Somewhat strange and stupefying news from the dying Record Industry today: Radiohead’s In Rainbows was #1 in sales last week. Yup. 122,000 copies (and that’s just in the US).

Now, as you already know, the band offered the album on their website for whatever you wanted to pay (read: free). It was a genuine cultural moment and a brilliant PR move (I downloaded the album just to be a part of it. Still haven’t listened to it…).

But anyway, two interesting things came out of this story. Here’s one:

“Some retailers viewed the Radiohead figures as a sign of the continuing market for so-called physical products in the music business…”

What an interesting, idillic, and totally flawed idea. Radiohead are like a cult. Their fans are rabid, obsessed crazies. Thom Yorke haunts both their dreams and their journals. So anything and everything the band puts out, their fans will buy in droves. They are not the average consumer.

But still, there is some truth to the notion that people do still care about owning an album in it’s physicality. I myself have downloaded albums only to buy the real thing later. But if we really want to see where regular consumers stand on this one, let’s try the same model with, oh, I don’t know… 50 Cent. (Dude can afford it if it goes wrong, trust me — I’ve seen his Crib.)

Here’s the story’s second piece of fat:

“Sales of the plastic and vinyl versions of the album also received a boost from digital services like iTunes, where the album sold about 28,000 copies.”

Yeah, let’s read that again: RADIOHEAD SOLD 28,000 COPIES OF IN RAINBOWS ON iTUNES!

Jesus, how criminally stupid is that? Who are these people!? Why are they here? They must be rounded up a beaten severely with bags of heavy books! If you’re going to buy the album online, BUY IT FROM THE BAND! Cut OUT the middle man…

OK, that’s it. Now I’m all worked up. DAMMIT!