Fruits de Mer Records is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

independent record label based in

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

, Surrey,

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, established by Keith Jones and Andy Bracken in 2008. It releases psychedelic rock,

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music, psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical el ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

and krautrock music, with an international roster of artists spanning from the 1960s to the present. The record label principally releases music on phonograph record format, but

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

is commonly used for its Various Artists compilations, while compact cassettes have also been issued. Some of the outputs are reissues of classic

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s or

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, while others are modern takes on psychedelia. The company has several imprints, including Regal Crabomophone, Strange Fish, Friends of the Fish, Head Cleaner and Tiny, which have their own series of catalogue numbers, but are treated like standard Fruits de Mer Records releases. The organization is also responsible for coordinating a psychedelic music festival since 2013, originally named the Summer Fruits de Mer All-Dayer. In 2014, the event was renamed Crabstock: The Fruits de Mer Records Festival of Psychedelia. The following year, the showcase became a three-day event and was renamed The Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia, which continues to take place annually at The Cellar Bar in Cardigan, Wales. The bands' performances at the festival are often recorded and released by the record label.

History

Prior to forming Fruits de Mer Records, Andy Bracken operated his own record company, Bracken Records, which existed from 2004 to 2010. He and Keith Jones got together in early 2008 to establish Fruits de Mer Records, which was operated as an

imprint label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

of Bracken Records, and remained as such until the closure of the parent company in late 2010. Fruits de Mer Records' early releases featured

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of classic songs interpreted by modern bands. In 2011, Bracken and Jones established the imprint Regal Crabomophone, with the intention of releasing original songs by modern bands. Outputs through Fruits de Mer Records bare catalog numbers starting with the word ''crustacean'', while those released through Regal Crabomophone bare catalog numbers starting with the word ''winkle''. Bracken left the partnership in 2012, shortly after relocating to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, United States. Jones has since assumed full ownership and continues to operate the record label with occasional help from his family and of close musical collaborators. In 2013, Jones established the imprint Strange Fish, with the intention of releasing bands and artists whose genres went beyond what Fruits de Mer Records and Regal Crabomophone normally released; mainly more experimental or hard-to-categorize artists. Outputs through Strange Fish bare catalog numbers starting with the words ''strange fish''. In June 2013, ''Record Collector'' magazine released the Various Artists compilation ''A Fruits de Mer Collection: Plankton'', as part of its Rare Vinyl Series, which included a selection of material from the label's out-of-print releases. In 2014, Jones established the imprint Friends of the Fish. The purpose of this imprint has been expanded over the years, but generally includes limited-edition lathe cut vinyls, series of Various Artists compilation albums given out for free to Fruits de Mer Records Club members and at live festival events, and releases financed by bands that benefit from Fruits de Mer Records' distribution network and fan-base. Outputs through Friends of the Fish Fish bare catalog numbers starting with the words ''friends of the fish'' and generally also include the Fruits de Mer Records logo. Jones established the imprint Head Cleaner in 2015, with the intention of releasing cassette tape-format albums. Outputs through Head Cleaner bare catalog numbers starting with the words ''head cleaner''. On April 20, 2016, radio disc jockey

Gideon Coe Gideon Jon Quantrill Coe (born 22 September 1967 in Canterbury, Kent) is a radio DJ, presenter, sportscaster, voiceover artist and journalist. Early career He began his broadcasting career in 1976 as a child presenter on the BBC One TV program ...

dedicated an entire three-hour

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

program to Fruits de Mer Records. In March 2018, music journalist Dave Thompson published the book ''The Incomplete Angler - Ten Years of Fruits de Mer'', which chronicles the first ten years of the record label's history, along with an extensive discography of the company's output. In celebration of its ten-year anniversary, the record label released the Various Artists compilations ''Goldfish: Fruits de Mer Records 10 Years on Vinyl'', and ''The Three Seasons: The Spring, Summer and Autumn of Love''. In 2018, Jones launched the imprint Tiny, specifically to release 5” lathe-cut singles.

Festivals

Summer Fruits de Mer All-Dayer (2013)

Fruits de Mer Records' first organized showcase concert was named Summer Fruits de Mer All-Dayer, and took place at The Borderline in Central London on August 10, 2013. The event was sponsored by ''Record Collector'' magazine and featured England's

Pretty Things The Pretty Things were an English band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent. They took their name from Willie Dixon's 1955 song "Pretty Thing". A pure rhythm and blues band in their early years, with several singles charting in the Unit ...

as headliners, along with Wales' Sendelica, the Netherlands' Jack Ellister, Spain's Stay, and The Luck of Eden Hall from the United States.

Crabstock: The Fruits de Mer Records Festival of Psychedelia (2014)

The success of the Summer Fruits de Mer All-Dayer lead to the creation of four spin-off, multi-city events: Crabstock: The Fruits de Mer Records Festival of Psychedelia, in 2014. Each single-day event was held in a different city, on a different date, and with different performing bands. Two events were held in the United States under the name Crabstock USA. The first was held at The Bowery Electric in New York City on April 10, 2014, and featured The Seventh Ring of Saturn, Sky Picnic and King Penguin. The second was held at The Outer Space in Hamden, Connecticut on April 11, 2014, and featured The Seventh Ring of Saturn, Sky Picnic and The Luck of Eden Hall. The main event, Crabstock, was held at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales on April 26, 2014. The showcase featured Sendelica, Earthling Society, Crystal Jacqueline, James McKeown, Jack Ellister and Wally Stagg. Sendelica's performance was recorded and released as Fruits de Mer Records' imprint Friends of the Fish's first release. The final event was held on May 3, 2014, at Club Darkside in Helsinki, Finland under the name Crabstock on Ice. The artists that performed at the event include Sendelica, Octopus Syng, Us and Them, The Legendary Flower Punk, Jack Ellister and DJ Astro.

The Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia (2015–present)

The 13th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia (2015)

Following two years of single-day events, Fruits de Mer Records partnered with Sendelica to launch the three-day showcase, The 13th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia (named in honor of progressive rock band

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

's album ''Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus''). The event was held from August 7–9, 2015, at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales, and featured performances by

The Bevis Frond The Bevis Frond is an English rock band formed in 1986 in Walthamstow, London, England. The band is fronted by Nick Saloman and has recorded many singles and albums on various independent labels. Information Saloman was originally in a band kno ...

, Earthling Society, Astralasia, Sendelica (and Sendelica Acoustica), Soft Hearted Scientists, Schnauser, The Luck of Eden Hall, Magic Bus, The Honey Pot, Spurious Transients, Jack Ellister, Steve Kelly, The Telephones, Paradise 9 and DJ Wally Stagg.

The 14th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival of Psychedelia (2016)

The 14th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival of Psychedelia was held from August 5–7, 2016, at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales, and featured performances by Vibravoid, Twink and The Fairies, Sendelica, Ax Genrich and Sunhair, Soft Hearted Scientists, The Telephones, Vert:x, Consterdine, Ted Selke, Gregory Curvey, Andrew McCulloch, Jack Ellister, Deviant Amps, The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies and DJ Wally Stagg.

The 15th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia (2017)

The 15th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia was held from August 4–6, 2017, at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales, and featured performances by

, Sendelica,

Anton Barbeau Anton Barbeau is an American psychedelic singer-songwriter and producer from Sacramento, California. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums, synthesizers, and Mellotron. Barbeau is known for combining surreal l ...

Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' () is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first to be scientifically described, ''Fuchsia triphylla'', was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) ...

, Earthling Society, The Cary Grace Band, Babal, The Telephones, The Spookers, Deviant Amps, Chariots, Red Sun, Mark McDowell and Friends and DJ Wally Stagg.

The 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia (2018)

The 16th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus: A Festival of Psychedelia was held from August 3–5, 2018, at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales, and featured performances by Nik Turner's New Space Ritual,

, Sendelica, Stay, Schnauser, The Fertility Cult, Elfin Bow, Nathan Hall and The Sinister Locals, 7shades, Opel, Alain Pire Experience, The Fellowship of Hallucinatory Voyagers, Ash Magna, Consterdine, I Am Voyager I and The Cold Needles.

The 17th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival (2019)

The 17th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival was held from August 7–9, 2019, at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales, and featured performances by

The Groundhogs Groundhogs are an English blues and rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s, and continued sporadically into the 21st century. Tony McPhee (guitar and vocals) is the sole c ...

, Sendelica, The Chemistry Set, 3D Tanx, Mark McDowell, Sarah Birch, Alain Pire Experience, Moon Goose, Spurious Transients, The Lost Tuesday Society, Elfin Bow, The Fellowship of Hallucinatory Voyagers, I Am Voyager I, Paul Sax and DJ Wally Staggs.

The 18th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival (2022)

The 18th Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival was originally scheduled to take place between August 7–9, 2020, but it was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. During the hiatus, The Cellar Bar, where the festival had taken place since 2014, underwent financial difficulties and faced being permanently closed, so Fruits de Mer Records compiled a benefit Various Artists compilation titled ''We Are The Cellar Bar Restoration Society''. The event was rescheduled to August 6–8, 2021, but was again postponed due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The event was successfully held from August 5–7, 2022, at The Cellar Bar and Art Gallery in Cardigan, Wales, and featured performances by

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

, Sendelica, Elfin Bow, The Telephones, Spurious Transients, Taras Bulba, Z-Machine, Sonic Trip Project, Sarah Birch, Hanford Flyover, Moon Goose and DJ Benway.

Artists

This is a partial list of artists who record for Fruits de Mer Records, or one of its imprint labels. * Astralasia *

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* Beautify Junkyards *

Chad & Jeremy Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with " Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United States in the following ...

* The Chemistry Set * Rob Clarke * Computerchemist * Anla Courtis * Electric Moon * Electric Orange *

The Electric Prunes The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." Th ...

Eroc Joachim Heinz Ehrig (born 15 November 1951), better known by his stage name Eroc, is a German musician and sound engineer. He served as the drummer and band leader of the German progressive rock group Grobschnitt from 1970 until 1983. He also rele ...

* Earthling Society * Ex Norwegian * Nick Franglen *

Mark Fry Mark Lewis Fry (born 4 November 1952) is an English painter and psychedelic folk musician. He is best known for his album ''Dreaming with Alice'', released in 1972, which has been hailed as a psychedelic folk classic by critics and a diverse ra ...

* Cary Grace * The Grand Astoria * Ilona V * The Jet Age * Julie's Haircut * LoveyDove * Nick Nicely * Alison O'Donnell * Craig Padilla *

Henry Padovani Henry (or Henri) Padovani (born 13 October 1952) is a French musician (from the Mediterranean French isle of Corsica), noted for being the original guitarist of English rock band The Police. He was a member of the band from January 1977 to Augus ...

* Brendan Pollard *

The Pretty Things ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

* Inna Pivars & The Histriones * The Re-Stoned *

Paul Roland Paul Roland (born 6 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. Roland typically writes his songs in the form of stories, often addressing historical figures, characters from literature and film, or his own cre ...

* Schizo Fun Addict * Sendelica *

Damo Suzuki , better known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), is a Japanese musician who has been living in Germany since the early 1970s and is best known as the former lead singer of the krautrock group Can. Biography As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 196 ...

Tír na nÓg In Irish mythology Tír na nÓg (; "Land of the Young") or Tír na hÓige ("Land of Youth") is one of the names for the Celtic Otherworld, or perhaps for a part of it. Tír na nÓg is best known from the tale of Oisín and Niamh. Other Old Ir ...

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch ( haptic perception), as well as temperature ( thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

* Nik Turner * Vibravoid * Vision Eternel * Dan West *

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 2008 establishments in England British companies established in 2008 British independent record labels Companies based in Surrey English record labels Fruits de Mer Records Psychedelic rock record labels Psychedelic folk record labels Record labels established in 2008