IT'S COLD...DARK...INHOSPITABLE...
In the inimitable words of Ian Hunter, 'allo.
Let's start at the very beginning with FdM's first release - new versions of Van der Graaf Generator/George Martin's 'Theme One' & The Small Faces' 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake' - both played with panache (and guitars) by Schizo Fun Addict and on sale now. It's pressed on 7 inches of wonderfully flat, round, fetchingly swirly and gren stuff that, in the days before social networking replaced talking to people, was commonly known as vinyl and came in any colour as long as it was black.
We think it's tastier than a fresh black pudding; if you don't believe us, give it a listen by playing the videos inconveniently situated way over in the left-hand column of the page or check out the reviews I've hidden even more effectively in the blog - but all you REALLY have to do is trust your instincts....order a copy today and just a few days from now you'll be the envy of all your friends - it's only $7.50 including P&P, that's about 7/6 in old English money and getting less by the day as Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and the international money markets weave their magic.
Press the PayPal 'Buy Now' button to take possession of a sure-fire instant collectable (one day, maybe), and help us placate our bank manager (a very nice young lady called Tracey who runs the local branch of Lloyds TSB in Sutton and keeps phoning me on my mobile 'just for a chat' - oops)
(PAYPAL wants YOU)
We've received orders from Brazil, Japan, Germany, Texas, Rochdale, Eccles-on-Sea (check your maps), you name it....there are obviously music fans with great taste across the globe (still no orders from Belgium, but we've got a lead!).
Piccadilly Records made it their Record of the Week, it crashed into their 2008 Top 40 psych best-sellers chart and it's still there; Record Collector loves it, Small Faces experts John Hellier and Mick Taylor have given it their seal of approval and Uncut, Mojo and Classic Rock have ignored it completely. Despite such universal praise, we've only pressed up 300 copies and they're disappearing as quickly as a Fruits de Mer single.
The 'Record Collector' review in all its slightly fuzzy glory...
...Where next? How about news of TWO more releases from FdM in 2008 you can't afford to live without...
...the first features lead singer from THE 70's cult acid-folk-rock band 'Mellow Candle', Alison O'Donnell, who couples Nick Drake's "Day is Done" with "Frozen Warnings" by The Velvet Underground's Nico. Alison has put both tracks together with the help of Graeme Lockett, aka 'Head South by Weaving'.
A double 'A' side if ever there was one, it's scheduled for release on November 13th...the sleeve is designed by that multi-talented chap Aritomo while Alison has autographed 300 promo photos which we'll be slipping inside each copy (that's one in each copy, not 300) to make a it a pretty nifty package, even if we say so ourselves; you're listening to one of the tracks right now - or you would be if you hadn't turned off the fairly cruddy myspace player that comes free with this website...(check out the reviews by toxicpete, Losing Today, Heyday and Unpeeled in the blog)
AND you can pre-order your copy today via our nearest and certainly dearest friends at Paypal, just hit the PayPal 'Buy Now' button, say goodbye to $7.50 and say hello to Alison's new single - just as soon as we get hold of it ourselves...
STOP PRESS: RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE RATES MELLOW CANDLE'S 'SWADDLING SONGS' AS THE 47TH RAREST ALBUM OF ALL TIME!
STUART MACONIE PLAYS 'FROZEN WARNINGS' ON BBC RADIO 6 'FREAKZONE'
NICK JONES UNLEASHES HIS VIDEO TO 'DAY IS DONE'
...and then there's...
...also in November, we'll be belatedly celebrating Spain's victories in the European Championships, Tour de France and Wimbledon by releasing our first ep, by the brilliant Spanish neo-psych band, 'STAY'.
Three absolute classics, originally written by The Rolling Stones ('2,000 Light Years From Home'), Graham Nash ('Chicago') and Strawberry Alarm Clock ('Rainy Day, Mushroom Pillow') respectively, making this another unmissable FdM release, and here's Nick Jones' video to 'Rainy Day', just to whet your appetite...
(film clips taken from "The Brain That Wouldn't Die, 1962")
Unpeeled, Heyday, toxicpete and Losing Today have given the ep the thumbs-up (check out the fdm2 blog for all the reviews), while the excellent 'Shindig' magazine is counting the days to its release......thanks guys. If you need more evidence of its sheer brilliance, just scroll down you can look/listen at/to our '2,000 Light Years' and 'Chicago' videos...or you can simply pre-order your copy now, for just 7.50 of your American dollars, and we'll whisk a copy to you as soon as Warren at the pressing plant has finished pressing, polishing and posting the first batch...go on, hit the button, you know you want to...
...AND if that's not enough, we're proud to announce yet another FdM single - this time we've persuaded Mark Fry - yes, the Mark Fry who recorded one of the rarest 70's albums EVER, the acid folk classic 'Dreaming with Alice', to put together an exclusive single for us that combines Mark's version of the Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning' with a new recording of the title track from 'Dreaming'......this will be the first time the 'Dreaming with Alice' has been released in a complete, uninterrupted form - pretty damned impressive, or what? You'll have to wait until early 2009 for this one, but we've been waiting since 1972 so a few more months won't make much difference (no rush, Mark).
Send us a message today if you want an email up the backside as soon as we start taking pre-orders for Mark's single - strictly limited to 300 copies, colour vinyl of course.
Coming soon...The Flaming Gnomes ride again...
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FdM2 is the older, slower and verbose brother of Fruits de Mer Records(www.myspace.com/fdmer).
Fruits de Mer's mission in life is to unearth stunning tracks from the 60's and early 70's and get equally stunning artists to reinterpret them; FdM2's more modest ambition is to help spread the word, play a few songs and videos along the way and, it's a fair cop, do everything I can to persuade you to hang around here long enough to become a convert to the FdM philosophy: tune in, turn on, cough up.
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Visit www.myspace.com/fdmer to find out more about the label and pass the time of day with Andy, my young, gifted and bracken partner in this foolish venture...
...or put your life briefly on pause, sit back and watch the other videos scattered around the site, courtesy of fellow myspacers and youtubers (thank you all); visit the blogs and contribute some of your musical knowledge, personal opinions, archive material and vitriol...
...make friends and influence people in the creatively-titled 'friends' section and, as you reluctantly make your excuses and leave, please bear in mind that web 2.0 is all about behavioural targetting (or so I read in my copy of 'Ventriloquism for Dummies'), so give us a kindly mention the next time you find a like-minded soul, quite clearly we need all the help we can get....oh, and have a quick look at www.myspace.com/fruitsdemer - my 'b-side' - if you like FdM2, you'll only be mildly disappointed by it.
Ogden's gone now...but we'll back before you can say, "good riddance"; or in the words of Schizo Fun Addict....
BE BRAVE...AND KEEP FAITH
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AND FINALLY (is there no end to this waffle?)...
...an FdM2 treat for getting this far without throwing your pc through the nearest window, here are those Nick Jones videos to STAY'S '2,000 Light Years From Home' and 'Chicago', two of the tracks on their forthcoming FdM ep...
CHICAGO (originally by Graham Nash)
2,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME (originally by The Rolling Stones)
(film clips taken from "The Phantom Planet, 1961")
