After 13 years and countless well-respected releases, California-based imprint Absolutely Kosher is scaling back its operations. The business will maintain its back catalogue, but aside from one more album release, they won't be putting out any new music from here on out.
While the label never quite hit the stride of bigger indies like Merge and Matador, Absolutely Kosher managed to pump out great records from a broad range on marquee names, including Pinback, Mountain Goats, Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes, to name but a few. The reason for closing up shop, unsurprisingly, is that it's just too damn expensive to run a label these days.
A statement issued by owner/operator Cory Brown admits that the current marketplace, not to mention his increasing debt, have sidelined operations.
"We should've been celebrating the label's bar mitzvah this year, but it's not to be," Brown wrote. "I wish I could tell you there's a grand plan, a new chapter waiting to be written, but the truth is, we've been struggling for years and the only thing on my plate right now is to eliminate our debts and rejuvenate my spirits. We've made all sorts of adaptive changes at the label over the last several years, many of them yielding some positive results, but none at the scale and speed we need them to be at."
Despite the loss of the label, Brown doesn't want you to feel bad for him. He knows he had a good run.
"I don't want any disappointment over the current state of things or bitterness over unrecognized potential to cloud the feeling of how unbelievably lucky I feel about Absolutely Kosher Records and everything that came with it."
Absolutely Kosher's final release will be Himalayan Bear's upcoming album, Hard Times. Brown admitted that the irony of the title is not lost on him. The record comes out October 11, and you can peep tour dates for Himalayan Bear's fall U.S. tour here.
While the label never quite hit the stride of bigger indies like Merge and Matador, Absolutely Kosher managed to pump out great records from a broad range on marquee names, including Pinback, Mountain Goats, Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes, to name but a few. The reason for closing up shop, unsurprisingly, is that it's just too damn expensive to run a label these days.
A statement issued by owner/operator Cory Brown admits that the current marketplace, not to mention his increasing debt, have sidelined operations.
"We should've been celebrating the label's bar mitzvah this year, but it's not to be," Brown wrote. "I wish I could tell you there's a grand plan, a new chapter waiting to be written, but the truth is, we've been struggling for years and the only thing on my plate right now is to eliminate our debts and rejuvenate my spirits. We've made all sorts of adaptive changes at the label over the last several years, many of them yielding some positive results, but none at the scale and speed we need them to be at."
Despite the loss of the label, Brown doesn't want you to feel bad for him. He knows he had a good run.
"I don't want any disappointment over the current state of things or bitterness over unrecognized potential to cloud the feeling of how unbelievably lucky I feel about Absolutely Kosher Records and everything that came with it."
Absolutely Kosher's final release will be Himalayan Bear's upcoming album, Hard Times. Brown admitted that the irony of the title is not lost on him. The record comes out October 11, and you can peep tour dates for Himalayan Bear's fall U.S. tour here.
