Various Artists: The Fruits de Mer Annual 2013 (2012)

In the words of the record label: "Every year, Fruits de Mer puts out a single combines the best of the tracks that we wanted to release during the year but just couldn't get our act together earlier." That is the premise for this double A side 7 inch vinyl single. The double A side accomplished by using an album cover with two different front sides and no back side as well as the vinyl itself carrying two A sides and no B side. The cover art is worth mentioning in itself, sensual erotic yet innocent images of the kind produced in an age a long time behind us.

As far as the music is concerned, I was mostly taken by Russian band Vespero's contribution. A fine, delicate and controlled take on Faust's Jennifer, with a dark cosmic bass motif as the dominating feature, supplemented by a careful circulating guitar motif and delicate rhythms, laid back lead vocals and a wide array of sounds and effects of a delicate nature smoothly floating in and out of this fragile cosmic journey. Ending in a chaotic array of cosmic sounds, but even this cosmic chaos is one of smooth and finely controlled nature. A freaked out cosmic final phase as run through a filter you might say.

The other A side is a very different beast entirely. The foundation of Temple Music's take on The Hollies track Pegasus resides around another careful construction admittedly, delicate acoustic guitar, bass and female lead vocals to be precise, but on this occasion encapsulated and partially hidden by a flamboyant, dramatic and obtrusive array of fluctuating cosmic sounds, electronic effects and psych-dripping guitars. A chaotic, frantic and disharmonic construction of the kind that comes with a guaranteed freaked out certificate. Not quite my kind of illegal herbal tea, to use that as a more or less telling metaphor, but there are plenty of fans of this kind of music around and they are well adviced to note down this one as a creation to....experience.

Overall a production where the different sides will have their strongest appeals to rather different audiences I suspect, but if you're a fan of chaotic freaked out experiences and finely controlled, smooth cosmic excursions both then this vinyl should be a real treat.

My rating: 80/100

Track list:
A. Vespero: Jennifer
A. Temple Music: Pegasus