Delerium Records
Encyclopedia
Delerium Records was a UK record label, that specialised in psychedelic music
which ran 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.
, England
, Delerium Records was originally set up to provide the free 7" records that were given away with Freakbeat magazine 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 magazine that Trueman had founded in 1985. Trueman had previously founded the Pink Floyd
fan magazine, The Amazing Pudding
.
Delerium became widely known due to the huge 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' in 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.
. 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.
, Bizarre
and Record Collector
.
The Freak Emporium ceased trading in late November 2007, citing the problem of VAT free imports from the Channel Islands as the principal reason. 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 has become a campaigner against retailers that are using the Channel Island VAT free import fulfilment industry which he claims has devastated UK music retail and other UK retail sectors. In 2010, along with a number of retailers from various industries, Allen formed Retailers Against Vat Avoidance Schemes (RAVAS) who run the website www.vatloophole.co.uk. In 2004, Allen sold the Porcupine Tree catalogue to Snapper Records, and recently Cherry Red acquired the remainder of the Delerium and Molten catalogues, which will be reissued with the assistance of Allen. The first release in March 2011, was a three CD boxed set retrospective featuring for the first time the full history of the label entitled "Last Daze of The Underground" (ECLEC32245).
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
which ran from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
, Ozric Tentacles
Ozric Tentacles
Ozric Tentacles are an instrumental rock band from Somerset, England, whose music can loosely be described as psychedelic or space rock. Formed in 1983, the band has released 28 albums as of 2011, and become a cottage industry selling over a million albums worldwide despite never having major...
, Kava Kava, Mandragora
Mandragora (band)
Mandragora are a space-rock/world dance-music band from Brighton, England, whose formative output can be described as psychedelic rock with ethnic sounds and tribal rhythms. Formed in 1983, the band have released 5 albums of their own, and a collaborative album with Phil Thornton...
, Sons of Selina
Sons of Selina
The Sons of Selina were a psychedelic-punk group formed in Colwyn Bay in 1990. They were very hard to pigeon-hole into a musical genre as their sound swept from Punk rock to Electro Pop .-Formation:...
and Moom
Moom
Moom were a British progressive rock band that formed in Northampton, Midlands, England in 1992. The band was formed from the members of Medicinal Compound, Ain Bum Beef, along with Kristian Hartridge returning from living in Birmingham doing occasional guitar and vocals for Ominia Opera connected...
and for starting the Freak Emporium and Molten Records.
Foundation
Founded in 1991 by Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman in BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Delerium Records was originally set up to provide the free 7" records that were given away with Freakbeat magazine before it evolved into a label to promote new psychedelic music
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
. The development of the label had been encouraged by Greg Shaw
Greg Shaw
Greg Shaw was a Los Angeles-based fanzine publisher, music historian and record label owner. He grew up near San Francisco, California.It was as a young teenager that he started writing about rock and roll music...
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
Encyclopaedia Psychedelica
Encyclopedia Psychedelica was an independent London-based magazine in the late 1980s espousing a return to hippy values at a time when to call someone a 'Hippy' was considered an insult...
, 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 magazine that Trueman had founded in 1985. Trueman had previously founded the Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
fan magazine, The Amazing Pudding
The Amazing Pudding
The Amazing Pudding was a Pink Floyd and Roger Waters fan magazine , founded by Ivor Trueman and edited and published, variously, by him , Andy Mabbett , Bruno MacDonald and Dave Walker , for ten years .Mabbett...
.
Delerium became widely known due to the huge success of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
- whom Allen discovered and then managed up until 2004 - but Delerium also released numerous recordings by many other artists, including Ozric Tentacles
Ozric Tentacles
Ozric Tentacles are an instrumental rock band from Somerset, England, whose music can loosely be described as psychedelic or space rock. Formed in 1983, the band has released 28 albums as of 2011, and become a cottage industry selling over a million albums worldwide despite never having major...
, Kava Kava, Mandragora
Mandragora (band)
Mandragora are a space-rock/world dance-music band from Brighton, England, whose formative output can be described as psychedelic rock with ethnic sounds and tribal rhythms. Formed in 1983, the band have released 5 albums of their own, and a collaborative album with Phil Thornton...
, Sons of Selina
Sons of Selina
The Sons of Selina were a psychedelic-punk group formed in Colwyn Bay in 1990. They were very hard to pigeon-hole into a musical genre as their sound swept from Punk rock to Electro Pop .-Formation:...
, Moom
Moom
Moom were a British progressive rock band that formed in Northampton, Midlands, England in 1992. The band was formed from the members of Medicinal Compound, Ain Bum Beef, along with Kristian Hartridge returning from living in Birmingham doing occasional guitar and vocals for Ominia Opera connected...
, Sadaar Bazaar, and Omnia Opera
Omnia Opera
Omnia Opera are a British band, formed in Kidderminster in 1986. They write and perform their own interpretation of acid rock, which the band has termed plasma rock. Omnia Opera cite influences from Pink Floyd, Brian Eno and Jimi Hendrix...
. 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
Campaign for Free Education
The Campaign for Free Education was a left-wing grouping in the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom of those opposed to tuition fees and the abolition of student grants....
featuring artists including Dreadzone
Dreadzone
Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock. They have so far produced six studio albums and two live albums.-Career:...
, Zion Train
Zion Train
Zion Train are a British dub reggae ensemble . Initially formed in Oxford as a sound system in 1988 by Neil Perch and Ben Hamilton, Colin Cod and Dave Tench joined in 1990 upon relocation to London. The line-up was added to with vocalist Molara in 1992...
, Kava Kava, Utah Saints
Utah Saints
Utah Saints is a dance band based in Leeds, England. The music is produced by Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt, who are joined on-stage by other musicians whenever the band plays live...
, Eat Static
Eat Static
Eat Static is an electronic music project from Frome, Somerset, England formed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton. Hinton left the group in February 2008 after 18 years to spend more time with his family.-History:...
, Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
, Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played punk rock, pop-influenced music, world music, and folk music...
and The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present are a British indie rock group based in Leeds, England, formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks and Gang of Four to more varied forms...
.
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' in 2004 - which was produced by Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
's Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
- and Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
's Moonloop which was previously a fan club only album that was reissued in limited quantities on both CD and vinyl.
Later labels
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 '60s and '70s recordings by Marianne Segal, Jade, Edwards Hand, The Picadilly Line and Stallion. The Lightning Tree label's most popular release was a highly acclaimed collection of the original 78 rpm recordings that were covered by and inspired the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah BandBonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band are a band created by a group of British art-school denizens of the 1960s...
. 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.
The Freak Emporium
Allen and Trueman also ran The Freak Emporium, which had grown out of Freakbeat Magazine as a source of hard to find new psychedelic music. Starting out as a photocopied insert in the magazine 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. The Freak Emporium was and reviewed and featured on BBC Radio 6 (The Freakzone), and in magazines and newspapers including The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Bizarre
Bizarre (magazine)
Bizarre is a British alternative magazine published from 1997 to the present. It is currently published by Dennis Publishing; it is a sister publication to the Fortean Times.-Content:...
and Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
.
The Freak Emporium ceased trading in late November 2007, citing the problem of VAT free imports from the Channel Islands as the principal reason. 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 has become a campaigner against retailers that are using the Channel Island VAT free import fulfilment industry which he claims has devastated UK music retail and other UK retail sectors. In 2010, along with a number of retailers from various industries, Allen formed Retailers Against Vat Avoidance Schemes (RAVAS) who run the website www.vatloophole.co.uk. In 2004, Allen sold the Porcupine Tree catalogue to Snapper Records, and recently Cherry Red acquired the remainder of the Delerium and Molten catalogues, which will be reissued with the assistance of Allen. The first release in March 2011, was a three CD boxed set retrospective featuring for the first time the full history of the label entitled "Last Daze of The Underground" (ECLEC32245).