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After a steady release schedule for over ten years, which continued following a move by Dale and his family from
Melbourne to the Australian countryside, Camera Obscura's pace slowed over time due in large part to Dale's cancer diagnosis and treatment. The label's final formal release was the second
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festival series which often featured groups that had released work via Camera
Obscura, Dale preferred to say it simply reflected his own tastes. While always based in Australia, the vast majority of the label's acts were from North America and Europe, with distribution of releases being handled via
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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
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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
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other companies in those areas or via direct
Internet ordering from the label's website. Nearly all the releases were new recordings for the label, but there were also some reissues, including a CD box set of solo efforts by Green Pajamas bandleader
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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
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All but a handful of physical releases on Camera
Obscura were full-length CDs; the exceptions were a small number of vinyl 7" singles and album releases. A small sublabel,
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Many of the bands on Camera
Obscura released albums on other labels or were formally signed to other labels at the time of their appearance in the Camera Obscura roster.
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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:
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Born in
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label thanks to Dale's writing work and the general association of bands that appeared on the label, especially after the start of the irregular
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Aural
Innovations Space Rock Radio Show featuring a Tony Dale memorial set, including various selections from Camera Obscura releases
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involving himself first in online discussions and then as a regular writer and journalist for the English-based fanzine
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The Ptolemaic Terrascope for its blending of new and old fandom. I admired the early days of
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Memorial post for Tony Dale from Lexicon Devil label owner Dave Lang
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musicians who released material on the label included the
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2003 interview with Tony Dale for Perfect Sound Forever
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While Camera Obscura most often was identified as a
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635:"Camera Obscura label: Interview by Dave Lang"
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118:http://www.cameraobscura.com.au/
713:"Camera Obscura: The Catalogue"
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485:The Tadpoles
475:Stone Breath
430:Phineas Gage
352:The Iditarod
307:Dipsomaniacs
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382:Lazily Spun
347:Øyvind Holm
220:psychedelic
143:Azusa Plane
72:Psychedelic
802:Categories
517:References
460:Salamander
455:Saint Joan
420:The Petals
362:Jeff Kelly
292:Bardo Pond
277:Alchemysts
229:Jeff Kelly
224:Terrastock
208:Alan McGee
200:Flying Nun
88:folk music
749:24 August
723:24 August
697:24 August
671:24 August
645:24 August
619:24 August
593:24 August
567:24 August
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450:Rusalnaia
387:Lifesmyth
342:Greyscale
108:Melbourne
98:Australia
76:post-rock
43:Tony Dale
743:Archived
691:Archived
639:Archived
613:Archived
561:Archived
196:Creation
104:Location
63:(Europe)
498:member)
496:Abunai!
312:Dunlavy
272:Abunai!
262:Artists
204:Sub Pop
161:History
139:Abunai!
48:Defunct
40:Founder
32:Founded
490:Tanakh
202:, and
141:, the
68:Genre
751:2010
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445:Rake
317:Fell
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