Regal Zonophone 2
SEELIE COURT,a new name in reissuing off long forgotten and lost private pressings,vanity album projects,demo albums and acetate only albums,and other recordings,mainly so far from the early 70s BUT also from the 60s too,the genre of many off those albums are progressive,folkrock,psychedelic,singer-songwriter,experimental,acoustic folk,and pop sounds,and when many off those little or unknown uk and irish albums and recordingds where refound,rediscovered,some must have been in proper poor condition,in particular acetate albums which have a short life if played more than a few times,or tapes laying in poor unfriendly conditions to the detriment of the surviving tapes,or actual records made ,but only a handful that made that pressing stage,and what nick where thise 5 only records in!So SEELIE COURT or whoever is behind this label,really do have their work cut out to find worthy quality recordings to make it worthwhile for anyone to shell out their money,if its for a hissy,poorly sounding massively degraded in sound quality cd or records.....it's common sense not many people are going to shell out good money on a product that hurts their ears to listen too,and THAT to be the only time they'll listen to it.
An advantage i take it with dealing with the owners of private press ,vanity recordings etc, i assume,as i have NO experience, maybe the lack of real legalities with licensing material,which i have heard can give one an enormous headache when dealing with record companies who have become part off an enormous multiconglomerate entity,who seem to have legal people all over the place,and seem to think all the recordings they have ownership of,no matter how big or small,are NOT worth the outlay in even thinking off reissuing them in any form,UNLESS its your usual superstar suspects!!Even licensing single songs from the big guns for compilations,just seem to NOT be worth hassle to these big corporations....it's a real pity,but specialist labels like Sundazed,Esoteric,Grapefruit,Guerseen,Lion Productions,outsider etc seem to get some real little known gems out legally........while others take the illegal(but not immoral) route of bootlegs!!I have MANY bootlegs of albums on cd,which will probably NEVER get a legit reissue from the owners off the material...........but if THEY do,i do buy the legal reissue.
Seelie Court,seem to be legitimate,paying to be able to release those "unknown"in their own household albums and recordings!!
I take my hat off to anyone,who does this type of thing,whether as a hobby or as a full time concern,MUSIC is meant to be heard,NOT to be stored away in a cupboard to NEVER be heard or seen.It's a BIG annoyance of mine,when wealthy music lovers buy a virtually unknown album,master etc,and keep it in their own wee space to look at,knowing only another few people have saw this,never mind heard it,there are good and generous wealthy record collectors who do share or licence out those extreme rare things,BUT there are those whos only kick is the knowledge THEY have it,THEY shall keep it to themselves,it's like buying a record at a ridiculous amount and NOT even opening the seel to listen to it......i'm a MUSIC LOVER,and a poor collector,so maybe i'd be a selfish bugger if i was a wealthy music enthusiast? Music is meant to be heard,WHY NOT play a record if you've bought it??It's a thing i'll NEVER understand as a music lover and 60s and early 70s music enthusiast.I just DON'T fit in with many collectors!!!
As usual i sort off went on a tangent,but it is related,the type of music Seelie Court is issuing will be heard by the few,or even only the band members themselves,so to have a label issuing cd and records off this type of material i personally think its brilliant!!Many albums i'm sure totally unknown to many into the likes of prog,folk psych etc.It's a whole NEW other side to the music we all love and get enthused about or disappointed about,at least it makes us feel something.The whole private pressing ,boutique recordings,demonstration acetate album type of thing has never really crossed my path,as i only buy cds,but Seelie Court is giving me a wee look into this"other"world of small demo studiods where ,local groups and acts got a chance to put an album down in a day ,a week, a month..whatever .........but many of Seelie Court cds are early 70s,so for many off those young musicians who recorded those albums ,are now 50 years later as 70 year olds get to see their youthful work become more widely available and probably heard by more people now,than back then.Thats the romantic side to this stuff,but along with that excitement even as old people,i'm sure some sore issues are raised agan too.
Seelie Court,seem to have an unusual way of releasing things,its like they isssue 12 cds at once,but i have noticed,there are deals with some online cd stores,who offer the whole NEW bunch as a one off deal!!I've did this once,but now i pick and choose the ones i fancy the most!!Or if i can hear a sample of the album,and i enjoy it,i'll buy it........but it seems an odd thing to me to release 12 new cds at once,basically targetting the same audience,60s and early 70s music enthusiasts,then to give your concentration on each one...it's usually at weekends i'll catch up with my not listened to cds.
I have bought 30 Seelie Court cds,so far,there are some i dont have,because of shortage of funds,but on the whole.the sound quality depending on sources off course are good,some better recorded than others,which has to be expected from local groups on limited budgets etc.or the simple fact,some groups are better than others in songwriting and playing.I have enjoyed some MUCH MORE than others musically.
The artwork and lay out on their first pack of cd issues was at times confusing trying to get the story from the tiny lettered liners but with similar dark backgroundds making it near impossible to read the dark ink written liners.Surely who designs those must KNOW this is impossible to read.Luckily this has only be on about 3 occassions,all the cd packages are basically the same,they ALL have gatefold sleeves,,where liners are squeezed in,thats the impression i get,with limited space,it seems the liners are here,there and everywhere.No fancy booklets,like Grapefruit etc,no jubillee cases,no plastic packaging as Seelie Court seem to be environmental friendly,to whoever finds that type of thing important!!
Price wise,on the whole i find Seelie Court cd prices quite high,on average around the £11-£13 mark,on most music sellers sites,but you can get lucky and find them a couple of quid cheaper,if you scout about the internet,and as i said they are a UK concern,with a paragraph in tiny writing,always looking out for demo albums etc from the 60s and 70s to contact a web address"seeliecourt@email.com".So this sounds like an ongoing concern to me.
ok i'm going to write the Seelie Court cds i have,and then tell you my favourites musically once ive done that,but i've listened to some much more than others:
ACROSS THE WATER-S/T(1975)
ANACONDA-SYMPATHY FOR THE MADMAN(1969)
ALCO-THREADS OF LIFE(1974,THIS COMES WITH A BOOKLET LINERS)
THE BENJAMIN DELANEY LION-SATORI(1969)
BODKIN-S/T(
BARNEY JAMES WITH WARHORSE-KONEG THE SECOND COMING(1975)
BERTIE-ALGY LORD GRAY(1970)
BABY BERTHA-JUST THE BEGINNING(1972)
CROOKED OAK-FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROW(1976)
CALIBAN-LIVE AT THE LAST NIGHT OF THE CAVERN 73(LIVE 1973)
CALIBAN-INSANE MENTALITY(DEMO ALBUM 1973)
FLUX-S/T(1973)
GRANNIE-S/T(1971)
THE GREAT CRASH-DEADFIRE ECHOES(1972-74)
HOOKNORTON-IN FOR A PENNY(1977)
HELLMET-JUDGEMENT DAY(1970)
ISOLATION-S/T(1973)
JOHN STRANG-SHAME AND STIGMA(1975)
KARAKORUM-PRISON BITTERNESS(1969)
KARAKORUM-THE GATE OF THOUGHT(1970)
LIFEBLUD-ESSE QUAM VIDERI(DEMO 1970)
LIFEBLUD-BE THOU MY VERY ARMOUR(1971)
LIFEBLUD-SONGS 1973-1978(VARIOUS 2 CD SET 73-78)
MOURNING PHASE-S/T(1971)
MOTIFFE-S/T(1973)
RUDI TCHAIKOVSKY-THE CASTLES EQUIVALENT(1974?)
RAINBOW-MAIDEN FLIGHT-(1971)
SOHO ORANGE-KINGS OF THE ROAD(1971)
SANDALWOOD-CHANGELING(1971)
TEAM DOKUS-S/T
Thats what i have so far,the only albums that im aware have been available on cd in the past was Baby Bertha where available legally as extra tracks on the cd reissue of the Charge album. from Dave Wells Wooden Hill label,as Baby Bertha where the pre Charge group!!Mourning Phase was available on Kissing Spell on cd,and Bodkin has had numerous boootlegs in the past,but this version is the best i've heard it.Grannie was available in cd form released by Dave Wells Wooden Hill label,with booklet and liners.Team Dokus has possibly been available before.
So far my favourites are Alco-Threads of Life,/Anaconda(former ARCADIUM member)Sympathy For the Madman/The Great Crash-Deadfire Echoes/Hellmet-Judgement Day(ex mike stuart span and leviathan member Gary Roscoe in this group)/Karakorum-Both cds are excellent,my favourite new discovery/Mourning Phase-s/t Hippie folk gear/Soho Orange-Kings of The Road-Scottish heavy rocking material/Sandalwood-Changeling-Beautiful acoustic hippie folk with both vocalists on top form,/Team Dokus-Heavy with softer moments late psychedelia into rock.
Apologies for this overlong post about Seelie Court,i just wanted to mention them as they are releasing some very obscure material,but seem to be receiving litle talk in any off the magazines some of us read,no reviews etc........but Its Psychedelic Baby did mention and report a wee but about the label ,but still a wee mystery of who IS behind this!!I'll be happy if they keep issuing obscure,little known musiv,whether it be folk,psychedelia,progressive rock or pop.
Anyone else have anything to say about Seelie Court releases???
I agree with you on a point, I don't understand the mentality of some collectors who are misconceiving records with aztec artefacts, some sort of treasure they just keep to themselves and let them rot somewhere. I see a lot of these guys on soulseek who think just because they put money into their collection, you'll have to trade them something they don't have. Like we've all put money into our collection and yet I've added stuff I ripped myself and I like to share everything I have, props to Seelie Court for reissuing long lost stuff like Hellmet (my first buy from the label and what a record).
Your collection of seelie court releases is pretty cool, I've spotted Karakorum too, what people said of it seems to be the kind of stuff I like, do you have a rip of it by any chance ? I'd love to give it a try before eventually buying it, unfortunately they didn't made a vinyl version yet.
As for their policy, I find it curious too to release multiple albums at once, I wonder how much more they are going to release.
I have nly a few so far, many I already knew from other releases. So speaking about "new" names, for sure I quite like Kararkorum, Caliban and Lifeblud. John Strang has also its moments
UNFORTUNATELY,it seems Seelie Court lost their distributor and backer,so for the last couple of months ALL their planned releases have been put on hold,which really is a pity as they where about to release some interesting looking late 60s early 70s folk and folk rock albums,with some psych too.....so i've no idea if they will start up again,and it's very quiet out there concerning the label.So who knows.
The only good thing,many mailorder,ebay,discogs etc are now selling the cds that have been so far released for as little as £4.99,as Seelie Court gets rid of what they have left it seems,so i personally did take advantage of this,by filling holes in the collection.
I can only hope,Seelie Court resurects like a phoenix from the ashes,or may appear in another guise,to keep issuing those mega rarities.
There were (hopefully still are) a couple of very interesting releases, Mythica and Windfall. They were due in May and then this August, finger crossed!!
Also a CD release of the very good TWENTY FIVE VIEWS OF WORTHING album.
A few more coming in theory, checking here:
https://www.juno.co.uk/labels/Seelie+Court/
10 new Seelie Court releases have appeared on the Discogs database for this label and there are definitely fotos of them so they must exist! I definitely want the Bodkin lp it shows the gatefold adapted from the original sleeve and it looks like a genuine Vertigo cover from 73 in my opinion.
There's also comments about delays getting lps made affecting the record labels, I've heard about that and it must be the reason "going quiet" you mention above.
It says they've been taken over by new distribution.
And that they have FOURTEEN Dark lps in preparation! And a 7 CD Box Set! Could be another reason for the quiet doing that project? , says the Dark stuff is already mastered but no release date. Don't understand how there can be 14 Dark lps!
Looks to me like that label rode the storm.
THIS is good news indeed!!Thank you for the update,much appreciated!!!
I've been hoping they weren't going the way other labels have,it's tough enough in normal circumstances for small labels,but in the economic atmosphere that there is at this time and with problems in supply chains globally,they and other small labels and businesses as a whole are doing well to survive the shitshow that has been upon us for well over 2 years,and this "you'll own nothing and be happy about it"bollocks that billionaires operating in the dark are pushing.
I look forward to seeing some new product from Seelie Court,as for a 7 cd Dark set,i personally have 4 cds so far bought from a band member,so who knows ,i've a feeling this chap has many tapes digitised,as the cds i have sound good for their tapes of recordings vintage and also have sleeves and basic info,including acoustic demos etc.so a box set would be very welcome indeed.