Sum Pear

Any of you ever check out the UK label Radioactive Records and their "reissue" series? I find these album brand new all the time, for like $2.99 or less. The label reissued all these albums from bands that released just one or two albums, often in very small pressings.

Of course, the label isn't a real label. The owner is bootlegging these things. Or was. Radioactive is no more. You can find info online where other legit label owners and fans of early 70s rock, psychadelic, etc. went on a witch hunt over the releases. And it's never wise to bootleg Jimi Hendrix. Haha.

Anyway, they're high quality, silver pressed, but there's no bonus tracks or liner notes or anything. But for the price, I won't complain.

Sum Pear just came on, which is what prompted this post. They rule!





(Wait until the weird beginning passes in that second video.)

Some other great "reissues" they've put out include:

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Of course, the label isn't a real label. The owner is bootlegging these things. Or was. Radioactive is no more. You can find info online where other legit label owners and fans of early 70s rock, psychadelic, etc. went on a witch hunt over the releases.

I wish metal fans would take note and gang up on a certain individual spawning all those CDR knock-off "Italian imports" on eBay...

stormspell wrote:

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Of course, the label isn't a real label. The owner is bootlegging these things. Or was. Radioactive is no more. You can find info online where other legit label owners and fans of early 70s rock, psychadelic, etc. went on a witch hunt over the releases.

I wish metal fans would take note and gang up on a certain individual spawning all those CDR knock-off "Italian imports" on eBay...

Not sure who you speak of, but I agree.

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Since I got on this case, I've been disturbed to realize just how many "reissue" labels are in fact nothing more than well-packaged pirate operations. Of course, in most cases, without this cavalier attitude towards artists' rights, we would be missing out on a lot of great music, and the truth is many artists simply don't know, or care, what's going on in the current market, and left to their own devices would never get around to putting their work out again. Still, we should be able to agree on a couple of basic principles:

• Every attempt should be made to contact the owner of a given work.

• If this attempt fails and the release proceeds anyway, a clear statement of the situation and contact information should be included with the release, and royalties should be held for the artist. I believe this was the case with The Wild Places' 2001 reissue of Linda Perhacs' Paralellograms, which resulted with Ms. Perhacs emerging from obscurity, and to a second release with superior sound and bonus tracks from her original master tapes. Honesty is indeed the best policy, and can be very profitable.

• If an artist is found and doesn't want there to be a reissue for whatever reason, then the label needs to move on and find something else to do. No one has the moral right to reissue a work just because they find it awesome, historically significant, too good to be left out of print, or what have you.

I think some reissue labels confuse their own desire for cash or glory with the more altruistic aims of preservation and popularization of good music.

I'm talking about the dude which in addition to his official label, also cranks countless CDR knock-off bootlegs under fictitious "Italian Import" monikers like Time Warp, Rock it Up, Strikeforce, Vox Humana Records, etc.