You can't read anything about Record Store Day anymore without reading some article whose author spends pages of digital content, complaining about the vinyl holiday. "It's killing independent stores," "it excludes indie labels," and it's only for unnecessary major label titles." You know what would be worse than Record Store Day? NO RECORD STORE DAY. A world where there is nothing promoting independent records stores, causing them to fade and dissolve into music history alongside the 8-track, mini-disc, and reel-to-reel. But today, music stores are alive and well...in part, thanks to record store day. Record stores having to deal with throngs of audiophiles twice a year (Black Friday) is a way better scenario than dealing with foreclosure. .
Another complaint comes from independent labels themselves who have found their material excluded by the event coordinators. Read here about Father/Daughter's comp, which seemed like a rather cool release. Sure there are some releases that get excluded...and there are some titles that seem unnecessary. But even if we're talking about 10% of the titles or even 25% of the released titles being unnecessary...that still leaves 300 great vital releases! Isn't it worth some crap to get some gold? That said, I'm not even sure how we determine which titles are unnecessary. I read bloggers claiming the Citizen Dick release was the most unnecessary title this year...it's an unreleased Pearl Jam song from the 1991/Ten era version of the band! I bought it and it's the title I've listened to more than any other release. If someone wants to buy them...then doesn't that make them necessary? (and the Citizen Dick record just missed this list...so the 12th most popular record flip is somehow unnecessary? Okay...)
That said...it's hard to determine prior to the holiday which albums will sell out in seconds and which ones will linger until August. Some of the most talked about releases including Courtney Barnett, Brian Eno, and Run The Jewels were still available at stores late on Sunday afternoon. While others (like Brand New) had people lining up the night before. I mean seriously, how is Brand New's reissue of a 12-year old album that is readily available on Spotify and itunes AND coming out in wide release next month the number one Ebay flip merely because it comes in a paper bag? Every store I visiting had people waiting 12-24 hours for this record.
For this list, I determined the ranking based on list price versus Ebay sale...and what was the greatest increase in comparison to the price. Stereogum lists Jurassic 5's $100 Ebay sale as a big flip...but the list price was $90 to begin with. That's only a $10 increase. Same with Phish's Live 1995 6-disc set that listed at $160 but sold for $200. The biggest flips versus price, I believe, truly shows what were the must-have vinyls of RSD 2015.
Here are the biggest Ebay Flips of Record Store Day 2015:
- Elvis Presley - My Happiness (List price $12 - Ebay price $245) 20.5x increase
- Brand New - Deja Entendu (List price $28 - Ebay price $384) 13.7x increase
- Interpol - Everything Is Wrong (List price $9 - Ebay price $99) 11x increase
- John Prine - September 78 (List price $25 - Ebay price $227) 10.1x increase
- David Bowie - Changes (List price $11 - Ebay price $99) 9x increase
- Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes (List price $30 - Ebay price $250) 8.3x increase
- Citizen Dick - Touch Me I'm Dick (List price $11 - Ebay price $69) 6.3x increase
- Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up (List price $9 - Ebay price $59) 5.9x increase
- U2 - Songs of Innocence (List price $36 - Ebay price $199) 5.5x increase
- Twenty One Pilots - The LC LP (List price $20 - Ebay price $99) 4.9x increase
- Foo Fighters - Songs From The Laundry Room (List price $20 - Ebay price $99) 4.9x increase
Honorable Mention:
Paul McCartney's Sweet Trash sold for a ridiculous $895 but I didn't include it since it's signed by Sir Mac (which obviously alters the true value of the vinyl).
Here are some other fun lists:
There are two teams playing in the Superbowl...let's not forget the east coast rival, the New England Patriots.
Today is the Super Bowl. The day when we celebrate what it means to be American. We eat, drink, watch sports and pass out. Here's our pre-game warm-up for all you Seahawk fans.
At the end of the day, the top albums came down to the ones I found myself listening to the most. There were albums I respected but I never had the urge to play, so they ended up lower on the list. These were the albums that kept finding themselves in my heavy rotation. These albums deserve top billing.
Probably the biggest surprise here is the U2 album. I have no idea why so many people criticized its delivery method. People have been complaining that the old system doesn't work anymore; labels and bands need to try new things. U2 did. They gave the fans exactly what they asked for and the people still complained. People didn't complain this much about Zooropa (which deserved it). My favorite criticism of the band is now they're corporate. I hate to break it to you all, any band on a record label is corporate. U2 took a risk and I commend them for it. I'd rather a band take a risk and fail then play it safe and be ordinary. If people stopped complaining and listened, they might actually be surprised.
Lots of guilty pleasures on the list today. And I may be the only one on the planet who liked the Foster the People album.
There have been questions about this year's countdown...to answer the big one: I did not do a poll this year. Though I promised, I ran out of my time in my life, day job, and parenting duties. So, this year, you're just going to have to live with my list and my list only. Enjoy the kitty.
2014 was filled with 90s superstars, indie rap reinvention, 80s throwbacks, and some of the best EPs to come out in recent memory.
Back from vacation and back on the horse. I will be attending Sundance next week and will keep on top of all the music shenanigans happening. Until then, let's finish off 2014 the right way.