new releases, special editions, festivals, gigs, cancellations, deliberate mistakes - whenever we have something vaguely interesting to share, we'll post it here (and we'll make something up when we don't)
RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE CONFIRMED AS SPONSORS
The vinyl junkie's bible, Record Collector, have confirmed their sponsorship of next year's Dr. Sardonicus festival, gawd bless 'em.
That means extra publicity for us, some great giveaways in a Record Collector raffle at the festival itself, and loads of thanks from us for their continuing support.
NURSERY CRYME SPECIAL EDITION
Together with Rob, I put together 33 special edition sets, including two bonus CDs, with the CDs housed in an occasional musical box (ie it sometimes works). They were offered to UK club members and sold out instantly (sorry, I couldn't offer them outside the UK - the music box mechanisms have embedded batteries and wouldn't get through Customs/security).
Why only 33? Each one took ages to put together - hand laquered and each musical box mechanism individually recorded - and there are only so many hours in a day!
NO COMPETITION
Actually, it IS a competition - a chance to win the contents of the 19th Dream festival goodie-bags and copies of the promo CD I sent out in July containing all the tracks on the four festival 7" lathe-cuts. Everyone on an FdM email list has received details of the competition - if you haven't, you're either not on a list (easily solved - hit the 'mailing' button at the top of the page, or your internet service provide is sending my emails straight into the spam box
20th DREAM FESTIVAL
The Mantle Brewery beer bottles have hardly stopped clinking together from this year's festival and we're onto 2024...Pete Bingham has signed up Man, Astralasia/Mushroom and Pindhar to headline the three nights of live music, in the cosy confines of Cardigan's Cellar Bar.
I don't think we've seen Astralasia at a Dr. Sardonicus festival since our first one in 2015 - the band will be playing a mix of Astralasia and Mushroom Project tracks - it'll be great to have them back.
And 2024 will be a truly international event, with Custard Flux flying in from the USA, The Fertility Cult from Finland and Pinhdar from Italy.
There's even a free pre-festival gig in the Cellar Bar for everyone on the Thursday night, with Alain Pire flying in from Belgium to play a solo set!
Pete Bingham is selling tickets direct from Sendelica's bandcamp page - book early BUY THEM HERE
OCTOBER TRIO
We will have three new FdM releases for your listening pleasure in October - all CDs. They comprise the superb new Hanford Flyover album 'Source', a double CD of classic sixties UK and US psych covers by Jeremy Morris and The Lemon Clocks, including three wildly-extended epic tracks and the second in our series of retrospectives, this one featuring sorely-missed Luck Of Eden Hall. We'll also have a handful of lathe-cut copies of 'Source' and 80 lathe-cut LPs featuring two of the extended tracks on the Jeremy/Lemon Clocks set.
more news soon - and we'll start taking pre-orders in early September.
STICK IT
I had 50 FdM/PROG magazine usb cards produced for the 19th Dream festival; each one contains the 17 FdM tracks that PROG magazine offered buyers as a free download a couple of months ago; I didn't offer any for sale - they were hidden away in the free lucky dip bo; not all of them made it into the box, though - I obviously kept a couple for myself but, beyond that, two of the cards wouldn't work and another one of them started to get very hot when I plugged it into my PC (they ARE from China and they were very cheap - what do you expect?); I wouldn't recommend risking your PC but the ones I gave away at the festival DID work ok on my laptop.
"ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!"
Phil Aston from Now Spinning gives his verdict on Rob Gould's 'Nursery Cryme' LP/CD set...and yes, he rather likes it...
A FEW OF THE ARTISTS AT THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL
from Nick Harper to Sendelica - with the likes of Pinhdar, London Underground, The Bevis Frond, Soft Hearted Scientists, Kris Needs & Nina Walsh, Cary Grace and Hanford Flyover in between
SETTING UP AND QUEUEING UP AT THE 19TH DREAM
As is traditional in the Cellar Bar, I had a mild panic in between the cafe stopping selling fry-ups and re-opening for the festival as swe set up the FdM stall - but Kev took care of the vinyl and Steve sorted out the t-shirts and, as the queue moved from Quay St to inside the cafe, it looked like we'd never been away.
THERE'S MORE TO FdM THAN THE 19TH DREAM FESTIVAL
Well, there isn't for the next eight days - it's ALL about the festival until August 7th, after which we'll have a few days to recuperate and THEN we'll tell you what we have planned for the autumn.
TRAVELLING LIGHT TO THE 19th DREAM FESTIVAL
I think we might have got a bit carried away - and there's more to come!
(to be fair, quite a bit of it consists of goodie-bags and raffle prizes!)
HANFORD FLYOVER LATHE-CUT LPs AT THE 19TH DREAM
not only will we have an exclusive 7" lathe-cut by Josh and Holly on sale at the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival, but we'll have a limited number of lathe-cut 'Tape Sessions' LPs and an even more limited number of lathe-cut 'Source' LPs (a preview of their autumn CD release, with edited versions of the tracks)
A THING OF BEAUTY
Mean, moody, magnificant...Mantle Brewery's 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus special edition best bitter.
On sale from the Cellar Bar at the festival - and by mail order direct from the brewery
CLICK HERE
THE 19th DREAM GOODIE-BAG
Nine CDs plus four album downloads - all for free - that's this year's FdM goodie-bag - and everyone who comes along to the festival with a valid ticket gets the bagful. A quick plug for downloads - they might be everyone's cup of tea but here are few examples of the albums that you can load onto your laptop thanks to FdM and - of course - the artists, namely The Good Force, Blue Navy and SEN3...
STAY 19th DREAM SPECIALS
I've been able to get hold of a few more tasty specials for the already full-to-overflowing FdM Saturday/Sunday stall...I will have a very limited number of copies of Stay's 'I Can Hear The Grass Grow' 7" on black vinyl, with inner sleeves signed by the band, and and equally-limited number of copies of their 'Old Sounds Of Modern Music' LP, again with inners signed by the band.
DE MER DOES DOWNLOADS
surely some mistake...? But no, the new issue of PROG magazine includes a link to a 17-track FdM compilation, only available as an mp3 download - via a QR code at that!
We're way out of our league here, but the offer from Jerry Ewing and those nice people at PROG was too good to refuse and Paul Meggs did all the clever technical stuff, as he often does for the FdM website. The download is free - we'll never try to sell downloads - but you need to buy a copy of PROG to get access.
GOLDMINE REVIEWS 'NURSERY CRYME'
"...Gould’s take on Genesis’s third LP is overwhelming" - Dave Thompson reviews 'Rob Gould and Friends play Nursery Cryme' for the US magazine 'Goldmine'
READ IT HERE
TWO MORE SENDELICA GIGS ON CD
Pete Bingham discovered these recording recently and they were naturals for a sixth edition in the double CDs-in-gatefold-LP-sleeves 'Friends of the Fish' series. The gigs are from New York in 2008 and Kozfest in 2012 and you can pre-order now direct from Sendelica's bandcamp page HERE
TERRASCOPE REVIEWS 'NURSERY CRYME'
"This is a bit special...a fabulous record" - Andy Young reviews 'Rob Gould and Friends play Nursery Cryme' for Terrascope
READ IT HERE
THE HOGWEED RETURNS
Here's an excerpt from Rob Gould's remake of the Genesis classic....
GET YOUSELF KINKED
A couple of short tasters for our 'ReKinked' EP - full details elsewhere on the site...
JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...
The cover of Marco Rossi's 'Flattery' CD is an old photo of Marco and a mate dressed as Marge and Homer Simpson; I've had the occasional comment that suggests this was lost on a few people!
ONE LOST SHEEP
Nice to see a few FdM club members who I hadn't heard from for a while ordering the new 'Nursery Cryme' LP/CD set - maybe I've been a bit light on the prog rock side recently; meanwhile, the Us & Them and Marco Rossi CDs generated quite a bit of interest from newcomers to the label - combination of some great music and not being on vinyl, I guess!
THE MUSICAL BOX
Here's an excerpt from Rob Gould and friends' new album - the classic Genesis song 'The Musical Box'...
UK CLUB MEMBERS CAN PRE-ORDER NOW
International club members will be able to pre-order very soon - Rob Gould's recreation of the classic Genesis album. It won't be long before everyone else gets a chance - watch this space (or join the members club!)
PROG MAGAZINE SHOWCASESS ANOTHER GREAT LABEL
This month it's Sonic Ca\thedral, with a downloadable sampler of some of their finest recent releases.
I wonder which highly-respected, groundbreaking label will be next to get the PROG treatment...?
PROG MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS US AND THEM
There's an excellent full page interview with Britt and Anders in the new issue of PROG - it's well worth checking out
READ IT HERE
"GLORIOUSLY FECUND"
That's how PROG mag describes Fruits de Mer in the the latest issue - I had to do a quick Google search to make sure it was a compliment
SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS RETURN...
They've been away for about six years, but they're back - the Welsh psychedelicists will be playing at the 19th Dream festival, they have a new, self-released CD album coming out soon and we'll have a 7" lathe-cut featuring two tracks from the album available from the FdM stall
HANFORD FLYOVER ALBUM ON FdM
We've already lined up a 7" lathe-cut taster for the duo's next album - available at the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival - but we're not stopping at that; their album - 'Source' - will be released by FdM later this year and I've managed to persuade Phil the lathecutter to produce a very limited number of LPs for the festival - tracks will be edited versions of the CD album and we'll have around 40 copies available for sale from the FdM stall (sorry, but they'll be a slightly eye-watering £30 a time)
IT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO...
...that we celebrated Fruits de Mer Records' 10th birthday at the King Arthur in Glastonbury, with The Honey Pot, Anton Barbeau, Tir na nOg, Mark Mcdowell, Icarus Peel's Acid Reign, Magic Bus and Jack Ellister.
Which must mean we're now officially 15 years old!
THE RETROSPECTIVES CONTINUE...
After our 'Introduction to Us and Them' compilation CD, we'll be moving on in the autumn to a look back at a band who were also with us from the early days - next up will be The Luck Of Eden Hall!
THE RETURN OF THE FdM £5 T-SHIRTS
There will be two FdM 19th Dream t-shirt designs on sale at this year's festival - one is remarkably subtle (for us) and features the Mantle Brewery special edition bitter logo; the other isn't at all subtle - it's the traditional 'Bream' t-shirt - and lists everyone who is playing this year (I got a bit carried away and listed Nick Harper twice - but he IS very good!); sadly Taras Bulba have now had to pull out, but at least they got their name on the t-shirt...
YOU CAN WIN A MANTLE GIFT SET!
In fact, there are two to be won in the FdM free raffle at the 19th Dream festival, kindly donated by Ian from the brewery (Ian will also be stepping in for Tara Bulba and playing a DJ to open proceeedings on the Saturday, in his alter ego of DJ Benway)
RECORD COLLECTOR DELIVERS THE GOODS
Our favourite magazine for vinyl junkies is sponsoring the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival and - in addition to spreading the word through ads in the magazine - is very kindly providing the prizes for a free raffle on the Saturday night. I've just taken delivery of everything and this is a selection of what will be on offer - well over £350's-worth of prizes to be won - not bad for a free raffle!
If RECORD COLLECTOR CAN RUN A FESTVAL RAFFLE...
...so can Fruits de Mer; we're gradually gathering together a few goodies- exclusives, highy collectibles, things we found down the back of the sofa - for the free raffle on the Sunday. Expect to see some Schizo Fun Addict specials on offer, amongst other things - unless you're not there, in which case. don't expect to see them
SPECIAL EDITION MANTLE BITTER
Once again, Ian at the Mantle Brewery will be celebrating our annual festival in Cardigan with a special run of his best bitter, suitably bottled and labelled for the occasion. The Mantle brewery has been a great supporter of FdM and Cardigan's Cellar Bar for many years and they continue to brew some of the best REAL beer around (and I do mean real beer - none of your cloudier than a pint of Tropicana weirdness)
MARCO TALKS TO THE STRANGE BREW
The Strange Brew's Jason Barnard talks to Marco Rossi about his love of 60s psychedelia and - of course - his new album 'The Sincerest Form Of Flattery'.
It's fascinating reading - and well worth checking out
READ IT HERE
SCHIZO FUN ADDICT WHITE LABELS
SFA's Jet Wintzer managed to get hold of 20 extra copies of the new album - white labels, pressed on blue vinyl - and these will be offered to a few lucky people on the Love Your Enemies waiting-list in the next week, all housed in typical FdM DIY sleeves
19th DREAM GOODIE-BAG
There will be a NINTH free CD in each and every one of this year's FdM goodie-bags - at the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival - you can see the other eight on the 19th Dream page, but you'll have to wait a bit longer to find out what the final one will be...
MARCO ROSSI - OUR NEW SIGNING!
I'm a bit pleased to have persuaded Shindig!'s Marco Rossi to join FdM for an album of rather excellent solo 60s psych covers - from the classic to the long-lost, just to up FdM's street! There's also a typically limited lathe-cut featuring four of the tracks thrown in - very carefully - for good measure. Full details elsewhere on this site - and pre-ordering details on our SHOP page.
CARDIGAN SUMMER FESTIVAL LATHE-CUT EXCLUSIVE 1
McDowell & Westaway have provided two new tracks for an FdM 19th Dream special - a 100-run 7" lathe-cut that will available for sale from the FdM stall
CARDIGAN SUMMER FESTIVAL LATHE-CUT EXCLUSIVE 2
...and The Bevis Frond have given me two exclusive Nick Saloman demos for a 7" lathe-cut - another 18th Dream exclusive on the FdM stall
ALL THE COLOURS OF THE AFTERWORLD
nick nicely's new LP is now in-stock at FdM Towers (and at Shiny Beast); vinyl colours are a bit of a lottery but so far everything seems to be a fetching shade of brown, khaki or pink,with a few splats of other colours thrown in for good measure. If you're in the UK and you're looking for a specific colour, I've added a drop-down menu of the 'Afterworld' listing on the FdM SHOP page so you can take your pick...
RC REVIEWS 'FOLKLORE'
Kind words from Ian McCann in the latest issue of Record Collector for our 'folklore' four-track EP
CRYME WATCH
Look out for more news soon on Rob Gould's latest project - a complete remake of the classic Genesis album 'Nursery Cryme' - more news soon
KINKY, BUT NO BOOTS
The Kinks have been woefully served by FdM over the years, so it's about time we did something about it - although it will be by way of a very limited lathe-cut of new covers, probably released in late-July. More news soon.
SCHIZOS LPs - LATEST
My supply of the new Schizo Fun Addict LP 'Love Your Enemies' has now been allocated - if your name came out of the FdM virtual hat, you will have received an emil from me in the last 24 hours.
But if you've missed out, all is not lost - the band have managed to get hold of 20 white label copies from the pressing plant, and we'll be allocating those in about a month's time (if your name is still in the hat, you're already in the next draw - and you can still get your name added to the hat by emiling me at fruitsdemer7@hotmail.com
PHIL KNOWS HIS STUFF!
Now Spinning's Phil Aston gives Sendelica's latest double LP 'One Man's Man...' a comprehensive video review on his website - I think he likes it...
WATCH IT HERE
THANK YOU, CERYS
Thank you to Cerys Matthews for playing Us and Them's 'Julia Dream' on her BBC 6Music show on Sunday (about 38 minutes into her latest show!)
HERE
FACEBOOK BANS US and THEM!
(and no, it isn't April Fool's Day...)
Good to see Facebook clamping down on online pornography as they ban me from advertising Us and Them's new compilation CD because of the cover's 'sexual content'; time at least one of us went to Specsavers?
NICK NICELY 'AFTERWORLD'
'Nick Nicely is the greatest pop star that never was' FACT magazine.
I couldn't put it better myself, and you can now pre-order Nick's new album of demos and outtakes - retrieved, restored and really out there - direct from our SHOP page if you're in the UK, or from Shiny Beast HERE if you're not.
AN INTRODUCTION TO US AND THEM
FdM turn 15 years old this spring and it feels like a good time/excuse to launch a series of retrospectives, featuring artists who have supported the label consistently over the years, for some inexplicable reason.
And as we launched Fruits de Mer as a vinyl label back in 2008, just at the point when vinyl was declared dead and buried, what better time to launch a series of CDs as the compact disc is widely reported to be in terminal decline?
This first CD focusses on Swedish duo Us and Them, whose contributions to the label began with a Pink Floyd coverin 2009, moved on through songs from ‘The Wicker Man’ and tributes to Sandy Denny, fitting in some self-penned songs along the way.
‘An Introduction to Us and Them’ comprises twelve tracks taken from their FdM outings together with four ‘bonus’ tracks, chosen by Britt and Anders from Us and Them from recordings that have appeared on other labels (yes, other labels do exist). - direct from our SHOP page if you're in the UK, or from Shiny Beast HERE if you're not.
BBC 6MUSIC DOES NICELY
Many thanks to Gideon Coe for playing 'Rosemary's Eyes' by nick nicely last night - taken from his new LP of demos and outtakes on FdM - full details somewhere on this website
FORM A DISORDERLY QUEUE
You have until early March to register your interest in buying a copy of Schizo Fun Addict's new LP. There are only 100 copies in total (and a few white labels on top) and I only have about 70 for sale, so the fairest way to allow them out of FdM's clutches is to take the names of everyone who is interested and then do a lucky draw. If you haven't put your hand up yet, please do so by emailing fruitsdemer7@hotmail.com and your name will go in the hat - and you'll hear back if your name comes back out again around March 10.
BANG GOES A QUIET 2023
Although at least February will be peaceful
WHERE THE MAGIC IS STRONG
Things can move pretty fast round here! As I was announcing on Facebook earlier today The Lemon Clocks compilation CD as the seventh CD in this summer's 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival goodie-bag, Santtu from Astral Magic messaged me to see if I'd like to include an exclusive CD - and a few hours later, HERE IT IS!
The EIGHTH CD in this year's Fruits de Mer free pack will be Astral Magic's 'Where The Magic Is Strong'! (have you bought your ticket yet??)
WIN ONE OF 25 SCHIZO FUN ADDICT 7"s
Everybody on an FdM mailing-list should have received details - if you're not on a list, now's the time to join...if you ARE, please check your spam box and, if there's nothing there, drop me an email
US AND THEM - THEN AND NOW
In March, I'll be kicking off FdM's 15th year 'celebrations' with the first of a series of retrospective CDs; much more on these soon, but the first one features our favourite Swedish duo, Us and Them.
NICELY DID IT
nick nicely will be back on FdM in late spring with a collection of demos and outtakes which will appear on vinyl under the title, 'Afterworld'. Tracks range from early takes on classic songs such as 'Rosemary's Eyes' and DCT Dreams' to much newer projects.
More news soon.
POSTED IN 2022, ARRIVED IN 2023
It's a bit like the scene towards the end of 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind', when people wander out of the alien spaceship not knowing where they've been or how long they've been away...parcels that I posted at the end of November have mysteriously appeared at their destinations, with no explanation of what happened to them.
Still, mustn't grumble.
I CAN HEAR THE GRASS GROW
Stay have just released a video to their cover of The Move's 'I Can Hear The Grass Grow' - availble now on 7" vinyl direct from FdM if you're in the UK, or from Shiny Beast or from the band themselves if you're not (check them out on Facebook!)
RC SUPPORTS THE 19th DREAM FESTIVAL
Record Collector mag is kindly sponsoring the 19th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus festival in August 2023. You can see the line-up in our ad in the new issue of RC (The Bevis Frond, Sendelica, London Underground, Cary Grace, Soft Hearted Scientists, Nick Harper and many more) and buy your advance tickets
HERE
APOLOGIES FOR ANY DELAYS
all the latest Fruits de Mer orders went in the post as planned and promised, but I'm hearing some horror stories from within Royal Mail sorting offices, so please be patient - I'm sure normal service will resume soon
FOLKLORE
Our first release of 2023 will be an 8" lathe-cut EP called 'Folklore', which, as you might imagine, means that this doesn't signal our move into death metal. Being a lathe-cut, it'll be another release that will be oversubscribed and so FdM club members will get priority. More news soon
THE 19th DREAM GOODIE-BAG IS FILLING UP
We're up to six CDs plus download cards in the summer 2023 festival goodie-bag - with one or two more to come; you can see the current contents if you click on the '19th Dream' button at the top of the page
