Esoteric Recordings is a UK

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

specialising in 1970s

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

, and jazz-rock reissues as part of

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

. Its releases include both catalogue reissues and new works from artists who share a similar musical heritage. The label's founder is Mark Powell, who has been a freelance music consultant for

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

since 2000; he has also worked with

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

, Man, and Hawkwind, as well as producing label retrospectives covering Deram,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, Vertigo,

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

and

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

. His consultancy work led to the formation of an independent reissue label, titled Eclectic Discs, to license overlooked releases he considered worthwhile but weren't of sufficient commercial stature to interest major labels. Other releases are sourced from the artists themselves, while the label has also been involved in the release of DVD material from artists including

Barclay James Harvest Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (b. 1948), guitarist/vocalist John Lees (b. 1947), drummer/percussionist Mel Pritchard (1948–2004), a ...

. Speaking in 2008, Powell said: Among the label's releases have been box sets including the six-CD Jack Bruce ''

Can You Follow? Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * Can ...

'' and the four-CD Bill Nelson ''Trial by Intimacy (The Book of Splendours)'' as well as standalone releases by artists including: Man,

Claire Hamill Josephine Claire Hamill (born 4 August 1954) is an English singer-songwriter. In addition to her solo career, she has collaborated with Wishbone Ash and Yes's Steve Howe. Life and career Claire Hamill was born in Port Clarence, County Durham ...

The Keef Hartley Band Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)
was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band ...

Egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

, Michael Moorcock, Gary Farr,

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966 ...

, and

Rare Bird Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band formed in 1969. They had more success in other European countries. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, they never charted with an album but charted with one single ...

. In 2012, Esoteric Recordings started a front line record label, Esoteric Antenna, which put out the debut album by Squackett (Steve Hackett and Chris Squire) called ''A Life Within a Day''. It has also signed the Oxford-based band Sanguine Hum and guitarist Matt Stevens.

Signed artists

* Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe * Tony Banks *

Blossom Toes Blossom Toes were a British psychedelic pop band active between 1966 and 1970. Initially known as The Ingoes, they were renamed and signed to the Marmalade record label of manager Giorgio Gomelsky. The original line-up comprised Brian Godding (b ...

* Arthur Brown * Jack Bruce *

Curved Air Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fus ...

Disco Jets Disco Jets is a tongue in cheek project organized and recorded by Todd Rundgren and Utopia shortly after recording Rundgren's '' Faithful'' LP and including most of the musicians from those sessions. It's an instrumental recording humorously paro ...

* East of Eden * Gary Farr *

Bill Fay Bill Fay (born William Fay; 1943) is an English singer-songwriter. His early recordings were released by Deram Records, Deram, but following the release of his second album in 1971, Fay was dropped by the label. His work enjoyed a growing cult ...

* FM *

Keef Hartley Band Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)
was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band ...

* Hawkwind * Love Sculpture * Man *

Mellow Candle Mellow Candle were a progressive folk rock band. Principally Irish, the members were also young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools (later O'Donnell) and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Fee ...

* Michael Moorcock *

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...

* Morgan Fisher and Lol Coxhill * Bill Nelson *

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

Space Ritual ''The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London'' (commonly known as ''Space Ritual'') is a 1973 live double album recorded in 1972 by UK rock band Hawkwind. It is their fourth album, reached #9 in the UK album charts and briefly dented the ...

Squackett ''A Life Within a Day'' is the only studio album by the musical project Squackett, featuring Chris Squire ( Yes) and Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis). It was released on 28 May 2012, although it had been written and recorded a few years earlier. The ...

* Supersister * Tangerine Dream * Wigwam * Chris Wood

References

1. Interview with Alex Ogg for 'My Favourite Flavour' magazine issue 006 2008 {{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 2007 Reissue record labels IFPI members Progressive rock record labels Cherry Red Records