’ll do it ourselves”…and we have. Andy decided it was time to do something different a few years ago, so FdM now consists of me (Keith) and whoever else I can rope in, usually my lovely missus, Liz.
FdM releases are a right old mix of classic and obscure tracks, reinterpreted by artists who love them, respect them but want to breathe new life into them…and new songs by bands that have their roots in the 60s/70s.
Go on, put on your diving gear, join the Fruits de Mer deep-sea fishing trip as we dredge up whoppers by the likes of The Small Faces, Nick Drake, Can, HP Lovecraft, The Moody Blues, Egg, Arthur Brown and Strawberry Alarm Clock…even little-known names such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis get a look-in with us. Then we let new or cult artists such as The Bevis Frond, Soft Hearted Scientists, nick nicely, The Chemistry Set, Cranium Pie, Tir na nOg, Vibravoid and the mighty Pretty Things get to work in making the tracks their own. Running a vinyl record label is a sure-fire way of losing money but I’m in it for the love of it and, if you’ve read this far, you probably are too – you can find out more about FdM at www.fruitsdemerrecords.com call in for a cuppa, drop me a line any time.
In the words of Schizo Fun Addict, who put together our first single, “Be brave…and keep faith”.”

Every Fruits De Mer Records release is limited and all on colour vinyl…

The catalogue numbers of this 3LP set and the bonus 7” single that comes with it (and they call “the little goldfish”) are crustacean 84 and 85 so as you realize these people managed to put a lot of releases out there…

“Goldfish: 10 years of Fruits de Mer Records” comes with tracks from The Pretty Things, nick nicely, Tir n nOg, The Chemistry Set, Stay , Beautify Junkyards, Cranium Pie, Astralasia, Sendelica, Vibravoid, Superfjord, Soft Hearted Scientists, The Honey Pot and a whole lot of other artists who really should have known better…

Goldfish focuses mainly on what Fruits de Mer originally set out to deliver – classic and willfully-obscure songs taken from, or heavily influenced by the 60s and early 70s…

• Side one

Tor Peders – Theme One (Martin) from Tor Peders ‘Brev Fran Ederstorp‘ LP+7″ winkle 17

Sendelica – Venus In Furs (Reed) from Sendelica ‘A Nice Pear‘ 7″ crustacean 13

Us and Them – Willow’s Song (Giovanni) from Us and Them 7″ ‘Summerisle‘ 7″ crustacean 20

Stay – 2,000 Light Years From Home (Jagger/Richards) from the Stay 7″ crustacean 3

Tir na nOg – I Pick Up Birds At Funerals (O’Kelly) from Tir na nOg ‘I Have known Love‘ 7″ crustacean 49

• Side two

The Chemistry Set – Come Kiss Me, Vibrate and Smile (McLean) from the Chemistry Set 7″ winkle 8

Hills Have Riffs – Down By The River (McCarthy) from the ‘Keep Off The Grass‘ double LP crustacean 21

White Sails – Fluff (Iommi) from the White Sails 7″ winkle 11

Soft Hearted Scientists – Caterpillar Song (Soft Hearted Scientists) from ‘Whatever Happened To The Soft Hearted Scientists‘ double LP+7″ crustacean 38

• Side three

Vibravoid – Eye Shaking King (Karrer/Rogner) from Vibravoid ‘Krautrock Sensation‘ 7″ crustacean 7 (previously unreleased, extended mix)

Claudio Cataldi – Here She Comes Now (Reed/Cale/Morrison) from Claudio Cataldi ‘Here She Comes Now‘ 7″ winkle 22

King Penguin – She Don’t Care About Time (Clark) from the ‘7 and 7 is‘ box-set crustacean 51-57

Beautify Junkyards – From The Morning (Drake) from the Beautify Junkyards 7″ crustacean 30

nick nicely – Hilly Fields – The Mourning (nicely) from nick nicely ‘Hilly Fields‘ 7″ crustacean 27

• Side four

Blue Zeta Giant Puppies – Journey Of The Sorcerer (Leadon) from ‘The Fruits de Mer Records Guide To The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy‘ 7″+CD crustacean 74

Cranium Pie – Baby You’re A Rich Man (Lennon/McCartney) from the Cranium Pie 7″ crustacean 8

Crystal Jacqueline – Cousin Jane (Page/Matthews) from the Crystal Jacqueline 7″ crustacean 39

Mark McDowell – Girls Of Belvoir (McDowell) from the Regal Crabomophone Annual 2014 7″ winkle 13

The Pretty Things – Helter Skelter (Lennon/McCartney) from ‘The White EP‘ (double 7″) crustacean 33

• Side five

The Honey Pot – Dr. Crippen’s Waiting Room (Crowley/Greeley) from The Honey Pot ‘Ascending Scales‘ double LP winkle 25

Permanent Clear Light – Wherewithal (Ward) from the FdM 2011 Annual 7″ crustacean 16

Frobisher Neck – Isi (Dinger/Rother) from ‘Roqueting Through Space‘ (LP+7″) crustacean 13

Kris Gietkowski – I Will Be Absorbed (Brooks/Campbell/Stewart) from Kris Gietkowski ‘Music from Egg’s first LP‘ LP strange fish eight

Jack Ellister – The Man With The Biochopper (Ellister) from the Jack Ellister 7″ winkle 6

• Side six

Sidewalk Society – Strange Roads (King/King) from Sidewalk Society ‘Strange Roads‘ LP crustacean 81

Astralasia – The Desert (Boulton/Swordfish) from Astralasia ‘Wind On Water‘ LP+7″ winkle 17

Superfjord – A Love Supreme (Coltrane) from the ‘Coltrane‘ 7″ crustacean 59

Schizo Fun Addict – Ogdens Nut Gone Flake (Marriott/Lane/McLagan/Jones) from the Schizo Fun Addict 7″ crustacean 1 (flake mix – previously unreleased)

…and all copies will include a bonus 7″ – the little goldfish (crustacean 85)

1. Saturn’s Ambush – White Horses (Carr/Nisbet) from the ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set‘ 7″ crustacean 22
2. Johnny Vines – Waterfall (Hess/Panka/Nadolny/Krantz) from the ‘Head Music‘ double LP crustacean 26

If you are into psychedelic rock/kraut/prog/spacerock/acid-folk this is a MUST for you…

Keep up with Fruits de Mer Records

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Mark Stoermer – Filthy Apes and Lions (St. August Records 2017)

By the end of 2017, Mark Stoermer released his album “Filthy Apes and Lions”.

From its very opening, “Filthy Apes and Lions” sounded interesting and I thought  “nah… as it happens most of the time, it’s just the first song that sounds good…”

The video of the song is directed by Lee Hardcastle known for The ABCs of Death (2012), GUNSHIP: Tech Noir (2015) and An Alien Claymation (2013)

On the second track, “Beautiful Deformities”, things developed even more interesting and it became obvious that there was a kind of experimentation and psychedelia in the air…

Lyrically the songs were surreal but… still very interesting…

When “Racing In the Rain” started I said “ha! A Beatlesque track” but when the chorus came in things turned more Pink Floydish…

Ok, now Mr Stoermer got my attention, so, as mainstream bands are not my cup of tea, I had to look up to find who he is…

Bass player Mark Stoermer was on the original line-up of the American rock band The Killers but a couple of years ago he announced that he would stop touring with the band, which of course was news to me…

So now, this “Filthy Apes and Lions” album that came out through his own record label, was becoming an even more pleasant surprise.

The surreal lyrics continue on “Dwarfish Trumpet Blues” that follows and the song ends in a typical 60’s psychedelic spirit…

One more animated video was made for this song, directed this time by Rafael Bonilla. (If I got the right one, he directed the documentaries La Carta and La batalla de las cruces)

Classic music influences appear on “The Perennial Legend of Dr. Mabuse” about the fictional character created by Norbert Jacques in the novel Dr. Mabuse der Spieler.

As we all know Dr. Mabuse from the three movies that Fritz Lang did about this character, the music video directed by Yoshi Sodeoka and Mark Stoermer himself, is flirting with a 1920’s cinematographic spirit.

“Mica Rae” is a metaphor about modern life decay and a crazy rich woman.

Musically it returns to the Beatlesque feel and to the 60’s pop music forms…

The next one opens with a church organ bringing out to light another creature taken from the era of German expressionism: “Nosferatu Blues”.

The song takes an unexpected psychedelic turn with a Middle Eastern flavor while Stoermer sings “Look at me I’m a real vampire / I just wanted to live forever” and vanishes into thin air…

What follows is a 9 minute jazz-rock epic.

An instrumental piece titled “Muju’s Revenge” full of great piano, guitar and electric piano improvisation in a very 70’s sense…

The video is again directed by Rafael Bonilla

“People Take Pictures of Each Other” is the playful tune that closes the album…

As I said, “Filthy Apes and Lions” was a surprise for me.

It made me want to listen to the other two solo albums that Mark Stoermer put out…

It is a delightful album and in combination with his videos and the themes of his lyrics, it shows that he has an interest in art in general…

A job well done Mr. Stoermer…

HERE is the link if you want to place your order for the album…

 

A Devil’s Din – One Hallucination Under God (Island Dive Records 29 September 2017)

A Devil’s Din is 3 musicians born across the ocean, who found each other in Montreal, drawn by a mutual love of melodic, innovative, inventive and progressive rock music. Fusing the colourful sounds of Syd Barrett‘s Pink Floyd & the psychedelic-era Beatles with the adventure of Yes, Gentle Giant and King Crimson, A Devil’s Din is a truly unique modern musical hybrid.

A Devil’s Din is the brainchild of UK born David Lines (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards).

Based in Montreal he is joined by Tom G. Stout (Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Dominique Salameh (Drums, Backing Vocals).

By the end of September 2017 their third album titled “One Hallucination Under God” came out through their our own label, Island Dive Records.

Following “One Day All This Will Be Yours” (2011) and “Skylight” (2016) they create now a trans-dimensional triptych.

“One Hallucination Under God” is a great album that holds 9 tracks that cover a soundfield between 60’s garage and psychedelic rock.

My fave tracks are “Home”, “Where Do We Go?” and “One Hallucination Under God” but the A Devil’s Din catches your attention by the first note of the opener “Eternal Now”.

Recommended for fans of psychedelic rock.

Keep in touch with A Devil’s Din

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