09 March 2024

DAVE MCLEAN – Faintly Blowing (2024, 8” lathe cut Fruits de Mer Records)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Fruits de Mer Records

Format: 8” lathe cut, Limited Edition, 100 copies

Release Date: 1 Apr 2024

Here’s an exciting 8-inch lathe-cut vinyl single on a super extra limited run (only 100 copies were produced) by Chemistry Set’s Dave McLean! It is released through Fruits de Mer Records, and if you wish to have your name inside FdM’s legendary virtual hat, Keith explains: “There will only be 100 8″ lathe-cut singles produced – so they’ll be very rare and rather expensive – £16 including postage in the UK, around £20-£23 outside the UK (I’ll confirm international prices once the records arrive at FdM Towers). This is going to be vastly oversubscribed so… if you’d like to be in with a chance to buy a copy, all you have to do is email me – fruitsdemer7@hotmail.com – with ‘FAINTLY’ as the subject heading. Your name will automatically go in the FdM virtual hat; around March 25, I’ll draw lucky names out of the hat and if yours is one of them, I’ll email you to tell you how to order your copy (if you don’t hear back from me by the end of March, sorry but it’s bad news!)”…

And now, let’s have a look at FdM’s press release:

“Dave Mclean, founding member of the cult London Psychedelic band The Chemistry Set (who started in 1987), is issuing his first solo single on April 1st, 2024, on Fruits de Mer records.

The limited edition 8″ vinyl single is a cover of the UK Psychedelic/Prog band Kaleidoscope’s “Faintly Blowing”, originally issued in 1969.

On the A-side is a Stereo version and on the B-side a Mono Phased version.

The Chemistry Set used to play this song back in the late 1980’s but it was never recorded, so Dave decided to do it himself.

Dave approached the recording of the single in the same way as the first-ever Chemistry Set release (Acid Tapes) which was recorded in a bedroom.

No recording studio was harmed in the production of the single!”…

“Faintly Blowing” is the opening track of Kaleidoscope’s album “Faintly Blowing”, released in 1969 (Fontana, UK). It is one of the ’Holy Grails’ of the late 60s British Psychedelic scene, and here after 55 years it’s been reimagined, reinvented, and reconstructed by the long ambassador of Modern Psych, Mr. Dave McLean. Dave says that No Recording Studio “was harmed” in the production of the Single, and I can only imagine what his bedroom would look like! But, I’m guessing that since Dave knows the “technique”, the recording studio facilities are not necessary… Anyway, Dave made a magical reinterpretation, much heavier than the original (we do live in Heavy Times, you know) but no less Psychedelic!!! An amalgam of sounds, a huge PSYCH wall of Sound is being created in a simple bedroom, a version where “Acid” flows like water… This is not just a cover, it’s an inside experience, this is a SUPERIOR floating modernized piece of Reinvention-al PSYCH! A Mind-Expanding Freak-a-Delic reinvented Song! Okay, I know it’s hard to obtain one of the 100 copies, but do yourself a favor (particularly if you’re in a new band or starting one, lusting for inspiration) and go check the track on YouTube… There’s a New World out there waiting to be re-discovered and Dave has just wide-opened the window, take a look outside/inside… TimeLord Michalis