Cranium Pie - Rememberrr / Mothership

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4...according to our Business Lady on Thu 09 Sep, 2010.

Bit confused about this one but Phil over there tells me these guys specialize in covering kick ass rare psych classics. I can't tell if these two numbers are covers or not but it's the final release on Bracken so if you have some interest in the label then this will surely intrigue. Cranium Pie go for a seriously authentic Brit-psych sound with the influence of Pink Floyd being very prominent on these tracks. 'Mothership' is a perfect replica of mid era Floyd musicianship and the recording ain't bad either. B-side 'Rememberrr' drifts and jams a little more. It reminds me a little of Crosby, Stills and Nash but with a UK spin on tings. They make great use of the Hammond organ on this track and sound like they're having a lot of fun, especially with the acid-induced space rantings. If these are originals then the authenticity and attention to detail are worth applauding. Well psych'd out and a fitting end for the label I'm sure.

UPDATE: we've just heard back from the band that these are original tunes!

And so a five and a half year adventure draws to a close. It’s been fun (most of the time), an experience even. I’ve learnt a lot.

Not that I’m actually going anywhere. Fruits de Mer shall continue apace, and there are roe being hatched as I type to expand that little fishbowl into a bigger heated aquarium type affair, so watch that space.

It is now a fact that the 15th and final Bracken offering shall be by CRANIUM PIE. Why? ‘Cause I love ‘em. The most imaginative band I’ve worked with? Probably, yep. A smashing bunch of lads? Yep, tick that box. Innovative and fresh with a few toes dipped in the pool marked ‘past’? Oh yes. I like that, I do.

The clever lads that are Cranium Pie even managed to work a lyric into “Mothership” about Bracken going. Again, I like that, I do. I thank them for it.

Bracken started out as a fairly typical indie label, with perhaps an ear honed in on a more commercial sound, as we passed through stages of Indie guitar pop, art-rock (Josephine), C86 flecked rock (Cedars), shoegaze (Shade), acoustic pop (And His Voice Became), folk-tronica (Spare Snare), C86 based synth pop (Tillmanns), loner-folk (Ilona V), acid-folk (Aritomo), rural-folk (Haruko) and the impossible to categorise Schizo Fun Addict.

Then Fruits de Mer started to take over, and everything psych and kraut became our obsession. It makes sense, therefore, that Cranium Pie should close the show. For this record is like something that, had it been recorded in 1969, would now be worth more than my dad’s house. Relax – it’s in Anglesey…so a good few hundred quid, then.

CP – contemporary psychedelia, proggy keys, slightly deranged vocals, subtle layers of genius laid down at every level of the recording, some of which only reveal themselves after repeated headphone listens. Imagine that – a record you can listen to over and over again, and not tire of? It’s a novel concept that might just catch on…

There is no better way I can think of to close up shop than with this record. I hope you like it. I hope you listen to it. Repeatedly. Through headphones. Perhaps light one up whilst so-doing…

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