RSD could only redeem themselves to me if they put out something useful, like MAYBE reissuing some Ramshackle Glory on vinyl...or Jets To Brazil. (LOL)
last purchased of 2016 was Death Grips - Fashion Week/Interview 2016.
First purchase of this year was Happy Diving- Electric Soul Unity and Rival Schools- United By Fate
Interesting conversation going on in here—and not a topic that's lost on me, or in any way news to me. It has always bothered/disappointed me the records that get tons of attention that we release vs. the records that get no support whatsoever for seemingly no discernible reasons (take a look at, idk, the Sorority Noise pre-order thread from earlier this year vs. say, the LITE "Cubic" thread for a stark example of this). And that's actually completely 1000000000% bonkers to me. Like, pretty crazy. Obviously to take nothing away from Sorority Noise, LITE's one of the most talented and interesting and non-derivative acts making music today and it's absolute crickets from this community because.... reasons(?). The crowd here, ~generally speaking~, on this particular forum, I've never really felt like my tastes really fully align with completely. BUT I've always been super appreciative of the support y'all have given us throughout the years. I know we're hemorrhaging that support, though. I understand we're not releasing records you [think] you care about. I read it every few days on forums and Facebook groups and Twitter and in this very thread. But we've also been doing this for over ten years now. I couldn't legally drink when Seth and I started this label and now we're in our 30's. It's not an "out of touch" thing—it's a tastes changing thing. I have almost no interest in the music I predominantly listened to a decade ago and that is reflected in the music we currently release through the label now as well. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I was putting out records just because I knew they'd do well, but that I was in no way myself personally interested in. That might pay the bills and other labels certainly do that but I'm way not down. So, here we are.
It's pretty clear the floor got kicked out from everyone doing anything vaguely ~emo~ in the last year or so. Like, save for a handful of bands that got the "indie" stamp of approval, shit is dead in the water and everyone bailed and left labels like jade tree / count your lucky stars / no sleep, etc. caught with their pants down. And when that shit's your bread and butter, that's not the canary in the coal mine, that's the whole mine shaft collapsing on you. Obviously, that's a large part of what we are known for and have done to this point so when you're shifting gears to something else (even doing so gradually over the course of many years), you're gonna alienate and lose some people. I get that. I just sincerely think a lot of people aren't even listening to what we release anymore, which is y'know, that's chill! lol. Not a hype label with the kids anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Maybe don't even have an identity really anymore. Which, y'know, that's fine also!! I don't want to be pigeonholed to one thing. I like that we can put out a Dangers record, a toe record, a Jay Som record and a Bad Heaven record in the same year and we don't need to start an imprint label to release different things through—and that it's not weird at all! Anyway, I'm totally just rambling now.
tl;dr: I think everything we release is fucking sick.
If you subscribed to this subscribtion or our bandcamp digital subscription: FUCKING THANK YOU. Thank you for your trust in our judgement and curation.
If you've streamed, or downloaded or purchased any of our records, THANK YOU. Shit is harder than ever to sustain. You can't know how much it's appreciated.
If you haven't listened to what we're up to lately, and have even a modest interest in doing so: We have our ENTIRE catalog (save for pre-orders) in both our store (http://topshelfrecords.com/categories/digital) and our bandcamp (http://topshelfrecords.bandcamp.com) available for pay-what-you-want download with all proceeds going equally to The Trevor Project / Planned Parenthood / The NAACP Legal Defense Fund. It'll remain pwyw through 2016. Maybe give something a shot that you've never heard of, idk!!
Sorry I am a shitty dumb bitter prick!!!!!!