THANK YOU, EVERYBODY

Whether you bought our records, came to gigs, recorded music for the label, reviewed or played our releases or just read the odd email or visited the website during 2018, thank you for your interest; in this contactless world it's possible to exist with no more than an occasional Facebook 'like' to confirm your existence, give me something tangible - gigs, vinyl, CDs, even a personal email - any day.

ELFIN BOW TOPS MARK BARTON'S FESTIVE 50

Many, many thanks to Mark Barton for making Elfin Bow and Gary Lloyd's new single on Fruits de Mer his 2019 record of the year.
If I'd been through anything like what Mark's had to contend with in 2018, I'd have just told everybody to bugger off and leave me alone - so all credit to him for continuing to support new artists and new music throughout the year - here's to better health in 2019, mate
Check out Mark's Festive 50 HERE

Dr. SARDONICUS VINYL WIDOWS GOODIE-BAG
DELUXE ADDITION

The first 30 vinyl widows through the door on the Saturday of the 17th Dream festival are in for an extra treat - my old mucker and co-founder of FdM Andy Bracken has very kindly sent us 30 copies of his novel, 'Across The Humpty Dumpty Field', for inclusion in their goodie-bags. Nice one, mate.

FAST CARS FOR THE 17th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

Australian band Fast Cars will be contributing a CD to the 17th Dream FdM goodie-bag (that makes SIX CDs so far, and more to come), they kindly provided a CD for the 15th Dream; they are in the studio right now and are promising a storming version of 'Somebody To Love' as part of the new comp

YOU DON'T SEE A DOUBLE ALBUM FOR AGES...

...then three turn up at once.
...or, at least they do round here. As well as the Astralasia and '16th Dream Live' releases, we'll also have a double LP from a new band that has only appeared on a Fruits de Mer compilation CD so far but whose music will be known to quite a few Dr. Sardonicus visitors - more will be revealed in the New Year

COMING YOUR WAY VERY SOON

The December singles have arrived at FdM Towers and all UK pre-orders are already on their way - guaranteed to make your Christmas a merry one - and everyone else's near you as miserable as sin.

APRIL 2019 VINYL

At the moment, we have two double LPs lined-up...
The first comprises extended instrumental remixes by Astralasia of FdM releases - most have made it onto our bonus CDs but this is the first time you'll be able to listen to them on vinyl.
The other is our first live album - four sides recorded at the 16th Dream festival, with Nik Turner, Sendelica, Stay, Elfin Bow and more - it's as if you were there but without the FdM stall - more news soon

NEW FdM MAILERS

I just taken delivery of a new batch of LP mailers - I only got 100 of them and I'm obsessive enough to be keeping five for the archives, so the next 95 orders I get for individual LPs will arrive in the emperor's new clothing (they're only able to take one LP, or set of LPs, so they're not the most practical mailers around - but they do look pretty good!)

JUST IN TIME FOR XMAS 2019...

We're producing a short-run of t-shirts featuring some of the best covers from 10 years of FdM. The first batch - conveniently lined up in time to be too late to be perfect Christmas gifts - are being sold to FdM UK club members who've volunteered to be guinea-pigs; if the response is good, I'll run off some more, and maybe do a few more designs in 2019

JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER 2019...

...we're also getting some double-sided slipmats produced in the USA (they cost an arm, a leg and some other appendages I won't go into in the UK); that way you can enjoy Fruits de Mer records on your deck without having to play them

FRAKTAL PHANTOM JOIN THE 17th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

US band Fraktal Phantom are the latest addition to next year's free goodie-bag - they are going to put together an exclusive CD for everyone - not to be missed!

OUR DECEMBER SINGLES - NOW YOU CAN PRE-ORDER

It's taken a while to get everything sorted, but the FdM SHOP is now open for new singles by nick nicely, The Chemistry Set, Elfin Bow & Gary Lloyd and Touch - all due new month

KING PENGUIN - WHITE BIRD

King Penguin have come up with a rather nice video to their version of Ir's A Beautiful Day's 'White Bird', taken from our 'The Three Seasons' 3LP set

KEN PUSTELNIK'S GROUNDHOGS TO PLAY THE 17th DREAM

Next year's summer festival line-up is now confirmed, with original drummer Ken Pustelink's newly-formed Groundhogs headlining on the Saturday night. With Tony McPhee sadly now unable to play live due to illness, Ken and his band will be playing all the classic songs to keep the name alive

TODD

As many of you know, Todd Dillingham died recently. As well as being a bloke without a bad word to say about anyone, he was a wonderfully off-the-wall and prolific musician, a big friend and supporter of Fruit de Mer, and was coming up with fishy puns for record titles before FdM was even born!
Just a few weeks before he died, Todd had sent me the tracks for a compilation taken from his enormous back-catalogue to be produced as a free CD for everyone attending our 17th Dream Of Dr. Sardonicus festival next August. His wife Pam has very kindly agreed to let me produce the CD as Todd had planned, so it will be appearing in the FdM goodie-bag as our small way of remembering a true one-off.

END-DECEMBER SINGLES UPDATE

just to let you know how things are progressing....
Test pressings are all signed off, three out of four sleeve designs are sorted, hopefully the last one will go off to the pressing plant over the weekend. I'm quoting December 31st as the release-date on the promos CDrs I'm going to send out over the next couple of days but it's likely the records will get to me either a good week before or after that (the pressing plant closes down for about 10 days over Christmas, so if my order gets lost in the queue of Slade/Darkness/Steven Wilson remixes I'll have to wait until the beginning of New Year.
I should know more in two-three weeks time, so i'm going to hold off on taking pre-orders until I have a better fix on things. If you're not yet on the FdM mailing-list, just hit the link on the home page
Our best batch of singles yet? quite possibly....!

Dr. SARDONICUS VINYL WIDOWS GOODIE-BAG

Liz tells me she'll be putting together her own version of the FdM festival goodie-bag again next year - limited to the first 30 wives, partners or girlfriends through the door who she reckons are clearly attending on sufferance.
The 16th Dream bag included ear-muffs, a nail-file ("ideal for extended guitar solos")and a colouring book and pens; Liz assures me the 17th Dream versions will be bigger and better, or at least they'll come in their own stencilled tote bags!

17th DREAM OF
Dr. SARDONICUS SPONSORS

I've got confirmation that our festival sponsors will be - for the 4th year running - Record Collector magazine (www.recordcollectormag.com)
and the Mantle Brewery (www.mantlebrewery.com)
- a great magazine for fans of vinyl and a great Welsh brewery - we couldn't be in better hands!

CHEMISTRY SET BONUS

The Chemistry Set's version of The Moody Blues' 'Legend Of A Mind' struck a (lost) chord with Astralasia's Marc Swordfish, so much so that he decided to remix the track just for the hell of it, as a favour to Dave McLean. It was, and is, too good not to share with everyone, so we're including it on a bonus CD that will be inserted with every copy of The Chemistry Set's 'Firefly' single in December; in fact, there are two remixes of the song on the CD, running to nearly 20 mins in total - are we overly generous, or what?

HALF THE TICKETS SOLD ALREADY...

,,,and the 17th Dream Of Dr. Sardoincus festival is over 9 months away!
Might be an idea to buy your tickets HERE

We've just had confirmation of a new band joining the line-up, The Ego Ritual; here's their single...
....not bad, eh?

ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW

Goldmine magazine has been waxing lyrical over our 3LP set, singling out the Rob Gould, Luck Of Eden Hall and Cary Grace tracks amongst others, but ending with, "...the key point is, not one track here fails to deliver more, much more, than any cover has a right to, and a lot of them don’t even feel like covers. It’s a masterpiece through and through". Nice.

PECCARY SPOTTED IN 17th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

Spotted Peccary - the US-based ambient/synth/electronic label that's home to Craig Padilla - have kindly promised me enough CDs from their extensive back-catalogue to be able to include one in every goodie-bag at our 2019 summer festival - very nice too!

MORE SAD NEWS

Todd Dillingham has died.
I knew Todd had been ill, but I didn't realise how serious it was. A true eccentric, Todd didn't have a bad word to say about anyone, he was hugely supportive of Fruits de Mer over the years.
From 'Tabby Road' to 'Astral Whelks', I will treasure the completely bonkers 32 CDr set he sent me.

THE GOLD FISH AWARDS

What better way to end our 10th year than with a set of awards to celebrate some of the best artists and releases on the label, as voted for by fans of the label?
OK, so there are probably lots of better ways, but for the time being we're sticking with this idea - more news soon, watch this fish....

FdM GOES TO GLASTONBURY
2 DVD SET

Two hours of our 10th birthday gig, with Tir na nOg, The Honey Pot, Magic Bus and everyone else who was there at the time - spread across two DVDs - if you're in the UK, you can buy it direct from us for just £10 - see our SHOP page. Overseas fans - please check out Heyday Mail Order.

HIDDEN GEMS?

Depends what you're looking for, but I've been trying to do a bit of sorting out at FdM Towers and found a few things down the back of the sofa - they're listed on the FdM SHOP page, if you're interested

SUGARBUSH - A BUMPER CROP

A competition is currently running for everyone on a Fruits de Mer mailing list to win one of several batches of albums from the rather excellent Sugarbush Records.
Check out the label's latest releases HERE

SAD NEWS

I heard from Al Simones' daughter this week that her father has died.
A lovely, positive guy, so easy easy to work with - I always harboured the hope that he would go back into the studio after a long time away from it, but it never happened.

THE THREE SEASONS - COLOUR ME POP

I'm currently waiting on a further supply of copies from the pressing plant, but they should be available w/c October 22, so order with confidence!

THE CHEMISTRY SET TO PLAY THE 17th DREAM FESTIVAL

At last, Dave McLean and Paul Lake have been worn down by our repeated requests and will be playing an acoustic set at next year's festival - fantastic news!

MORE ARTISTS CONFIRMED FOR THE 17th DREAM

...also confirmed for our annual festival (Pete Bingham has been working overtime since he got back from Sendelica's European tour): Red Sun (from Italy), Three Dimensional Tanx, I Am Voyager 1 and Mark McDowell and friends - the line-up is almost complete already!

"this is probably the best compilation I've heard all year, I can't recommend it highly enough"

...some great reviews coming in (this quote is from Harmonic Distortion); really positive comments from Shindig!, Mark Barton and DJ Astro; now waiting to hear what PROG magazine makes of it

OCTOBER RELEASES - ON SALE NOW

Kris Gietkowski's LP and the 'FdM Goes To Glastonbury' double DVD are currently in-stock at FdM Towers and all pre-orders will be in the post by October 8th. We've only received a part-supply of the 'Three Seasons' 3LP set so far - just enough to meet those pre-orders - but we should have more copies by October 21. Heyday Mail Order and Shiny Beast now have their full supplies

17th DREAM FESTIVAL - ADDITIONS TO THE LINE-UP

Pete Bingham has been working hard behind the scenes to sign up more excellent artists for August 2019 - including one band I've been trying to persuade to play for the last four years!
More news when I get chance to drawn breathe from packing and posting October orders

A TOUCH OF CLASS

At last it can be revealed, the fourth and final FdM single at the end of December will be a three-track 33rpm 7" by Touch. A bit of a dream come true for me - their one and only LP from 1969 is an all-time favourite - for me it sums up the moment psych turned into prog; and the FdM release will include a track from a shelved single that has never appeared on vinyl before (as far as I know)

DIGGING A BURIED TREASURE

The third CD in the 2019 Dr. Sardonicus goodie-bag will be another exclusive - a 60 minute mix of 60s, 70s & 80s library grooves, BBC radiophonics, weird folk & electronics from the Buried Treasure label back-catalogue; it really is a label full of surprises and hidden gems - this is going to be a good one!
Find out more about Buried Treasure HERE

OCTOBER RELEASES - A SLIGHT DELAY

Very sorry, but it looks like our October releases - which we were hoping to have available from the 8th - could be up to a couple of weeks late, due to pressing/printing problems. We'll have some copies by the 8th, but the majority are going to be a bit late - my apologies

HERE COMES THE 17th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

OK, so it's nearly 11 months away, but the first two CDs have already been confirmed - an exclusive compilation from the wild-and-wonderful Todd Dillingham and 'Welt an Draht' by Das Blaue Palais, who gave us a taster of their music on the 'Gathering Of Fish' members club CD - not bad for starters, and a lot more to come!

WHEN IS AN LP MAILER NOT AN LP MAILER?

When it's a Lilpackaging mailer, printed especially for Fruits de Mer - and if you think I must have more money than sense (or more of your money than I should have), they're really not much more expensive than plain ones - and they do look rather cool.
They only hold single LPs so I'll using them sparingly (I don't know whether the 'Three Seasons' set will fit in them, although I know the Kris Gietkowski LP will).
If you need any LP mailers yourself, you can see the deal HERE

THE 17th DREAM OF Dr. SARDONICUS FESTIVAL

We're hoping to have news of one, or maybe even two, further additions to the line-up in the next couple of weeks - add in guest DJ Kris Needs and it's going to a bit good - book early!

IT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO TODAY...

...Dave McLean and Paul Lake started to play - yes, it's 30 years since The Chemistry Set formed, and Dave & Paul have been back in the studio to record two stunning new songs for Fruits de Mer in celebration.
They will appear on a 7" at the end of the year - and it's quite probably the best music they've released in the seven years since we created Regal Crabomophone specifically for their first FdM single.

RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

FdM is returning to its roots at the end of the year with four 7" singles - yes, a batch of releases with not a triple LP in sight. And they are all pretty bloody great!
nick nicely and Elfin Bow are the first two to be confirmed - and a third will be unveiled shortly

DUSTY

New friends of FdM, The Green Ray, have recorded their rather excellent version of the John Martyn classic song 'Dusty' for our 'Three Seasons' set.
you can see/hear it here HERE

BEDAZZLED

...while LoveyDove have created something rather special in their rework of Peter Cook and Dudley Moores's 'Bedazzled' - both on vinyl (as part of 'The Three Seasons') and as a video...

UP THE WOODEN HILLS

...and Mark McDowell and Friends have revisited The Small Faces' hidden gem 'Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire', again for 'The Three Seasons'

NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY

although there is such a thing as no publicity - which is a bit crap - so it's a relief to see some positive reviews coming in for 'the Three Seasons' as well as a belter for 'Fuchsia' - must get round to posting links on the REVIEWS page; some nice words from Shindig! for 'The Three Seasons' set are in the pipeline, apparently; I'm also hoping for something kind from Record Collector...

CRYSTAL JACQUELINE AND ICARUS PEEL RETURN TO GLASTONBURY

a double-header in mid-November to look out for at the scene of FdM's 10th birthday party

NO BOOTLEGGING

We've been bootlegged! Not really, it was a Mega Dodo limited-run 'special' but I've just found it on ebay - recorded at the Fruits de Mer/Mega Dodo 'Games For May' gig at the Half Moon a couple of years ago; priced at £100, I think I'll give it a miss (although I see somebody decided to cough up a ton for it, if you catch my drift)

Mr. PEEL BREWS UP SOMETHING STRANGE

In between recording numerous albums, the non-stop Icarus Peel had a quick chat with Jason Barnard, of the equally-tireless Strange Brew - and it makes fascinating reading.
Read it and weep HERE

PRE-ORDER NOW...

Fruits de Mer's October releases - pre-ordering details are on our SHOP page (although the 'Decade/Decayed' CD is an FdM members club exclusive)

THE THREE SEASONS - A TASTE OF THE ELECTRIC PRUNES

one of the tracks on our new 'Three Seasons' 3LP set is this cracking cover of Love's '7 and & is', by The Electric Prunes...

Full details on the set HERE

ASK NICK NICELY...

...and odds are he'll come up with something pretty amazing - this time it's a double A-side 7", due on sale at the end of December, including a mindwarping cover of Dylan/Hendrix's 'All Along The Watchtower' - epic modern psychedelia

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

We'll be back in Cardigan from August 2-4 2019, with three nights and two days of live music, exclusive vinyl, great beer, giveaways and stuff like that - The Bevis Frond, nick nicely, Babal, The Alain Pire Experience and more already confirmed...check it out HERE

THEY'RE COMING HOME, THEY'RE COMING HOME...

..well, about a dozen of them are, anyway; available for the first time at our summer festival - the FdM 'three crabs' t-shirt. I reckon there are about 15 of them in a box waiting to be sorted out into sizes. If you're in the UK and you want one, please email me; if you're not in the UK, I'll be sending a few to Nick Leese at Heyday in the next week or so

MUGGED...

16th Dream festival-goers had the chance to be mugged by us, as we created something for those nice cuppa teas that The Chemistry Set sang about.
Sold on the FdM stall for the princely sum of £5 a pair, and with the catalogue number 'mug 1', how could anyone refuse them?

17th DREAM FESTIVAL, HERE WE COME

Thank you to everyone from outside the UK who was able to come along to the 16th Dream festival in Cardigan - I think it's fair to say it was a bit good!
Two days/three nights of great live music, new bands/old bands, folk/psych/prog/spacerock/you name it, copious amounts of beer was drunk, vast amounts of vinyl was consumed, 3D glasses were worn, the best part of 200 t-shirts were bought, lots of silly giveaways were...given away, old friends met up, new friends were welcomed to the annual gathering.
Pete Bingham has already set the dates for the 17th Dream - August 2-4 - in Cardigan's Cellar Bar, of course - book your B&Bs/hotels early, as I know a lot of people have already rebooked.
And if anyone has photos from the festival that you're happy for me to put on the FdM site and FdM facebook page, please send them through to me by email, or post them direct HERE

16th DREAM FESTIVAL, HERE WE COME

It's going to be a bit quiet round here until August 9th as we focus on the 16th Dream Of Dr. Sardonicus festival - but we'll be back soon - probably around August 9th

MANTLE PIECE

for the fifth successive year, the Mantle Brewery in Cardigan is supplying the official beer for our summer festival. Many thanks to Ian, Domi and the team for their support - and for brewing a classic bitter, which will be on sale in special edition bottles throughout the weekend.
If you can't make the festival, or you just want to enjoy a few bottles at home, you can order bottles online direct from the brewery HERE

THE THREE SEASONS

It won't be long before I begin to get overexcited by our autumn three-LP set (not another one, surely?), remembering 1966-1968, arguably the most creative period in modern music (well, I think the sixties counts as modern, anyway). If I mention that The Yardbirds, The Electric Prunes and The Pretty Things all appear on the set, you might start getting pretty excited too.

CROMLECH III SPECIAL EDITION

I will have a batch of special editions of Sendelica's new 3 x 10" set for sale at the 16th Dream festival. They are 'special' in that they each includes a clear vinyl 8" lathe-cut with an exclusive track from the same sessions, and a collection of reprinted 3D Victorian postcards - so you can get extra mileage out of those 3D glasses

NO FUCHSIA

The Fuchsia reissue double LP is getting very close to a sell-out here at FdM Towers, so I'm going to build up a waiting-list until we're back from the Cardigan weekend festival and I know exactly what we still have in-stock

MORE FISH DESERTING...

check out 'DESEART ISLAND FISH' for new interviews with Elfin Bow, Mark McDowell, Claudio Cataldi, Kris Gietkowski, Allan Henry and Alain Pire - and don't miss Elfin Bow and the Alain Pire Experience at the 16th Dream festival

THE VINYL HAS LANDED

Fruits de Mer's late-July releases are now IN-STOCK!
god knows how, but we've actually beaten our scheduled release date - and both sets look as good as they sound

THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON CARDIGAN

Less than two weeks to go to the 16th Dream Of Dr. Sardonicus Festival and it looks like it’s going to be fine and sunny for all three days (not that it really matters as everything takes place in the Cellar Bar next to the castle).
Come down to Cardigan early/stay on an extra couple of days and explore the area!

SENDELICA IN 3D

If you're able to make it to our 16th Dream festival, be prepared for a 3D lightshow by Sendelica to celebrate the release of 'Cromlech Chronicles III' - photos WILL be taken!

WIN A COPY OF 'GOLDFISH'!

Our good friends at Record Collector are offering everyone a chance to win one of two copies of our 10 year, 3LP+7" retrospective. Full details are HERE
...scroll down to the bottom of the email for the comp details

THE DREAM IS OVER...
...AND SO IS THE FRUITS DE MER WORLD CUP COMPETITION

the winner of the FdM World Cup competition is Peter Green - congratulations, Peter - you prize will be on its way to you very soon

MORE FISH DESERTING

Check out the 'DESERT ISLAND FISH' links for new contributions from Kris Gietkowski, Allan Henry from The NoMen and Alain Pire from the Alain Pire Experience (who will be playing at the 16th Dream festival)

STEAMPUNK RECORDS JOIN THE 16th DREAM PARTY!

If this year's festival goodie-bag wasn't bursting at the seams already, Steampunk Records have just offered us 150 copies of their new label sampler CD, and who are we to refuse - another whole bunch of new bands for you to explore!

I'LL DRINK TO THAT

Mantle Brewery's special edition '16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival' best bitter - now on sale!
if you can't wait for the start of the festival in Cardigan on August 3, you can buy an early supply online direct from the Mantle Brewery HERE
...and a lovely pint it is, too!

HANFORD REACH - THE VERY LATEST ARRIVALS IN THE 16th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

..and FINALLY...Hanford Reach, born out of the ashes of Sky Picnic, are supplying download cards to give everyone at this year's festival an exclusive listen to seven tracks they've been working on for their debut album (sorry, the download code on the photo is a dummy one!)

I AM VOYAGER 1 - EVEN LATER ARRIVALS IN THE 16th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

even later than Moon Goose comes this exclusive 7" from I Am Voyager 1 - and a very welcome one at that - a lathe-cut from the, er...lathe of Phil Macy, who is half of I Am Voyager 1, and is playing at this year's festival. Good grief, this year's goodie-bag is getting out-of-hand!

MOON GOOSE - LATE ARRIVALS IN THE 16th DREAM GOODIE-BAG

In an unusual spasm of self-bootlegging, the Black Mountains' finest space rockers Moon Goose have mixed the contents of ttwo previous EPs for this limited edition release, specially made for The 16th Dream of Dr Sardonicus festival (August 3-5, in Cardigan, Wales); the band say it's best listened to while driving along the A40 in an old bus!
'Seeds' by Moon Goose will be in the FREE Fruits de Mer Records goodie-bag that everyone who comes along to the festival (with a ticket!) will receive on the Saturday. The goodie-bag also includes exclusive vinyl from Sendelica, a 7" single from The Past Tense, CDs from the Soft Hearted Scientists and an album download from Simfonica

SWORDFISH - THE DECADE/DECAYED EDITS

While I was trawling the FdM archives compiling the tracks for 'Goldfish', Marc Swordfish was in another boat entirely, with a different net, doing his own thing, armed with a bunch of tracks from the FdM cellar that artists had agreed to let him loose on.
The result is a series of mixes - whole tracks, excerpts of tracks, strange links - that will be released as members club CDs in the second half of 2018 - exclusive CDs, not for sale, so don't ask, etc, etc...don't you wish you were a club member by now? Why aren't you (cue more etc, etcs)
BUT all is not lost - everyone who comes along to the 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival will get, as part of the FdM goodie-bag, an introductory CD with edits/new versions of two of the long mixes to give you a taster of what the autumn holds (or doesn't, if you're not a club member).
a hint or two on the contents can be found HERE

FUCHSIA + SENDELICA

Taking early orders now for our late-July vinyl releases - a great big reissue of Fuchsia's stunning debut LP, plus the latest installment in Sendelica's Cromlech Chronicles - this time spread across three 10" discs.
Just head over to the FdM SHOP page....

ELFIN BOW

This is an early heads-up regarding a rather special 7" single we're planning with Elizabeth Kearney aka Elfin Bow, to be released late this year. I wouldn't normally start talking up a release this far ahead, but Elizabeth is running a crowdfunding project to help finance her recordings, which are going to more than a little ambitious, and I thought some of you might want to get involved (I won't hold it against you if you pre-order the single from Elizabeth rather than me!). Here's the link... ELFIN BOW

THE THREE SEASONS

We're returning to the sixties for an autumn compilation - it's where we started and it felt like it was time for a revisit - this time were looking back at the spring, summer and autumn of love - the classic years of 1966, 1967 and 1968.
More news soon

THE PRETTY THINGS' FINAL BOW

Hope you've got your tickets for FdM's alltime favourite band's last gig at the Half Moon, on July 13th? The band has just announced its last-ever gig as a full band - and it's going to be a spectacular finish - December 13th, with special guests Dave Gilmour, Van Morrison and Bill Nighy!
Find out more HERE

LATE ARRIVAL AT THE 16th DREAM FESTIVAL?

I'm hoping to have yet another 'something a bit special' for Fuchsia fans at this year's festival...
our Fuchsia LP reissue in July will include the band's original 15 min demo in full, but we're also hoping to run off 100 one-sided 12"s with this track on it specially for the festival - with the label virtually replicating the one surviving acetate, which credits the recording to 'Tony Durrant Ensemble'! Don't know about you, but I'll be asking Tony to sign a copy for me
I think Tony will have a few copies at his Half Moon gig a few days after, but if you want to be sure, you'll need to be in Cardigan!

SCHIZO FUN ADDICT - NEW ALBUM

Our good friends Schizo Fun Addict have a new album coming out on the excellent Sugarbush Records label. It's called 'A Shoegaze Bossa Nova' and you can read all about it... HERE

TIR NA NOG and HONEY POT/ACID REIGN
GLASTONBURY LATHE-CUTS

Both completely sold out at the gig and there won't be any more pressed - sorry.
BUT there will be some copies of the Moonweevil 'Vertical Tide' LP/CD on sale at the 16th Dream festival - that one's not a lathe-cut, so I was able to get more of them pressed.
(and thanks everyone for the use of your Glastonbury photos)

NOW WE ARE 10

A big thank you to everyone who made May 12 in Glastonbury a grand day out - everyone who came along, queued, filled the FdM coffers, patiently tried to get in to see the bands, drank the pub dry...to all the artists who played to an (over)packed room, to Trevor Boyd for making it all happen, to Liz, Kev, Lizzie, Steve, Nessie and Craig for manning and womanning the FdM stalls, to Jet Wintzer for kindly providing the Schizo Fun Addict free LPs
...and thank you for all the kind comments at and after the event!

LAST ORDERS, PLEASE

I'm down to about 20 copies of the Permanent Clear Light 7" and 25 Goldfish 3LP sets, so if you're thinking about buying either...well, don't wait too long!

THE GOLD NEEDLES ON VINYL?

The Gold Needles are considering self-releasing their new album 'Pearls' on very limited-run vinyl - if you like the idea, please get over to their bandcamp page and register that interest HERE

TIR NA NOG ON THE MARK RADCLIFFE SHOW

Many thanks to Mark Radcliffe for playing 'Columbine' by Tir na nOg on his BBC Radio 2 show.
It's taken from their new lathe-cut single - available at the Fruits de Mer Records 10th birthday gig in Glastonbury on May 12 - but you might be lucky and pick up a promo CD from Leo and Sonny atTir na nOg gigs after that
have a listen to Mark's show - and 'Columbine' HERE ...and check out Leo and Sonny's gig plans and more HERE

THE HONEY POT LIVE - APRIL 27

AND the Crystal Jacqueline Band.
if you're in or near Somerset on April 27, try to get along and support live music

FUCHSIA FIRST ALBUM REISSUE
...AND SOME

I'm continuing to work with Tony Durant to make sure FdM's summer reissue of Fuchsia's debut LP is well-worth the wait. Not enough that it will be the first time the album's been out on vinyl (legally) for years - but Tony has been putting together a bonus LP that helps tell the story of the LP from the days of Louise to the return of Fuchsia after decades away.
. New recordings of old songs, previously-unheard demos and more...including a reprint of Richard Morton Jack's excellent 16pp article on the band, taken from a recent issue of Flashback magazine - more news soon

THE EVENING BEFORE THE DAY AFTER...

On May 11, Tir na nOg are playing the King Arthur in Glastonbury - tickets for our May 12 all-dayer sold out before the guys could spread the word to their fans, so they booked the venue for the night before too! Doors open at 7pm, advance tickets on sale HERE

THE EVENING AFTER THE DAY BEFORE...

On May 13, the King Arthur will be hosting another evening of FdM-related artists - ideal if you've been to our 10th birthday bash, or even if you haven't. The Crystal Jacqueline Band are headlining, supported by Claudio Cataldi and Blue Lily Commission. Doors open at 7pm, tickets on sale on the door, more details HERE

SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS ON VINYL

The Scientists' superb 'Take Time To Wonder' album has been pressed on vinyl for the first time by the almost-as-superb label You Are The Cosmos. They couldn't fit all of it onto a 12", so you also get everything on a CD just to compensate. Order your copy HERE ...you need this.

MARK BARTON ON GOLDFISH

I asked Mark Barton, from ‘Losing Today’ to offer a few thoughts on Goldfish; in the end, he wrote some very kind words which will appear on the gatefold sleeve, but this was his first version and really sums up why so many labels and bands love Mark...
Technology eh, you either love it or throw it frisbee like through the window. We had two drafts of this little write up. One a straight ahead flag waving cake baking anniversary homage. T’other, a tad more irreverent overview. Alas they are no more, disappearing to a place, who knows where, following the incident of the laptop in meltdown.
We was gutted, some of my finest words, all in the right order, know spelling mistakes I hasten to add, where enshrined within that tribute, the canter and flow of the words and phrases ushering forth such vivid beauty, positively Shakespeare-an with a dash of Carroll, Dickens and MR James for the obligatory haunting effect, in time people would marvel, scholars reflect and schools study.
So, Keith at Fruits de Mer asked me to write a little thing about ‘Goldfish’ in 200 words, I mean does he read our reviews, we’ve usually gotten barely half way through the first sentence, punctuation avoided without drawing breath on 200 words, given we’ve used over a 185 words we’d better get a wiggle on, hell’s teeth, what are we gonna say, do you think he’d like this……
…“Nice label, shame about the name”

FRUITS DE MER ON BBC RADIO 3!

Many thanks to Nick Luscombe for playing Jack Ellister's 'The Man With The Biochopper' on his Late Junction show on BBC Radio 3 - taken from the FdM retrospective 'Goldfish' NICK'S SHOW IS HERE

ACID BEANS

The makers of the magazine Vincebus Eruptum have launched a new publication called Acid Beans, that focusses on psychedelia. I've done a little deal with Davide Pansolin, who is responsible for it, and we'll have free copies of the launch/sample issue for everyone who is at our 10th birthday gig A FEW DETAILS HERE

THE STRANGE BREW INTERVIEWS PAUL EVANS

Magic Bus are playing at our 10th birthday bash on May 12th and Jason Barnard has caught up with the band's Paul Evans in advance of the gig to find out a little history of the Bus READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE

THE STRANGE BREW INTERVIEWS MARKKU HELIN

The latest Strange Brew/FdM link is an interview by Jason Barnard with Permanent Clear Light's Markku Helin, where he talks about their new single and lots more besides, including sharing an unreleased track that he can't believe I won't release on FdM! HERE

MUSIC WORKS INTERVIEW

Thanos, who runs the Music Works shop in Greece recently threw a few questions at me - you can see what i threw back at him by CLICKING HERE (don't worry, it's short!)

THE PRETTY THINGS - CATCH THEM WHILE YOU CAN

So The Pretty Things have announced that they will stop playing live (at least as a full-on electric band) at the end of 2018. My all-time favourite band, underrated, overlooked, utterly brilliant.
If you've never seen them on-stage, you only have a few chances left - and here's one essential gig - Putney's Half Moon on July 13th CLICK HERE

GETTING TO AND FROM GLASTONBURY

If travelling to and from our 10th birthday gig looks a bit of a pain and you live somewhere between the venue and London, this coach service looks to be worth checking out (thanks, Craig) - there's a daily service from London to the middle of Glastonbury, and back (two on a Sunday) HERE

THE STRANGE BREW JOINS FORCES WITH FdM

Jason Barnard has interviewed some great musicians over the years in his excellent Strange Brew blog, including quite a few people who have appeared on an FdM release at some point (and lots who haven't!).
Jason is planning to add to his FdM interviewee list over the next few months, and has started with Mark Mcdowell, who is playing our Glastonbury gig and has his 'Dark Weave' album released on our Friends of the Fish sublabel next month; you can read it HERE.
Meanwhile, I've set up links to a bunch of Jason's earlier FdM-tinged interviews - hover over the 'STRANGE BREW' button that's now part of the contents list at the top of the page

MARK McDOWELL and FRIENDS - FRIENDS OF THE FISH

Available to pre-order now direct from Mark - a limited-run first-ever vinyl pressing of Mark's 'Dark Weave' album - hopefully available to coincide with our 10th birthday gig in Glastonbury on May 12 - Mark has signed off the test pressings, so it's all looking good.
If you know Mark's song, 'Girls of Belvoir' (which appears on 'Goldfish'), you'll know that he creates a lovely, baroque sound (the CD release has been picking up some excellent reviews, and rightly so).
'Dark Weave' will have the catalogue number Friends of the Fish 24, it'll be pressed on green vinyl and will be limited to 300 copies. Check out the page set up elsewhere on the FdM site

SUIT YOURSELF

Suit Yourself Modernists have interviewed Sidewalk Society about various things, including their 'Rolled Gold' LP... HERE

16th DREAM MANTLE BEST BITTER

coming soon to a bottle of Mantle Brewery best bitter - the Fruits de Mer Records 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival special edition...on sale at the Cellar Bar, Cardigan at this year's summer festival - and a lovely pint it is, too

ON THE SLAB WITH GREGORY CURVEY

Check out 'Desert Island Fish' as Gregory Curvey, of The Luck Of Eden Hall and Custard Flux, shares his shady past with Fruits de Mer Records, including close encounters with Kiss and Tony Orlando, and his new recording project

THE RETURN OF THE £5 T-SHIRT

Yes, we'll have a bunch of each design on sale at the Glastonbury gig, and then some more at the 16th Dream festival - sizes, medium, large, XL and XXL.
At Cardigan last year, Ant Barbeau nicked the t-shirt off Liz's back, so we'll try to turn up well-stocked this time - or at least have cameras at the ready when he sees her again at Glastonbury.

BEST WISHES TO MARK BARTON

Blogger/reviewer extraordinaire and supporter of countless independent labels and artists, Mark has some serious health problems at the moment and our fingers and other bodily parts are well and truly crossed, wishing him a full recovery.
Mark has been a friends of the fish since the early days, and has even written the sleevenotes for 'Goldfish'.

A LATE ARRIVAL AT THE DESERT ISLAND FISH BALL

Anton Barbeau spills the beans on bands he's shared a stage with, his musical heroes and his next album - just click on the 'Desert Island Fish' heading at the top of this page

FRUITS DE MER LIVES

...sorry, make that FRUITS DE MER LIVE - well maybe...we're formulating plans to record all three days of the 16th Dream festival, hoping to turn them into a live LP at some point (as usual, when i say "we" I mean "not me" - I struggle to change the speed on my record-deck, experts are involved and I'm being kept at a safe distance)

NEW FISH ON THE BLOCK

New FdM artists who've bared their soles for 'Desert Island Fish' include Permament Clear Light's Markku Helin, Simon Dowson and Mark English from The Gold Needles, and Todd Dillingham - read 'em and weep

GO GID, GO

Thanks are again in order to Gideon Coe, for playing Schizo Fun Addict's 'Ogdens Nut Gone Flake' and Superfjord's 'A Love Supreme' on his BBC 6Music show on Monday, March 20 - both taken from 'Goldfish'. One day, all BBC 6Music DJs will be like this...or not

TAKING ORDERS NOW FOR OUR APRIL RELEASES

The FdM SHOP is now open for early orders for both the Goldfish 3LP+7" set and Permanent Clear Light's 'Maurice' 7". Please note - we only take orders direct if you're in the UK, if you're not, the SHOP page gives you some suggestions on where to place your order to be sure of getting your copies

NIK TURNER'S NEW SPACE RITUAL TO PLAY 16th DREAM FESTIVAL

Sadly, Vibravoid are unable to play their scheduled UK summer gigs, including our summer festival, but I'm delighted to say Pete Bingham has worked his magic and Nik Turner's New Space Ritual will now be headlining on the Sunday night!

MOONWEEVIL - VERTICLE TIDE

I've been putting together the 100 copies of Moonweevil's new album that we'll have for sale at Glastonbury and - hopefully - Cardigan. Keyboard instrumentals, some quite experimental, from Cranium Pie's Rob Appleton, that fans of the Pie will love. The album comes with a CD that includes the album tracks and another 20 mins of music we couldn't squeeze onto the vinyl

SCHIZO FUN ADDICT - THE SUN YARD (RED VINYL)

Everyone who comes along to our birthday gig in Glastonbury on May 12 (well, everyone with a ticket) will get an exclusive red vinyl copy of the Schizos' LP - but a few of you will get it in glow-in-the-dark sleeve, hand spray-painted by Jet and Jayne from the band. They'll be given out randomly as people come through the door, so at least you haven't got to get there early to nab one of these.

INCOMPLETE ANGLER - NOW ON SALE

Dave Thompson's book on Fruits de Mer's first 10 years is on sale NOW... here
Dave has written over 200 books in his career and now he's lifting the lid on a can of worms, or a plate of whelks or...anyway, it's on sale now

SIMFONICA

The latest addition to this year's FdM goodie-bag at the 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival is an exclusive free audio download from TM Studios of the music from Simfonica’s epic 2017 DVD, 'Letters In Time'.
More details on the goodie-bag HERE - 16th DREAM FESTIVAL

I HEAR A NEW WORLD

Joe Meek's bizarre 1959 concept EP, lovingly destroyed by The NoMen, with a little help from the Blue Giant Zeta Puppies.
Released in partnership with Topplers Records and quite possibly the strangest release we've ever been involved in - so naturally it will be on the strange fish label. We'll have about 80 copies at the 16th Dream and..er..that's it really

ADVENTURES OF TIN...

The Honey Pot/Acid Reign 5" lathe-cuts on sale at our May 12 Glasonbury gig will be in tins designed to hold CDs - and will have the catalogue number 'tiny one' - just thought you'd like to know

FUCHSIA

I am very pleased to say FdM's first-ever LP reissue will be the classic 1971 debut by Fuchsia.
On sale in late-July (just in time for the band's return to the UK to play our summer festival), we're extending it to a double album, including previously-unreleased tracks, along with a fold-out poster, gatefold sleeve and just maybe one or two other things

TINNED DELIRIUM

...not only that, but there'll also be 50 or 60 copies of a 5" lathe-cut featuring two new recordings by Tony Durant on sale at the 16th Dream festival - just one more reason to be there, as if you needed one

THE INCOMPLETE ANGLER IS ALMOST COMPLETE

Dave Thompson's book on Fruits de Mer's first 10 years is almost ready to go off to the printers - and Dave is now taking pre-orders here
If you want a warts-and-all account of how to start a record label when you have more time than sense, want to inflict your musical tastes on other people and have a happy knack of persuading artists who should know better to contribute...well, look no further

Cromlech Chronicles III

Sendelica will be back just in time for the 16th Dream festival, and with a harder edge for this latest installment in their Welsh chronicles. As it's Part 3, It'll have a 3D front cover and it'll come as a set of three 10" records - all just for the hell of it.
And if you come to the festival, we'll have something that's ridiculously-good for you to take away in the FdM goodie-bag, as well as something 'different' lined up for the band's live set

MIRROR, MIRROR

Leo and Sonny, aka Tir na nOg, return to FdM with two new recordings, produced especially for our May 12 Glastonbury gig. One song is a re-work of 'Hall Of Mirrors', a song by Sweeney's Men from 50 years ago, the other has lyrices taken from the book 'Lud-in-the-Mist', written by Hope Mirrlees in 1926!
It's going to be a super-limited lathe-cut 7", we'll have just 50 copies to sell at the gig - and the duo will then have a handful themselves to dispose of as they wish, as well as some promo CDrs.
One more reason to be a bit smug if you've booked your tickets for the birthday bash.

STALLING FOR TIME

I just wanted to clarify what we're planning in terms of Fruits de Mer stalls selling stuff in 2018; we're ONLY currently expecting to have stalls at:
May 12 - King Arthur, Glastonbury
August 4 and 5 - 16th Dream festival, Cardigan

...that means we're NOT planning to have stalls at ANY of the following:
May 11/May 13 - the gigs in Glastonbury before and after our birthday bash
August 3 - the first night of the 16th Dream festival
August 10 - Sendelica and Fuchsia's Half Moon gig
Sept 29 - The Dionysus Festival in Derby

...I hope that means we won't be inflicting so much damage on your wallets this year - and it will also mean Liz and I will get to enjoy more of the music!

GOLDFISH

We'll be celebrating 10 years of swimming against the tide while still wearing water wings (no, I've no idea what that means) at the end of April with a 3LP + 7" big bugger of a release - 43" of vinyl trawling through our back-catalogue, stopping off to visit artists such as Cranium Pie, Vibravoid, Tor Peders, Beautify Junkyards and nick nicely along the way, and trying not to trip over the Record Collector 'Plankton' compilation too oftem. More news soon

I USED TO BE INDECISIVE....

...but now I'm releasing a 7" EP with two different covers cos we couldn't decide between them. Permanent Clear Light's new EP has three original tracks, their most psychedelically-inclined to-date - the test pressings sound GREAT!
No doubt there'll be questions raised in Parliament though, as one of the sleeves features some legs, which are now illegal in the UK.
More news soon

NO LIVERPOOL PSYCH FEST

I was surprised to read that the organisers are taking a year off but never fear, the 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival will be running from August 3-5 in Wales (just down the road from Liverpool if you look at a small map) to cater for your psychedelic needs

SPRING 2018 RELEASES

I won't start taking firm orders for our April/May releases until the end of February at the earliest, and if you're already a club member or on the main FdM mailing-list be assured you won't miss out on any announcements - but if you're not, please email me - fruitsdemer7@hotmail.com - and I'll make sure get an early warning as and when the FdM shop opens for business

SAME SUN, DIFFERENT VINYL

Although we sold out of The Pretty Things' new single before it went on sale, we will have a batch on translucent orange vinyl waiting for anyone who fancies a copy at our Glastonbury and Cardigan gigs - although you will have to pay for them

MICE AND RATS IN THE STUDIO

FdM's vinyl guru Fran Ashcroft reveals all about his formative years, Beatles obsessions and problems with mice, in a new 'Desert Island Fish' interview here

MORE WINKLEPICKERS

check out the winklepickers' section of the website for more revelations of a vinyl kind, with new contributions from Expose magazine's Henry Schneider, DJ Garry Lee and FdM club member Ray Canham

...AND WHILE YOU'RE THERE....

...have a read through our new 'Under The Counter' section, where friends of FdM share their experiences of record shops and shop owners...and look out for the shop owners starting to fight back!

GIDEON COE RIDES AGAIN

many thanks to Gideon Coe for playing 'Bite The Hand' by Moloko+ on his show on Jan 9th - taken from their Fruits de Mer lathe-cut 7" and Eggs In Aspic cassette (about halfway through his show) listen in here

SOUNDS GOOD

Mark Waters is featuring a whole load of FDM EPs and singles on this Sunday's Sounds Good.....radio show Jan 6th).
Sounds good is broadcast midday GMT every Sunday on
www.themusicmachinescotland.co.uk
repeated the following Monday at 7.00pm GMT and also every Sunday on 2.00pm & 6.00pm EST (7.00pm & 11.00pm GMT)
on www.MDORadio.com

PSYCHOTRON

Not only a record shop, but also a record label - and FdM's latest stockist; check out their website here
or pay them a visit in Sutton Coldfield

FdM SELLS OUT AGAIN

This time it's our January 2018 releases - both the new Sendelica album and Pretty Things 7" EP are now empty spaces where they used to be in-stock - sold out on pre-orders alone (although we will have a special pressing of The Pretties single for sale at our 10th birthday bash and at our annual summer festival)

SCHIZO FUN ADDICT - THE SUN YARD

Fruits de Mer Records club members who ordered our January 2018 releases nice and early will be getting an exclusive vinyl pressing of the Schizos' album - and it's completely free thanks to the generosity of the band's Jet Wintzer - what better way to start FdM's 10th anniversary year than with an album from the band that started it all back in 2008?
If you're still not a club member or if you missed out, here's a chance to hear what you're going to be missing....the whole labum on soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/schiz…/…/the-sun-yard-by-schizo-fun-1

FISH

Fruits de Mer stumbles into its 10th year of defying the odds, and releasing a few of them, with an ever-more-implausible series of releases; 'Goldfish' looks back at a decade of artists whose musical judgement has consistently exceeded their commercial nous, so they let us release their recordings, while 'the little goldfish' squeezes in two more tracks that nearly slipped through the net - more news soon

FIN

Permanent Clear Light will be back on FdM in spring 2018 with a new 7" EP - more news soon

LOST IN TRANSLATION

What happens when you dig through the FdM archives for a release that didn't happen? You find the demos and decide they need to be heard - more news soon

FOR OLD NEWS, PLEASE CLICK HERE

FOR EVEN OLDER NEWS, PLEASE CLICK HERE