Review: Fruits de Mer - The Cats Never Sleep / The Insektlife Cycle & Me and My Kites / Soft Hearted Scientists

August 7th sees the start of the 3 day 'The 13th Dream of Dr Sardonicus Festival of Psychedelia' in the delightful surroundings of Cardigan Bay, Wales. It is curated by UFO Club, those Welsh wizards Sendelica and, of course, that bastion of all things psychedelic - Fruits de Mer Records. As well as a stellar lineup (including Sendelica themselves, Astralasia, Soft Hearted Scientists, Luck of Eden Hall and two faves of this blog - The Telephones and Earthling Society) festival goers will receive some fab freebies and the chance to buy some extremely limited vinyl goodies. Keith (Mr Fruits de Mer himself) was kind enough to send me CD promos of 2 of the lathe cut 7" that will be on sale, and will become collectors items within hours as only 50 copies will be cut. Released under the banner of FdM's sister label 'Friends Of The Fishes', they break with the familiar cover version format and bring us 4 original tracks from bands hailing from Wales, Switzerland, The Philippines and Sweden.

'Friends Of The Fish 3 (Switzerland meets the Philippines)' bring together two bands of which I had been totally unaware and am pleased that this has now been rectified. The Cats Never Sleep from Switzerland give us 'Soma', a lazy, hazy heavy psych number that relies on atmosphere and groove rather than frenetic tempo. The playing is spot-on, with some wonderfully evocative psych guitar that can jam with the best of them. The Insektlife Cycle from The Philippines have contributed 'Sungaze'. As the title may suggest it is a dreamy, summery instrumental, again wonderfully played, but with a structure and feel of the more pastoral post-rock bands. Both these bands are new to Fruits de Mer but I would imagine, on this showing, that they will become regulars. The Cats Never Sleep have an EP out, 'Astral Jams' which can be found on Soundcloud and The Insektlife Cycle's 'Purple Gaze' EP can also be found on Soundcloud. Check them out!

'Friends Of The Fish 4 (Sweden meets Wales)' bring us some more familiar names. Me And My Kites from Sweden have already had a single released by FdM and they give us a track from their forthcoming LP 'Is It Real Or Is It Made?'. 'War' takes some very English prog and gives it an acid-folk twist. The acoustic guitar and electric piano give it a real 70s vibe and Lisa Isaksson's unique but beautiful vocal stylings lift it above the ordinary....a lovely track. Wales' Soft Hearted Scientists need no introduction to regular FdM listeners and for this single they have a rummage through their back catalogue and give us 'Surferella' (soon to appear on a compilation of their unreleased and rare stuff 'Exorcising the Demos Part Three' CD). It is a fun and frivolous take on surf - "a Dick Dale inspired trem and twang-fest psych surf nugget" that sounds like the Welsh equivalent of Man or Astroman?. It's a short but fun exercise in surf/new wave/psych.

For the lucky buggers who manage to get their hands on the actual 7", I urge you to play them at least once before consigning them to the 'records too valuable or rare to play' shelf...all 4 of the tracks are unique and bring something different to the releases. It's testament to Keith and FdM that the label consistently finds new acts that deliver and add different dimensions to a roster of class acts. Fruits de Mer really is one of the crown jewels of the psychedelic scene.

On a personal note, I'm gutted I cannot make the festival....I got as far as finding a B & B with spaces....but couldn't find a bloody dogsitter! If you're going...you're gonna have a blast!