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Do Not Adjust Your Set Head Music |
Re-Evolution Roqueting Through Space |
Shrunken Head Music |
Fruits de Mer Records are a Home Counties-based (that is, 'near London', for non-Brits) psychedelic label, operating since 2008, dedicated to vinyl releases, to the point where proper, 'silver disc' CDs or Bandcamp-style downloads are verboten. A shame, as they've released large numbers of excellent records, both original material and (generally) late '60s covers. I've kept this page for various artists sets, although links to other FdM artists can be found at the bottom.
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Do Not Adjust Your Set (2011, 15.32) ***½/T½Frobisher Neck:Robinson Crusoe Saturn's Ambush: White Horses Rob Clarke & the Wooltones: Sky at Night Owsley & the Pussycat: Ace of Wands The Ohm: Captain Scarlet Elks Skiffle Group: Fireball XL5 |
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Those lovely Fruits de Mer people have released a slew of themed various artist compilations, not least 2011's Do Not Adjust Your Set EP, named for a late '60s British children's comedy show. Six '60s/'70s Brit-TV themes were reimagined by FdM artists, the end result being largely excellent, particularly Tony "Frobisher Neck" Swettenham's Robinson Crusoe and Saturn's Ambush's White Horses, which gives the original a right kick up the arse. Owsley & the Pussycat's Ace Of Wands is pretty decent, too, although not a patch on Andy Bown's Mellotron-heavy original. Disappointment? The Ohm's Captain Scarlet. All the excitement of the original has been sucked out, leaving a woozy, Vox organ-led take that just drags.
Tony Swettenham slathers Mellotron strings and cellos all over Robinson Crusoe, to excellent effect. So when are we going to get an album of all of your Frobisher Neck pieces, Tony? FdM's mostly vinyl-only limited run policy means most of them are long out of print, so... Go on, you know it makes sense.
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Head Music (2012, 96.19) ***½/T |
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| Eroc: Intro Johnny Vines: Waterfall Earthling Society: Paramechanical World Jay Tausig: Surrounded By the Stars Electric Moon: Madrigal Meridian Anla Courtis: Trans Europe Express Vibravoid: Nearby Shiras |
Palace of Swords: Lila Engel Saturn's Ambush: I Want More Frobisher Neck Heads South By Weaving: Silver Cloud Dead Sea Apes: Ruckstoss Gondoliere Language of Light: Mushroom Black Tempest: Bayreuth Return |
Zenith: Unto the Stars: Mantra II Temple Music: Negativland Frobisher Neck: Schizo Vert:x: Dino Electric Orange: Lied an Zons The Bevis Frond: China |
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Fruits de Mer's 2LP (no CD, as ever) Head Music gathers together a group of their regular contributors to record their versions of material from the loosely-defined 'krautrock' scene, although I'd argue, possibly strenuously, that Jane are NOT krautrock, simply a band from Germany. Little argument with the rest of the artists covered, though, including peak-krauters Neu!, Can, Harmonia and Popol Vuh. Now, those of you familiar with this site may be aware that krautrock isn't the end of the broad progressive spectrum I love best, to the point where I'm not even au fait with most of the tracks covered here. Apologies, but you can't force it. Saying that, this is a highly enjoyable set, featuring much full-blown psychedelic jamming, as you might expect, although the 'stoned folk' end of the genre never did a lot for this listener. Many highlights, although my favourite might just be (effective album opener) Johnny Vines' take on Jane's Waterfall (ironically, given my above statement), a driving hard rock number, complete with grinding Hammond. Other contenders include Electric Moon's full band arrangement of The Tangs' Madrigal Meridian, Anla Courtis' fuzz-driven Trans-Europe Express (duh, Kraftwerk), Frobisher Neck's Schizo (Ash Ra Tempel) and The Bevis Frond's über-jam on Electric Sandwich's China, that rounds the set off. We even get a deranged spoken intro from Grobschnitt's Eroc, echoing his greeting from 1974's Ballermann.
Just one actual Mellotron track, from Tony "Frobisher Neck" Swettenham. Frobisher Neck Heads South By Weaving's Silver Cloud (La Düsseldorf) features upfront strings (with some lovely pitchbends) and background choirs, although Tony resists the temptation to stick some on Schizo. On the sample front, Jay Tausig uses strings on Surrounded By the Stars (Amon Düül 2), Vibravoid use flutes on Nearby Shiras (the deeply obscure Kalacakra), Black Tempest add strings to Klaus Schulze's Bayreuth Return and Vert:x slap upfront strings and flutes onto Harmonia's Dino. Sadly, this review is almost irrelevant, as FdM only ever issue their output on limited-edition vinyl. I'm not asking for CDs of their back catalogue (well, actually, I am), but a Bandcamp page might be nice.
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Re-Evolution: FdM Sings the Hollies (2013, 62.30) ***½/T |
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| Beautify Junkyards: Butterfly The Seventh Ring of Saturn: All the World is Love Jay Tausig: Elevated Observations Hi-Fiction Science: King Midas in Reverse The Re-Stoned: Then the Heartaches Begin Moonweevil: Bus Stop |
The Gathering Grey: Postcard Auralcandy: Heading for a Fall The Bevis Frond: Hard Hard Year Sky Picnic: Try it The Neutron Drivers: Water on the Brain |
Us & Them: Butterfly The Higher State: Don't Run and Hide King Penguin: Dear Eloise The Electric Stars: Jennifer Eccles Langor: Everything is Sunshine |
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Fruits de Mer's Re-Evolution: FdM Sings the Hollies concentrates, unsurprisingly, on The Hollies' brief psychedelic phase, the majority from 1967, of course, with a handful from '66 and '68. Some hardcore entrants here, alongside a handful of better-known hits, with no fewer than three b-sides and eight album tracks, largely from their two '67 LPs, Evolution and Butterfly. And you're surprised? Highlights? The Seventh Ring of Saturn's sitar-drenched All The World Is Love, The Re-Stoned's fuzz-driven Then The Heartaches Begin, The Bevis Frond's Hard Hard Year, Us & Them's Butterfly and Langor's Everything Is Sunshine, that rounds the set off.
Tony Swettenham plays his M400 on Us & Them's Butterfly (as against Beautify Junkyards' take that kicks the album off), with a flute part running through the song, adding bassoon (?) and phased strings later on, while The Gathering Grey's Postcard features a brief burst of samplotron strings. A decent set, then, although its source material could be considered a little lightweight.
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Roqueting Through Space (2011, 46.25) ****/T |
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| Vibravoid: No Silver Bird Vert:x: I Come From Another Planet, Baby Helicon: Hallogallo Cranium Pie with Baking Research Station: Blacksand The Luck of Eden Hall: Lucifer Sam |
Frobisher Neck: Isi The Grand Astoria: Oh Yeah Diarmuid MacDiarmada: Telstar Alpha Omega: Transdimensional Paradox Sendelica with Nik Turner: Urban Guerilla |
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Fruits de Mer's LP/7" set Roqueting Through Space is a tribute to space rock in all its glory, the contributing artists all tackling the genre in their own inimitable styles. I don't know if the label rejected anything, but there's not a bad track here, from Vibravoid's take on the obscure Hooterville Trolley's No Silver Bird, through Helicon's lengthy Hallogallo (possibly Neu!'s best-known track), The Luck of Eden Hall's excellent Lucifer Sam (Pink Floyd, duh) to Diarmuid MacDiarmada's krautrock version of Joe Meek/The Tornados' Telstar, other covered acts including Can and Julian Cope. The 'bonus 7"' contains versions of two (actually three) Hawkwind tracks, Alpha Omega concocting an inventive mash-up of Transdimensional Man and the superb Paradox, while Sendelica actually get Nik Turner to play on their slightly dancey Urban Guerilla.
Tony "Frobisher Neck" Swettenham adds upfront Mellotron flutes and strings to Neu!'s Isi, although the strings on Cranium Pie/Baking Research Station's take on Brainticket's Blacksand are presumably sampled. The bad news is that this isn't available on CD and the vinyl's long sold out; come on, chaps, bugger all that 'vinyl is king' stuff and stick this out on a little shiny disc...
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Shrunken Head Music (2013, 26.06) ***½/TTFrobisher Neck:To Another World Black Tempest: Rubicon part 1 Vespero: J'ai Mal Aux Dents Jay Tausig: The Glorious Om Riff |
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2013's Shrunken Head Music was a double 7", playing at 33rpm, acting as an addendum to the previous year's Head Music (above) in its dedication to reworking (loosely) krautrock favourites. Personal favourites are Tony Swettenham's To Another World (Brainticket) and Jay Tausig's The Glorious Om Riff (Gong, not a noted krautrock act), but then, it's difficult to go wrong with material of this quality to work with.
Tony Swettenham plays his M400 on To Another World, with strings, swirly Mellotron piano (!), bassoon (?), church organ and flute, while Black Tempest add samplotron flutes and choirs to The Tangs' Rubicon Part 1. The Head Music series has been expanded with 2020's Head Music 2; more news when I get to hear a copy.
See: Custard Flux | The Luck of Eden Hall | Us & Them | Vibravoid
