Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey Pot – I Talk To The Wind (Ltd. Colour 2x7”)

Five songs, two pieces of vinyl, one mighty fine release. Wiltshire's finest cover some psych 'n' prog deep cuts.

Another November release for the ever-expanding Fruits de Mer discography is this double 7” from Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey Pot. I'm chuffed to bits because they've chosen to cover one of my personal '60s nuggets. 'Sun Goes Down' was the B-side to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's 1967 single 'Zabadak'. On the rare occasions I been known to dust down my vinyl and DJ down the local boozer, it's a track that always raises approving eyebrows. Someone always asks to know what it is. Top marks then to Jacqueline and The HP for choosing to cover it. They've done a pretty decent job too. Plenty of heavy reverb on the vocals, nifty guitar work from Icasrus Peel, and a nice groove with ace drum fills in the gaps between the verses and choruses. It'll be in my DJ box next time without a doubt!

Also on this release is a version of Traffic's 'Mr. Fantasy', which honours the original in tempo but has a more textural approach – Mellotron, phasing on the guitars and layered echoed vocals. Neat! They also tackle songs by King Crimson ('I Talk To The Wind'), Rare Bird ('Sympathy') and Tonton Macoute ('Dreams') – all fine versions and very much worthy of your attention. 'Sympathy' in particular carries a much needed contemporary message in it's lyrics. The set closes with an epic eight-minute version of Tonton Macoute's 'Dreams'. I'm not familiar with the original so can't tell you how it differs but suffice to say CJ & The HP's version is a spirited affair full of tension and drama. Another fab FdM release.

TRACKLISTING

1. Mr Fantasy

2. I Talk To The Wind

3. Sun Goes Down

4. Sympathy

5. Dreams

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Anton Barbeau - Heaven Is In Your Mind (Ltd. col. 7")

Four song 7” from your favourite pre-apocalyptic psychedelic popster!

I've written about the music of Anton Barbeau before on a sadly now defunct website, his Empire Of Potential LP being something of a delight and a great entry point into his work. With that in mind it's good to know that since re-locating from Cambridge to Berlin he's still coming up with the goods musically. His latest single on the ever reliable Fruits de Mer label is a four song affair, sixteen minutes of music on one coloured 7” (nice work by the cutting engineer!)

The bad news is there's only one Barbeau-penned track here – 'Secretion Of The Wafer' is melodic, elegant, driven by synthy swells and sparse piano notes, and full of sphinx-like mystery. The musical equivalent of a Buddhist koan.

To say that's bad news is misleading as the the rest of the single is made up of three very enyoyable (and brave) covers. Traffic's 'Heaven Is In Your Mind' being the title track of along with versions of Big Star's 'September Gurls' and David Bowie's 'Scary Monsters'.

This blue or yellow vinyl only set is released on July 24^th but if you want more Anton Barbeau head to Fruits de Mer's annual three-day summer festival in Wales where Mr. Barbeau will be playing a solo set. The 15^th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus runs over the weekend of August 4th-6^th in Cardigan. Visit the Fruits de Mer website for more info.

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Vibravoid – Stepping Stone (Ltd. 7”)

Psychedelic Monkee business and heavy Traffic aboard the Lovecraft.

With Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork heading out on their latest nostalgic cash-in for the first time in ten years it's a happy coincidence that Vibravoid are releasing a brand new 7” featuring their take on The Monkees classic (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone. The garage rock staple gets a Freakbeat makeover complete with backward guitar solo. Neat!

If the Monkees cover doesn't float your boat there's always their version of Traffic's Hole In My Shoe which features guest vocals from Italian mod jazz singer Viola Road. A fairly straight take on the Brit-psych save for the middle eight section which is sung as opposed to spoken

Completing this 3 track 7” is a new mix of H.P. Lovecraft's The White Ship. Less about melody and more of a mood piece with atmospherics, synth shimmer and pulsating bass, it completes a pretty impressive 3 tracker!

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