The Vegetable Man Project is a series set up by Dario Antonetti and Max Dolcini in 2002, which is as its name suggests an ongoing tribute to Syd Barrett’s Vegetable Man. Each volume comprises a selection of interpretations of this track by bands from Italy, and increasingly with each volume, further afield. Other countries represented so far are USA, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Turkey, The Netherlands, UK, Brazil, Australia, Belgium, France, Japan and the Czech Republic. I don’t have volume 2 so I suppose that must be sold out, but Dario has sent me volumes 1, 3, 4 and 5 on CD, as well as the 10″ vinyl release The Vegetable Man 10″ Project. Most of these are out on the label Oggetti Volanti Non Identificati (Italian for UFO), with the series continuing on Yellow Shoes Records for volume 5 onwards.
Volume 5 includes spacerock from Sula Bassana, intense psych-rock from Guignol, bleak gothic/post-industrial music from Wolf-107, quirky synthpop from Gretel E Hansel, a fierce metal/punk sort of thing from Adracne, lo-fi psych-folk-rock from J.C. and the Mallerband, a sort of wacky circus music thing from Sex Tourists, a blend of prog, psych and 70s style powerpop from Mr Suede, brooding and surreal classical music-based sound manipulation from Destroy Beethoven, quirky psych-pop from Trespassers W, and assorted other underground oddities.
Cor Gout – Vocals
Ronnie Krepel – Guitar, Bas, Keyboards
Robert Kroos – Effects, Backing Vocals, Mix
Yellow Shoe Records SB001