From Graham Voice Sent Tue, May 11th 1999, 16:13
From Graham Voice Sent Tue, May 11th 1999, 16:13
I agree that rareties started off this whole obsession many people have with Skam but its also down to the fact that they do put out some excellent music. I only had the three Gescom eps up until a little while ago then I was introduced to BoC, Bola and Jega through various other releases and my fascination has grown and grown. Now I find myself saying to people that "I only need 3 more Skam 12" s!" in an excited, almost childlike way - thats the collector side of me coming out I suppose. I feel though that my fondness of the label would not disappear over night if they were to re-issue early releases, in fact I would rush out and buy them to complete my collection and then I would have to get every new release to keep it going wouldn't I? Skam can do no wrong at the moment but you only have to look at the growing disatisfaction with some of the latest Rephlex releases to see that the tide can turn. As far as your point on the AFX re-releases damaging their rep, I would have to disagree. I have just sold my Caustic Window J9 ep for a decent figure and seen the value of my original AB3 vinyl hold firm, if not increase. Spotters will always neeeed the original, thats what I have found. The fact that the Caustic Window / AB3 music is probably the best stuff RDJ has ever done has helped keep that "mystique" as well. So there will always be people who will gladly pay $200 for a single 12" and good luck too them, I'd just be a bit pissed off that it wasn't me making the cash!! graham > -----Original Message----- > From: Sam Frank [SMTP:xxxxxx.xxxxx@xxxx.xxx] > Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 1999 3:55 PM > To: Graham Voice > Cc: 'Chuan Lim'; David Turgeon (E-mail); Idm (E-mail) > Subject: RE: (idm) Re: While "Seek" EP inspiration not found! > > > So to finish wouldn't it make huge sense > > (financial at least) for Skam to think about re-issuing the older > > releases now that their profile is at it highest? I'm sure they > won't be > > top of the tree forever..... > > > It might, but the hype is also self-sustaining. "at its highest" is > relative. It's been at this height for a long while now, and while > various IDmers and other try to debunk it every few months, the > scarcity > means that the hype is not going to go away any time soon. But a > rerelease would kill the hype in a few weeks, unless it's as amazing > as > everyone says. Look at what happened when Analogue Bubblebath 3 > (?)and > caustic Window were rereleased--a whole chunk of the Aphex mythology > went > down the drain, as people realized his hard-to-find music is just > that, > music, and not the holy grail of art. How long had the hype for those > items lasted before they were rereleased? A damn long time, I'm sure. > The way the economics work for Skam now, they can release new > items whenever they want, which fans will buy on the rep of a few > rarities. Are rarities the obsessive fanboy's version of killer > advertising? I think so... > > Sam