Edition Sizes

[Scream & Writhe]

Take for example the Door Open at 8 am reissue on vinyl. The first edition sold out within days of being announced and scalpers have set their discogs stock to 100€ ++, but the second edition is still up for grabs from the label now. This might be because the FOMO has died out or they have hit a sweet spot of copies, who knows. For me it is great to know that I can pick up a vinyl copy of that album later on still if I want to, without having to pay up ridiculous discogs prices.

That release is a good example of what could perhaps harshly be described as edition size abuse. This could easily have been a run of 500. Merzbow "transcends the underground" as it were, and is something that almost any old record store (even what's left of major chains) would stock. An artist that goes beyond the label's reach, and beyond the reach of the typical distro circuit. It's also a beloved album by many, and not just another collection of obscure 80s tapes (which are still deserving of the reissues they get). So advertising a run of just 100 for a first time vinyl reissue of Door Open is of course going to manufacture that fear of missing out. I actually emailed the label about this and offered to take it off of their hands and do a proper edition if they were only going to do this extremely limited run (as was done with the Pulse Demon reissue mentioned earlier in this thread), and they told me that they planned to keep pressing it in editions of 100 so they could get a faster turnaround time from the plant. The second pressing is an edition of 200 (I believe), and seems to have taken just as long as any record takes to press these days. I believe they have just received their copies (there are plenty coming in for stock at S&W). As to why the second pressing is still readily available - well, good. But I don't know if it's been advertised much? If going through the proper channels it should be something available pretty much anywhere, but I don't know how much distribution it is really getting (I think a majority of the first run went to Soundohm). The price is likely a turnoff for people as well (again, pressing in greater quantities results in lower cost per item).

there's a huge difference between albums and "in-between" stuff to me.

This is an interesting note as well, and something I have been thinking about lately. Noise seems to be a genre where albums are consistently released on tape only. In punk and metal tapes are typically used for demos, promos, tour editions of upcoming albums, or simply pressed in addition to a CD or LP. It seems like a noise album can exist on any format, making it harder to determine what might be "essential" listening (when forever faced with a consistent and endless amount of new releases, and tying back to the Time thread). Though I would expect/hope that the stuff being pressed in ultra limited quantities are not true albums per se.

[sarinDK]

That release is a good example of what could perhaps harshly be described as edition size abuse. This could easily have been a run of 500. Merzbow "transcends the underground" as it were, and is something that almost any old record store (even what's left of major chains) would stock (...) they told me that they planned to keep pressing it in editions of 100 so they could get a faster turnaround time from the plant. The second pressing is an edition of 200 (I believe) (...)

Well thanks for a bit of context on this. I didn't recall the first edition was so small. Had the chance to pick it up from soundohm but alas for almost the same price I got a 6CD box shipped from japan. I guess my original remark/this reissue in particular is not very related to WCN's original topic anyway. Just some "customer POV" ramblings!

[Mattias Gustafsson]

there's a huge difference between albums and "in-between" stuff to me.

This is an interesting note as well, and something I have been thinking about lately. Noise seems to be a genre where albums are consistently released on tape only. In punk and metal tapes are typically used for demos, promos, tour editions of upcoming albums, or simply pressed in addition to a CD or LP. It seems like a noise album can exist on any format, making it harder to determine what might be "essential" listening (when forever faced with a consistent and endless amount of new releases, and tying back to the Time thread). Though I would expect/hope that the stuff being pressed in ultra limited quantities are not true albums per se.
[/quote]

Isn’t this the beauty of this genres? That you can follow the steps with the artists you like. If you want to of course. Cause I don’t need every release of all the artists I like. But the ones I’m obsessed with I can follow almost in real time. That I can really appreciate.
Think if you were alive when The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds and you could follow the steps to Smiley (Smile) with a bunch of “in-between” recordings. Or maybe not.
But the choice is yours.
I have always regret that I downloaded and listened to the unreleased Void recording that was meant to be their first LP. Their side on the Faith/Void LP is 100% perfect and I understand that they never released that recording. And I was warned but didn’t listened and I regret it. I guess that recording was leaked and I fully understand why they never released it. My point? I don’t know cause I’m drunk. But it made me glad that Mathias mentioned “Tonight's The Night” cause that’s a good example. One of my favorite records. And it’s one of the most loved and hate records in Neil Young’s huge discography. So do I need to bye the Roxy live 2xLP that was released a few years ago of the same recording. Absolutely! But do you need it? I guess not! It would be really cool though to have some recordings what’s really happening between “Trans” and “Everybody's Rockin'”. If he had released some limited tapes of the demos and in-between recordings but it isn’t for everyone. And I also like to not know many times. But it’s your own choice.

[Scream & Writhe]

Isn’t this the beauty of this genres? That you can follow the steps with the artists you like. If you want to of course. Cause I don’t need every release of all the artists I like. But the ones I’m obsessed with I can follow almost in real time. That I can really appreciate.
Think if you were alive when The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds and you could follow the steps to Smiley (Smile) with a bunch of “in-between” recordings. Or maybe not.
But the choice is yours.
I have always regret that I downloaded and listened to the unreleased Void recording that was meant to be their first LP. Their side on the Faith/Void LP is 100% perfect and I understand that they never released that recording. And I was warned but didn’t listened and I regret it. I guess that recording was leaked and I fully understand why they never released it. My point? I don’t know cause I’m drunk. But it made me glad that Mathias mentioned “Tonight's The Night” cause that’s a good example. One of my favorite records. And it’s one of the most loved and hate records in Neil Young’s huge discography. So do I need to bye the Roxy live 2xLP that was released a few years ago of the same recording. Absolutely! But do you need it? I guess not! It would be really cool though to have some recordings what’s really happening between “Trans” and “Everybody's Rockin'”. If he had released some limited tapes of the demos and in-between recordings but it isn’t for everyone. And I also like to not know many times. But it’s your own choice.

Well, absolutely yes to all of that. Because it relates to the point I’ll note that I do have Tonight’s the Night at the Roxy, and if the other releases in the archival/bootleg series are any indication then hearing demos or alternate versions of material from that lesser era mentioned (really, most of the 80s) will likely allow for a whole new perspective on things (just listen to how good the outtake/alternate tracks from American Stars n’ Bars are (as released on Hitchhiker and Homegrown), while they come across as uninspired and nonessential on the official album). Sure a lot of it is for completists or heads, but all of that ties in to what I was saying is the purpose (more or less) of tapes in other genres (that gap-bridging/trying-out-new-ideas-in-public sort of deal). In noise, however, the lines are blurred and you can find albums (or at least releases that could be treated as such, content-relevancy-wise) - not just demos or singles or EPs - that only exist in this medium (tape).

Edit to finish that thought (as it ventures further away from the thread topic at hand): My point is that one can “skip” tape releases from artists in other genres with relatively little risk in “missing out” on the primary picture of an artist’s discography. Whereas in noise, skipping enough tapes can lead to considerable gaps in the road map.