My record collection
[179] The Complete Sepia Carrot EP

The Complete Sepia Carrot EP was given away with Ptolemaic Terrascope No. 23 in 1997 and contains Damon & Naomi’s gorgeous cover of C.O.B.’s Spirit of Love.

The Complete Sepia Carrot EP

Ptolemaic Terrascope singles invariably arrived in plain white sleeves, with no labels and the track listing scratched into the vinyl where a label would be, all the pertinent information was in the magazine, here’s what it said:

THE COMPLETE SEPIA CARROT E.P

Well, shiver me timbers and boil me barnacles if it isn't another 7 inch vinyl galleon weighed down with aural booty! Let us board her, me hearties, and see what treasures she holds. Cutlasses at the ready, shipmates, here we go. Side one opens with New Zealand's very own Alistair Galbraith and his magical 'Flickering Too'. A gentle whisper of folk mysticism with an underlying current of something altogether more disturbing. Next, West Coast psych legends Fifty Foot Hose with 'Bad Trip'. Anyone who doesn't possess their album 'Cauldron' is a greengage. The track here predates the album by a couple of years and is taken from an unreleased acetate. Stunning. And to conclude Side One, say hallo to (The) Hood. Their 'You Should Never Be Alone In This World' floats crazily for a couple of minutes of chiming acoustic delight. And on to Side Two where the mysterious CJT open with their 'Jazzshite', a swift live voyage into the avant-garde. Were you there? Next, the beautiful Damon & Naomi and their very lovely cover of C.O.B's 'Spirit Of Love'. A most excellent choice if I might be so bold. And finally, distant insane chanting, distortion in the Refectory, debauched revelry at Evensong....yes, it's The Monks. Those demented beatsters profer a live 'I Can't Get Over You', recorded in Germany in the mid-sixties. Electric fuzz banjo? You bet. So as I always say, thanks so much to all involved. You've done it again!

Nick.

POT23 single notes

I must admit that I don’t often listen to the other tracks I wonder why…

• A1 - Alastair Galbraith – Flickering Too
  This is a rather lovely gentle, folky workout that would sit nicely alongside Damon & Naomi’s contribution…
• A2 - Fifty Foot Hose - Bad Trip
  … sadly on the EP Alastiar Galbraith sits alongside this unlistenable nonsense, sorry Nick IMO it’s not “stunning”…
• A3 - Hood – You Should Never Be Alone In This World
  … this is better and finishes side one rather nicely with repetative strumming and gentle voices.
• B1 - CJT - Jazzshite
  Side two opens with this appropriately named track, fortunately it’s not too long.
• B2 - Damon & Naomi - Spirit of Love
  Gorgeous, I guess that’s Naomi’s Sruti box providing the drone, she brought it on tour back then, it later was upgraded to a harmonium, and then to a Nord electronic keyboard - I do sort of miss her wind-powered instruments.
• B3 - The Monks - I Can’t Get Over You
  It’s The Monks with a live version of their beat ‘classic’, which may have been lifted from this German TV performance?

So, two-thirds great, one-third unlistenable, which is pretty much how Terrascope played out - and sometimes the unlistenable was better than you’d expect, or led to better things.

Spirit of Love was a cover of the track by Clive Palmer, who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band - I wrote a bit about the original, and the cover in the originals series back in 2014.

I also posted about Spirit of Love in my lost tracks series.

• Catalogue Number: AHFOW 11/026
• Artist: Various Artists
• Title: The Complete Sepia Carrot EP
• Format: 7” single (33RPM)
• Bought as part of a subscription to Ptolemaic Terrascope
• You can buy Damon & Naomi’s cover of ‘Spirit of Love’ on Bandcamp as part of their Spirit of Love “b-sides, bonuses, and soundtracks” release.