Review by Jason Barnard
Fruits de Mer have increasingly been pulling off some ambitious projects typified by their long sold out epic Strange Fish instrumental set. Their latest project is similarly bold, Side Effects – a four LP box set, eight bands doing a side each of 60s/70s covers.
Pink Floyd are represented of course, now de rigueur at FDM, with The Soft Bombs playing the hell out of ‘Echoes’. Arcade Messiah get brownie points for picking Aphrodite’s Child masterpiece ‘Four Horsemen’, a fitting tribute to the sadly departed Demis Roussos.
Neo-psych stars The Bevis Frond rock a rare cut in ‘China’ by The Electric Sandwich, a version previously appearing in much edited form in another of FDM’s bold statements ‘Head Music’. Superfjord bring a Hawkwind cum electronic feel to The Byrds’ ‘CTA-102’, whilst The Luck of Eden Hall breathe new live to the previously well tread ‘Starship Trooper’ by Yes. Julie’s Haircut kick out Miles Davis’ ‘Shhh/Peaceful’ before branching into a more tranquil soundscape.
Finishing off Sendelica make an arguably brave choice with the genre defining electronica of ‘I Feel Live’ but morph it into a space-prog-disco monster.
And maybe that’s it. Yes, Side Effects, an octo-headed monster, surprising but at times strangely beautiful.
Released on 21 August: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/
