GROUPER "Way Their Crept" --- CONTACT

she'd get even more direct coin if she'd press more records! oh well, hopefully they'll repress at some point.

Can't believe I missed the 7". Sold out on my way to work.

Was looking at her bandcamp and noticed that Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill has been modified: it's just listed as "Dragging a Dead Deer," and the tracklist is in reverse order:

1. We've All Gone To Sleep
2. Tidal Wave
3. Wind And Snow
4. A Cover Over
5. I'm Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
6. Invisible
7. Fishing Bird (Empty Gutted In The Evening Breeze)
8. Traveling Through a Sea
9. When We Fail
10. Stuck
11. Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping
12. Disengaged

she'd get even more direct coin if she'd press more records! oh well, hopefully they'll repress at some point.

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, December 21, 2016 6:09 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^ this is so otm. I appreciate the control artists want to have over their output, but with more and more artists it's a shame the first presses are so small. Every Grouper release sold out today is on discogs for the amount times five tomorrow. Same with so many more (Caretaker comes to mind). They've become investments for resellers.

(Yeah, I missed out on the 7" too..)

I don't really understand the motivation for artists to do this. It looks like eventually most things get re-pressed, but its just this fake, tiny weird market bubble for some of these artists...does it really enhance their overall mystique/desirability/bookability as artists?

pressing records is really expensive. i doubt Harris expected to sell 300 copies before noon. it might not have been possible for her to press anymore than that anyway. the logistics of pressing vinyl independently are so fucked, there are so few pressing plants and they're all backed up with major label releases and Pink Floyd reissues.

While the latter is certainly true, the former though.. Quite sure Harris is aware of the fact that her albums are being sold well over $100 a piece. It's simply a demand issue: way more people want her physical releases than the number she releases them in.

new goal: get someone to loan me $10 million, use 100K of that to hire someone who knows what they're doing and use the rest of the money to open a new record pressing plant, profit

seems like they're putting vinyl up on bandcamp right now?

https://grouper.bandcamp.com/album/ruins

xps You're right, I'm sure she's aware of discogs gouging. But I wouldn't be surprised if she's simply pressing as many as she can due to the plants being clogged and prohibitively expensive for someone doing it herself.

That's a 2014 LP, not the new single in question

still, i am shocked that the 7" sold out so quickly. was sure i'd be able to get it. bummed bc i'm definitely not getting it second hand from discogs.

xp yeah she's been selling self-releases of most of her records through the yellowelectric site for a while now, that Ruins pressing isn't new.

no i get that, i'm just saying that afaict that 2014 vinyl reissue was literally just this second posted

Are you talking about the "special edition" version of Ruins on there though because that certainly looks new.

She sold an identical artist's edition of Ruins when it was released in 2014. Not sure if this is a new run or she is just selling her stuff through bandcamp exclusively now.

https://www.discogs.com/Grouper-Ruins/release/6237251

yeah the special edition went up today afaict. it said "ships dec 21" earlier today, and now says "ships in 7 days" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

important information about new grouper release

GROUPER RULES

Maybe that should have been on the t-shirt that came with the 7"

it might be time for a custom t

i am not emotionally prepared to experience new grouper material, i'll need to take a few days

Same. I need to be in the right headspace and environment

I am there.
I am in the grouper zone, reporting out live

i've listened to "headache" way too many times in a row in the past 24 hours but how could i possibly stray away from something so unspeakably transcendent

finally listening to this at night, it really does sound warmer and more present than any of the AIA. the Water People single is probably the most obvious precedent. there's a lot less reverb and the guitars & her voice sounds a lot closer.

For those that missed it, perhaps this'll work as a back up option:

https://boomkat.com/products/paradise-valley-d8ee21d6-5329-41f7-bb54-8411eaa412ab

that works for me

btw Discogs lists it as a pressing of 1000, see similar debate in the comments re: availability

https://www.discogs.com/Grouper-Paradise-Valley/release/9539659

Thanks Evan!

yeah thanks for the heads up, glad I got this!

You're welcome!

Gorgeous video for "Headache"

https://vimeo.com/195999938

hey floks, if anybody is hip 2 remaining copies of this (generally not supra optimistic abt boomkat), pls honk @ me xxx

i'm so psyched that that video finally came out, she projected it when I saw her play 2 years ago, w/o new song though.

Fantastic video. Been listening to this single pretty much non stop for the last 24 hours. Transcendental.

@schlump, '7" (sold out) BC copies --- distros and stores will have it: Forced Exposure, Reckless, Boomkat, Mississippi, Little Axe, Exiled.'

rough shot at the lyrics to 'Headache'

My mother once told me,
'She walks into the ocean'
Didn't want it, just kidding 'til we're rising well
Wanted to the heaven closer to love
Why's this costume weighing me down?

And my head hurts
And their sails turn

Fire in me enormous
Try my best when I'm alone lock it
I realize it won't
Walking in the deep end
Flying lights on the back of my eyelid
Blood is lucky blood in me

And my head hurts
And their sails turn
Flying lights on the back of my eyelid
Blood is lucky blood in me turns

lil starfire moment

Why did you choose to self-release Paradise Valley, alongside a reprint of Ruins? Is there a freedom in the self-release that’s appealing to you?

I love the process; it makes me feel good to have a routine, some control, a craft. It must relate back to where I come from as a print maker and artist. Have always been more comfortable with sharing those skills than I am sharing sound. So, it’s a less stressful part of making music; that is one reason I cling to it.

Feels good to be protective of this music and my relationship to it. Freedom to go as slow as I want, meter the weight of it in hand, disregard the name and figure a little, focus on the resonance of the final object, choose to do less promotion. Self releasing does not allow big quantities to be made. And it takes more time. More attention is needed. I like that practice.

^ I can respect that, but it's hard to believe there can't be some aspect of marketing (supply and demand) to this.

Does this mean we can expect a new Grouper album in 2017?

There are days where I think the AIA double album is my favorite ever.

Sorry for shitposting but the new one sounds like an abandoned liz phair demo from '92

the interview i quoted mentions these songs are from 2012 !, + i think when albums come out has been similarly quantum. i saw her sometime this year & she played all new material + one song from ruins rearranged. it was rly beautiful.

i can't get w a marketing/supply & demand critique bc supply .......................... did not meet demand ................................................................................................................. lol

yeah schlump, i'm talking out of my ass, apologies

sry 2 thread police guy
idk if it is q the same w 7"s but she is v diligent abt reissuing lps i think, so it is frustrating to miss out but eventually you get like a fourth pressing or w/e
i get way more bummed by boomkat taking veblen pricing strategies
tho maybe i'm wrong there too + it is a lot of work to answer all the enquiries &c
who knows
feels so nice to hear new grouper

Somehow I got one of the last ten she was selling on bandcamp, so I'm not complaining for once!

sweet interview, thanks for sharing schlump!

Fuck, I LOVE Headache. Just gorgeous.

Head's up: limited ed of 250 Ruins lp repress plus bonus cd

Came here to drunkenly post about how great Alien Observer is. I didn't even know there was a new single people rated so much.

AIA is a great couple of records though. The sky here is bright with cold at midnight. I think that's what made me put them on.