UK record label Fruits De Mer Records have managed to establish themselves in a small, select niche in the music market. Their specialty is to release more or less well known songs of a psychedelic nature from the days of old recorded in more or less liberal takes by artists currently active, with a side dish of new material made with a firm focus back to the heyday of psychedelic rock. Just about all of their releases are limited edition vinyl production, the greater majority 7 inch singles but with a few EPs and full length albums here and there too. “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed” documents all parts of the label’s endeavors as of August 2013, with a few supplemental tracks by artists directly or indirectly associated with the label.
A section named Something Old kicks off this promo CD, eight songs from the older parts of Fruits de Mer release history. From the alternating light and dark 60’s oriented moods of Schizo Fun Addicts take on Theme One to Cat Frequency’s own folk-oriented Dreaming of a Wooden Fish we’re treated to a fair share of gems on this part of the promo CD, although the arguable most interesting track as such on this part is King Penguin’s take on The Pretty Things classic Old Man Going from the full length production “Sorrow’s Children”, one of the most interesting productions Fruits de Mer Records have released so far in their history.
The second part of the promo, Something New, presents us with six tracks pulled from more recent productions by the label. This is, at least to my ears, the most interesting of the three parts this promo CD covers, with amazing tracks lining up one after the other. Three of them are originals as well, The Luck of Eden Hall, Soft Hearted Scientists and Stay all documenting quite nicely that you can create original psychedelic music in this day and age that does make a strong impact, with The Soft Hearted Scientists Halloween People a slight standout due to a very distinct sound and atmosphere on this one – combined with whimsical lyrics to extremely good effect.
The final four compositions included, assembled in the part Something Borrowed, features material from artists associated with the label that haven’t been released by Fruits de Mer Records themselves. Of the four, Sidewalk Society’s take on The Small faces’ Song of a Baker will probably have the widest appeal but in my ears it’s the demo version of Sendelica’s Something in a Grain of Sand that made me nod my head to the rhythms, revolving around a hypnotizing electronic based motif, from a sequenced I’d guess, paired off with wild and vibrant improvised guitar riffs and soloing, ranging from dampened, tortured and twisted guitar riff effects and reverbs to rough, in your face psychedelic dripping guitar soloing, but also giving way to some sequences with a more sparse arrangement that allows the main motif room to shine brighter in it’s own right as well.
It all adds up to a very nice collection of songs, documenting the quality of Fruits de Mer Records as a label as well as the artists they have been and still are cooperating with. It is a promo somewhat hard to get these days, as it was made specially for Fruits de Mer Records all day festival in London in August 2013, but if you know someone who was there primarily to see headliners The Pretty Things and not too concerned with the rest, you might want to ask to take over this production. At least if you are a fan of old school psychedelic rock, and the kind of fan who also takes joy in hearing contemporary artists having a go at the classics.
My rating: 84/100
