In some of the saddest news to come our way since the demise of Sarah Records, yet another of the finest labels around has folded. VELVEL RECORDS has ceased all North American operations due to lack of capital. In the past few years, Velvel had committed themselves to a wide array of UK releases and reissues to American shores -- principally, back catalogue titles from Pulp and Marillion, not to mention new offerings from the Candyskins, ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, and former Strangler Hugh Cornwell. Velvel also had US rights to the Konk label, which was currently in the midst of a complete Kinks reissue project. Rumour is that the next wave of Kinks reissues have already been pressed and WILL be released as scheduled; all future releases, however, have been shelved. We're also hearing that the owners of Velvel are frantically looking for a buyer, so if you've got a few thousand quid to spare... in the meantime, if you've been putting off picking up those stateside Pulp reissues, now is indeed the time. Velvel Records have been a supporter of Excellent Online since the get-go, and we have nothing but kind words and memories of the label to look back on.