Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Stacking the Wax

So according to a survey of eBay sales run by the folks at Forbes, the three favorite vinyl albums in my state last year were Dirt by Alice in Chains, Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrisette and Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits by, um, Fleetwood Mac.

There are several expected appearances by Led Zepplin, the Beatles and several other mega-selling artists. And some unusual coincidences. Ohioans,  Rhode Islanders, Tennesseeans, West Virginians and cheeseheads from Wisconsin share an affinty for Fas – Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum by the French "black metal" band Deathspell Omega. The survey's methodology doesn't mean that this seven-year-old album with ditties like "The Repellent Scars of Abandon and Election" was actually 2016's best-selling record in five states. It just means that it was bought at a rate higher than each state's share of the total vinyl sales in the U.S.

On the other hand, author Bailey Brautigan says that the survey was limited to eBay's top 100-selling albums for the year. Which means that a seven-year-old album by a French black metal band that doesn't have a website and releases no information about even who its members are was one of the 100 best-selling records on eBay in the U.S.

I'll be scratching my head on that one.

2 comments:

  1. I actually gave a listen to "The Repellent Scars of Abandon and Election," which is on YouTube because of course it is. It's like being buried alive and then setting loose a dozen jackhammers around the periphery.

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  2. Your bravery doth exceed mine own.

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