An album so rare and valuable that only a few ears have ever listened to it is set to go on display at an Australian gallery, giving the public a taste of the uber-exclusive tracks.
Housed in an ornate silver box, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin - recorded in secret by the Wu-Tang Clan over six years - was designed to be a piece of fine art. Only a single CD copy exists.
The record by the pioneering hip-hop group is the most expensive ever sold. Currently, it is on loan to Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (Mona).
Over 10 days in June, Mona will host small listening parties where members of the public can hear a curated, 30-minute sample of the album.
It includes a hand-carved nickel box and a leather-bound manuscript containing lyrics and a certificate of authenticity - and a legal condition that the owner cannot release the 31 tracks for 88 years.
"Recorded in secret"
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Imagine a collection of tracks that are so uber-exclusive that few people will ever hear them until 88 years has passed, at which time no one will want to hear them.
Barnum was right; people will pay to see an unheard CD in a box. It might be great music or it might be horrible (hell, the box might be empty), but that doesn't matter one bit. And somehow a gallery recognizes that as "art"; I try to keep an open mind when it comes to art and even stretch myself to broaden the definition of what is art, but I just don't get it. Compared to this, whitewashed canvasses hanging in museums deserve to be treasured.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
I get it, you don't care for Wu Tang Clan; that's why they make both vanilla and almond fudge ripple ice cream. People said the same about The SexPistols, The Who, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Strauss, and all the way back to the first person who made music, probably. Get hep, you geezer.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
A gong rings, and then silence, as a man with gloved hands walks to the front of the room. Swinging his arm in an exaggerated arch, he presses a button on the PlayStation, and then slips the CD inside. In equally dramatic measure, he picks up the controller and hits play.
A member of the group – I’ve not studied hard enough to work out which – tells us to “sit back, relax… and listen”.
“The saga continues,” he says, as they launch into the first song.
It has oddly soothing choir-like backing vocals, but as the minutes tick by, they give way to significantly less soothing seagulls and sirens. I hear the staccato of actual gunshots alongside synth piano, strings that would be at home in a dramatic James Bond score and a riff by some brass instrument which I’ll spend days trying to get out of my head.
I single out Wu-Tang Merch man, whose real name is Al Maguire. But if you think he’s buzzing now, you should have seen him in the moments before the “funky tunes” rang out.
“ like I needed to pee.
“The first three minutes I was just trying not to cry.”
He’s already sad he won’t hear it again, he says.
Superfan Jenna Willson is similarly emotional when I catch her, decked out literally head to toe in Wu-Tang tributes.
She gallantly takes off her jacket in single digit weather to show me a tattoo on the back of her neck, a t-shirt from the Opera House show that apparently everyone here but me attended, and then the pièce de resistance – Wu-Tang Clan crocs which she wore to her wedding.
“I don't know how everybody was just sitting down, nodding their heads. I was about to lose it. It was so good… Classic Wu-Tang.”
Another man I stop isn’t feeling chatty. He admits to feeling a little like an imposter – something I find relatable. He says he’s not even really a Wu-Tang fan.
Lateisha Canning, though, will happily admit why she’s here.
“You could say bragging rights,” the 21-year-old tells me as she lines up with her partner.
“I don’t know anything about them.”
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
