This morning MoMA released the new catalogue that will accompany its one-week, sold-out Kraftwerk residency-retrospective. The eight-CD, $159.95 volume — that's just $143.95 for members, plus $20 shipping and handling — is available for purchase from Artbook@MoMA PS1 immediately, but only by telephone and email (artbook_ps1@moma.org, 718-433-1088). If the frenzy that accompanied the online ticket release for the upcoming concert series is any measure, the very limited supplies won't last long.
So what does $160 get you? Each of the individually numbered box set, produced in an edition of 2,000, includes the Kling Klang digital masters of the German electro-pop outfit's entire discography — "Autobahn" (1974), "Radio-Activity" (1975), "Trans-Europe Express" (1977), "The Man-Machine" (1978), "Computer World" (1981), "Techno Pop" (1986), "The Mix" (1991), and "Tour de France" (2003) — plus "a large format booklet complimenting each CD featuring expanded artwork and each CD is packaged to resemble a mini LP record" (in the words of the press release). Snazzy!
Our bet is that all 2,000 copies of "Kraftwerk: The Catalogue" will be snarfed up long before this weekend's "Kraftwerk Music Festival" at MoMA PS1 — and probably even before the group's MoMA residency begins tomorrow with the first of the eight sold-out shows in the Modern's atrium.