Shut Up, Dude: This Week’s Best And Worst Comments
When Thom Yorke tweeted that mystery record on Sunday I don’t think any of us expected an Eraser followup this week. Even though Radiohead “pulled a Beyoncé” long before Beyoncé did, I was prepared for like, PolyFauna remixes. Fortunately, as Chris wrote, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is Yorke’s most satisfying music in years. It’s also pretty cool that this is the first paygated BitTorrent in history, the Radiohead frontman’s latest experiment in selling directly to fans. The Chief Content Officer of BitTorrent didn’t mince words in his postmortem with Billboard:
Why don’t artists sell directly to their fans? It’s been a really weird year in the music industry. The majors seem like they’ve absolutely given up on the idea of selling people music. There’s no clear path for new artists. The biggest album of the year is the Frozen soundtrack. The most innovative thing you’ve seen is Apple releasing a tool to remove an album. There’s nothing good happening out here.
Of course a paygated torrent is not necessarily practical for every artist, especially emerging ones. But Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes has had over 75,000 downloads in the first eight hours (I’m assuming most of them are unique sales) and all that money goes to Yorke’s dance lesson fund. Those numbers make it good enough for at least a top five debut on next week’s Billboard 200, but who knows if and how SoundScan will acknowledge them. In any case, if you’re a fan of the man’s glitchy, soulful IDM, buy Boxes here. It’s one record you won’t find at Urban Outfitters anytime soon.
Today’s Comment Party quips aren’t eligible for this week’s Shut Up Dude, but check out the Stereogum community’s best and worst responses from 9/19 to 9/25 below.
THIS WEEK’S 10 HIGHEST RATED COMMENTS
| #10 |  |
honlads | Sep 20th | Score:20 |
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| Posted in: Shut Up, Dude: This Week’s Best And Worst Comments | |||
| #9 |  |
Tom Breihan | Sep 23rd | Score:22 |
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That has to be Thundercat on the bass, right? |
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| Posted in: Kendrick Lamar – “i” | |||
| #8 |
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Yann Grd | Sep 23rd | Score:22 |
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That Morrissey concert in Canada is not happening anytime soon. |
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| Posted in: Tanya Tagaq Wins 2014 Polaris Prize, Says “Fuck PETA” | |||
| #7 |  |
finnegans wake | Sep 24th | Score:22 |
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Let’s say the first three albums on this list are all number one and this comments section is over. |
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| Posted in: The Kinks Albums From Worst To Best | |||
| #6 |  |
donnytilla | Sep 23rd | Score:23 |
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Not to further drive this into the ground, but “This is the sample from Beastie’s Year and a day” suggests s/he meant the same sample. Had it been “This is A sample of” it would be a different story. Either way it wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, life, etc. Plus I’m 40 something so I was there.
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| Posted in: Kendrick Lamar – “i” | |||
| #5 |  |
macncheese | Sep 23rd | Score:25 |
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| Posted in: Kendrick Lamar – “i” | |||
| #4 |
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Joshua Carlon | Sep 24th | Score:28 |
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Everyone knows the cool kids buy their vinyl at Whole Foods. |
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| Posted in: Urban Outfitters Is Now The World’s Biggest Seller Of Vinyl | |||
| #3 |  |
lintmonster | Sep 23rd | Score:29 |
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Yeah they should just write the whole article in the headline. |
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| Posted in: Tanya Tagaq Wins 2014 Polaris Prize, Says “Fuck PETA” | |||
| #2 |  |
Scott Lapatine | Sep 24th | Score:35 |
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Does Urban have punk vinyl? I’m looking for something to listen to in my punk jacket.
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| Posted in: Urban Outfitters Is Now The World’s Biggest Seller Of Vinyl | |||
| #1 |  |
c_tho | Sep 23rd | Score:44 |
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i don’t think your vote gets counted if you vote outside the box. |
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| Posted in: Tanya Tagaq Wins 2014 Polaris Prize, Says “Fuck PETA” | |||
THIS WEEK’S 5 LOWEST RATED COMMENTS
| #5 |  |
unregistered33 | Sep 20th | Score:-8 |
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Dearest Stereogum, You can devote upwards of 40% of your content to the earnest coverage of McMusic from ex-tweenstar meth-addled porn-formance artists or self-aggrandizing wannabe-Freemason rappers 15 years past it; OR You can be an actual indie rock website that sticks to covering AnCo, Thom Yorke,and the like, produces its little Bjork and REM album tribute albums and then you might have the critical authority to somewhat justifiably rationalize taking gratuitous potshots at jam bands. The choice is yours, but you cannot have it both ways. Sincerely, |
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| Posted in: Shut Up, Dude: This Week’s Best And Worst Comments | |||
| #4 |  |
buhloone0697 | Sep 23rd | Score:-9 |
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The sample is from The Isley Brothers. Had he said The Beastie Boys used this sample too, cool but that’s not what was stated. Most of you that post here weren’t around when Paul’s Boutique was released anyway. If so, you were damn babies so you heard the album after the fact. |
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| Posted in: Kendrick Lamar – “i” | |||
| #3 |  |
blochead | Sep 19th | Score:-10 |
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I cannot tell you how much different the pics of “Laura Jane Grace Slams Ex-Against Me!/New Slipknot Drummer” are from what I THOUGHT they were gonna be |
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| Posted in: Laura Jane Grace Slams Ex-Against Me!/New Slipknot Drummer | |||
| #2 |  |
Spikelee3000 | Sep 19th | Score:-10 |
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Ok, I know I’m going to get hate for this, but the drummer should have tweeted: |
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| Posted in: Laura Jane Grace Slams Ex-Against Me!/New Slipknot Drummer | |||
| #1 | |
buhloone0697 | Sep 23rd | Score:-18 |
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You must be young so you’re excused. |
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| Posted in: Kendrick Lamar – “i” | |||
THIS WEEK’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S CHOICE
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KO | Sep 24th | Score:3 | |
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my white friends and i were just talking about this at brunch today. great stuff. |
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| Posted in: Watch Julian Casablancas + The Voidz’ Very Strange Tonight Show Performance | |||
