Commentary

The music industry has been in an absolute tailspin the last couple of years as they try to cope with the KO delivered to the once mighty CD by the upstart MP3. One of the interesting trends as of late has been the flooding of box-sets and “deluxe” and “special edition” CD’s into the retail market. These products make plenty of sense for labels who probably aren’t moving too many new releases these days. Why not repackage previously released music into a joyful bundle o’ fun celebrating an artists career? Well, one could argue, because it is an obvious ploy to make money.

I am all about artists releasing odd tracks, b-sides, soundtrack songs, etc. on compilation CD’s. In fact, my favorite reissue series by far over the past five or six years have been the Pavement albums Matador has been putting out. This is what I would consider the perfect model for the reissued CD. Expand the set to two discs, include the original album (remastered of course) alongside unreleased material, a cool book, lots of interesting liner notes, and to top it off, price that puppy at around fifteen dollars. Perfect!

And so one can imagine how much it pained me when I recently learned that Matador was going to be selling a four LP box set of the recent Brighten the Corners reissue which would retail in the neighborhood of 80 bucks. This would not have been nearly as lame, or lame at all, if this product had been announced when the CD’s were released last year. To add insult to (wallet) injury, the set will add on eight songs that weren’t included in the CD set – a blatant ploy to get die hard fans to purchase the same set twice.

There will be no need for me to “Cut My Hair” in the coming months, I just pulled it all out upon hearing about this mega LP reissue, one that I definitely won’t be hearing on my “Stereo“ anytime soon.

For once I am quite disappointed in Matador Records. An independent label I have held in high regard since I purchased Superchunk’s No Pocky For Kitty way back in 1991. Mind you, I expect this kind of behavior from the major labels. One band that always cracks me up in the reissues department is The Who. These guys will reissue anything! Their catalog has gone through so many different expanded, deluxe, deluxe-expanded-special-expanded-deluxe-editions that “It’s Hard” to even keep track anymore. Plus I wouldn’t really call any of these reissues a “Bargain” even though I have reached the point with their catalog that “I Won’t Be Fooled Again.”

Lucky for me I am less a collector and more an appreciator of the music. I am not driven to purchase a limited edition vinyl just because it’s limited edition vinyl. Give me the same songs on MP3 and I am happy these days. This is why it was easy for me to bypass the recent Neil Young archives set.

On the surface this box seemed like it was going to be amazing. Eight CD’s of Neil material spanning the years 1963-1972. But, low and behold, guess what two of those discs are – the previously released Live At Massey Hall and Live At Fillmore albums. So you are down to six discs from the start, and then when you examine those six remaining CD’s, at least half of that material has been previously released, so, in the end, you are paying 80 dollars for about two discs worth of truly new material.

And that’s 80 dollars for the CD set. Knock it up to the neighborhood of $250 for the DVD set, and a whopping $350 for the Blu-Ray collection. Suddenly I feel so “Helpless” as a Neil Young fan. I will have to work all “Winterlong” to afford that.

And speaking of having to work all “Winterlong.” Anybody hear about that new Pixies box-set, Minotaur, that’s coming out on June 15th? It could be referred to as the ultimate “Gouge Away.” What do you get? All five of the bands albums in one big box set plus a live DVD from a 1991 performance and a 54 page book, all of which weighs an almost unbelievable 25 pounds. And yes, not one unreleased track or demo. The “Deluxe Edition” will go for the bargain basement price of $175, but all the cool kids will surely spring for the set that includes the vinyl as well, which will retail for a quite reasonable $450! Are you kidding me? Who is going to buy this? Is 4AD planning to give cash to patients in mental hospitals? “Where is Their Mind?”

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