Changes, Dj Solo, Updates, and a small green bowler hat.
Hello Everyone,
I thought I ought to update you because there is a huge amount happening, and some of it is due to me deciding to shake up and change my entire business model. Wow, that sounded boringly corporate. But to quote Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:
"Cause people often talk about being scared of change, but for me, Im more afraid of things staying the same, cause the game is never won, by standing in any one place, for too long..."
I think most of you will enjoy the changes anyway, because it makes life more interesting.
So the first thing is something I have wanted to do for a long time but am finally doing. I am going to expand the KF store to stock a LOT more music from outside of the Kniteforce labels. This week, I would hope you will see stock on the store from labels that I know and admire or work with, including Amen brother, Blue Skinned Badger, Deep Jungle, Try Unity, Cantina Cuts and others.
I have also pulled a bunch of stock back from my distributor, including some of the early Remix Records releases, and maybe 10 or 15 other titles that have been out of stock with us for a good while. I thought they were totally gone, but it turns out the distributor had some just sitting there. So those I will also add to the store.
I hope in both cases all of this stuff will be up on the store before or on the 20th of October (Thursday coming) because we do have some exciting new releases....We have the latest NTN by Sikka, which Jay Cunning has been caining on his show for months and of which there are only 99, as always with that label. That will be VIP exclusive for the first week, then available to all:
We also have a bunch of test presses. We only get 5 test presses each time now from the new plant, so they have suddenly become MUCH rarer. So there is that. What else? Hmmm...let me think...oh yes, this:
We finally have the three Dj Solo releases in stock. These three were cut as 10" in August 2021 because, and I quote, "If they are cut as 10", they wont be delayed like the 12" press, and finished copies will be here by December 2021". So only, let me see...11 months late. Fucks sake. But that aside, HOORAY they are here at last.
Something to be aware of with these tho - we are very unlikely to do a repress, because these are with our old plant, and basically, fuck that. If we can move the metalwork and parts, we will try and get that sorted, but realistically, what we have in stock on the three Dj Solo EPs is all we are going to get.
I will add tho...These three EPs sound incredible. Frankly, I think they sound considerably better than the original releases.
Long Side Note Alert: It is always a careful line when doing a remaster and repress. You can NEVER make it sound exactly like the original press. Not only has the equipment used to cut the record, the cutting engineer, and the vinyl press and weight and quality changed, but also cutting sound into plastic has always been, and will always be, somewhat random. It is a very old technology where, in effect, the cutting engineer has to change the sound of the recording to compensate for the damages done by to the sound by plonking it into a lump of plastic.
In the end, you have to accept you cannot make it sound exactly as the original press. Thats even if you would want to - I do understand the purists take on such thinks, but also, some of the represses we do were mastered, cut, and pressed 30 years ago in a haphazard fashion, and were not that great by any measure. All that you can do is try to improve it. The tricky bit is how you define "improve". Is that louder? Clearer? Warmer? I don't know. All I know is, these Dj Solo remasters of a stone cold classic sound nicer than the original press...at least, in my humble opinion.
Another few changes - some of you will notice we have massively expanded what we sell digitally on the store. With a few exceptions, if a record has sold out on the KF store, it is now available to buy digitally - at least up to about catalogue number KF150.
Not only, or because of that, we are likely to start selling our older music through Bandcamp again. This wont matter to most of you reading this, as by that very fact I imagine you would buy things direct. Which, obviously, we much prefer. And it will always be better to buy directly from us - the stock we put on Bandcamp will all be older stock, and it will be more expensive to buy to cover Bandcamp's fees. But some people just like to buy through Bandcamp for whatever reason. We stopped using them for lots of reasons, but one of the biggest was their insistence that we supply digital with each release. That was an endless and annoying hurdle we had to manage when we were not ready to sell the digital versions. Still, for older releases that the digital is now available for, we might as well be doing that really.
Other updates...
We now have THREE of the five Ray Keith Box Set records. Look, picture proof:
I suppose I should have got them out of the boxes - for all I know, MPO filled them with acorns or something. But time was short, I was picking up the Dj Solos and took quick snaps of the outer boxes. The more observant of you might notice the manufacture dates are earlier than now. So did MPO press them on those dates and just sit on them in a warehouse? Or did they press them now and have the wrong stickers? Have the others already been pressed and are also sitting in a warehouse? Flip a coin, your guess is as good as mine. But its progress that these are here, so lets pray to the flying spagetti monster that the last two get here as promised. I mean, its like slowly dragging anchors up hills getting this release together, but I do believe we might get the last two records in the next few weeks, and then we will actually be able to send it out! Amazing.
As for the rest of the delays, the Moondance Box Set, the Force & The Evolution Box Set, The Acen Dubplate TTTM mixes and etc? One of two things will happen. Either the records will be pressed by MPO and arrive in November, or we will move the parts for those releases and press them at the new plant and have them before Xmas. Now that we do have the option to move metalwork to a new factory, I am done with all the fucking about and nonsense. It is too exhausting for everyone. I would rather have the pieces moved and an accurate release date sorted at the new factory, than this ongoing mess that never seems to end with MPO.
Other potential changes...I am thinking about the future of Box Sets. The current format works very well, but I have learned in this industry that staying in one place always leads to stagnation. And while I love that format and it has some amazing benefits, it is not without its issues. I have a Luna-C Box Set in the works, and I might try doing something a little different with the way that gets released - maybe a pick and mix? We will see...I usually use myself as a test subject with things, cos why not?
Lets see, what else can I bombard you with today? Oh yes. Packaging. We are struggling to get high quality mailers to send our records out in, for both the box sets and the singles. So if orders take a little longer to be dispatched, please bear with us. its literally one problem after another, every step of the way, with pressing and selling vinyl. Sigh.
Speaking of packing - we are slowly working our way through the Shades Of Rhythm box sets. We hope to have pretty much all of them out by Tuesday (tomorrow). There are, of course, strikes with the Royal Mail about to commence, so thats a mess. We are doing our best.
Incidentally, we have less than 100 left of the 6 vinyl Shades of Rhythm Box Set, so...if you are gonna do the thing, now is the time...click the pic to go to the product page...
Also, I have not updated the ticker in a while. This is because I haven't cut very much as so many records are delayed and etc, but it is also because I have no idea what is imminent and what isn't lol. I am told about 35,000 units is coming. But half of that is from the old plant, so who knows if any or all or some of that will come. I also cannot predict what will be in stock or when. So I am just kinda putting things out as they arrive. In the meantime, a huge load of new material is building up to be cut, but everything is bottlenecked, so I am just kinda waiting things out for now!
I do believe we will have a bunch of singles, and of course, the incredible House Crew second box set, within the next 4-8 weeks though. So...I mean, until I have some actual things here, it is hard to update the ticker or anything else. I just don't know, or trust that anything will arrive until I actually see it lol. But yeah, best I can say is "things are coming, keep your eyes peeled for the things" lol.
We are doing a weekly flashback to highlight older releases that some of you might have missed. Since Knite Club, and really, just the last 6 months, we have had so many more people come to our site, and of course they may well have missed things. So the Flashback each week is really for those that might have missed a stunning release. A recap, and a little discount, if you will...click the pic to go to the product :)
Final bits of news...
Kniteforce is going to be at Clashmouth. We will have a few special exclusives for that. Err...well, probably haha.
Acen sent me his last track for his Monolith Box Set. So that will get moving soon too!
We are in talks with a few absolute legends for back catalogue and new material as ever...
And thats all the news! Hooray! Kisses! Boing! And etc! Explanation Marks! And a small, green bowler hat.
Nice one,
Chris