Um, okay.
Presented in a replica of Miles' own trumpet case, a collectible objet d'art in and of itself, each package will include a number of extras: an exact replica of Miles' custom-made ‘Gustat' Heim model 2 trumpet mouthpiece, a previously unseen and unavailable fine art lithograph by Miles, and a boutique quality t-shirt designed and manufactured exclusively by Trunk Ltd. for this package.
What exactly is it that motivates people to buy stuff like this? Is having a "replica of Miles' own trumpet case" really that thrilling? What does the author of this copy think an "object d'art" actually is?
Honestly, I can't be sure that owning such a gaudily produced collection wouldn't have the end result of making me hate Miles Davis. And that thought is very scary indeed. Is being a music fan really about owning everything ever produced, touched, or contemplated by the object of your fanhood? Is this not fetishism run amok?
A related question: do human beings really deserve to rule this planet? (Sorry, it has been a long day.)
UPDATE: Apparently Angry Keith Jarrett has been thinking along similar lines. (H/T: Josh Rutner.)
2 comments:
I thought Sony was off the deep end when they released that "Complete Albums" box a few months ago with something like 70 CDs. How many people who don't already own that music would be willing lay down almost four bills to buy it all at once? Probably not many, which leads one to think that there must be a target audience of people who fetishize these things enough to keep buying the same music (it's not even remastered!) over and over just to own the shiny new package. And then it turned out that the set was so shoddily put together that the album jackets were falling apart and there was glue all over the playing surface of the CDs. It's depressing on many levels.
This new thing is just embarrassing, and the price tag ($1199) is ridiculous considering how many CDs you're actually getting. It's mostly packaging (and a very expensive t-shirt, I guess). For that price you could buy a real trumpet case, with an actual trumpet inside.
(I'll go ahead and admit that this is pretty much my favorite music in the world, but like you I don't see the point in buying it over and over again. I'm perfectly happy with my shelf full of original Miles LPs, which sound better than the CD mixes anyway...)
Re your final question: Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
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