Releases on AmRep

[Colonel Cheese]

I like the way they are doing things. There has been nothing from them that i wanted that i couldn't really get my hands on in the past 25 years except for the original trilogy ipecac vinyl. Good news for me though I don't really want that anymore. I knew this throbbing gristle release was going to be a big deal for a lot of fans but i figured i wouldn't like it as much as BMR. I still snagged a copy though. ;p

[vince furnier]

it's definitely the "snooze u lose" model! 

[baruk]

BMR is available to stream on Apple Music. Possibly others as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the throbbing gristle makes it to Apple Music as well.

[whiney]

The $5 Cheapys are such a good gesture, even though I missed the KingDunn one

[CoryCory]

From a business standpoint I absolutely get it. The ideal scenario as a musician is having your demand outweigh your supply. We can bemoan these AmRep releases selling out easily but at the same time we can go to any record store and see a copy of "A Walk With Love and Death" and "Basses Loaded" on vinyl collecting dust that no one will buy. As Buzz said in the documentary? "Put out something that everyone can access and no one cares".

As far as the songs themselves they'll pop up on digital eventually through streaming, soulseek or whatever. Bandcamp is convenient enough but also can be a pain in the ass to maintain if you're doing it independently. They could do an archival Bandcamp not unlike what Boris has done in recent years but at the same time is it worth the effort when one soulseek or blogspot search is going to lead to those same MP3s? I think a lot of the collectors releases also stem from the band being very self-aware about the internet and music.

I don't entirely love it but I can't knock the business model. It's smart.

[))))((((]

The whole AmRep set-up is subpar on many levels. We saw that with BMR and we're seeing it again now. Great for limited runs but for proper releases it's just a mess.

This hot take is mind boggling wrong. Haze is doing an amazing job with current releases. I think without Haze and what he brings to the Melvins table, we wouldn't be seeing the majority of the recent Amrep releases, in any form. There's a reason why he doesn't mess with high volume releases, through typical distribution channels, that I think you're overlooking.

I think Haze is rocking it! I still look at my Endless Residency Box Set art and just say....damn, this is badass.

As collections they are nice. I meant more in terms of logistics. Items going quickly out of stock with no idea when more will arrive plus issues with communication from Haze. That hasn't been so bad this time around but with BMR it was shockingly badly communicated throughout.

[))))((((]

BMR is available to stream on Apple Music. Possibly others as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the throbbing gristle makes it to Apple Music as well.

Not that i use it, but yes i noticed that BMR got the iTunes or Apple music treatment. But only after the Mackie covered version came around - once it was a physical product. NONE of the other Haze released items have been made available in a streaming sense. None of the EP's or other off shoot things. So i'm a bit torn over this new album. I hope it will get pushed that far but i have a feeling it won't. Further adding to this feeling like it just went totally under the radar and was effectively thrown away. I'm a bit sad about that - the thought that an album could be totally overlooked just because it didn't get promoted or digitally positioned.

[))))((((]

Bandcamp is convenient enough but also can be a pain in the ass to maintain if you're doing it independently. They could do an archival Bandcamp

To be honest i can never see a time when Melvins do that. I think there is ZERO chance of Buzz ever investing time or energy into something like that. He'ed probably let someone else do it for him but i just don't think he cares. I can imagine him saying "what's in it for me?". He just wants to write, record, sell merch and tour. I don't blame him for that. There are only so many hours in the day and i doubt a near 60 year old is going to want to faff around with putting old releases online. It's a shame though because if they DID have a dedicated bandcamp with all the releases i can imagine they would make some sales that way too. Not much but some. It's an unexplored cash stream.

[))))((((]

I tend to agree with Ian but at the end of the day if a band wants to make their albums unattainable for the average joe that's their business.

I've got no issue with the little rinky dink vinyl EP's going through AmRep but proper albums like BMR is different. According to Shoxop the CD version of BMR is now sold out, probably unlikely to ever do another run I suspect, effectively deleting the album less than 12 months after it's release. That's not good. It's not good for the fans who missed out like me that aren't willing to pay $40+ for a copy through Ebay nor is it good for any future Melvins fan as that will effectively become a 'lost album'.

I can't imagine it's great business for the band either. Sure they're trying to keep their overheads down by not being left with boxes of CD's they can't sell but it's at the expense of the fans which is where having such a conservative financial view as Buzz does now intersects with pissing off the very people that help to put food on his table.

It's never a great idea to take the mickey/piss out of your fans gouging the diehards with little limited art vinyls is one thing but now making the actual proper albums effectively limited edition releases draws a new line in the sand. I don't know what kind of business relationship breakdown has gone on between Buzz and Ipecac, if any, clearly they still have some relationship with the Bungle/Melvins Ipecac Geek Shows but not giving BMR  mainstream release or even a digital release is a bit of a short-sighted decision that can achieve only one thing and that's shrink the Melvins fan base further.

If Buzz has crunched the numbers and thinks that's a good way to go good luck to them but don't be surprised if some longtime fan's interest like mine starts to wane.

All good points and i agree entirely. I'm glad it isn't just me that is alarmed and disappointed by how it has gone. I hope this is just a temporary thing and not the long term way of doing things by the band.

[John Schuller]

Melvins should let us do the work of getting everything up on Bandcamp. We would be obsessed, make sure it was done correctly and do it for free.

That is one thing Buzz hasn't capitalized on yet - the amount of free work the Melvins fanbase would put in.

[))))((((]

Melvins should let us do the work of getting everything up on Bandcamp. We would be obsessed, make sure it was done correctly and do it for free.

That is one thing Buzz hasn't capitalized on yet - the amount of free work the Melvins fanbase would put in.

I think that kind of thing (and probably why i make an issue of this in the first place) REALLY appeal to me. I love to organise everything in my day to day life and think of things as a collection or collate something. It's just something i love to do - be it clothes, paperwork, emails etc. So yes, i could imagine myself wanting to help sort something like that. Even just the discography page on here, it bugs me that it isn't up to date or features a few wrong cover art pictures etc. Things like that niggle me greatly.

[the bloat]

Late to the conversation, so this has probably been said, but since when have Melvins ever cared about convention? If they gave a fuck about what you think, they would have gone out business in '94 like the countless other brainless, spineless bands with guitars in their pretty little hands.

They continue to defy logic. Isn't that what we like about them?

[Dumpster D]

They continue to wear Mumus. Isn't that what we like about them?

Fixed 

[Von_Grip]

Late to the conversation, so this has probably been said, but since when have Melvins ever cared about convention? If they gave a fuck about what you think, they would have gone out business in '94 like the countless other brainless, spineless bands with guitars in their pretty little hands.

They continue to wear Mumus. Isn't that what we like about them?

Fixed 

[>>>JZS<<<]

Just a friendly reminder... nobody has a complete Melvins collection.
I mean, I don't have the 'Shit Sandwich' 7" and probably never will.
...Don't have the 8-track, hmmm...
...don't have the Haze Endless Residency wooden box set , but I have
the Rock Is Hell (orange vinyl) version & the test pressing set of it.
...I got one of the original Kozik silkscreen prints for the Electroretard
album cover, but no one has everything. I do have a signed copy of
Stoner Witch(original pink vinyl pressing),even has Mark D's signature.
I mean ,the point is, nobody is gonna get em all.... I mean, I'm getting
close, but you know...