Various Artists - Head in the Clouds

Fruits de Mer Records (stange fish eighteen)

Head in the Clouds continues the marvellous krautrock tribute series of Fruits de Mer Records. This time we'll get a massive 2LP/2CD set with almost four hours' worth of cosmic sounds inspired by Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh and the German electronic music scene of the early 70s! The amazing 24 tracks are originals apart from the more up-tempo Ashra cover by the excellent Maat Lander. Most of the tracks are previously unreleased, at least in physical form, so you really get your money's worth of goodies here.

We don't have time to go through all the tracks (no overlapping on LP/CD) right now but here is the list:

LP1 side 1
1 Jah Buddha - Direction Berlin (12:53)
2 Craig Padilla and Marvin Allen - Aquatic (7:44)

LP1 side 2
1 Trace Imprint - Flow and Connect (10:26)
2 Maat Lander - Ocean Of Tenderness (originally by Ashra, 4:15)
3 Saturn's Ambush - Van Allen Belt (6:19)

LP2 side 1
1 Jack Ellister - Der Schiffer (2:33)
2 Anton Barbeau - 'Berlin School Of Doubt' (6:38)
3 exedra - Exoplanet Transit (5:58)
4 MAC of BIOnighT - Scars (6:45)

LP2 side 2
1 Under Golden Canopy - Under Golden Canopy (10.33)
2 Son of Ohm - Pixies (11:49)

CD1
1 Craig Padilla and Marvin Allen - Weathering The Storm
2 Brendan Pollard - Sequenzerzeit (10:02)
3 Jay Tausig - Triangulum (20.42)
4 Mac of BIOnighT - Manmade Horrors (6.55)
5 The Lost Stoned Pandas - Track One (Metal Mickey mix) (4:42)
6 Jah Buddha - Wall Of Blissando (11:25)
7 Vibravoid - Im Zentrum Des Kosmos Ist Ein Auge Das Alles Sieht (10:35)

CD2
1 Trace Imprint - ...As We Walked Under Water (4:17)
2 Sula Bassana - Shushie's Reise (21.29)
3 Craig Padilla - Galaxia (10:42)
4 Helicon Wave - For Edgar (8:35)
5 Blue Lily Commission - Half Asleep At The Blue Gates Of Evening (19:14)
6 Black Tempest - The Sun Rises, The Sun Sets, The Moon Shines (8:18) 

So, a lot of superb acts already known from the Fruits de Mer circles but also some newcomers, at least for me. Most of the music is electronic/synthesizer oriented but there is also quite a lot of guitar etc. in there. Apart from a few spoken word passages all of it is instrumental. I just love each and every tune and I feel this mind-expanding compilation will also be a great inspiration for the more electronic/ambient side of my own psychedelic space/kraut project Astral Magic. Once again I found out by some new bands and artists I didn't know about before (check out Trace Imprint and Jah Buddha for example) as well as got to hear new stuff by my favourites like Vibravoid, Sula Bassana and Maat Lander so I am in electronic kraut heaven! For the vinyl purists it might feel a bit odd that a label founded to release only limited edition vinyl releases is now also putting out CDs but a 5LP box would have been too pricey for a lot of people, that's true. I like the production and flow of how the album has been put together and love this kind of music so I'm sure this marvellous release will be in my 2020 top 10 list. Warmly recommended!

www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/clouds.html