Record Store Day 2013's Tragic Success

Photo by Jolie Ruben.

The sixth annual Record Store Day took place last Saturday on April 20 and experienced its most successful year yet.

Vinyl record sales in the United States during the week of Record Store Day reached 244,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Sales increased 36 percent from last year's event.

Each year, exclusive releases are made available for purchase in participating record stores across the U.S. Some of this year's artists included Flaming Lips, White Stripes and Notorious B.I.G.

Spin sent out photographers to independent record shops in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to capture the turnout, but what they uncovered something else—the fallout of one of New York's most famous record stores.

Kory Grow's article following the finals days of Bleecker Bob's is amazing from start to finish. If you love vinyl records, reading the article is like watching a loved one die on their deathbed.

Grow begins his article with an incredible lede anecdote:

"The aromas of must and dust were what stuck with you when you exited Bleecker Bob's Golden Oldies Record Shop, the dumpy yet iconic LP store in New York City's mercurial post-boho Greenwich Village. The scents wafted out the door, where they lingered in that no-man's-land between Ben's Pizza and Village Psychic. The collected fetor of decades-old cardboard, vinyl, and plastic all comingling, the whiff of oldies begging to be rediscovered."

Bleecker Bob's holds more history than just being your typical attempt of reviving record collecting as a trend. Fred Armisen filmed his Saturday Night Live intro of him flipping through Sex Pistols and Style Council LPs. Joey Ramone showcased the shop as a part of New York magazine's 1994 "Where to Find It" issue. Hell, even Robert Plant and Jimmy Page visited the shop.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at Bleecker Bob's. Photo by Bleecker Bob's.

The most insulting part of the story, however, is that Bob's is being shut down to make way for a frozen yogurt joint—as if New York doesn't have enough of those.

The story of Bleecker Bob's is typical of any small business in Greenwich Village. Frozen yogurt is in; record collecting is out.

Chris Jones Reflects on Ebert Feature

Esquire's Chris Jones looks back at his experience writing a feature about legendary film critic Roger Ebert, which appeared in the "Essentials" issue of Esquire in March 2010.

Jones' blog post contains honesty and straight-forwardness, giving readers access to several Post-It Notes that Ebert, due to his inability to speak, scribbled to Jones during their many conversations.

Ebert underwent surgery for his thyroid cancer in 2006 where doctors removed a large portion of his lower jaw, resulting in both the loss of Ebert's ability to speak, eat and drink.

In the opening paragraph of his blog post, Jones explains what he learned through Ebert: taking for granted what many consider small trivial things like making phone calls and the ability to drink a beer.

Fearing what Ebert may think of his blog post if he were still alive, Jones explains, "I’m terrified that he’s reading this somehow and will send me an email telling me how much he hated it. So rather than f**k this up and trip all over myself trying to find the right words, I’ll let Roger do the talking."

A Post-It Note written by Ebert to Jones

Jones' quote is ironic. How can Ebert do the talking if he can't speak? One of Ebert's Post-It Notes (pictured above) demonstrates the power of writing and the importance of written communication.

Up until his death on April 4, 2013, Ebert continued to write reviews for the Chicago-Sun Times with the same journalistic prowess he had possessed for 46 years with the newspaper. Ebert's last review was for "The Host," based on the Stephanie Meyer novel of the same title. He gave the film two and a half out of five stars.

Gone but never forgotten, Roger Ebert will forever be the epitome of film reviews and critiques. Ebert's writing made readers feel as if he was an ordinary guy sitting next to them at the theater.

Remember, please be quiet and courteous to others, and silence your cell phones now. Enjoy the movie.

I Beliebe You're in Big Trouble, Justin...

Beliebers worldwide should be terrified for the 19-year-old J-Biebs' future. On March 26 reports released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department say officials are investigating a confrontation that occurred between the pop sensation and a neighbor in Calabasas, as reported by Spin.

According to TMZ and multiple neighbors in the gated community, Bieber had his Ferrari delivered to his mansion via flatbed truck and took the car for a joyride, reaching speeds up to 100 mph in the small gated community.

The offended neighbor and father of three went over to Justin's house and complained about the singer's reckless driving. The man says that his wife had been walking the dog that morning and children were playing in the neighborhood because of spring break.

According to the neighbor that confronted Bieber and witnesses in the neighborhood, the teen idol spit at the 47-year-old man and threatened to kill him, allegedly yelling, "I'm gonna f***ing kill you!"

The man intends to press charges.

The Spin write-up of the incident done by Chris Martins compares Bieber to a stubborn, spitting llama. Yes, the one seen here:

Justin Bieber, who was once portrayed as a role model for Disney-watching, prepubescent teens, is now among the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen and pretty much every rapper out there.

With photos surfacing on the Internet of the Biebs smoking weed, his previous physical confrontation with a paparazzo and his rapper buddy Lil Twist throwing "Project X"-like parties at his mansion, how could a teenager view this kid as a role model?

Bieber took to Instagram to defend himself against the media saying that he needs rehab. In the long, arrogant, self-centered rant, he said:

"Anyone believes i need rehab thats their own stupidity lol I'm 19 with 5 number one albums, 19 and I've seen the whole world. 19 and I've accomplished more than I could've ever dreamed of, i'm 19 and it must be scary to some people to think that this is just the beginning."

The beginning of what though? Success? A rise-and-fall career? Only Justin's own actions and lifestyle can provide that answer.

Lil Wayne Reaches Terminal Velocity

During the 16th century, Galileo Galilei dropped two balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, concluding that an object dropped from a significant height will reach terminal velocity when drag pushes up on the body balances the weight pulling the body down. Lil Wayne's career has reached terminal velocity.

With his tenth album to be released on March 26 titled "I Am Not a Human Being II," Spin takes a look at the upcoming album, which features appearances by Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Drake and others.

The content of IANAHBII seems to be filled with nothing but references to sexual acts performed on the female anatomy by listening to the YouTube video compiling snippets of each track. Weezy refers to the female genitalia just as many times as a gynecologist.

Lil Wayne recently disgraced the African American community when he disgustingly referenced the beating of Emmett Till in a remix of Future's "Karate Chop." I won't repeat the line, but for anyone that is interested you can listen to the song here.

While visiting family in Mississippi, Emmett Till was brutally murdered after he had whistled at a white woman.

Epic Records has since apologized for the disgusting reference and has been trying to remove the unauthorized remix from the Internet, stating:

"We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's 'Karate Chop,' which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics. Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the support of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. ... we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version."

 Weezy has not been dealt a favorable hand. While working on a music video shoot, he suffered from a seizure and was transported to Cedars-Sinai hospital. Wayne suffered a series of seizure-like episodes back in October.

Though Tunechi might believe that he "ain't got no worries," he is sadly mistaken.

Teach Me How to Thom Yorke

If we have learned anything about Thom Yorke in the past three years, it's that the Radiohead and now Atoms for Peace frontman has a very unique way of dancing.

The humorous NME blog teaches Yorke's moves in Atoms for Peace's "Ingenue" step by step like an 80s Richard Simmons VHS tape. Though that analogy may seem inaccurate to some, the truth is Yorke shares some similarities to Simmons.

Yorke recently said in an interview that he practices yoga for at least an hour each day—no wonder why he can dance into those contorted positions.

Lucy Jones' blog is not only witty but also filled with timely cultural references:

"Screw shuffling, twerking or the Harlem Shake—you've got a whole day to learn some new moves to whip out in the club on Friday night."

However, while analyzing one of Yorke's quirky moves she calls "the lean back," she gives credit to Lloyd Banks for originating the move when, in fact, Fat Joe was the original don of "Lean Back" in 2004. Banks only remixed the song later on.

This is not the first time that Yorke has busted a move. His interpretive dancing was featured in the video for Radiohead's "Lotus Flower" in 2011.

Yorke's unorthodox dancing has also been parodied by Fred Armisen in a Saturday Night Live skit, which features Michael Bublé collaborating with various artists for a Christmas album.

Hosting a house party or going out to the clubs this weekend? Well then "the Thom Yorke" is the perfect dance move to bust out if you're tired of "the shopping cart," "the lawn mower" or the "Weekend at Bernie's" dance.

Rolling Stone's Best Foo Songs a Sin for Fans

While reading a Rolling Stone list article online of the 10 best Foo Fighters songs, I was excited to read the article — until a blatant mistake ruined the entire article for me.

The introduction paragraph to the article was explaining the unexpectedness of Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl to become one of the most vital and reverent rock stars of the next two decades following the suicide of Kurt Cobain. Though a good point, Rolling Stone said this later in the paragraph:

"But in the months following Cobain's death Dave Grohl recorded a demo tape under the name Foo Fighters; later he recruited Germs guitarist Pat Smear and the rhythm section from Sunny Deal Real Estate and began touring clubs."

The error rooted within the article is that there is no such band called "Sunny Deal Real Estate." The correct name of the band is Sunny Day Real Estate, which is a Seattle-based band formed in 1992 and whose album "Diary" is the seventh best selling album released by Sub Pop.

As a fan of Sunny Day Real Estate, I was extremely disappointed in Rolling Stone's careless mistake. They also did not give mention as to who the members of Sunny Day Real Estate's rhythm section were — Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith.

The list of songs they chose were decent, though I disagree on the order in which they were presented. Each song contained a brief description of what made them so memorable and popular. Rolling Stone did an average job in these short song synopses; however they made another mistake on No. 9 of the list.

No. 9, which was the song "Learn to Fly," contained an error about the music video for the song. The humorous video that took the band to a new level of stardom features Tenacious D disguised as airplane janitors; however, Rolling Stone misidentified Grohl and Mendel as the janitors.

It is an easy mistake to make though, seeing as Grohl plays six different characters in the video:

• a flamboyant flight attendant
• the careless pilot
• an overweight woman who can't quite seem to fit in her seat
• himself
• a young girl with ponytails starstruck over Grohl
• the FBI agent that catches Tenacious D

The error has since been corrected in the article; however, the band Sunny Deal Real Estate still exists out there in the music world for some reason. Readers have commented on the mistake under the article as well. One reader by the name of Stephanie wrote, "*Sunny DAY Real Estate." She clearly shares the same level of disappointment as I do.

Was this the result of poor knowledge and research or just a careless typo? Whatever the reason, the unknown writer of this list article should have proofread his work. How many different people at Rolling Stone did this go past before it was published online? The writer of this article should make his own version of "Learn to Fly" and call it "Learn to Write."

Why You Should Appreciate Baauer's "Harlem Shake"

A member of a military drill team is dancing as everybody else is standing stiff at attention. "Con los terroristas," a female sings over an electronic beat. A deep voice then commands everybody to "do the Harlem shake" and chaos ensues as the entire drill team begins to flail their arms. One member is on skis while another falls out of a window.

This is the effect of Baauer's "Harlem Shake," a meme that is the latest YouTube craze and spreading to colleges across the U.S. The man behind the song, 23-year-old Brooklyn producer Harry Rodrigues, has just reached No.1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

The 35-second audio clip of Baauer's single has everybody making their own rendition of the signature dance first started by YouTuber Filthy Frank. There's even an Exorcist version that shows doctors frantically running up a flight of stairs to find a possessed Regan doing the Harlem Shake. 

Though the viral video trend began a few weeks ago, the song was released eight months ago in May 2012. The single was released through Jefree's, a division of electronic artist Diplo's Mad Decent Label for free. Baauer experienced little to no airplay; however, this week the single was downloaded 262,000 times compared to the 1,000 downloads it sold during the first week.

Baauer's No. 1 presence on the Billboard charts has caused the methodology for calculating the chart: you guessed it, YouTube plays. Previously, the chart was determined by radio play, on-demand audio streaming, online radio streaming and the Nielsen SoundScan download sales reports.

YouTube has secured its spot as a major player in the music industry thanks to Baauer's huge hit as well as the "Gangnam Style" craze that holds YouTube's record for most plays with an astronomical 1.3 billion views.

Spin magazine's coverage of the phenomenon is well reported, using numbers and statistics to show just how big this craze has actually become. Philip Sherburne's anecdote he uses to describe Rodrigues' luck is not only original but also colorful. "It's like he scored big on a scratch-and-win card and pocketed all but a single dollar, which he invested in a Megabucks ticket — and then won that, too."

If the "Harlem Shake" has taught us anything, it's that it only takes one guy with a tight pink jumpsuit to turn a man's dream into a reality.