Camera Obscura (record label)
| Camera Obscura | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Tony Dale |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Distributor(s) | Carrot Top Records (USA)/Clearspot Distribution (Europe) |
| Genre | Psychedelic, post-rock, experimental, alternative rock, folk music |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Location | Melbourne |
| Official website | http://www.cameraobscura.com.au/ |
Camera Obscura was a record label founded by Australian music journalist Tony Dale in 1996. Described by Dale as 'a conduit for the release of contemporary acid-folk, psych-pop and space-rock,' the label put out almost ninety releases over fourteen years, the vast majority of which were full-length CDs. Bands and musicians who released material on the label included the Green Pajamas, Patrick Porter, Abunai!, the Azusa Plane, Black Sun Ensemble, Sharron Kraus and Primordial Undermind. Dale formally discontinued the label in 2010 shortly before his death due to cancer.
Born in England in 1958 but raised in Australia, Tony Dale was a passionate fan of music from an early age; in a 2003 interview for web publication Perfect Sound Forever he mentioned that 'for a kid in the late 60s/early 70s the radio was pretty good. Lot of classic psych and singer-songwriter stuff, mixed with lot of nifty bubblegum pop hits.' An interest in music continued into later years, with Dale identifying the popularization of the Internet as being key in involving himself first in online discussions and then as a regular writer and journalist for the English-based fanzine Ptolemaic Terrascope.
Dale's writing and on-line discussion led to a variety of contacts which gave him the opportunity to launch Camera Obscura in 1996 in Melbourne, Australia, beginning with the debut album by American acid folk band Stone Breath, Songs of Moonlight and Rain. The label logo initially consisted of a medieval European style illustration of a musician and a camera obscura itself; later versions of the logo featured a detailed illustration simply of a camera obscura. Dale described the inspirations for the label in the 2003 interview:
The Ptolemaic Terrascope for its blending of new and old fandom. I admired the early days of Creation, Flying Nun, and Sub Pop – before they all got corporate. I especially admired Alan McGee’s deeply unfashionable (at the time) paisley stance. I wanted to do that. And Xpressway Records – that sort of cottage industry approach unfettered by the need for large budgets or anything other than the sheer joy of getting something I thought to be cool out there. Like record collecting in reverse.
...
Wikipedia