Elfin Bow and Gary Lloyd

Elfin Bow and Gary Lloyd have released a fabulous single on the Fruit de Mer Records label, Elfin Bow is musician and artist Elizabeth Anne Jones, and Gary Lloyd a respected composer, with them the Scottish Session Orchestra. I'll be honest I'd heard of none of them, and choose this single primarily as I liked the name 'Elfin Bow' (cool name), that, and I've yet to get a record from FdM that I don't enjoy. Well, what a lovely record. The A side is a beautiful arrangement of Sandy Denny's classic 'Who knows where the time goes', and one that really does the original justice. Elizabeth's got an absolutely gorgeous voice, and uses it wonderfully, doing a fantastic job with this classic. The original has a mournful feel to it, I think, whereas Elfin Bow has managed to elevated the mood, whilst retaining the gravitas and emotional essence of the original. Elizabeth's dreamlike honeyed vocals complimenting Sandy's lyrics, invoking those images of open fires in winter bound cottages, of the cycles of the year and of life. It's a really lovely interpretation. And the addition of the orchestra just hits you, man, and when it cuts in proper it adds drama, real depth and warmth, elevating the song even further, a grand interpretation. Masterful, man. As good as the Denny reworking is, and it is, what I love best is the B side.  A stunning reworking of Elfin Bow's 'The Wisdom'.  The original with Elizabeth's beautiful vocals is lovely enough (I checked it out on Bandcamp), though, on this track her voice is absolutely mesmerizing, man, transporting you to magical realms, maybe that's the 'elf', in Elfin Bow. Again, the addition of the orchestra lifts an already impressive track to something simply wonderful, the perfect juxtaposition of simple folk and grand orchestra. Both re-workings are enchanting, Elizabeth's voice is heavenly throughout, and massive kudos to Gary Lloyd and the Scottish Session Orchestra whose performances on both tracks are remarkable. A really lovely single. As with all FdM releases it's a quality release with attention to detail, a lovely gate-fold sleeve housing a pastel pink 7inch vinyl, go on buy one, you'll love it. Also, go check Elfin Bow out.

A fantastic release FdM, I'd have more like this.

And, if you fancy a trip, play it at 33rpm (both sides), go on, it's amazing what you get. 

Little fishies

A Fruits de Mer parcel through your door never fails to bring a broad smile to your face, and why wouldn't it, Fruits de Mer Records produce the most exquisite musical ear treats. Today a wonderful quadrigeminal of 7 inch's by: Elfin Bow and Gary Lloyd, The Chemistry Set, Nick Nicely and Touch. That's rarely all with a FdM delivery, included today the fabulous Swordfish and the Toad 'the first road trip', a mix exploring the FdM archives (all I've listened to, so far) and a Christmas postcard.  A nice touch, and always appreciated. I was late to the  Fruits de Mer party, and came to the label a couple of years ago through a selection of FdM mix CD's in a friends car, track after track of music which simply just hits that sweet spot, well, my musical sweet spot anyway. What FdM does, it does brilliantly. Attention to detail runs through the label like Brighton through rock, primarily in the choice of artists, all unique, all selected from a wide psychedelic spectrum and all with their own certain magic, the records are usually colourful quality pressings with a great deal of consideration put into the sleeves as well, the whole thing smacks of class. Anyway, these little fishies will not be going on the little dishy, rather on to the spinning platter. I'm off to listen the heck out of these beauties.