Phoenix mixed its upcoming album Bankrupt! on the same engineering console used to record Michael Jackson's landmark album Thriller. According to the New Yorker, Phoenix guitarist Laurent Brancowitz found the Harrison 4032 solid state console for sale on the eBay page of Clayton Rose, owner of a Christian music studio in Fullerton, California. The band decided they had to purchase the board because they "liked the idea of working with a consecrated artifact, as well as having something strange upon which to fixate between albums."

Singer Thomas Mars said, "The most mysterious part to me was that no one else -- no nerd or music engineer or memorabilia freak -- seemed to want it." He added, "There was something a little spooky about (Rose). He was very pushy. It seemed like a scam."

• After a lengthy round of negotiations, the band talked Rose down from his original asking price of $32,000 and purchased the console for $17,000.
• The group had the 1,100-pound board shipped to Paris for the mixing of Bankrupt!, which the group toyed with calling Alternative Thriller.
• Phoenix will release Bankrupt! this spring, The disc follows up 2009's commercial U.S. breakthrough, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.
• The French quartet will kick off a North American tour in support of the new album on March 28th in Vancouver, Canada.

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

• What's the most expensive item you ever bought or considered buying on eBay?
• Would you feel comfortable spending $17,000 on something and having it shipped overseas?
• Have you ever been ripped off on eBay or through some other purchase?

CHECK IT OUT: Watch the official video for Phoenix's "1901":

Read more at NME

Read about the tour here