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Delerium Records was a British independent record label, that specialised in psychedelic music and which existed from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Mandragora, Sons of Selina and Moom and for starting the Freak Emporium and Molten Records.
Founded in 1991 by Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman in Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire, England, Delerium Records was originally set up to provide the free 7" records that were given away with the Freakbeat fanzine before it evolved into a label to promote new psychedelic music. The development of the label had been encouraged by Greg Shaw who Allen had come to know through the international independent record scene and a mutual interest in psychedelic culture. Allen had previously written a music column for UK Counter-culture magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica , briefly managed Irish American rock band The Steppes and, in 1987, had joined up with Trueman to help co-edit Freakbeat, a 3D garage and psychedelia fanzine that Trueman had founded in 1985. Trueman had previously founded the Pink Floyd fan magazine, The Amazing Pudding . [1] [2]
Delerium became known due to the success of British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree - whom Allen discovered and then managed up until 2004 - but Delerium also released numerous recordings by many other artists, including Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Mandragora, Sons of Selina, Moom, Sadaar Bazaar, and Omnia Opera. The double CD label sampler, Pick and Mix, was one of the first budget CD samplers and sold over 15,000 copies. Other compilations included the non psychedelic CD No Compromize released in aid of the Campaign for Free Education featuring artists including Dreadzone, Zion Train, Kava Kava, Utah Saints, Eat Static, Suede, Chumbawamba and The Wedding Present.
Trueman left the music industry in 2000 and Allen carried on managing Porcupine Tree and running the Delerium label. By 2002 Delerium had become inactive as the market for new psychedelic and progressive rock bands faded, but a couple of releases were re-issued including Psychomuzak's album The Extasie (2004) - which was produced by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson - and Porcupine Tree's Moonloop, which was previously a fan club only album that was reissued in limited quantities on both CD and vinyl.
Allen started Molten Records in 2002 which signed up bands with a heavy psychedelic rock sound including Danish band On Trial, and UK power trio Josiah - who Allen not only christened but also managed - and related project The Beginning. Alongside Molten Allen ran a reissue label called Lightning Tree which rediscovered 1960s and 1970s recordings by Marianne Segal, Jade, Edwards Hand, The Picadilly Line and Stallion. The Lightning Tree labeul's most popular release was a collection of the original 78 rpm recordings that were covered by and inspired the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The album Songs The Bonzos Taught Us was put together over a three-year period during which Allen tracked down all the original 78s that had influenced the band, as well as researching and notating the CD with the help of "Legs" Larry Smith of The Bonzo Dog Band. The album was referenced by Neil Innes in the sleeve notes to the 2007 EMI reissues of the Bonzo Dog Band's catalogue.
Allen and Trueman also ran The Freak Emporium, which had grown out of Freakbeat fanzine as a source of hard to find new psychedelic music. Starting out as a photocopied insert in the fanzine it went on to become one of the earliest UK music mail order operations on the internet. The success of The Freak Emporium funded the development of Delerium Records, particularly the early tours and recordings of Porcupine Tree, and by the late 1990s The Freak Emporium website and printed mail order catalogue were not just a platform for Delerium Records direct mail order, but were primarily an outlet for 30,000 specialist and hard to find items. The website featured a search engine covering over 120 genres of music as specialist as "Apocalyptic", "Experimental/Outsider Music" and "Sludge", along with many others that broke down pop and rock music from all over the world into genres named by decade and geographical location, as well as style. [3] The Freak Emporium was reviewed and featured on BBC Radio 6 (The Freakzone), and in magazines and newspapers including The Guardian , Bizarre and Record Collector . [4]
The Freak Emporium ceased trading in late November 2007, citing the problem of VAT free imports from the Channel Islands as the principal reason. [5] Although no longer trading, the site remains online today as an archive and information resource for collectable and underground music. After giving evidence to the All Parliamentary Shops Committee in 2005, Allen became a pioneering tax campaigner in the era prior to the formation of UK Uncut and campaigned against retailers that were using an EU import VAT relief to obtain what he argued was a damaging and unfair advantage. He claimed that The Channel Island VAT free import fulfilment industry was devastating UK music retail and other UK retail sectors. [6] In 2010, along with a number of retailers from various industries, Allen formed Retailers Against VAT Avoidance Schemes (RAVAS) and created a website. [7] RAVAS successfully campaigned for the ending of the Channel Islands LVCR industry and after a landmark court hearing which took place on 13–15 March 2012 in London [8] LVCR was no longer applicable to Channel Island mail order goods destined for the UK. The Judgement is now regarded as an important precedent clarifying the application of discretionary powers by EU member states. [9]
Allen continues to run a campaign to end remaining LVCR abuse [10] [11] and, in 2013, was named one of the top 50 influential people in tax in 2012 [12] by International tax review.
In 2006, Allen sold the Porcupine Tree catalogue to Snapper Music, and in 2010 the remainder of the Delerium and Molten catalogues were acquired by Cherry Red. Assisted by Allen a reissue programme was commenced in March 2011, with the release of a three CD boxed set retrospective entitled Last Daze of The Underground (ECLEC32245) featuring, for the first time, the full history of the Delerium label and packaging by renowned reissue designer Phil Smee. Re-releases of albums by Omnia Opera and The Aardvarks have followed since.
Kava Kava is an English rock band/live dance act from Huddersfield, England featuring the vocals, production, and songwriting of Pat Fulgoni.
The Amazing Pudding (1983–1993) was a British fan magazine devoted to Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, and the solo careers of other Pink Floyd band members, including Syd Barrett. It was seen as being the main fanzine of Pink Floyd during the time of its publication. Journalist Stuart Maconie wrote about The Amazing Pudding as part of a feature in the April 1993 issue of Q.
Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you'd never heard of".
Steven John Wilson is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosion and No-Man. He is also a solo artist, having released six solo albums since his solo debut Insurgentes in 2008. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Wilson has made music prolifically and earned critical acclaim. His honours include six nominations for Grammy Awards: twice with Porcupine Tree, once with his collaborative band Storm Corrosion and three times as a solo artist. In 2017 The Daily Telegraph described him as "a resolutely independent artist" and "probably the most successful British artist you've never heard of".
Richard Barbieri is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan, more recently he is known as the keyboard player in the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, which he joined in 1993. Aside from the founder Steven Wilson, he is the longest tenured member of Porcupine Tree.
Incredible Expanding Mindfuck, commonly abbreviated as I.E.M., was a solo project by Steven Wilson. Its work was mainly influenced by Krautrock and experimental music from the 1960s and 1970s.
On the Sunday of Life... is the debut album of English progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on May 12, 1992. It compiles tracks that Steven Wilson produced and recorded for two cassette-only releases, Tarquin's Seaweed Farm (1989) and The Nostalgia Factory (1991). The rest of the music from these tapes was released three years later in the compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
Signify is the fourth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. It was released in September 1996 and later re-released in 2003 with a second disc of demos, which had previously been released on the b-side cassette tape Insignificance, and a third time, on vinyl, on 9 May 2011. It was the first album that frontman Steven Wilson recorded with the band on board from the beginning; previous albums had been essentially solo efforts with occasional help from other musicians.
In Absentia is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the first to move into a more progressive metal direction, contrary to past albums' psychedelic and alternative rock sounds. Additionally, it was their first release on a major record label, Lava Records. It was very well received critically and commercially, with it often being considered the band's crowning achievement, and selling three times as many copies as any of the band's earlier albums.
Up the Downstair is the second studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in June 1993. It was originally intended to be a double album set including the song "Voyage 34", which was instead released as a single in 1992, and other material that ended up on the Staircase Infinities EP (1994). In 2005, it was partially re-recorded, fully re-mixed, remastered and re-released along with the Staircase Infinities EP as a double album. The re-release contains a re-mix by Steven Wilson incorporating newly recorded drums by Gavin Harrison that replace the electronic drums of the original version. Another re-release on double vinyl was pressed on 14 August 2008 on Kscope records. This is identical to the 2005 release, except it is printed on coloured vinyl and the Staircase Infinities disc contains the song "Phantoms".
The Sky Moves Sideways is the third studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in January 1995.
VAT-free imports from the Channel Islands to the United Kingdom took place for a few years during the early 21st century as a result of low-value consignment relief (LVCR). This is a tax relief that applies to low-valued imports to the European Union, exempting them from value-added tax (VAT). Although the UK was a part of the EU from 1973 until Brexit in 2020, the Channel Islands were not and, unlike the UK, they did not charge VAT on purchases. The UK government applied LVCR to imports from the Channel Islands, resulting in the construction of distribution centres on the islands and the export of many low-valued goods from there to the UK. The practice was unilaterally brought to an end in April 2012 by HM Treasury, the finance department of the UK government.
Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome or just Coma Divine, is a live album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in October 1997. It was expanded to a double album in 2003, adding the three tracks from the promotional single Coma Divine II (1999), and one more previously unreleased outtake. The expanded edition was also released on vinyl containing 3 LPs, plus a bonus 7 inch single with two demo versions of the song "Disappear" . The album was finally revamped in digipack through Snapper label in 2004.
Voyage 34: The Complete Trip is a compilation album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The individual tracks for the album were recorded in 1992 and 1993, while the album itself was compiled and released in 2000, and then reissued again in 2004.
AIP Records is a record label that was started by Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records in 1983 to continue the Pebbles series. AIP stands for "Archive International Productions". The first 10 volumes in the Pebbles series had been released by BFD Records of Kookaburra, Australia in 1979–1980 and have been kept in print by AIP for many years. Including those in the companion Highs in the Mid-Sixties series – which concentrated on American regional music scenes – there are over 50 LPs covering some 800 obscure, mostly American "Original Punk Rock" songs recorded in the mid-1960s – primarily known today as the garage rock and psychedelic rock genres – that were previously known only to a handful of collectors.
The following is a listing of officially released works by the English band Porcupine Tree. The band has released eleven major studio albums and 7 EPs, as well as many limited editions and revamped material.
Tarquin's Seaweed Farm, subtitled "Words from a Hessian Sack", is the first album to be released by Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Porcupine Tree. It was originally a compiled cassette of experimental music made by Steven Wilson for his joke band he formed with his friend Malcom Stocks. The cassette was only sent out to a few people, but was enough to give the band a bit of fame in the UK underground music scene of the time, being picked up by the underground magazine Freakbeat. It was later released under Delerium Records in 1991 in a limited edition of 300 copies.
The English Freakbeat series is a group of five compilation albums, released in the late 1980s, that were issued by AIP Records. The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in the early punk, proto-punk, R&B, mod, and beat genres. The series served as a follow-up to the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP, itself subtitled The Roots of Mod, which was the only album in the Pebbles series that was devoted to English music. When the English Freakbeat series was reissued as CDs in the 1990s, the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP was adapted into the English Freakbeat, Volume 6 CD.
Moonloop is an EP released by British psychedelic rock and progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, prior to the release of their third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways. It was released on vinyl and CD in the UK by Delerium Records.
The Steppes were an Irish American guitar based neo-psychedelic rock band that emerged in the mid-1980s.
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