PsychedelicBaby are now on board with Marvelous Kid, a very extensive article including interviews.

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2023/09/marvelous-kid-interview-incredible-70s-progressive-rock.html

Rough Trade site has a bit of history about SC

https://www.discogs.com/user/WestCoastDreams/reviews?header=1

Dear Psychedelic Forum,

Replying to the above dimwit,

The remastering on most Kissing Spell releases is credited on the sleeves to Gary Ramon, the talented musician behind Sundial. Including Axe. To suggest otherwise is a lie.

Kissing Spell LLC is a registered company with 7 named Directors, none of whom are "Steven Smith". This information is freely available via Company Searches with the British Government. It is part of a larger financial/legal group and nothing to do with Seelie Court. If it was, quite obviously, Seelie Court would release those magnificent LPs like Shire and Acorn, Stone Angel and Dancer, along with the entire Holy ground series. However, those rights are tied up, and no other label can release them.

Rights in Charge are owned by Dave Ellis and Seelie Court, they are currently working TOGETHER on releasing their 2nd unissued LP. Eg they are collaborating. Seelie Court outbid Guerssen for that deal, which is why the LP switched labels. Eg the artists were paid more money by Seelie Court. That's nothing against Guerssen, just business.

Suggesting Charge etc is fake is absurd

Nothing on either label or any other similar label is "Faked", that's vindictive nonsense. The artists signed to Seelie Court are mostly documented via old gig ads and press cuttings, and are being interviewed in an ongoing series of articles on the famous It's Psychedelic Baby website.

Alco, The Great Crash, Lifeblud, Aardvark (Scotland) etc are all interviewed. To claim any of these people are "Fake" is absurd.

Nobody would spend the time and money trying to recreate old sounds by uncommercial bands when the market for reissues is capped at about 500. They don't make money, to pay musicians to 'fake' them is a monumentally stupid concept.

Personally I do not believe any such reissue lps have ever been faked. There are LPs on other labels that are seemingly Backdated, but not on Seelie Court.


There are THOUSANDS of unreleased bands and LPs. So let's spend £6000 to try to sound like a 1973 band who are not as good as Stray and will struggle to sell 300 lps? Yes, sure. Financial genius.

Mastering on Seelie Court is top notch. Every LP is approved by the artists at every stage, artwork, sleevenotes and Mastering.

Many of the artists have been studio engineers themselves, eg the Great Crash created LOCO Studios in Wales, where Oasis and the Verve recorded their classic 90s LPs. These people know more about mastering than the nobody who posted above.

There have however been 3 Recalls on Seelie Court. That's down to pressing problems during Covid and the Vinyl Shortage, when quality control declined. Those LPs were recalled, recycled and repressed at cost as swiftly as possible.

Abbey Road has mastered some Seelie Court lps, one of the greatest studios of all time.

The above post is by a known internet troll who was asked to stop contacting Seelie Court after bombarding them with literally hundreds of emails begging to be involved. There's something wrong with him. Eg why is he posting this nonsense all over the net and this forum ? He's bitter and feels rejected.

Many people have kindly assisted Seelie Court, a label that operates at non-profit and is bankrolled by the owners.

It has brought 100 lps to public attention in just 3 years, many of which were lost and unknown prior to that.

It has done the exact opposite of "Gatekeeping", it has done a service to British Rock Music, to the best of its ability, and issued material that no one else has issued in over 50 years.

It has possibly the largest repertoire of unissued lps of any such label and is doing its damnedest to issue them all in a failing niche market.

It is simply not possible to issue them all at once. It released 24 lps in a short period this year, too much for the small market to handle.

It works closely with all the artists and is currently involved with some very important material and struggling through complex rights issues to enable it to be released. It will be of extreme interest to anyone on this forum into genuine British psychedelia as it forms an historic bridging point to the formation of the world's greatest rock band. To some that may be Marmalade. To others there's an obvious band name we hope you may guess.

The label welcomes any constructive criticism. In fact intelligent criticism is actively sought. The label is an ongoing organically expanding entity that is a work in progress, it has for example responded to legitimate criticism that back covers were rather weakly designed,and changed the designers and style.

A staggering amount of work goes into each release. The Dark series cost £100,000. To suggest the people doing that, releasing uncommercial archival music that will struggle to break even, are working AGAINST music is bizarre.

Falsely stating artists are 'Fake' is not criticism, and a normal reviewer would not mount personal attacks on individuals he/she has never met, any music fan would focus on the music.

So the above post is transparently suspicious and vindictive and not trustworthy.

If the individual responsible would like to kindly name any "fake" artists on Seelie Court please do so, £50k says he cannot, because there are none.

It's an extreme shame this forum and others allow their sites to be exploited by people like this, it's frankly embarrassing.

As an (uninteresting) aside, it is actually a fact that the owners of Seelie Court do NOT collect records and are non-materialistic.

Seelie Court is actively looking for people who may be able to provide sleevenotes or anything of interest to the label that may benefit releases and the artists. The label is also working on some behind the scenes collaborations with other labels and different forms of media.

Specifically, if anyone out there has a strong local knowledge of SCOTTISH music especially 1965-1976, we would love to get in touch with a view to researching bands, trying to liberate important recordings, and possibly providing sleevenotes. No cash would be involved, as the label doesn't make any, but free copies of available records would be provided.

If someone feels they could do that post an email here. Yes Stuart Robertson, if you made it this far, and I understand if you didn't, you should contact Seelie Court direct. If you love Scotland. Hint, what were Robert Burns and William Mc Gonagall ?

Forum member GIAN has helped Seelie Court, I believe he received about 25 free albums in exchange with more to come, he could possibly confirm that if asked.

Whoever Steve Smith is probably a fake name wether he bought or was a partner of Kissing Spell. Kissing Spell at least at the very beginning was started by Pete Sarfas. Seelie Court Label Not On Social Media And No Website.

Eh, copying and pasting from another site with an unkind "review"is unfair, and to do it in anonymous fashion is ingenuine,and this IS clearly an attack of sorts, with incorrect information and naming people is again not fair particularly when you don't give your OWN name..
I DO believe in free speech and expression, but the details have to be correct and factual, and NOT just an attack on a person, if it was a fair critique of a product bought, that IS different

Theres enough nastiness out there, so let's not bring it in here eh?

I did have a rather heated conversation with the chap behind Kissing Spell on here last year after I criticized their Axe CD release as part of a review I did on the Guerssen CD reissue of Crystalline Axe Music,
I stated the fact that the Guerssen cd had 5 tracks, while the first Kissing Spell Axe CD had created other tracks and also added effects, in essence it had been mucked about with, the chap took deep offence at me stating those facts in my review,but I replied that I paid for it, like I do for every CD review I do, there's no freebies like magazines etc, get,i buy my own cds, which as far as I'm concerned gave me the right to point out to others any issues with said bought cd

It was NOT a personal attack on the individual,it was a critique on a product he released, on the music contained within the cd, but he certainly took it personally, even though I have ALL the Kissing Spell cds released,I bought them ALL,including the many 70s folk cds, and elsewhere on this forum I've hyped up Kissing Spell cd releases... so I suggested when you're in business of producing product to be sold, having feedback from customers is ALWAYS beneficial whether it's good or bad feedback,as you learn from mistakes and make that product better, it's common sense.
So we had a ding dong, back and forth, it got to the stage,i had"real"issues to deal with in life, and having to deal with an adult with a bruised sensitive ego was NOT one of then,so i said if he's not happy to fuck off and take his legal threats to someone who gives a shit,as I literally couldn't give a shit about his hurt feelings,I thought to myself grow up and have a pair of balls mate, this is a wee discussion group NOT some big magazine
.

It was so surreal having a complete stranger threatening legal guff, and being rather nasty, THAT does not work with me,it makes me more determined to NOT be cooperative,I did leave the whole thread of posts up for others to read,so others could comment if they wanted,as I'm a believer in free speech, free expression, but NOONE seemed to have any comments,so because that thread of Posts were so toxic and uncomfortable,I deleted my discussion with him,as I did NOT want that negativity effecting anyone else.

So I've NO idea if this individual is once again taking part on here, but one thing I did take from my ding dong with him, everyone is mental or deranged according to him, but he was the one who came across as deranged on this wee discussing group with his threats and behavior over 1 fucking cd, THAT is deranged behavior!!

So if this bloke IS here again,he can bugger off as far as I'm concerned as I DON'T deal with people who threaten and intimidate, and act like a bully,so If it is him, BUGGER OFF,I certainly DON'T welcome your presence.

Well said Stuart.

Threatening legal action over an opinion on a forum is just pathetic. This is meant to be a fun place to share music and opinions, not unhinged stuff like that, life is too short and there is more than enough conflict on the internet already.

In the interests of reality:

Steve Smith does exist and it is his real name. He was the founder and sole operator of Kissing Spell records.He sold the catalogue and brand name to a major reissue label many years ago, but the vast majority of the releases were his, certainly pretty much anything that would interest members of this forum. Some were authorised, some were not. Before Kissing Spell he issued a couple of other LPs: Samantha Productions Vol 1 and Sindelfingen. After Kissing Spell he had a short-lived Drum and Bass label, Nocturnal. He then ceased to be active in making records until he started up Seelie Court Records a couple of years ago, which is pretty much Kissing Spell Mk 2. Again,this is a one man operation, Seelie Court is just his trading name. He has lived outside the UK for many years, firstly in the Czech Republic now in Italy.

On this forum he has appeared as both Pict Power and May Twitz. On Discogs he is Black Shuck.

Hopefully that helps clear things up!

Casual Observation, and excuse the language but;

WHO GIVES A FUCK? (Rapturous applause, thank you.)


Besides which here's something blindingly obvious and it all checks out if you research it ;

1.Kissing Spell is named after a CHILEAN PSYCHEDELIC BAND

2.Gary Ramon is named on the CDs as Engineer and did the labels remastering

3.Gary Ramon (SUNDIAL) was Signed to MAGIC MIXTURE RECORDS, a record shop in London

4. Magic Mixture was owned by HUGO CHAVEZ,A CHILEAN, sometimes known as HUGO CHAVEZ SMITH, used pseudonyms, and was also owner of Background, he's the guy who first started all these old reissues, with editions of Andromeda, Magic Mixture and Necromandus.

5. Spriguns of Tolgus was issued on Kissing Spell AND Background same year.

5. Hugo was from CHILE. He left London for Chile same year Kissing Spell was sold. Background Records was also sold same year, possibly to someone called Graham Brooke?

Everyone said Hugo started Kissing Spell, and named it after his favourite band, this was all discussed in an old thread years ago by people using their real names who knew everybody back then, eg WALTER GEERTSEN, PATRICK LUNDBORG, MARK PAYTRESS.

Steve Smith was known to take the piss out of other dealers in the 3 or 4 catalogues of rare lps he made, the people above also discussed him and said he was quote "fond of a joke".

PS Melton Constable was... Lost in the post. That's true.

Reality Check:

Hugo Chavez is not Steve Smith. However Mark P is, his third identity on this forum.

And Hugo had nothing whatsoever to do with Kissing Spell. That was all Steve, not sure why it's such a problem for him to take credit for it (or indeed to his sole ownership of Seelie Court). It was a great, pioneering reissue label. And Seelie Court is its worthy successor.

That's wrong.

Hugo is credited on early Spell releases, they were ordered and pressed by him using a guy in London who had bought a Vinyl Press from Poland. One such release is the Double LP of Sindelfingen. That credits Hugo and Ramon, with other credits to Steve. It was a prototype Spell release.

There's a clear connection, including the label being named after the Chilean Band.

At that date I don't believe anyone even knew about bands like Aguaturbia, Pax, Kissing Spell outside of South America. Hugo brought those lps here to england.

Spell issued Pax, Peruvian but active in Chile. That was Hugo. He knew the band from college days. Hugo was a Political refugee.

If anyone can really be bothered they should check matrix carving on early Kissing Spell, the Sindelfingen Double, and compare with Reflection/Magic Mixture releases. They won't be like any major/known presses. It will be that tiny press connected to Hugo, who may have part owned it.

Jessie Harper was in the hands of Hugo. Reflection dealt a lot with John Du Cann and that's why so many Andromeda releases are on both Reflection and Kissing Spell. There's also the Sarfras connection mentioned above , eg Necromandus. One of Hugo's early releases is The Attack.

If anyone knows if that London press still exists post here.

In my opinion Steve warehoused Hugo's stock in barns in Suffolk.

Well I dug out the Sindelfingen reissue and whilst it's not a Kissing Spell release, fair enough it does have a credit to H.Chavez for jointly remixing and editing the Triangle bonus disc with Gary Ramon. As far as I know he hasn't any credit or involvement with any Kissing Spell releases though, which was the point, it was just Gary Ramon, certainly that's the case on KSLP 002, Spriguns of Tolgus and all the others I've looked at. Stephen however is credited with "Co-ordination, Design, Post-Production" on Sindelfingen so it was clearly his thing and equally clearly H.Chavez and Stephen Smith were different people. Equally clearly Mark P is Stephen, as were May Twitz and Pict Power and, possibly, Pornstar (although there weren't enough words on that one posting to be sure, his style of communication is shall we say very "distinctive". It is, also clearly, dead easy to have multiple, concealed, identities on this forum. Why anyone would bother is unclear. It does make you wonder why anyone would turn such cartwheels trying to pretend he isn't someone he clearly is when what is at question is something excellent. One for Mr Freud I think. Anyway, I'm out of here now I only had a look because I wondered what had happened to the September SC releases and thought there might have been some inside knowledge.

Just been looking on Juno and there's a half a dozen new Seelie Court titles showing all with a release date of 3 November.

Thanks for the heads up. Wonder what the delay was

Just had another look on Juno and now no date on the new ones, just says "forthcoming" plus theres a lot of massive price reductions on the last couple of lots of LPs up there: Col Bagshot £9.99, Alco £10.99 that top Dark reissue £21.99 (which is annoying as I paid nearly twice that!). Wonder if theres some sort of problem? Hope not!

Webcaw-

Simple Explanation - The label has a 50% Sale on all remaining back catalogue.

Dealers are buying the releases at Half Price from Lasgo Distribution. The prices should therefore be Half Price in Shops/Mail Order. Some dealers try to charge extra, but Juno etc should be fair. That means they are being sold at less than cost price.

I think all CDs are sold out at Lasgo. Many earlier Vinyl LPs are sold out. All the Dark lps are either sold out or close to being sold out individually.

Sales went up 700% last month due to the sale. It's likely every single back catalogue item will be sold out at Lasgo by Christmas. Some shops may continue to have stock but prices will likely climb.

When F-Minor Distribution closed all CDs were sold by the label at £1 each to rescue them from the warehouse, so many suddenly appeared online at £3.99. But now they are almost all unavailable, they were mostly pressings of just 380 copies.

All Seelie Court releases have been pressed in Limited Quantities of 100-600 max per release and prices for Sold Out albums seem to climb dramatically. Eg someone was offering the Grannie CD at 150 euros (or dollars?) on Discogs and it has a recorded selling price of over 80 euros, a tad more than the £3 the label received for copies. The Dark LPs may never be repressed so don't worry too much about your investment. The Dark 'Doodle' sleeve release has sold for £300. (The label received £7 per copy sold.)

The 6 new CDs are delayed but due any day, it was decided to add Booklets to most of them and Klemen Breznikar of Its Psychedelic Baby has interviewed some of the bands.

Steve Giles of Dark is working on a connected project for the label.

There may also be 4 Vinyl LPs out before Christmas. All are completely unknown except Marvelous Kid. There will be a very important Psychedelic release amongst those vinyl LPs, the aforementioned Marvelous Kid (brilliant Canterbury style from Masters for an unissued 1973 LP), a mind blowing masterpiece of Heavy Prog, and a killer unknown Hard Rock/Art-Rock/Glam LP from 1974 by Windlord entitled Lady Heroin.

The label is entering Phase II and the best releases are yet to come. Behind the scenes it's working on some collaborations and other projects. There's likely to be some Limited Cassette issues in America, including Dark.

Thanks, reassuring, will start saving up!

Been waiting for the Dark box set as well, what happened to that? And I think there was going to be a Bob Hughes box set. I loved Hooknorton, is that going to happen?

https://www.discogs.com/label/1913411-Seelie-Court/reviews/list#c5050899

https://www.discogs.com/user/WestCoastDreams/reviews?header=1

link to video not working? Yesterday was ok, this is it anyway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvgNggkfxE&t=1s&ab_channel=rd03gian

I've been looking forward to this new batch of Seelie Court cd releases for a while,but i see on Heyday mailorder theyre still marked as delayed but coming soon.


Good to hear there will be booklets too,i always love that wee bit of extra effort and it is appreciated when a label gives the Music enthusiasts that wee bit extra.

As for Dark box set,i bought 5 cds from Steve Giles that contained unreleased recordings and demos of Dark,a couple of year ago,and its impressive stuff,funnily enough before the Guerrsen Crystaline Axe Music cd reissue,i also bought that from Steve Giles on cd and It sounded good, i've kept that version even though i have the original Kissing Spell Axe cd and the newer Guerrsen cd.

As for Gian, yes Nightwings was a fab wee label,in particular Tim Hollier and Mayfields Mule cds,i do have all the cds Nightwings issued, its a shame Nightwings didnt carry on and release more cdds,but i understand the grief,stress, and risks involved in setting Up a small label,to even break even financially can be difficult.
Nightwings released quality product, with booklets and good sound, and the obsure artists covered..

Whatever Happened to Sunbeam Records?he last 3 cds i bought Where 2 cd versions of Arcadium"Breathe Awhile"&"Raw Material"and finally Someones Band sole album on cd.

Thanks for the nice words Stuart, I'm proud of what I was able to do, especially giving visibility again to Fuchsia, Mayfield's Mule, Five Day Rain and Tim Hollier. The main reason I stopped is that I had no more useful contacts for new releases, living far from the UK didn't help! I was in touch with Universe and Clown though, but at the time it didn't work, so....

So it says January 26th on Juno for these CDs which is the day after tomorrow which seems a bit unlikely. And the Dark super dooper best ever release is now available for £15.98 including postage. Which makes my £42 look a bit sick. And that vendor says he has 20+ copies!! Feels like this label has hit the wall, its nearly a year since the last vinyl releases ( albeit a deluge!) and all the recent stock is available at fire sale prices. I saw Across the Water 2 go for £4.99 and all those Darks are around £10. Really feels like these have been over-pressed and over priced: minimum 600 often over a thousand. Interesting that Bright Carvings only release 227 of theirs, no CDs, no downloads and the price is solid. Prefer the laminated sleeves too!

I really hope Marvelous Kid, Nemesis and Aardvwak will come out soon, they deserve to!

The band (Marvelous Kid) tell me there have been further delays, and as far as they are aware it’s definitely not coming out tomorrow. No word on actual release date yet though unfortunately.

Just looked on Juno and it now says April for those 6 CDs!! And the Lifeblud 2nd LP is down to £7.25 and my sooper dooper Dark best ever issue now £14…. What’s going on?

Well, now Juno have removed the April date for release! Is this label defunct? Be a real shame.

Now back to "forthcoming" on Juno.. Anyone got any news?

I've been speaking to Marvelous Kid and they have no clue on release date either, and also share our fustrations. I think would take the October with a pinch of salt!

Hmm. Wonder what is going on? Its not expensive to make a few hundred CDs. And October?? Thats well over a year since it was supposed to come out. And my super duper Dark LP that cost me over £40 is now available from Juno for £10.55 and the rest of the Dark issues at £7.25… is this it for Seelie Court? Be a terrible shame, not just for Marvellous Kid but Bob Hughes and the Great Crash stuff, all brilliant musically, will anyone issue it now?

The label has discussed and signed a deal with one of the world's largest music companies and 200+ albums, many currently undocumented, will gradually be issued on all digital platforms in the coming months/years, likely at cut-price. Manufacturing is being shifted and the label restructured.

Ownership may shift to the USA where Dark has just been issued on Cassette as a co-production with Saturn's Eye Records. Sold Out. 8 Tracks are in production, US only.

Lasgo purchased the entire back catalogue of Vinyl and are gradually selling it out at lower prices, once they are gone, the prices will climb. All were limited pressings and unlikely to ever be repressed.

Comms with the label are limited during this transitional period, but we understand that CDs will be issued within a matter of weeks.

92% of all global music sales are now digital, the market for physical media is in terminal decline and will be dead within a few years. As will the demographic for this music.

CD market is tiny, there are no profits in sales of under 500 units. CDs and DVDS are being phased out in major retailers and chains. Eg Walmart stopped selling these formats, others will follow.

GZ Media, the world's largest producer of Vinyl, had its first decrease in orders for 20 years last year. Notice the disappearance of releases from eg Longhair Records, Record Collector etc.

Type "death of the music industry" or similar into Google and get updated on what's happening in the marketplace. The MD of Chrysalis has called for the end of LP and CD production.

This is all a topic for another discussion, but delve into and you'll see that artists are in trouble, physical sales are miniscule, streaming brings in nothing, and bands are only surviving through live gigs.

We think that Seelie Court has formulated a plan to continue at break even figures, enabling it to go forward, and bringing in new faces and roles.

PS

For those of you unsure of the future of media consumption watch this video review of an hilarious recent advertisement by Apple showing the fate of all physical media and the tools used to create it, notice that a Turntable and LP Record are the first items shown in the Crusher.

The Ad is AI generated of course, as will be all music for the next few generations.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_S8DK4vMytE


As a sidenote, Seelie Court owns permanent rights in all recordings therefore it doesn't actually die even if the label were to stop. It's an intellectual property holding. Speculation about the fate of the label is meaningless.

However, Intellectual Property in itself may become worthless, and copyright as an idea in law, phased out. These concepts are in discussion in current governments and bodies.

Hi thanks for the explanation, useful. I saw the Dark Cassette issue sold out but it was only 30 copies I think? It sounds like Seelie Court is going digital only, putting its content up on a platform behind a paywall and not producing any more physical product? But then you say CDs are coming out soon? Are they the October ones? Are you ever going to make any more vinyl LPs? Be a real shame if this is the end of physical product from the label. I have no interest in digital only, personally, I like physical product especially Vinyl. Could you clarify, for instance is the Marvellous Kid LP not coming out? Or their CDs?

Comms with the present owners are intermittent due to their commitments outside music, the global stage is in a rather odd state at the moment - our understanding is -

1. The entire catalogue of intellectual music rights is to be administrated via a major label/company for Digital Streaming on every available Digital platform. This is above 200 albums. Many of those are unknown. There may be other albums in different genres too.

2. Some CDs are due any week. Marvelous Kid is one of those.

3. All unissued sessions by Bob Hughes, Dave Keir, Marvelous Kid, Brian Farrell etc will be available digitally via Streaming. Pricing is being discussed and likely to be very low to maximise exposure.

4. A limited vinyl LP is due this summer, it is currently unknown but expected to sell out in advance when announced. There may be BBC Radio involvement in that project.

5. CDs and vinyl will continue once loose ends are tied up in current negotiations, but staggered more slowly to reflect a failing market base. The production is being taken over by Lasgo Distribution.

6. A series of USA only cassette releases are forthcoming on Saturn's Eye, in quantities of 50-200 per Cassette, Dark was 200 (?). An 8 Track Cartridge of Dark is in production,15 copies only. In order to facilitate these releases, Seelie Court has waived fees, granted free licenses, due to the quality and commitment of Saturn's Eye.

7. Steve Giles of Dark is integral to the label and its future . He is currently in recovery from major surgery.

8. The owners of SC have stepped back from the label and it's being taken on by connected fans/industry professionals who want the label to continue.

9. All the above is held up by ongoing factors. Eg the MD of Lasgo being overseas.

It's best to just wait for forthcoming releases, this Forum is nothing to do with Seelie Court and the speculation in other posts is without any basis.

Ah, I think thats a bit clearer. So are you saying the CDs that Juno are saying are coming out in October will actually be coming out in the next few weeks (Marvellous Kid, Nemesis, Aaardvark, Great Crash, Dark etc) and one unnamed vinyl LP over the summer? Otherwise everything else is going to be streamed going forward, possibly with limited numbers of CD and LP releases in future. The Dark Cassette photo on discogs showed 1/30 written on it which is why I thought it was that pressing number. I think you're wrong about physical product going forward, actually. I think the more unreliable and fake the digital world gets the more people are going to want things they can actually hold in their hands and with content they know was produced by people not robots.

Indeed this place has NO connection with Seelie Court,but there are those who buy the Seelie Court releases,like myself,who wanted to know what was happening release wise,and because of lack of information,and continued pulling back of releases,silly unfounded rumours start and assumptions are wrongly made,and unfortunately like all other places on the internet,rumour and assumptions become real or fact to some,as peole can be impatient for new product,as most collectors of whatever are always lookig for the latest thing,whether a rare 1970 album,or a 1950s teddy bear.

As for the comments on physical product being phased out in the industry itself,for streaming,THAT suits the big compaanies but NOT the music enthusiast,most music collectors of a certain age WANT physical product,whether its on vinyl or cd,when that generation (my generation)dies out,who knows if physical music product will even be a thing anymore,will there be cds or records available to even buy?

Streaming suits the corprations,its easy money for them with little labour,no warehouses,no distribution,no transporting......its a win win for the big corporations,where profit with the least cost is their future business plan,hence i trully believe its the industry that IS wanting the cd to disappear,like they attempted with vinyl over 30 years sago in favour of the cd!!

Small labels who do the job of the big companies by NOT releasing cds,but vinyl only or streaming only are hastening the disappearance of the cd and banging a nail further into the coffin of physical product!!I for one will NOT ever be a streaming guy,i must have physical product,with artwork,and liners,an will NEVER but an album from streaming.

I may be old fashioned,i get NOTHING from streaming albums,its NOT music loving music sourcing the best songs from an album,i WANT the whole album........the buying of music IS changing,and i'm glad i wo'nt; be around when physical music product is part of history........as believe me it IS coming!!Brick & mortar stores will be seen as museums.......as at the end of the day business rules,which means profit rules,as that is why its called the music business,so if it suits the big chiefs to get rid of physical product to maximise profits and everything to go streaming,that IS what will happen........BUT for labels of today,to help them with the cull of physical product when its clear demand is STILL there for BOTH cd and vinyl,that IS slitting their own throats and indeed IS self sabotage,you think the big corporations are going to give a shit about a small boutique label issuing niche musical physical product?

The music enthusiast WILL,thats why those labels must NOT go streaming only,it WILL kill the whole thing involved with physical product and what is connected to it,so i DON'T understand labels going down that road,they're killing their OWN trade and industry........that WILL be the goal of those big corporations.....so DON'T help them get what they want!!!!

Hi not as pessimistic as you( and Steve Smith) about the future of physical product and shops and, actually the age of the people buying obscure psych vinyl is surprisingly low! Bit like Modern Jazz, a whole new generation or two have discovered it and want the real thing. Streaming is for clothes shops, bad restaurants and lifts. The sound quality is cr@p apart from anything else. I’m amazed Steve thinks anyone is even going to stream a Dark track, let alone Bob Hughes. But maybe he’s done a great sales job on the “major label” and can ride off into the sunset, his moneybags full, like he did with Kissing Spell. Anyway, lets hope Marvellous Kid make it to CD at least before that happens. Real shame, I thought the label was great and had real momentum. Don’t know what went wrong but maybe issuing 14 Dark LPs, 600 copies each, at the same time rather flooded the market, theyre still all for sale for around £7 and they must have cost more than that to make. Anyway, heres hoping he wakes up and realises what a great label he had and goes back to digging up amazing stuff and issuing it on CD and LP rather than messing around with digital stuff that nobody is going to be the least bit interested in! There are already a million obscure 60s and 70s band with websites and cruddy sound files out there if you can be bothered to look. Like you, I’m not interested!

Good afternoon,i WOULDN'T say i'm peccimistic....i'm a REALIST......big difference,you only have to look at the amount of stores that have closed in 10 years,it's NOT slowed down,it's less publicised!!It's NOT an easy game to be in these days,having a mortar and brick store with its overheads and supply issues!!

Hence the internet is awash with people selling cds and records,much of it second hand and NOT new!!

Look at the figures of streaming compared to physical product,theres NO comparison,its where the corporations want people to buy their music,FACT....its low cost and less hassle for them!!

The thought of it breaks my heart,ghastly streaming only albums......ugh,look at sites like Bandcamp,lots of digital and vinyl.....NO cd on many releases......the industry IS dictating circumstance,they've slowly been attempting to ditch cd for quite a while and small labels helping them by NOT making things available on cd,or vinyl,is self sabotage,and IS indeed killing physical product.........who the fuck wants to stream an album without art and liners and with shitty sound reproduction depending on devices......i'll be keeping my cd players,amp ,speakers till i'm carried out in a box,with NO streaming bollocks of 100s of albums on my phone, laptop or whatever else technology bringds us.

For niche labels like Seelie Court,going streaming only will be a disaster for them.....who IS their main customer base.....guys lke me who want a rare or unrelesased musical artefact in our hands,with effort like art and liner notes,NOT to stteam it on a screen or device.......i will NOT pay for that,but i WILL pay for physical product that i can play on my cd player,throigh my good speakers via my amp......NOT a shitty device ,laptop etc......oooffttt that just makes me ant to vomit!!

Shopping habits have changed massively the last 10 years,how many under 30s even have a cd player?
The intentional demonising of cds for years has seen its near demise,while vinyl sales have constantly went up......i DONT get it...unless its the electronic companies,the music giant corporations want the cd gone as they ALL have financial interests in streaming like Spotify,Amazon etc......i believe its NO coincidence the constant bashing of CD,as i DO believe its coming from an industry that wants EVERYTHING online....at a monthly cost.

CDs are great wee things,the initial issue with sound reproduction from analogue to cd was solved years ago,cds sound spectacular,NO clicks or pops......vinyl has been romaticised too muuch.....whle CD is seen as a poorer cousin.......give me todays cds over vinyl every time,but the MORE choice of physical product the better!!

Any label that goes FULL streaming ONLY MUST know their customer base very well as if not ,it WILL be disastrous for them!!

Believe me physical product IS in danger over the next 20 years....the industry DICTATES now ,NOT the customer!!...........as i said,i'm a REALIST not a peccimist!!

Just realised looking at my Bright Carvings LPs that the same people seem to be involved as the Seelie Court LPs: White Spring, Bobby Blisters, Reynolds Mastering, Vinyl Factory are all on both. As there havent been any SC LPs for well over a year and BC only started just over a year ago ie almost exactly the same time SC stopped it would seem fair to assume this is another of Steve Smiths little jokes and they are both his labels! Far prefer the look of the BC LPs by the way Steve,and some great stuff too! Keep it up.

Bright Carvings is Jon Groocock's label. Nothing to do (as far as I'm aware) with Stephen Smith.

Seems like a pretty massive/unlikely co-incidence to me! More likely a merry jape from Steve I think. Just took a closer look at the early SC LPs and Jon Groocock is name-checked on the back of Anaconda, and a friend just told me that White Spring Records is his rare record business. So unless there are two White Springs there is obviously a massive crossover between the two (one!) labels. So most likely they are two peas in a pod as it were. But, so what, the Bright Carvings ones look and sound far better than the last year or so’s Seelies in any case so all this is just a bit of fun. Its great to have them all however Steve wants to play with us!

Just seen this message on Discogs:"black-shuck 13 Aug 2024
Four new CDs were issued 9th August 2024, should be in shops from 14th August onwards. Check Juno etc for updates." But checked Juno and they still say "forthcoming". But there seem to be signs of Seelie life. Perhaps Bright Carvings will stop now!!

Yes, things are starting to move again apparently. Slowly, but moving in the right direction at least. I've not heard of any set release dates, but I've been told 'imminent' in relation to the Marvelous Kid release, and that sounds encouraging!