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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

specialising in 1970s

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, folk, psychedelic, and

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

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 w ...

. 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,

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

and EMI since 2000; he has also worked with

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

, Caravan,

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

, and

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

, as well as producing label retrospectives covering Deram,

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

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

and

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. 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, which following a split in 1998 now exists as two successor bands. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (born 1948), guitarist/vocalist John ...

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

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician, attorney, and former astronaut who served from 2001 to 2019 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Florida and from 2021 to 2025 as the Administrator ...

''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. She has collaborated with Wishbone Ash and Yes (band), Yes's Steve Howe (guitarist), Steve Howe in addition to her solo career. Life and career Josephine Claire Ha ...

, The Keef Hartley 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 ...

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, Gary Farr, Daevid Allen, and Rare Bird. 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 (of The Fierce and the Dead ).

Signed artists

* Daevid Allen *

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH) were an English progressive rock band active from 1988 to 1990 that comprised four past members of the English progressive rock band Yes. Singer Jon Anderson left Yes as he felt increasingly constrained by ...

* Tony Banks *

* Blossom Toes * Arthur Brown * Jack Bruce *

* Curved Air * Disco Jets *

* East of Eden * Gary Farr * Bill Fay * FM * Keef Hartley Band *

* Matt Stevens (of The Fierce and the Dead * Love Sculpture *

* Mellow Candle *

* Morgan * Morgan Fisher and Lol Coxhill *

* Rare Bird *

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

* Space Ritual * Squackett * Supersister *

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the grou ...

Wigwam A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

* 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