The Church - any of the congregation here? (Part Two)

It’s $32 before shipping. I don’t suppose it could be an awful lot cheaper for a double album, whether it be limited to 300 or even a thousand. At the level they are at it’s going to cost them more to produce than it would a bigger player in the market who is ordering 15,000 units.

I take your point to an extent about there may have been no rush to order it, but can you take that chance about any Steve Kilbey related release in recent years? Even the CD’s are generally limited and hard to come by very quickly.

 

From what I’ve heard from Steve from watching him for weeks on end when he was doing those lockdown acoustic shows and answering questions, I doubt he would care an awful lot.

Someone asked whether Eleven Womes would get a vinyl release. He answered along the lines of ‘no idea’, but his body language was more like he didn’t care one way or the other.

If it had been Marty on the other hand, I’m sure he would have been bothered, being a collector type.

 

My problem with the limited edition gimmick is that it makes people who want it suddenly feel like they need to have it and this is their only chance. Only got $50 in the bank after your rent payment and you're down to your last pack of ramen noodles? Well now you've got a choice to make - either buy the new album on vinyl before it sells out... or eat. Or wait until you have $250 and buy it from a POS scalper who makes a comfortable living off your misfortune.

And then the people who opt to starve get slapped in the face when all of a sudden they make more. It makes the creator look bad. This is the same thing that happened with the recent Tom Petty set. I wanted the bonus material exclusive to the $150 CD set, but I didn't want to pay $150 for it. Then they gave that to EVERYONE who ordered directly, seemingly by mistake, which was a slap to my face for buying the download from Qobuz (which I did because the CD mastering is worse than the download mastering). And now they're releasing that "exclusive" content as its own standalone album. That pisses me off. I probably shouldn't say this because it ain't legal, but after seeing how they handled that, I'm glad I got those files for free.

As the rant I went on the other day summarized, marketing something as limited edition creates a perceived value which may or may not actually be there, and psychologically, it can cause people to make decisions they wouldn't have made otherwise. That's predatory. Obviously not every limited edition thing sells out, but it's twisting the arms of collectors and music fans and that's not acceptable to me. Not to mention, it's catnip for the scalpers who make collecting a hobby only for the fortunate and privileged.

And obviously if the demand is there, the creator can easily make more copies to satisfy it. But they look bad in the process because their marketing was the deciding factor in some people buying that product, and it totally invalidates that marketing.

I realize the audience of SK and All India Radio is small and there's no reason to press 10,000 copies of it when about half of them probably won't sell. But to under-press and use that as a means to get people to buy it... not cool.

I totally agree that Mr. Kilbey is not involved in this. To say that he doesn't care at all might be a stretch, but I don't think he cares enough to get involved. He approved the product and that's the end of it for him.

 

Cannot resist. Shipping to Canada is 12$ , so that's good it's so expensive for us here.

 

I just found out about this this morning and was happy they still took my order even though they're oversubscribed. But yeah, I'd be a little put off if I had bought it earlier thinking it was limited to a firm 300.

By comparison, a couple of weeks ago, Fila Brazillia did a similar pre-order for Luck Be A Weirdo Tonight on Bandcamp, and were pretty clear that they needed to sell a certain amount to fully fund the campaign and would continue to take orders beyond that amount. The transparency helps, for sure.

 

500 is still pretty damn limited.

 

will we ever produce a "The Church ALBUM BY ALBUM thread?"

I'm about ready to pitch in/Crowdfund one at the moment!

 

I suppose all we need is someone to create & run the thread. Go for it!

 

Is this Jupiter 13 Album also going to be released on CD? If so, where is it available to purchase? I thought all of Kilbey's other Albums on CD had been available on Amazon. Will it also be available on any streaming services?

 

Jupiter 13, by Kilbey Kennedy

 

With the exception of Sydney Rococo, nearly everything Steve has released since 2010 has been in very small numbers and sold out quickly (vinyl and CD). They're not marketed as limited edition, but they're getting snapped up right away and resold for insane amounts. The album with Sean Sennett and Kate Ceberano is on Discogs for $40, although I believe it's still available for half that from Sean Sennett's Bandcamp.

I only became a fan of solo SK in 2019, so I missed out on practically everything. I don't even have Glow And Fade!

 

That one still available at Bull Moose for retail price.

 

Every time I click on it, it redirects me to Unseen Music Unheard Words. Besides, I'm a stickler for getting the Australian version and I'd probably end up with the European one, that's what happened with Sydney Rococo. Maybe SK or MK have extras and I can just buy 'em directly.

 

So The Church have a live gig tomorrow (Wednesday 28) with a debut of new material. Hopefully someone will upload some good footage for us to see and hear. I assume this is the first proper show without Peter and with Tim 100% recovered from his fall. Very excited and hope all goes well.

 

Do we know there will be new material? If so that is terrific news!

 

There's a video of the rehearsal on YouTube. I just woke up so I haven't watched it, not sure if they're rehearsing a new song or not.

 

Would love to know what the setlist was if anyone finds it!

 

Steve sounds energized and looks to be in great health.

 

Brilliant interview, thanks for sharing.

 

New song. Sounding great! "No Other You"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=d...KMC4r_Q2zvYDJ2YMZFr95zMIWJ3AgvE_Gd7Evadlw7xFA

 

New track preview!

 

The new guitarist, Ash Naylor, didn’t put a foot wrong the whole night.

The Church Setlist at St Kilda Triangle, Melbourne

 

Great setlist.

Very jealous that the Aussies are already back at outdoor gigs!

 

Intervention Records seems to be shipping the Starfish SACD ... I got a shipping notification this morning, and Shane had already said in the Intervention thread that the SACD will be ready before the vinyl. Eagerly awaiting the disc!

Incidentally, I found a copy of Life Before Starfish promo CD and the Russian Autumn Heart CD single yesterday. I think it's time I dive into The Church on CD so I can load these albums up on my Roon player!