When Dire Straits released Brothers In Arms in 1985, it was kind of a big deal. Not because it was the first album to be certified ten times platinum in the UK and spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at Number One in the album charts (and nine weeks at Number One on the Billboard 200 in the US). Not because it remains the eighth best selling album in UK chart history. And not because it's a great record.

It is all of those things, but its real significance for hi-fi fans is that it will be forever associated with the compact disc, being the first CD to surpass a million copies in the nascent digital format and ushering in the future of music listening. In fact, you could say the album was made for CD – being one of the first albums to be recorded and released fully digitally. While most music was still being made to analogue tape, Brothers In Arms was recorded to a Sony 24-track digital tape machine, a decision born of main-man Mark Knopfler's constant striving for better sound quality.

Dire Straits' perfectionism and skill in producing – Knopfler (who had already produced no less than Dylan) and Neil Dorfsman helmed the process – together with the new, crystal clear audio promised by the new digital format made this the perfect marriage. And it pushed the compact disc from niche interest (CD players were expensive in the early ’80s) to mainstream dominance almost overnight, as audiophiles embraced its hi-fidelity sound, convenience and hardiness.

Living in the Eighties

But, as a teenager in 1985, I didn't have a CD player. Not very many people did, certainly not that I knew. Indeed, I remember a school friend bringing one of the famously 'indestructible' new discs into class, covering it in Tippex and saying, "Bet it won't play now."

CD players themselves were luxury items, and sometimes those early machines were thought of as less reliable than tried and tested record players. Even Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher recalls their label Phonogram (part of Philips) sending the band a load of CD players which "all broke within a week… Philips' technology was cutting edge, but it wasn't very robust".

So, naturally, I listened to the album on vinyl. I loved it, of course, and had no idea what I was missing out on by not hearing the recording in its apparently intended format.

In case you've never heard it (and I'd urge you to go and listen to it, on any format, right now) Brothers In Arms is a beautifully produced, musically brilliant, wonderfully crafted album that spawned a number of bona fide ’80s bangers. In general its sound is characterised by Mark Knopfler's unique guitar playing, but there's also rich orchestration with various synthesizers replicating the likes of pan pipes, accordions and more. There's also both slap and fretless bass going on – musically it's proper 1980s value for money – something for everyone.

And, talking of which, as it's just celebrated its 40th anniversary, there are a few special vinyl and super-affordable remastered CD options out there. Whichever format floats your boat.

Brothers in… tonearms?

Which brings me back to my point. While vinyl was not-dead-but-resting, I also bought Brothers In Arms on CD – which, since I became a die-hard vinyl revivalist, has sat in the attic gathering dust.

My Gen-Z daughter, like many of her peers, loves CDs (they're cheaper, for starters), and was going through my attic-bound CD collection when she unearthed several Dire Straits albums. I was inspired to listen again to the digital version of Brothers In Arms, with a handful of tracks A/B tested against my beloved vinyl copy.

Note that this is far from an exact experiment. I wasn't listening through What Hi-Fi?'s reference system in our treated, optimised listening rooms. My own gear is 'entry level', comprising an Audio-Technica AT-LP5x, an ageing Cambridge Audio Azur CD player, played though an Arcam A5 amplifier feeding Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk2 speakers.

What would I find? Would the rose-tinted specs be crushed underfoot and the veil fall from my ears as I embraced the pristine clarity and cleanliness of the higher digital resolution? Or would my obstinacy over vinyl's warmth keep my listening rooted in the ’80s?

Well, grab hold of yourselves, because we're about to answer the question once and for all – is vinyl better than CD? (Of course we're not, it's just for fun, folks…)

Money For Nothing

As Sting's "I want my MTV" vocal starts up along with atmospheric fretless bass slides, thunderous drum fills and otherworldly synths that rise to a crescendo before breaking into that timeless guitar riff, there's almost immediately no contest.

The CD version presents a much sharper, cleaner, noiseless background on which the instruments find more accurate placement and clarity, and drum beats land with greater precision.

But, dropping the needle on my 1980s vinyl pressing, I'm struck by the relative warmth of the guitar sound; in musician's terms, it's like comparing the warmth and overdrive of a valve guitar amp with a transistor equivalent. That warmth is immediately familiar, and I'm almost, though not quite, moved to air guitar. Still, I have to concede that CD wins this one.

Your Latest Trick

Again, with the CD version there are levels of detail present that seem, if not lost, muted on vinyl. Maybe I'm imagining it, but there are licks in the intro's guitar work I'd not picked out before, and even some lyrics present themselves with greater clarity and nuance.

Instrumental strands feel more precisely separated – but maybe in this instance, that isn't necessarily the best thing for listening. Your Latest Trick's sax-led smokey jazz bar feel is undoubtedly better served by vinyl's textural qualities: the drums sound warmer, the saxophone feels moodier, and in particular the cross-stick on the drums sounds slightly more behind-the-beat jazzy. Knopfler's laid-back drawl feels richer, too. Vinyl wins!

Brothers In Arms

Of course, one of the potential downsides of vinyl is the inevitable crackles and pops, which when heard in contrast with CD's cleaner canvas now distract a little too much from that atmospheric intro. In comparison, CD's low-noise backdrop allows the thunder that rolls across the ominous start to the track to sound richer and more detailed.

But in some ways the cold precision of the digital version rather detracts from the achingly sad melancholy. Drummer Omar Hakim (well known for his beat precision) lays down some cross stick here that, actually, sounds too metronomic. Listening to the LP, the track's synth accordion sounds more lush too, as does the Hammond. I'm going to call it a win for vinyl on this one.

Why Worry

Hate to sound like a stuck record (arf), but again on vinyl, the warmth in that guitar sound, and the synths, gives the track a textural richness that is just a little preferable to the coldness of the digital version. And now the most fun part, as it's the last track on side one, I get to turn the record over! Vinyl wins! Wait, I have to get up out of my chair? Daaamn.

On CD, though, the instrumental placement is astonishing, as if the guitar is in the room with you. That crystal clarity of the digital recording provides a contrast that's intentionally stark. In that way it's like the stark lines of a cubist painting rather than the warmer, more textured work of an impressionist.

Way more detail is unearthed on CD, especially from the piano and gentle, sparing guitar licks – while the drums sound particularly detailed, in that you can more clearly hear the sympathetic ring of the kit. I've never heard the fretless bass so clearly, either. Then again, I hate fretless bass, so I'm going to call this one a draw.

Walk Of Life

On CD, the hit song's famous organ refrain, and the way the second synth line comes in at the start, are almost startlingly evident; in fact, those multiple synth lines that comprise the track's intro are all really cleanly and clearly defined, while there's more resonance in the vocal "woo-hoo"s, too.

Comparatively, the vinyl version sounds a little muddier – the same synth lines are all there, but it feels more muted, more homogenised. And across all the tracks via CD, it's just easier to pick up more of Knopfler's intonations, the tone and character in his vocals. Got to admit, this one's better on CD.

Either way, aren't physical formats brilliant?

So, when you add it all up, it's a dead heat. There's no denying that CD resolution, detail retrieval and clarity is way better than vinyl; but there is still a warmth and tactility in the vinyl version that personally I can never quit.

Obviously there are subjective factors at play – for me, that record means a lot to me in the format I grew up with, and I've never felt the same connection to CDs as with my vinyl collection. I will always prefer the physicality of records, and collecting them appeals more to my heart, despite my brain discerning the clear difference in ultimate sonic quality.

Either way, whether you're a bigger fan of vinyl or CDs, both are good excuse to get down to your local record store and support sales of physical formats.

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What's better than getting your hands on some brand-new vinyl? Getting your hands on some brand-new special edition vinyl, that's what!

Every year, Record Store Day looks to raise support and awareness for independent record stores and the medium of vinyl itself by serving up an extensive selection of exclusive releases and limited edition records.

This year, the official Record Store Day 2026 takes place on Saturday 18th April – so mark out time that day to get down to a participating vinyl store and get your hands on some rare goodies.

To mark the occasion in conjunction with our own Vinyl Week 2026 celebrations, we've highlighted some of the most enticing releases that will be going on sale this RSD 2026. You can peruse the full, lengthy list of exclusive RSD releases at your leisure – below are the ones the What Hi-Fi? team is hoping to nab and add to our vinyl collections.

• Check out the full list here at Record Store Day 2026

Live at Metropolis by Kokoroko

One thing that struck me about this year’s Record Store Day list is the sheer number of releases. The rise in popularity of RSD and vinyl in general has unsurprisingly seen an increase in artists looking to offer something to fans during the event – but it also means there are plenty of releases that perhaps aren’t that special.

Happily, Kokoroko have risen to the occasion and offered something unique. Live At Metropolis, coming out on Brownswood, the label founded by the DJ and broadcaster Gilles Peterson, is four songs recorded in one take and cut live to vinyl at Metropolis Studios in London.

This four-track EP features Higher from the Get The Message EP, Idea 5 from the band’s 2025 album Tuff Times Never Last, plus a never-before-released cover of The Sweet and Innocent’s Express Your Love. And a mysterious fourth track, which is always good.

One-take recordings have been released by everyone from Miles Davis to The Beatles, delivering an authentic version of a piece of music that seems like the perfect fit for a special vinyl release.

Words by Joe Cox

Discover the Record Store Day release here

Laura Marling Live at Albert Hall, Manchester

Folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling has one of those voices that I could listen to forever. Full of rich depth, maturity, stark emotion and delicacy all at once, her songs throughout the years have never failed to charm me with her bewitching, confessional and melodic power.

This double LP edition captures her acclaimed performance at Albert Hall in Manchester in 2025, with one half focused on just her solo with a guitar, while the second part features a four-piece string quartet and a choir as she performs the 2024 album Patterns in Repeat in its entirety. Beautiful.

Words by Kashfia Kabir

Discover the Record Store Day release here

Lo-Files by Bring Me The Horizon

A hi-fi magazine recommending a compilation of lo-fi covers? Sacrilege! Heresy! Fetch the pitchforks and burning torches!

It's a bit of an oxymoron, fair enough, but the idea of a 23-track album of lo-fi renditions of one of this generation's most popular heavy metal groups just seemed too quirky and incongruous to ignore.

This new collection features tracks from pretty much every era of BMTH's catalogue, from 2013’s Sempiternal through to 2024’s POST HUMAN: NeX Gen, reimagined into more laid-back reinterpretations by some of the most popular lo-fi producers around.

Has your headbanging been getting in the way of your study time? Consider this the perfect middle way for all you Type A rockers out there.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Discover the Record Store Day release here

Acoustic Hits by The Cure

The Cure are cool. Anyone who says differently can get in the sea. Acoustic sets are also cool. So what happens when you combine the two? The Cure’s Acoustic Hits record, that’s what.

It’s top of my wish list right now, as while I’ve got nearly all of the band’s long, diverse portfolio either on vinyl or CD (even the post-Bloodflowers stuff), I never got around to investing in the 2001 Greatest Hits collection, which the Acoustic Hits album was originally a companion for.

Why bother getting a greatest hits record when I already have the songs on the actual albums, right?

But with a newly remastered pressing out, one done by legendary frontman and primary composer Robert Smith, from the original 2001 cuts the band recorded at Olympic Studios in London, the timing feels right to complete my collection.

The album features alternative takes on most of The Cure’s classics. These include a rather splendid reimagining of Friday I’m in Love – the song my wife and I got married to – as well as a beautiful new version of Just Like Heaven.

Trust me, if you’re a fan of the band, you’re sure to find something you like among the 14 tracks in this Acoustic Hits vinyl.

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Discover the Record Store Day release here

Perfect Sound Forever by Pavement

Hi-fi fans will know that "Perfect Sound Forever" was the advertising slogan used by Sony and Philips when launching the first-ever CD player in 1982.

Pavement fans will know that the band's third EP of the same name has never undergone a re-pressing since it its original release in 1991, and this special 10-inch white vinyl edition includes seven early tracks from one of the best US bands to come out of that early '90s underground indie/alt rock scene.

These tracks capture Pavement's early sound that helped them achieve cult status, with heavy distorted guitars, somewhat sardonic half-sung/half-spoken vocals, and a raw, lo-fi sound that became entangled with 90s slacker culture. Home is my personal favourite.

Words by Kashfia Kabir

Discover the Record Store Day release here

God's Son by Nas

We regularly give Nas' seminal classic Illmatic a spin when putting a new turntable's talents to the test in our listening rooms, and across the hip-hop icon's reasonably extensive back catalogue, it's hard to find many duds.

Inspired by Nas' struggles following the death of his mother, God's Son is one of his most personal and emotive records, shrinking the lens down from the struggles of black urban life and class consciousness to something smaller and more intimate, but no less effective.

2026's special edition is the first colour pressing outside of the US, described by Record Store Day as "a record that has scarcely been available in Europe since 2002". Owning a Nas vinyl album is cool, but owning a Nas vinyl album that's historically been super tough to get hold of is super cool.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Discover the Record Store Day release here

KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, HUNTR/X Edition

Look, I want the goodies.

Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters is a global phenomenon and now an Oscar winner for its hit single Golden, and I have been utterly charmed by the music and the animation of the film: a fun, fast-paced story of warring K-Pop bands blended with Korean folklore and supernatural elements, and the triumph of friendship.

I've had my eye on the standard vinyl for ages, but its price felt quite steep. With the RSD 2026 release, you get plenty of extra goodies to make it worthwhile: a fold-out poster, sticker sheet, snapshot cards (3 of 12 versions), and a 'special effect' vinyl featuring original art by one of the film's artists, Marion Bordeyne. Her neon-splashed artwork is gorgeous, and I can't wait to get my hands on this exclusive release.

Words by Kashfia Kabir

Discover the Record Store Day release here

From Bebop to Blue by Miles Davis

We know there are jazz and blues fiends who will sniff out collectibles like pigs hunting for truffles, and no special editions are more worth seeking out than those produced by the mind and mouth of the legendary Miles Davis.

From Bebop To Blue offers a silver and black triple vinyl package of three LPs which track the younger Davis' journey to becoming the titan he would eventually come, featuring the likes of Boplicity, So What and All Blues.

The whole set features exclusive text and specially integrated photos, as well as key dates, places and personnel behind each track. A proper collector's gem aimed quite unashamedly at enthusiasts and collectors alike.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Discover the Record Store Day release here

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Happy Monday and welcome to our latest Rewind, hi-fi and home cinema news digest.

If you struggled to keep up with all the news last week, there is a good reason for that.

As well as our team running a special Vinyl Week event in the run up to Record Store Day 2025, big name brands including Sony and LG had hardware and software launches.

To apprise you of all the important facts, we’ve collated all the most pressing information into this handy guide detailing the top hi-fi and home cinema headlines to break over the past seven days.

We ran a Vinyl Week special event

Last week, to celebrate one of music fans' favourite physical media formats we ran a special Vinyl Week event in the run up to Record Store Day (RSD) 2025.

The event was full of cool news and features. These included interviews with record store owners, a list of the coolest RSD releases, recommendations from our colleagues on the music desk and numerous reviews – the two biggies being our final verdict on the Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT and Vertere SG-1/Xtrax.

Check out our Vinyl Week coverage

Sony has new Bluetooth speakers

Sony unveiled its new ULT Field 3 and Field 5 speakers last week. What does ULT stand for? Sony still hasn’t told us. But, we do know the ULT line targets younger listeners who, according to Sony, want “bigger bass” than the rest of us.

The Sony ULT Field 3 is set to retail for £180 / $200 / €200 while the larger Field 5 will cost £260 / $330 / €300. The price and their size means the Field 3 and Field 5 are in direct competition with the five-star JBL Flip 7 and Charge 6 we reviewed at the start of April.

Will they succeed where the four-star Sony ULT Field 1 failed in their endeavour to break into our best Bluetooth speaker buying guide? It’s too early to tell, but we’ll hopefully find out when we get them in for testing and run them head-to-head with their American rivals.

Read the full story: Sony's new Bluetooth speakers go big on battery life and even bigger on bass

LG’s releasing a fix for our big gripe with the G5

The LG G5 is one of 2025’s most interesting OLED TVs for a couple of reasons. First, because it is TV powerhouse LG’s current flagship, succeeding the five-star LG G4 we reviewed last year and continue to recommend in our best OLED TV guide.

Second, because it is the first TV we’ve tested with a new fourth generation OLED panel, which promises significantly improved peak brightness and colour volume levels.

And while it delivered in these areas, we noticed a critical Dolby Vision bug while streaming on Disney Plus during testing that made the G5 impossible to fully recommend.

Thankfully, one week on, not only did LG send us a pre-release fix for the bug to try, after re-testing the G5 our editor Tom Parsons’ confirmed that it actually works!

Read the full story: A fix is on the way for our big problem with the LG G5 OLED TV

HDMI has a new rival

HDMI is pretty much the universal standard for AV connectivity right now. With the specifications for the latest HDMI 2.2 standard confirmed in January, we expected this trend to continue for a least a few more years.

But, last week a new standard made in China appeared to rival HDMI’s latest version. Specifically, we saw the General Purpose Media Interface (GPMI) launch.

The standard is currently split into two types. The first Type-C version is set to support up to 96Gbps speeds. That’s the same figure as HDMI 2.2. The second Type-B variant is being quoted as offering a mind-boggling 192Gbps.

The bandwidth on offer, plus backing from 50 companies including the Shenzhen International 8K Ultra HD Video Industry Collaboration Alliance, means GPMI already has a lot going for it.

We’ll be curious to see if it gains any momentum and whether any devices launch with it in the near future.

Read the full story: HDMI gets a new Chinese competitor – and it could be 8K's saviour

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Back in December 2015, Ringo Starr auctioned off his personal copy of The White Album for a whopping $790,000, setting a record for the most expensive vinyl record ever sold that still stands to this day.

The reason it was worth so much money wasn’t just because it was owned by the former narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine, but because it was the very first copy of the album ever pressed, with the serial number 0000001 stamped on the sleeve to prove it.

While not everyone has a record worth the same as two Ferraris in their collection, most people who buy vinyl own something that’s particularly valuable to them, whether it’s through rarity, sentimentality, or some other reason that’s harder to quantify.

For this year's Vinyl Week and to coincide with Record Store Day, we considered asking Ringo to pick the next most expensive record from his collection but we’ve lost his email address, so here are the What Hi-Fi? editorial team’s most valuable records and the stories behind them instead.

Scott Garcia – A London Thing

Words by Joe Cox

I started buying vinyl out of necessity. Having dabbled with Britpop in my early teenage years, my head was turned by dance music, and by the time I was old enough to go to clubs (legally, at least), I aspired to be a superstar DJ. And in the late 90s, this meant buying records.

It wasn’t just that mixing vinyl records was a prerequisite for being a DJ (this was before CDJs and tracks on USB sticks) – it was literally the only way to own the music in question.

So my vinyl buying began in earnest, with weekends spent nervously asking to listen to new releases in record shops and spending £6.99 – a small fortune in the context of my paper round – on white labels, often with only one or two tracks on the record.

This means my relationship with vinyl was a utilitarian one. I wasn’t making a conscious decision to buy vinyl; it was simply the only option for the music I wanted, and how I wanted to play it. I was buying and playing records rather than collecting them.

Despite only ever mixing records with mates in our respective bedrooms, I convinced myself I needed to be buying every ‘big tune’ that was released in order to further my DJ career, a career which, while not actually active in any way shape or form, was surely only a matter of time.

Back in the real world, and 20-odd years later, this does leave me with more than my fair share of tracks that haven’t really stood the test of time. Amongst some stone-cold classics, of course.

But collectively they remind me of the time I fell in love with dance music; of messing about mixing records with mates; and learning how to interact with moody blokes behind record shop counters.

With that in mind, rather than plumping for the obscure dubstep record that Discogs tells me is worth £250, I’ll pick the record I was given by my mates for my 18th birthday: A London Thing by Scott Garcia.

DJ magazine called it an “era-defining UKG anthem”, and while it seems a little cheesy now, it does serve as the perfect reminder of my formative years – in life, music, and buying vinyl.

• Find Scott Garcia – A London Thing on Discogs

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Once More With Feeling

Words by Kashfia Kabir

It's no exaggeration to say that Buffy the Vampire Slayer played a big part in shaping who I am today. My favourite TV show of all time since I was 11 years old, its distinct lingo, great (and occasionally bad) fashion choices, pop culture references, music, and parade of great supernatural villains have stayed with me today. Moreover, there are lessons and morals I've learnt from the demon-fighting gang of high schoolers – about relationships, friendships, life, dealing with the eventual apocalypse – that still ring true for me today.

One of the seminal episodes of Buffy's history is Once More With Feeling – a season six episode that is entirely a musical. It's a delightful, heartfelt, silly, witty episode with brilliantly written lyrics (and some great singing performances), that tackles one of the most difficult themes in their lives in song. Great tunes, great emotion, great demon of the day.

So when Mondo released an exclusive limited edition vinyl pressing of the soundtrack, I had to have it. I already owned the soundtrack on CD, but this special vinyl edition is packaged beautifully, with new original artwork by Paul Mann on the gorgeous gatefold sleeve, a "Playbill" of lyrics, credits and more liner notes from the show's creator, and was available in three colour variants. I went for the red vinyl – you've probably seen it in many of our turntable reviews, as not only is it a great album, but this Mondo edition is also a great quality pressing and sounds fantastic. We use it for testing record players regularly.

I didn't have a turntable when I bought it but there was no doubt in my mind it would be one of my most cherished items, and it remains my favourite vinyl record as my collection grows today. This one has become a rare collector's item too, as there aren't many Buffy fans willing to part with their LP – I've seen it listed for over $1000 on eBay, which is wild considering I only paid $25 for it back in 2019. Its worth to me far exceeds its monetary value – it's a great quality pressing and package overall, but it simply brings me joy every time I hear it, 20+ years on from when I first saw the musical episode. And that I can keep a piece of Buffy living on in my day-to-day work life? Well, that's just swell.

• Find Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling on Discogs

Claudio Simonetti's Goblin – The Murder Collection

Words by Becky Roberts

It’s hardly surprising that my most valuable record, sentimentally speaking at least, is the very first one I bought. But since moving to Australia and having to leave my collection back at home in the UK (hence the bog-standard picture above), my connection to it has grown even more.

This won't be news for fellow horror aficionados, but prog-rock band Goblin soundtracked copious iconic Italian genre movies, including cult classics by giallo godfather Dario Argento (Suspiria, Deep Red, Tenebrae and Opera, for example) and fellow 70s horror maestros Lamberto Bava (Demons) and George Romero (Martin, Dawn of the Dead). And its keyboardist Claudio Simonetti has kept its iconic sound alive over the decades through various iterations of the band for new and old fans to savour.

The limited-edition (499) Record Store Day exclusive of the aptly named The Murder Collection, which presents the compilation on a graphic-perfect picture disc with a clear sleeve, comprises freshly rearranged compositions of Goblin's most famous scores, rerecorded with the three bandmates of Simonetti’s horror tribute band, Daemonia.

It’s the sounds you remember, characterised by the discordant synth-laden melodies laid down by the composer's trademark keyboard, only this time they are amped up by brighter spotlights on pummelling percussion and dynamic rockier guitar that lunge from the wax. It’s the classic margarita but with a chilli salt rim providing that extra kick.

Despite owning albums that would fetch a lot more on Discogs, this is the one I would save from a burning building – as long as my flight home got there in time.

• Buy Claudio Simonetti's Goblin – The Murder Collection on Amazon

Slint – Spiderland

Words by Tom Wiggins

Slint’s Spiderland is an underground classic. Originally released in 1991 and considered one of the albums that helped to popularise the emerging genre of post-rock, it’s a record that I’ve always loved and has always felt mysterious for one reason or another, whether it’s the sinister-sounding songs about fortune tellers, vampires, and shipwrecks; the band’s floating heads peering out from the monochrome text-free cover; or the fact that they broke up before it even came out.

In April 2014, Touch and Go Records released a limited-edition Spiderland vinyl box set, including a bunch of extras that I was keen to get my hands on: a book of unseen photographs, CDs of the remastered album and 14 previously unreleased demos and outtakes, and a DVD of Breadcrumb Trail – a documentary about the band by film-maker Lance Bangs that seemed unlikely to ever get a standard release.

(In the end, it got uploaded to YouTube in full in 2017, but I wasn’t to know that at the time.)

Unwilling to fork out $150 for an album I already owned on both vinyl and CD (told you I was a fan), I kept my credit card in my wallet. But after the run of 3138 box sets had sold out the label announced that it had some spare copies of those extras (minus the book), which were bundled up in work-in-progress versions of the limited-edition packaging and listed for sale on its website. They came in a gatefold sleeve and bear the same catalogue number as the full sets, but you can tell it’s just the leftovers because the cover is white rather than black.

A much more reasonable $22 (plus $22.50 shipping) later and that’s how I came to own the most valuable record on my shelf, which isn’t really a record at all, but is quite possibly rarer and more valuable than the one I didn’t buy.

• Buy Slint – Spiderland on vinyl from Amazon

Velvet Underground – Loaded

Words by Chris Burke

Loaded was one of a handful of records I inherited from my older sister when she went travelling (and no, sis, you're not having any of them back). As an indie kid in the late ’80s, not only was I surprised at how much groove this record has – as opposed to the more 'experimental' John Cale/Warhol's Factory ’60s Velvet Underground output – but it was the first record I'd heard by the band that I really connected with.

It was also an "oh, I get it" moment in regard to all the indie music around at the time. So, so many bands were evidently influenced by the Velvet Underground in the ’80s, and it was one of those 'connecting the dots' moments in that rock family tree.

From the dreamy, sun-soaked opener Who Loves The Sun to the addictive swing and bounce of Rock And Roll, to the beautifully laid-back album closer Sweet Nuthin', it's a true classic. My favourite track, Sweet Jane, blows marijuana-smoke rings around themes of romance and rock’n’roll as its groove and melody utterly captivates.

While the Velvets themselves had transformed by this point into more making accessible radio-friendly music, with late-comer Doug Yule now musically in the driving seat, this album also continued to hint at Lou Reed's greatness still-to-come, as his legend grew and his song delivery became ever more iconic (think Walk On The Wild Side, Satellite Of Love, the Lou Reed album version of the Velvets' Lisa Says) in the early-'70s.

There's also that truly wonderful trippy cover art – so very, very 1970. As perhaps one of the oldest albums I own, I've taken special care of my copy over the years, and despite having a number of more monetarily valuable pressings in my collection, this one holds a special place.

• Buy Velvet Underground – Loaded on vinyl from Amazon

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It’s hard not to think of Audio-Technica’s Sound Burger as anything but a novelty. Originally released in 1983 just as CD took off, the record player’s ultra-compact, portable concept flew in the face of conventional turntable design. Besides, its timing couldn’t have been worse.

As the brand released a limited edition version (called AT-SB2022) in 2022 to celebrate its 60th anniversary, however, it discovered it’s now in a landscape where vinyl is wildly popular again. Such was the demand for this revived Burger that a full-production release and permanent fixture in its line-up was deemed necessary.

The current Audio-Technica Sound Burger (AT-SB727) on review here still feels like a bit of a novelty at first glance, but, just as we discovered when What Hi-Fi? reviewed the original model back in June 1983, it is “full of surprises” once we start using it.

Build & design

The Sound Burger, or “wireless stereo disc player system” as it says on the lid, is a portable Bluetooth turntable. But it is also so much more. Yes, it’s a belt-drive deck with electronic speed change (33 1/3 and 45 RPM) and features a built-in phono stage.

The current model features a Bluetooth output instead of the fixed set of wired in-ear headphones that were attached to the original – in a way, this isn’t too far off the current crop of Bluetooth turntables that are flooding the market.

What makes the Sound Burger unique is its design and charmingly fuss-free use. The record player is stripped down to as compact and elemental as it can be: there’s no large plinth, but a small 9cm platter that gives just enough surface for a record to sit on. The slim, compact body is fairly light but never feels cheap or flimsy; the hinged lid is well-made, and the latch that holds it in place (and releases it) feels secure.

The tonearm is pre-set to the installed cartridge – all this means is that you never have to know what a tracking weight is, nor do you have to fuss about with any initial setting up, as everything is set up for you to use straight out of the box. The included ATN3600LC moving magnet cartridge isn’t upgradable but it is replaceable for very little money.

The controls are simple, too. There are buttons for power and speed switching between 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. Simply extend the tonearm out past the edge of the deck until you hear a click, put a record on, and the motor starts spinning as you move the arm towards the groove.

It’s a well-thought-out, solidly made design. The tonearm mechanism and bearing are of decent quality and smooth in use, and we like how the arm cleverly rests in the rubber 45 RPM adapter when not in use. The die-cast aluminium platter looks classy, too.

The Sound Burger is small and light enough to carry in a tote bag. A transport screw at the back holds the tonearm securely in place when you need to move or carry it from one place to another – another clever touch.

There is also a strap at the rear for carrying it, but it’s worth remembering you can’t actually play a record when on the move like it’s a Walkman or Discman. Audio-Technica does emphasise the need to keep the turntable on a flat surface when playing a record.

It’s all put together very well. We’ve had this Sound Burger model with us for nearly a year now and we are still impressed with just how clever the concept is in use. Most of all, it feels so unlike using any other turntable we’ve come across, and we mean that in a good way. It’s novel, yes, but it’s also fun and accessible.

We think it’s a good entry point for vinyl novices who might otherwise be daunted or put off by a more conventional model, but it’s also a fun departure even for seasoned vinyl enthusiasts like ourselves.

We’ve come across plenty of ‘retro-styled’ turntables that are poorly made and poorly executed; the Sound Burger is easily a class above those trendy all-in-one players, especially at its affordable £199 / $199 price point.

Of course, the very nature of this unusual design means that there are some drawbacks. The small platter size means the whole record isn’t supported and that compromises overall stability, but it does the job well enough for this concept. We’d also take care when moving the tonearm as there is no arm rest or lift mechanism, and make sure that nothing snags the stylus when it is freely moving.

Features

“I have to charge my turntable.” This is a sentence we never thought we’d have to utter. But this Audio-Technica Sound Burger sports a 12-hour battery, which means we do have to remember to plug it into the mains to top it up every now and then.

The battery never drains too quickly and we get ample playtime out of the record player; a flashing red LED will alert you if the battery is getting low.

A USB-C to USB-A charging cable is included, so you simply have to connect one end to the rear of the player and plug the other into a mains adapter (not included in the box), just as you would with a modern portable wireless speaker or smartphone. You can also leave it attached to the mains at all times.

Along with USB-C, another way the Burger has been modernised is the inclusion of Bluetooth. It’s the standard SBC codec quality you get here, but pairing is swift and uncomplicated: hold down the pairing button on the side and we had it connected to a pair of Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2 powered desktop speakers in no time.

We also connected the Sound Burger to a JBL Flip 7 portable Bluetooth speaker, a Roberts Revival Petite 2 DAB radio, and a pair of Sony wireless headphones.

All of that goes to show just how uncluttered (and unconventional) your vinyl system could be with the Burger. No extra boxes, no wires – just the slim turntable and a compact speaker. We can see the appeal.

If you don’t want to go the Bluetooth route, you can also use a wired connection. There is a 3.5mm aux output on the Sound Burger and a handy 3.5mm to RCA audio cable is included in the box, so it can be plugged into a variety of compatible speakers or amplifiers.

The resulting sound does depend on the calibre of the speakers (or headphones) being used as well. We would recommend the wired route as much as possible, as the jump up in sound quality when using a wired connection to the Ruark MR1 Mk2 speakers is a noticeable step up over Bluetooth.

Would we take this portable Bluetooth turntable out to the garden or a park, connect it to a Bluetooth speaker and hit play? Not quite, if only because lugging around a box of vinyl records is more cumbersome than the Sound Burger itself.

But the player’s portable (or rather, transportable) nature makes most sense if you don’t have the space to have a permanent, conventional vinyl system in your home, so being able to pack it up and tuck it away in a cabinet or corner when not in play has plenty of appeal. We’ve had the Sound Burger stored in our vinyl cabinet when not in use, easily bringing it out for occasional use.

It also means you can move it from room to room, or even take it to a friend’s house to spin some new records they’ve bought but haven’t invested in a turntable yet, as many tend to these days. Transporting it from our home to our test rooms (and back again) has been no bother at all either.

Sound

The most surprising thing about the Audio-Technica Sound Burger? It sounds good, too.

We’re not comparing its sound quality to a conventional turntable here, but even by budget Bluetooth-enabled models, the Burger is a pretty fun listen.

We’ll be straight with you: there isn’t much extension at the top end, nor are there lashings of deep bass. The sound is rather mid-forward, but it’s still nicely balanced enough that it’s no hardship to listen to.

Play a blues record by Son House and his gruff, highly emotional vocals are delivered with fluidity and focus. There’s decent body and solidity to plucked guitar strings and to the Burger’s sound overall that makes it easy and appealing to listen to.

While there may not be heaps of refinement or subtle detail, what the turntable does is communicate the basic elements of a song. It gets the core message of a song and the tone of an instrument right – and does so in a rather confident, friendly manner that makes for an undemanding but likeable performance.

The Sound Burger has a lively way about it too, meaning it never sounds dull or lifeless. There’s enough tension and moodiness in Portishead’s Glory Box that it holds our attention, while every character’s personality and tone on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical soundtrack comes through nicely.

We can forgo a fair amount of refinement and transparency for a sound that’s just enjoyable to listen to as a whole. After all, we’ve heard various ‘trendy’ budget turntables of this type that can be thin or flat sounding, have sluggish rhythm or simply don’t sound enjoyable to listen to at all.

That’s not the case with the Sound Burger. We do wish it were a bit more expressive with dynamics and that details were clearer, but this turntable flows along at a nice pace.

It certainly sounds better when going wired rather than listening over Bluetooth, with more solidity, detail and clarity added to the sound. For fun, we plug the Sound Burger into our test room’s reference system of Naim Nait XS 3 amplifier and Epos ES7N speakers – it doesn’t struggle as much as you’d think, with its lively, musically cohesive presentation remaining as intact as it does through the Ruark speakers.

Verdict

Expectations can spoil a review experience sometimes, but we have a great time with the Audio-Technica Sound Burger. It’s a novel way to experience a turntable and is a genuinely well-executed idea and concept that offers something completely different from the variety of record players available today.

While ultimate sound quality is obviously a high priority, hi-fi and audio products should be fun and innovative and bring us joy – so it’s to Audio-Technica’s credit that this unique design from the 1980s can still find a place in today’s market.

This may not end up being your main vinyl source, but for occasional use, it’s perfectly charming.

Review published: 11th April 2025

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 5
• Features 5

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Unsurprisingly, our readers own a lot of vinyl, but cost and quality are now big concerns

At the end of last month, we asked you, our hi-fi-loving readers, how big your vinyl collections are. We asked for some general feedback on the state of the vinyl game, too, and you absolutely delivered!

Lots of you replied to that story and our social posts with your experiences and opinions, and while each response was of course unique, a few general themes emerged.

Firstly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, lots of you own a lot of vinyl. But even those with huge collections invariably had a break from vinyl during CD’s heyday.

Many were brought back into the fold as a result of the so-called ‘vinyl revival’, which of course also introduced plenty of people to vinyl collecting for the first time.

But this period of vastly increased vinyl popularity is clearly a bit of a double-edged sword, with many of you complaining that prices have risen sharply while the quality of pressings is not what it used to be.

As a result, many of you are buying older records second-hand as you feel the quality is better.

Four-figure collections aplenty

We’re not surprised that many of you have vinyl collections consisting of hundreds of records, but the number of you with thousands of pressings is startling.

Readers including ‘Srdjan Stojanovic’, ‘bkshah’, ‘Danny J’, ‘Ju ju 2’ and ‘Hubie Greene’ all have collections of around 1000 records, but even this is fairly conservative compared with some.

‘Bhose’ says, “I have around 5000 records,” which they’ve “been buying since I was 10 (in 1979)”.

Interestingly, Bhose is one of the few respondents who said that they don’t frequently listen to their vinyl:

“I've never bought vinyl to regularly play it and listen to it. I bought and buy it to have my music in its 'prime' format, and I listen to recordings I've made from the original vinyl, on cassette tape back in the days, then CDs later, to now.”

Reader ‘Steve Topp’, meanwhile, has a collection of “just over 4800 albums”, and they have a particular, fairly niche area of interest:

“I have two stereo systems in my house. They each have a stereo and a mono turntable. I really specialise in collecting Mono ’60s rock and jazz albums. The Mono albums played on the Mono cartridge turntables sound truly amazing. It's like you are in the room when the recording was made.”

Then there’s ‘Jponti5056’ who, along with their husband, owns “over 4000 albums and 200 78s”.

“We add to our collection almost weekly (we just purchased two this week),” they explain.

All of these numbers pale in comparison with the collection of 'Tomas Vydra’, which pre-Covid was “approx 20,000 vinyl and nearly 40,000 CDs”.

He has more recently had to reduce the size of his collection by about half, but that still makes it the largest of all our respondents. His occupation might have something to do with it: he presents a show on Prague’s Radio 1 where he plays tracks from vinyl.

"Since 1994, I have a show on Prague's Radio 1 where I spin vinyl records from the ’60s and ’70s. It's on every Saturday from 11.00 am until 1.00 pm (CET)."

One person who might give Tomas a run for his money is ‘Batman6770’, who says, “I have been averaging [buying] 15-20 records a week for years now.”

Despite seemingly having a Bruce Wayne-sized budget, ‘Batman6770’ still has to disguise how much they spend on vinyl:

“I’ve got lots of tricks to obscure the true amount I’m spending on these records from my wife! Things like transferring cash to PayPal, buying gift cards while grocery shopping and, of course, getting the mail before she gets home! Luckily I have so many records now that it’s impossible to notice these new additions!”

Reader ‘Driveshaft’, meanwhile, has a unique approach to collecting:

“I have just under four feet of space on my shelf for my records, and I'm strict about keeping it that way. That means for every new record that comes in, an old one has to go. It's a cruel practice, but effective. It keeps me from becoming a pack rat and holding onto something just to keep it.”

Lots of you parted with your vinyl collections to buy CDs – and are still re-buying the records you sold

We sensed a lot of regret in the comments on our story.

Many of you, perfectly understandably, went all-in on CD and sold most or all of your vinyl to build your collection on digital disc, and are still trying to buy back again the records you sold.

Reader ‘RDeschain’ says, “I had a decent vinyl collection as a kid, but I let it go in the mid '80s when I got into CDs. A few years ago I decided to get back into vinyl with the goal of replacing those records I had as a kid. It quickly grew into a quest to gather as many of my favourite artists' work on vinyl before it disappeared for good.”

‘PedroB’ tells a very similar story:

“I started buying vinyl in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Did that thing in the ’90s where I sold a lot of it and re-bought it on CD. Around 2005 when I stopped travelling for work I got back into vinyl.

"Since then I've upgraded my turntables five or six times along with my speakers and amps. Now I'm retired due to ill health, but pre COVID I was buying an album almost every day, brand new, or second-hand. At least 300 per year. I was also buying albums I'd replaced with CDs on vinyl again!”

‘PCookie’, meanwhile, has had to say goodbye to their record collection not once, but twice:

“I had about 300 LPs as a teenager, but they were all stolen when I was a student at uni. I re-bought some plus a new lot, but then sold most when CDs came out. I bought 100s of CDs and still have those, but I now also have about 100 LPs. I’m adding to those slowly but still buying the odd CD. I also stream a lot!”

Increased costs mean many of you are reducing how much vinyl you buy

It might be a term that many record collectors hate, but the so-called ‘vinyl revival’ is definitely responsible for bringing many lapsed collectors back into the fold. That has to be a good thing, but it also seems to have pushed up prices.

Commenter ‘Nick’ says “new records, especially 12s and 7s, seem very expensive – I think this is due to the high cost of pressing very limited numbers – so I don’t buy many. £20 for a 7-inch is way too much.”

‘Gothicdave’ agrees: “Vinyl is becoming very expensive, with the newest styles, such as liquid or gel-filled records, coming in brand new at scary high prices of up to £80 or £90.”

Our friends across the pond are struggling with high prices, too. This is what ‘6ea6peoplejuice’ has to say:

“Lately, I've been buying less per year, as the prices are getting kinda high. Pre-2020, a single disc record was around $20 (USD). Lately, it feels like we are paying $30+. And sometimes, when ordering directly from artists, shipping is another $8-10. High prices won't stop me from buying records, but they will cause me to buy fewer.”

Several readers, including ‘Charlyarg’ and ‘Frank Andrews’ have even resumed or increased their CD purchasing, at least in part because of high prices for vinyl.

Another commenter, ‘Paul L’ expands on that point:

“I still buy vinyl, though about 80-90 per cent of the albums I buy these days are on CD, mainly because I've invested more heavily in the CD side of my system, but also because CD offers better value, and the quality of vinyl pressings (plus, in some cases, the cash grab of multiple colour variants) has turned me off.

“I'll continue to buy vinyl for special releases by artists whose music I love, or albums with no CD release, but only where the cost doesn't feel disproportionately expensive compared to other vinyl releases.”

Most (but not all) of you feel older vinyl is better

The question of vinyl quality comes up a lot in the comments, with many people complaining that modern pressings aren’t up to the standards of the old stuff.

Reader ‘Dogtown16v’ believes it’s the quality of the materials that’s the problem: “Since I’ve been buying new vinyl I’ve noticed how rubbish the actual plastic is,” they say.

But for several others, it’s the format of the original recordings that is the issue. ‘Roger Harris’ states that “new releases are mostly digitally sourced (eg from a CD!) so there’s no point”.

While ‘AndyC405’ says, “I'm not always a fan of new pressings as they still manage to sound 'digital' (e.g. a bit harsh) at times (to me),” though they also feel that it’s still “worth it usually for the experience”.

‘james beaumont’, though, struggles to understand that stance:

“Seeing as most vinyl records these days are pressed from digital masters, I really cannot see the point in buying what are essentially giant CDs. When you take into account all the pops, crackles, skips, warps, weight, size and price, why anyone who understands the above would still give them the time of day is baffling.”

Back to commenter ‘RDeschain’, who buys older records for both quality and price reasons:

“I stick mostly to vintage for a number of reasons: that’s the music I love most; modern pressing quality isn’t great and is very inconsistent, while vintage record pressings are just better; and today's vinyl record prices are outrageous – I would rather take the $35 I could spend on one new record and go and find three nice used records instead.”

But it’s certainly not all bad news for modern vinyl, and it feels appropriate to end on a couple of positive comments.

‘Collinslw2’ is very appreciative of some of the very high-quality pressings that are now available:

“My hiatus from and return to vinyl made me acutely aware of the increase in pleasure generated by the advances in vinyl playback hardware and recordings,” they say.

“Today's higher-end turntables are a revelation for yesterday's vinyl, and today's high-end vinyl is way better than yesteryear. I've been back to vinyl for over a year and most of my collection is MoFi (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab), 45 rpm reissues. I also own two UHQR releases (wow, just wow), and quite a few 180g repressings.”

‘SLOWPAW STEVE T’ agrees, while also offering some specific recommendations and a bit of useful advice:

“In my experience, modern vinyl can sound amazing on my system. I’m happy replacing original records with modern remastered equivalents. The recent series of Atlantic Genesis and Yes 45 rpm reissues sound fantastic and are highly recommended; the Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin remasters sound better than ever; and the Harry Moss Beatles recuts made in the ’80s are amazing quality.

“I’m looking forward to more in the future of my favourite rock albums, but it is wise to check online reviews of remasters in general, as they don't always get it spot on.”

So there you have it – What Hi-Fi?’s readers have delivered their verdict on the state of vinyl. If you’re inspired by what they had to say, make sure you check out the rest of our Vinyl Week coverage.

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Many of our readers' thoughts are echoed by our own Chris Burke: Old is gold: why I massively prefer buying old vinyl to new

Freshly bitten by the vinyl bug? Check out our guide to buying your first turntable and this guide on how to set up a turntable

What do the designers of your favourite turntable love listening to? What are the vinyl records that they cherish or recommend for their great-quality pressing?

For Vinyl Week, we spoke to some of today's most respected turntable designers and manufacturers to find out their favourite vinyl discs for testing and pure enjoyment, and why they have chosen each pick.

We are also treated to some wonderful personal stories of how a specific album or a track had a huge impact on their lives – from kickstarting a "lifelong affair with vinyl" to leading them to "look into record player design" in the first place.

Best of all, we now have an armful of new vinyl recommendations to go hunt for on Discogs – so we can enjoy exactly what the makers of some of the best turntables in the world are listening to.

Heinz Lichtenegger – CEO, Pro-Ject Audio Systems

Throughout my life I have listened to many, many types of music. My audiophile career began with the unbelievably good (and expensive) UHQR version of The Dark Side of the Moon, then later I got into jazz, including artists like Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, and then of course Miles Davis and Archie Shepp.

Today my life is more focused on classical music and operas, and less focused on absolute audiophile records. Instead, I care more about the individual interpretation of a piece of music – though I of course still want it to be a good recording. I especially love old, true analogue records that may have some noise, but that also hold more warmth and colour.

Tosca – Puccini, Leontyne Price, Di Stefano, Taddei / Vienna Philharmonic with Herbert von Karajan (Decca, 1963)

My favourite opera record. This recording is unbelievably dramatic and super powerful, yet there is also incredible timbre in the voices. This one is only for bigger systems, so you can really experience the big dynamic shifts that show how amazing Tosca is.

Don Juan – Richard Strauss, Tod und Verklaerung, Also Sprach Zarathustra / Vienna Philharmonic with Herbert von Karajan (Decca, 1960)

My favourite classical record. This record is from a series I created with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Universal Music, which included some favourite VPO recordings from the past. This performance combines the very best composition with the very best interpretation by a conductor, recorded in the legendary Sofiensaal in Vienna.

The record is taken directly from the original mastertape and, while it has some noise, the tone and the sweetness of the music are without comparison. It is proof that we were already capable of great recordings even over 60 years ago.

Robert Suchy – CEO, Clearaudio

I’m going to choose three special pieces of vinyl. My personal favourite is Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah, from his studio album, Grace (Columbia, 1994). This is music emotionally performed at its best; profoundly moving when a cartridge, tonearm and turntable are singing as they should.

My second choice is the perfect track to kick off a turntable demo session: The Curse from Agnes Obel’s album, Aventine (PIAS, 2013). It is a haunting, layered track that both relaxes you, yet focuses your mind on the music and what you’re hearing.

Finally, a current all-round favourite album is The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra’s Music of Game of Thrones. Ramin Djawadi’s awesome music is brilliantly performed and recorded. This is a vinyl record that connects you to the genius of the composer and the skill of the musicians – and it evokes key moments from the TV series, too. Music in 3D!

Jonathan Nye – managing director, Michell Audio

Legend – Bob Marley and the Wailers (Island Records, 1984)

Back in 1995, at just 15 years old, I found a Technics turntable abandoned in a skip. To me, it was a treasure waiting to be revived. After giving it a thorough clean and a new stylus, I was eager to test it out. I hooked it up to my Kenwood amplifier and Mission speakers, but there was just one problem – I had no records to play.

My mum didn’t have any vinyl, but she asked around on my behalf. Before long, a friend kindly donated a copy of Legend by Bob Marley. Excited, I rushed to my bedroom, ready for my first proper vinyl experience. Having already heard the tracks on cassette, I thought I knew exactly what I was in for. But as soon as the stylus touched the groove, I realised I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The music felt different – more alive. There was an openness and warmth I had never heard before. The bass was fuller, the vocals richer – it was as if Bob Marley himself had stepped into the room. I sat there, mesmerized, playing the entire album twice without a break. The experience was so powerful that I ran to the lounge, urging my parents to come and listen. I had to share this incredible discovery.

That moment changed everything. Music wasn’t just something I listened to any more – it became something I felt. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with vinyl, a passion that, at the time, I had no idea would shape my future. Years later, fate had one more surprise in store for me. I married the granddaughter of a turntable manufacturer and eventually found myself running a company so deeply connected to my love of vinyl.

Sometimes, life has a way of bringing things full circle. And for me, it all started with an old turntable from a skip and a copy of Legend.

From a Room: Volume 1 – Chris Stapleton (Mercury Nashville, 2017)

Chris Stapleton’s From A Room: Volume 1 is more than just a great album—it’s a masterclass in pure, unfiltered sound. Produced by Stapleton and Dave Cobb, the album embraces a minimalist approach, stripping away excess production to focus on raw musicianship, heartfelt songwriting, and the unmistakable warmth of a live performance. Every note, every breath, and every subtle nuance is laid bare, giving the listener the feeling of being right there in the room with the band.

The album's sparse yet powerful production not only makes it one of my favourite albums, it also makes it ideal for developing new products, such as the Apollo phono stage. I love authenticity, emotion, and a connection to the artist's original vision; that excites me and drives us all at Michell.

Tetsuya Itani – technical expert, Technics

Some of my collection is only available in Japan, so I will exclude them and list two copies that are available worldwide.

For Sentimental Reasons – Linda Ronstadt, Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra (Asylum, 1986)

This record has a realistic and vivid live sound, and Linda Ronstadt's vocals in her prime are also highly appealing.

Symphony No. 9 – Anton Dvorák / London Symphony Orchestra with István Kertész (Decca)

I think it's a good idea for every vinyl fan to have a copy of this album. The VPO version is more famous and popular than Kertesz's from The New World, but I prefer the LSO version because it is more energetic.

Mat Weisfeld – president, VPI

Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chili Peppers (Warner Bros., 1991)

It was a rough week at VPI – one of those moments that left me questioning why I continued pushing forward as a manufacturing business owner. I couldn’t sleep. It was late, and the weight of it all lingered. So I put a record on the turntable and a pair of headphones over my ears.

The night before, my girlfriend – now my wife, Jane – and I had been listening to Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, my brother's favourite album. That night, though, I was alone with my thoughts, struggling with the question that haunted me: What would my older brother Jon do? After all, he was always meant to run VPI.

It's 2 am and I'm half-asleep; the first track Power of Equality played, and a lyric hit me hard: “Little brother, do you hear me? / Have a heart, oh, come get near me / Misery is not my friend / But I'll break before I bend / What I see is insanityWhatever happened to humanity?”

That moment grounded me and gave me my answer. The very next day, I designed the VPI Prime turntable – and changed the entire direction of the company.

Touraj Moghaddam – CEO, Vertere Acoustics

Thelonious Monk / Sonny Rollins (Prestige, Hi-Fi LP 7075)

Specially, the track Work by the Thelonious Monk Trio. Monk’s playing, ‘phrasing’ and construction were just unbelievable – almost like drumming a tune with exceptional timing and delicacy.

The recording and production is not bad at all, but this track was what led me to look into record player design!

I'll never forget hearing Monk on the TV, around 1983-84, and being able to relate to his timing, playing style and key changes so much better than I could when listening to his albums on my turntable at the time. It was an eye-opener and made me want to understand what the reason was, and whether a turntable could be designed to achieve this.

The Wall – Pink Floyd (Harvest/EMI, 1979)

I was an undergraduate when The Wall first came out in 1979 and I remember like it was yesterday when I first put it on, and WOW! It was an opera and so exhilarating – a proper roller-coaster ride. I sat through four sides and at the end was just gobsmacked.

The recording came across as great at the time and quickly became a ‘reference’ and joined The Dark Side Of The Moon. Even today, it is often used at our demos and events. The album was only surpassed by the first live concert of it, which I saw at Earl’s Court in 1980.

Cantate Domino – Oscars Motettkör choir, Torsten Nilsson, Alf Linder, Marianne Mellnäs (Proprius, PROP 7762)

It was in the early 80s when I first heard this album at The Sound Organisation in London. Roger Macer (RIP) was not just a sterling retailer, he was also a friend. We shared lots of music listening sessions and a good few late night/early mornings at Ronnie Scott's...

The sound quality of this vinyl is exceptional – it's a great pressing. But more importantly, the whole album is like a ‘haunting’ – so emotional, in harmony, with an almost life-like presence. It's so good that I got my copy within a day or so. And don’t forget, in those days there was no online or Amazon...

Roy Gandy – co-founder & owner, Rega Research

Willow – Joan Armatrading (Show Some Emotion, A&M, 1977)

At Rega, we don’t listen to the “sound” of our equipment, but rather listen for the intricacies of an artist’s performance, or the discernibility of complex musical arrangements. If we can correct any issues here, any issue with the sound is automatically corrected.

One of the earliest [vinyl] test tracks I can recall using for this, which we still use today, is Willow by Joan Armatrading from the 1977 album, Show Some Emotion. It’s a beautiful performance, arrangement and recording, which makes it easy to spot any issues in the sound reproduction.

I Want To Break Free – Queen (Greatest Hits 2, EMI/Parlophone, 1991)

If you’re looking for something more upbeat to test your system, this is a great one, and needs little introduction. However, if you're looking for this on vinyl, be careful to only choose the 1991 pressing of the Greatest Hits 2 – many other versions of this song are less well pressed.

Yosuke Koizumi – head of analogue audio engineering division, Audio-Technica

Basket of Light - The Pentangle (Transatlantic, 1969)

One of my favourite music genres is British folk music. The band Pentangle was formed in the late 60s and they are a mixture of jazz and folk musicians. Their debut album is incredible already, but I personally prefer to listen to this third album.

Page One – Joe Henderson (Blue Note Records, 1963)

This is Joe Henderson’s first album from Blue Note Records in 1963. All of his five titles in Blue Note are amazing, but you can enjoy his artistic expression with Latin rhythm from the first track on side A. All of the other tracks are unbelievably nice. We cannot expect to get the original pressing at an affordable price, but later issues from the 70s to early 80s with ‘VAN GELDER’ engraving around the centre label are still very enjoyable.

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Read all our Vinyl Week 2025 features, advice and reviews

Every day we’re bombarded with new reports showing vinyl is going from strength to strength.

Whether it is the numbers being reported in the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) latest Basket of Goods report (which tracks people’s spending habits) or the latest chart topping record from Taylor Swift , we know more people are buying vinyl.

Eager to get an inside look at how the revival is playing out at a local level, I interviewed three big-name independent record store owners to find out which albums, EPs and singles are actually selling right now.

The answer isn’t as cut and dry as I expected

Drift Records manager Rupert Morrison tells What Hi-Fi?, that while modern artists’ interest in releasing music on vinyl is great, it hasn’t led to a spike in independent store sales the way most people expect.

"I am sure if you look at the total market, artists like Taylor Swift will resonate more with a younger audience, and with all the various formats that got rolled out across the most recent releases, unit-wise the sales are high so the figures are a bit warped,” he says.

“I think also the part of direct to consumer (D2C) isn't really clearly articulated in the 'vinyl revival' articles. If you had honest statistics about how many units of [Swift's] The Tortured Poets Department , for example, were sold via retailers compared to via D2C, you'd be surprised at how small the percentage is.”

He added that many younger buyers targeting the biggest releases in the charts are mainly interested in the artist they are buying more than the format.

“I think that younger audiences are driven by real genuine fandom, but whether they are becoming multi-campaign / release / artist purchasing customers is very much up for debate,” he said.

“So many of the titles that sell in huge quantities will be an exclusive, in one way or another, so scrabbling to the artist website or novelty pressings like Blood Records are the only route to purchase.”

But young people are buying vinyl

Flashback Records owner Mark Burgess tells us that, despite big artists' direct release strategies, younger acts are still a driving force for sales.

“It is actually remarkable how much vinyl sales are now being driven by contemporary artists selling to a younger demographic," he says.

"I think the new generation has grown up with streaming and downloads and these are now very commonplace, even boring. The vinyl experience is a way to reinvent music for this generation as something that is tactile and visually enticing, collectable and very current.”

He added that fandom is a factor, but this is good for sales of older music as well.

“Alongside the perennial Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Charli XCX was huge last summer, Taylor Swift is getting to the absolute top level, and artists like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter are selling really well on vinyl,” he says.

It's about more than music

12 Bar Music and Social founder Sam Tame agrees that physical ownership of an album is of growing appeal to younger audiences, but adds that it is also becoming a culture statement to own vinyl.

“While there’s undoubtedly an element of nostalgia, it’s also about younger generations seeking something more meaningful in a world full of instant, disposable content. Vinyl offers a richer, more immersive experience – the tactile act of handling the records, the larger artwork, and the ritual of playing an album make it feel more personal,” he tells What Hi-Fi?.

"With more artists and labels embracing vinyl, it's no longer just about the music; it’s become a cultural statement. The sound quality, collectability and deeper, tangible connection to music all contribute to vinyl’s growing appeal. It's not just a format – it’s an experience."

He flags older music fans as another important factor helping enable young people to get into vinyl, albeit with albums’ high price tags an ongoing roadblock for many.

“One of our favourite moments came on our launch day, when a 13-year-old girl came in with her grandparents. They treated her to over £100 worth of records, including albums by The Smiths and Arctic Monkeys. It was a heartwarming reminder of how vinyl connects generations,” he says.

Drift’s Morrison agrees, telling us that he can see the high price of vinyl, coupled with younger audiences’ desire to own music, rather than stream, could potentially lead to a surge in popularity for another key format.

“I can't see how any of them can afford to buy records to be totally honest. Charli’s Brat was pushing £50, I just can't see many young folks having fifty quid to spend on one record. Certainly not regularly,” he muses.

“A good friend runs a big shop and has found that her younger audience are buying CDs, so it would suggest that the interest in physical music is there, but the price is a blocker.”

The record store owners are just one of many groups keeping an eye on a potential CD resurgence.

Despite the format war starting decades ago, the debate about which is better continues to rage among What Hi-Fi? readers – who most recently butted heads discussing the topic in our February Ask the Reader column where we asked: “Is hi-fi getting better?”

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The biggest day in the vinyl enthusiast’s calendar is, like the queues that will inevitably form outside record store doors, just around the corner.

This Saturday (12th April), thousands of record stores around the world will celebrate their day – why, Record Store Day, of course! – by stocking exclusive RSD album releases, enjoying extended opening hours and hosting special events.

If you, like me, plan on heading to your local store, either to grab one of those special drops or simply to soak up the crowd vibes, there are a few things you can do to ensure tomorrow goes smoothly…

1. Plan ahead, duh

Not every store participating in RSD will stock every special release – I learned that the hard way some years ago, thinking that bagging a seemingly ordinary Suede release would take one store visit and all of 10 minutes.

And naturally the more hyped drops, such as Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music (50th Anniversary) release on silver ‘metallic’ vinyl this year, of which only 2500 are available globally, will probably go pretty quickly after doors open to those who have queued. Want Taylor Swift’s Fortnight (quantities unknown!)? The same applies.

So if you have a must-own record or two in mind that you’ll be gutted to miss out on on the day, call the store you plan on visiting to see if they will carry it.

Alternatively, check their website to see if they’ve posted what RSD stock they have, or drop them a message on Instagram if they’re particularly active on social media.

Locate one or two nearby back-up stores for a Plan B. And, importantly, arrive early – at least two hours before opening time, going by my experience of smaller, non-central London stores; or much, much earlier (some people queue overnight) if you’re going to big, popular stores like the UK’s Rough Trade outlets.

I’m stating the obvious here, but that probably means an early start for your Saturday so, for crying out loud, take some breakfast with you, or alternatively a mate who can pop over to the bakery while you stay in line. No one likes to shop when they’re hangry.

Speaking of mates, if one has asked you to grab the same release you’re getting for them too, just be aware that some stores offer a ‘one copy per person’ policy.

The pressure should be off if your RSD wishlist is longer and you will be happy snagging one or two. Just don't get carried away with the event – buy what you actually want and what you'll listen to, rather than just buying for the occasion, not least as RSD exclusives typically carry a high price tag.

2. Check second-hand vinyl

That said, RSD is a great opportunity to browse both brand-new and second-hand records that aren’t RSD releases, and stores will be sure to have stocked up on the latter, knowing full well there is an increasingly large audience for second-hand vinyl and that their footfall will probably reach a year-high that day.

If you will be digging through the second-hand crates, the usual second-hand record shopping advice applies: take the record out of the sleeves and find the brightest place in the store (or step outside into the sunlight briefly) to check for scuffs or scratches.

Remember, a good sign of a well-looked-after record is a well-looked-after cover. And if it’s not too busy and the store lets you spin records there and then, give them a quick listen.

3. Don’t get discouraged

While it’s very unlikely that highly limited exclusives will be easily up for grabs once they’re gone, some RSD albums will inevitably get a wider release down the track in similar form. So if you miss out, keep your eyes peeled for a larger repress.

Plus, if your wishlist is, say, available in larger quantities (five thousand or more, say), they could well pop up on Discogs to purchase soon after.

While RSD is all about in-store purchases, leftover RSD stock is often up for grabs from stores’ online sites a day or two after, too.

4. Make a day of it!

Plenty of record stores participating in RSD around the world are hosting special events. For example, Permanent Records Roadhouse in LA are hosting a live debut performance of brand-new ambient work from William Cashion (Future Islands) and Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins).

The RSD organisation itself is hosting a pop-up event at London’s Truman Brewery, selling mystery vinyl for a fiver a pop.

And the Northside Records store I’ll be heading to in Melbourne has rotating DJs all day, plus live performances and in-store signings from two local bands.

So check out nearby store events (you can search your area’s RSD events here) and make a day of it! Find somewhere good for lunch or dinner nearby, and check out a listening bar if you’re heading to a city…

And the Sunday? That’s for listening to your new RSD purchases at home in your favourite chair.

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The team at What Hi-Fi? are all pretty big music fans – which hopefully doesn’t come as a huge surprise given our ongoing mission to find the best audio hardware to make tracks truly shine.

This is why we love chatting to our colleagues across the office on the music desk about the latest albums we’re streaming, gigs we have coming up and, in keeping with this week’s theme, vinyl records we’re hankering after.

So to help celebrate our special Vinyl Week event leading up to Record Store Day this Saturday 12th April, we asked 10 of the big-name music journalists we share an office with which albums they treasure most – and the answers were revealing.

Ranging from original pressings of classic prog albums to rare greatest hits collections, our colleagues have all amassed quite a library. But, of that vast pile, these are the records they covet most.

Dave Greenslade & Patrick Woodroffe – The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony

The 1979 collaboration between Greenslade keyboard player Dave Greenslade and fantasy artist, the late Patrick Woodroffe, The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony (the first five books of creation, apparently) became something of a holy grail amongst my musically literate friends.

An expansive hard-back book, swathed in rich illustrations, and a double album of instrumental music to boot. Nothing seemed to sum prog rock up more than this wonderful folly of a release.

It came out in 1979, with new wave raging at the time, and apparently sunk without trace (of course!). I finally tracked a copy down in a second-hand record store somewhere a long time ago and was delighted with my find.

Full disclosure: I’ve not listened to it in years. It has lain gathering dust in my vinyl vaults 'til unearthed for this. Might give it a spin now – apparently Phil Collins plays drums on it…

• Buy The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony on Amazon
• Stream The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony on Spotify

Motörhead – No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (40th anniversary)

Ask any Motörhead fan and they'll tell you live is where the band truly came, erm, alive. The band's only number one on the UK, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith remains probably the definitive document of Britain's – possibly even the world's – greatest rock'n'roll band.

But amidst the squall of feedback, there's a sense that CD is just too clinical – don't even get me started on MP3s – meaning …Hammersmith on vinyl isn't just the superior version of that record, it's the only choice for the discerning music fan. Alas, it’s also the closest we can get now to the inimitable thunder they could bring to bear at every gig.

I already owned a particularly dog-eared copy of the album when I spotted the shiny new boxset sitting on the table at my favourite record store.

The album technically hadn’t come out yet – I was a day early and it was only sitting there to be processed as it had been delivered that morning – but, like Wayne Campbell, I knew it would be mine.

Sure enough, I walked away with that regal boxset like the cat who got the cream – best £80-odd I’ve ever spent. Well, other than on Motörhead tickets.

• Buy Motörhead, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (40th anniversary) on Amazon
• Stream Motörhead, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (40th anniversary) Tidal

Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory

I live in a flat, so I try to keep my vinyl collection small – not easy! Linkin Park's 20th anniversary edition of Hybrid Theory is housed in a massive box – complete with CDs, DVDs, a cassette and a photobook – but it's my absolute favourite.

As a teenager in the nu metal era, Hybrid Theory was truly formative for me, and remains a go-to comfort record. Although I'm still hugely sad about the loss of lead singer Chester Bennington, his legacy lives on, as countless bands I love today have been inspired by this debut.

• Buy Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory, on Amazon
• Stream Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory on Tidal

The Sheepdogs – Changing Colours

During the pandemic, to make weekends feel a bit more 'weekend-y', my partner and I began making cocktails and playing records on Friday evenings.

I'd started buying vinyl about when I joined Classic Rock full-time, so my collection includes a lot of albums I've become attached to through work. Some got played obsessively during those vodka-ed up lockdown Fridays, bringing light and definition to a strange period.

Of them all, though, this double LP by Canadian rock'n'rollers The Sheepdogs feels like a true celebration of the format.

Thoughtfully sequenced over three sides – with a gorgeous, colourful gatefold jacket and sleeve art that still makes me happy when I open it (i.e. often) – it's bursting with lovingly crafted fun, nuance and transportive moments. Not a dud track in sight.

• Buy The Sheepdogs, Changing Colours on Amazon
• Stream The Sheedogs, Changing Colours on Tidal

Mother Love Bone – Apple

This was nearly an impossible ask! And there's every chance I'd pick a different 'most cherished' vinyl if you asked me tomorrow.

In the end it came down to a toss up between my blue vinyl The Replacements Let It Be LP and the one I finally chose – my original copy of Mother Love Bone's Apple.

Bought on the day of release, which the internet tells me was July 19, 1990, from my local record shop – the long gone, much lamented Dominion Records – this album probably marked the beginning of my major obsession with the music scene in the Pacific North West. Which, in turn, is more or less how I ended up doing this kinda thing for a living.

My copy is beyond knackered – it’s an album I adore and I played it to death. I still do. Crackles and scratches be damned…

• Stream Mother Love Bone, Apple on Tidal

Metallica – Master Of Puppets (1987, Direct Metal Mastered, 45rpm)

Mick Wall's KKKKK review of Master Of Puppets was the lead review in the first issue of Kerrang! magazine I ever bought, and the San Francisco band's third album became the first record I ever bought.

It's still my favourite metal album, so I own it on vinyl, on cassette, on CD, and in a fancy box set, with a classy accompanying book... then got eight bands to record it anew for Kerrang!'s 20th anniversary.

But, annoyingly, my 1987 DMM copy of the record – two records, actually, as Music For Nations reissued it as a double album, playing at 45rpm – inexplicably went AWOL from my parents' home in Ireland at some point after I moved to London.

So sentimentality, and a generous book deal to co-write a two volume Metallica biography, meant I sought out a replacement on eBay a decade ago.

Worth its stupid price tag for Orion alone, to be honest, and for that Ross Halfin photo taken at 3132 Carlson Blvd, El Cerrito, California where they looked like the coolest band in the world to me as a teenager, and changed my life forever.

• Buy Metallica, Master of Puppets on Amazon
• Stream Metallica, Master of Puppets Remastered on Tidal

Soundgarden – King Animal

Considering the daft amounts of money I have often parted with in order to score a rare record on import, it’s not lost on me that my most treasured one of all was actually free.

While he was on holiday, my great friend and fellow journalist James Hickie bought me a copy of Soundgarden’s comeback album King Animal at a New York show. It was already special to me: an album that marked the return of one of my favourite bands after a long, long hiatus.

But thanks to James, this version actually also has all four members of Soundgarden’s signatures adorning the beautiful sleeve. When Chris Cornell tragically passed away in 2017, I spent a long time just holding and looking at it. And I still do to this day.

• Buy Soundgarden, King Animal, on Amazon
• Stream Soundgarden, King Animal, on Tidal

The Doors – L.A. Woman

This decision was a tough one. Should I opt for something that has been with me for years, or a more current album that has inspired me?

The short list included Plini’s Sunhead, a jazz/fusion/metal EP which pushes me as a guitarist, or Brian Eno’s Music Apollo, which has inspired many of my ambient creations which led me to write about synthesisers.

But heart and history won out, with L.A. Woman by The Doors, which has been the soundtrack to everything in my life from young romances, long sessions at my desk, discovering I’m a (half) decent musician, to simply being the backdrop to a contemplative evening.

Nothing, for me, beats Riders On The Storm, for any situation.

• Buy The Doors, L.A. Woman on Amazon
• Stream The Doors, L.A. Woman on Tidal

Deadmau5 – Random Album Title

Unavailable on vinyl for well over a decade – and I didn't actually own a record player during its original run – one of the greatest edm albums ever finally made its way back to wax last year with a lovely, blazing red disc glow-up.

I didn't so much as pause to blink before ordering my copy once it came on sale, and it was worth the hefty transatlantic postage costs. Mixed in its original format, genre classics such as I Remember and Arguru sound as warm, vibrant and propulsive as ever.

A true Desert Island Disc for me – and now I actually have one to take with me!

• Stream Deadmau5, Random Album Title on Tidal

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology

Tom Petty is recognised as one of the greatest songwriters of the past 50 years, with numerous chart hits on both sides of the Atlantic to his name.

Some of his albums, though, haven’t dated well, weighed down by at-the-time trendy, ornate or clunky production (sorry, Jeff Lynne).

The Live Anthology strips all that away, allowing jewels such as Breakdown, Mary Jane’s Last Dance and Runnin’ Down A Dream to be pared back and rejuvenated by Petty and the Heartbreakers, self-professed as “America's Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band”.

The tracklisting packs in the hits alongside well-chosen covers like Green Onions and Oh Well. The vinyl set is the definition of comprehensive – 7 LPs and a book. It is superbly designed and not available on all streaming platforms.

Highlight is a sublimely placed, perfectly mixed It’s Good To Be King. When the time comes, I very much hope they bury me with this set.

• Shop for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Live Anthology on Discogs
• Listen to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Live Anthology on Spotify

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Not strictly in the spirit of Record Store Day, I know, but bear with me.

I'm not talking about new releases, which are obviously on new vinyl – and I'm as excited as anyone for some of the great new records supporting the celebration of bricks and mortar record shops. But let's just say, you will no longer find me in a shop flicking through new, heavyweight versions of decades-old LPs whose original release was primarily on vinyl.

Now, I much prefer to seek out the original or contemporaneous copies of albums that were recorded in or before the 1990s in particular – to complete artist collections I'd already begun, or add now because I wasn't so much into the artist at the time (or wasn't born). I'm not concerned with the weight of the vinyl, and how much better or worse it might sound whether it's 180g or 120g. I'll leave that debate to others.

So why do I care so much about a record's age?

Not 'our price'

First let's address the phenomenally expensive elephant in the room. Vinyl has risen in price dramatically in recent years, with Discogs' Marketplace analysis finding that the average price of one vinyl record is around 24 per cent more expensive than it was five years ago.

So, forty quid-plus for a re-release of, say, a 1980s album is tough to justify for music I may even already own on CD but simply want to add to my vinyl collection. I've bought great-condition copies of ’70s and ’80s albums for a quarter of that price that sound just as good, if not (perhaps subjectively) better, than a new pressing.

Long before I became a 'proper' (rather than incidental) collector of vinyl – ever since joining the format's revival as I wrote about here – by the mid-’90s, I already owned a ton of records. I started buying music in the 1980s, when it was one of three options alongside cassette and CD (but, like most people I knew, I didn't have a CD player yet). All through vinyl's fallow years, I kept all my records, managed to store them well, move house with them remaining intact – and now those records are my favourite part of my collection.

A lot of that stems from the fact that I can pretty much remember when and where I bought those LPs – and just what each meant to me at the time. Nostalgic, certainly, but I am certainly never going to remember those details about a record (even one I may have always wanted in my life) that I just bought after fighting my way through Manga merch in HMV last week.

The nature of finding a great second-hand record, on the other hand, makes its purchase so much more special.

Rewarding work

Ask any collector – of stamps, pre-war spoons, taxidermied kittens, whatever – collecting is only really fun if you have to work for it. The thrill is indeed in the hunt. I find it way more rewarding to track down a good quality second-hand copy of a desired record.

That joy can come from a surprise, affordable find at a record fair or charity shop (where I won't pay more than £20-ish for an album, as a general rule), or from the joy of sliding an online-purchased record out of its sleeve to find it still has fanclub inserts or even the record label's 'Nice Price' adverts from its time. It's extremely gratifying to add a new (old) record to sit alongside my old (old) records.

Recent additions I'm particularly pleased with include The Cars’ Candy-O and the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet, both bought for just a tenner, from our wonderful local record fair. In contrast, I'm way less thrilled with my new-vinyl copy of Led Zeppelin II. The extra-weighty 'Brown Bomber' sits, awkwardly I feel, between 40-plus year old copies of Led Zeppelin and Led Zep III, the latter with its original, beautiful rotatable sleeve still intact.

Double trouble

Then there's the matter of new vinyl's formatting. Originally LPs were of a certain length – you can only fit so much of that spiralling groove within the confines of a 12-inch platter. This, of course, dictated the length and thus running order of an album, which in turn affected what made the cut and what didn't (the beautiful Silver Springs, for example, incredibly didn't make Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album originally).

With new vinyl marketed more as a luxury edition of an album release, one conceit by record labels seems to be to make double albums out of what was once – and/or really only needs to be – a single album release.

At best, you're having to change the record more frequently, interrupting the flow of a record that had a specific running order for sides A and B. At worse, this can result in Side D containing just one crappy out-take track. I'm looking at you, Queens Of The Stone Age's In Times New Roman – there are two-sided albums, and there are four-sided albums; three sides is frankly nonsense.

This sort of thing reinforces a creeping sense that a new vinyl release somehow isn't as much of a 'proper' thing – a cynical marketing move, even, to sell more formats of the same product.

Not all are created equal

It stumps me as to why (please, someone tell me), but in my experience, not all new records seem to sound as good as they should. I've bought new-vinyl versions of albums that sound muggy to the point of being significantly worse than an MP3 burned from CD.

If you believe a lot of record-collecting forums, it seems not totally uncommon for some newer recordings to be made from the most recent version of the album because the record label no longer owns the original analogue master. Which could mean from CD or even MP3, and so at best they lose a lot of the warmth of the original vinyl; at worst, they just don't sound good.

A quick check on Discogs tells me that my copy of The Killers' Hot Fuss (the worst offender I own in the new-vinyl sound quality department) was pressed from an original vinyl mastering. Which, of course, spanners the above theory somewhat. Still, for whatever reason, that particular recording does sound poor – and I paid a new-vinyl premium for it, just for the sake of owning it, despite already having it on CD.

This has sown some seeds of doubt with me as to how good new vinyl actually is, comparatively – but since I've also bought Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon on new vinyl, which both sound incredible, that is probably just me actually being paranoid.

Sure, older vinyl can have its imperfections, scratches, and wear and tear. But so long as that intended warmth and great resultant sound is coming through my speakers, the odd pop and crackle that goes along with it and betrays the record's age, to me confirms its authenticity and enhances the listening experience. I don't necessarily prefer the way old records sound, but I'm more than OK with it.

In the vinyl analysis…

Perhaps the main reason for my greater love of old vinyl, though, is that, when it's in good condition, a second-hand record feels as though it's been really cared for and loved by someone. For whatever reason it ended up in a second-hand store, and along whatever long and winding road it took to get there, someone once bought it and played it, and quite probably loved it as much as I do now.

But, that said, all vinyl is great to play and own, whatever its weight, age or provenance – and the fact that this venerable format is thriving in 2025 is certainly a massive cause for celebration either way.

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Record Store Day is back for another year! The nationwide event seeks to raise interest in and awareness of vinyl and independent record stores, offering up a heaving list of special releases and limited-edition records that are only available to specific participating stores to entice audiences new and old to pick up something special this weekend. The official Record Store Day 2025 takes place on Saturday the 12th of April, though the initiative has events running throughout the year.

To mark the occasion in conjunction with our Vinyl Week 2025 celebrations, we've selected our favourite exclusives that will be going on sale as part of the annual event. You can peruse the full list of exclusive RSD releases, but we've honed down the records that we are most excited about and are tempted to buy for ourselves.

• Listen to the full playlist on Tidal

Sam Fender – Me and the Dog EP

While I’m sure there are plenty of excellent albums yet to be released this year, they’ll have to go a long way to beat Sam Fender’s exceptional, soulful and politically charged People Watching. Fender’s Springsteen-via-Newcastle-upon-Tyne style is absolutely electric, encompassing everything from toe-tapping folk-style tracks to razor-sharp scathing rants directed at social injustice and heartbreaking autobiographical compositions that document journeys of grief.

As part of Record Store Day 2025, Fender has announced an EP that includes a handful of tracks not featured on the album, titled Tyrants and I'm Always On Stage. Also on the EP is People Watching, Me and The Dog (which has been a streaming exclusive until now) and a live recording of People Watching from his show at the O2 Arena. That final track is especially poignant for me, as I attended (and thoroughly enjoyed) one of his shows at the O2.

People Watching is a truly special album, so this Record Store Day exclusive pressing is a must-have in my opinion. It has also given me hope for a full deluxe version of the album to be released on streaming platforms in the future.

Words by Lewis Empson

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to Me and the Dog on Tidal

MJ Lenderman – And The Wind (Live and Loose!)

This isn't just MJ Lenderman playing songs from his Ghost of Your Guitar (2021) and Boat Songs (2022) live as they appear on the album; this is the breakthrough Asheville singer-songwriter giving extra vigour and vitality to those songs on stage through energetic reimaginings and a hearty backing band that includes fellow Wednesday bandmates Ethan Baechtold (bassist) and Xandy Chelmis (pedal steel guitar/tamborine).

His often sparse and lo-fi songs are now caffeinated, full-band jams and grooves that rollick from one to the next. There's a whole new dimension to the distorted, whisper-quiet Live Jack, while the sober Catholic Priest works better with its added instrumental expression.

Never once does this collection of amped-up performances, recorded in Chicago's Lincoln Hall and Los Angeles' Lodge Room in 2023, feel anything other than 'in the moment'. This is a very present live album worth not only hearing but also owning.

Words by Becky Roberts

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to And the Wind on Tidal

Goat & Graveyard – Ship Of Fools/Light As A Feather

Let me introduce you to Sweden's finest anonymous, mask-wearing rock band that isn't Ghost. Goat mix psychedelic-rock guitar fuzz, funky beats and trancey experimental world-music flavours with joyously belted-out African-esque female vocals.

The best way I can think to describe how all this actually sounds together is that it's one big party. The band's energetic live shows and blissed-out jam sessions, many of which can be found on YouTube, are truly, hip-shakingly, hypnotically groovy.

Fellow Swedish rockers Graveyard, with whom Goat have collaborated here, are neither mask-wearing nor, despite the name, in any way satanic or dark. As a more pared-back and way less theatrical proposition than Goat, the Gothenburg four-piece sticks to guitars-bass-drums for bluesy hard rock, underpinned by a truly soulful feel thanks to some righteous grooves and Paul Rodgers-esque vocals.

Whether you're a fan of Goat or Graveyard, or both (or if you've yet to experience the joy of either band's music), it's going to be super exciting to stick this Record Store Day 7-inch on the turntable and boogie.

Do note, we haven't got the YouTube clip for the above track, mainly because there isn't one, so we have attached their most recent album instead.

Words by Chris Burke

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Waxahatchee – Much Ado About Nothing b/w Mud

Waxahatchee’s Tiger’s Blood was my album of 2024: a gorgeous, lush, hazy, Americana-tinged folk indie record from singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, whose lilting, honest vocals and unflinching yet emotional lyrics have stuck in my soul since that standout single, Right Back To It. Perfect for dull, grey days as well as sunny, summery days.

Naturally, then, a 7-inch of three bonus songs that were recorded during the Tiger’s Blood sessions being on the RSD 2025 list has caught my eye.

Much Ado About Nothing is cut from the same cloth and sounds beautiful, but Mud (featuring MJ Lenderman on backing vocals again) and Next To Me are entirely unknown to me – and I can’t wait to hear them. The 7-inch record doesn’t get enough love, either, and I’m keen to grow my collection of 45s with this release.

Words by Kashfia Kabir

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to Much Ado About Nothing on Tidal

Bloc Party – Little Thoughts

In the early noughties, Bloc Party’s brand of energetic indie rock left quite the impression, and if there’s one song I have to hit repeat on every time it appears on my playlist, it’s Little Thoughts.

There’s just something about the infectious drumming of ex-band member Matt Tong that I can’t get enough of, and this track showcases it perfectly. It’s absolutely relentless. The pacey drumplay doesn't pause for breath once – it just seems to get faster and faster the longer the track goes on.

As an aspiring air drummer for more than three decades, for me this is a track guaranteed to blow the cobwebs off my imaginary drum kit. Apart from the drumming, the song's pace is also encouraged by a similarly speedy bassline which helps catapult things along.

Little Thoughts has appeared on some versions of the band’s debut studio album Silent Alarm (which is 20 years old this year!), but a Little Thoughts EP was released on CD in Japan back in 2004. Now that it’s getting a vinyl release for RSD 2025, I can’t wait to pick it up.

And it actually has two bangers on there. The second is Helicopter which those unfamiliar with the band (and who live in the UK) will have heard in a recent EDF Energy commercial. Very glamorous.

Words by Andy Madden

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to Little Thoughts on Tidal

Gil Scott-Heron – Moving Target

For me, the standout track on Moving Target is Washington D.C., not just for its social commentary – which, 43 years on, remains as relevant as ever – but for its catchy chorus.

It features in the Gil Scott-Heron documentary Black Wax, which captures the poet and godfather of rap at his charismatic best, strolling along the Potomac, boombox on his shoulder, singing along to his own track. The documentary as a whole is a must-watch – sections of it show that Heron missed his calling as a stand-up comedian.

I digress. Moving Target offers a more laid-back groove than some of Heron’s previous studio albums and a greater reggae influence (especially on No Exit). You still get plenty of social commentary – it’s not that much of a departure – but it’s a bit more polished this time around.

This is a chance to own a bona fide classic from a giant of the black music scene and one of the most influential musicians of his time.

Words by Joe Svetlik

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to Moving Target on Tidal

Klaus Doldinger & Giorgio Moroder – The NeverEnding Story OST

If you were born in the 1980s, The NeverEnding Story is a movie that is probably burned into your psyche for a couple of reasons.

First, because of that scene midway through the movie that had every single one of us in tears and traumatised for life; to this day, I have to leave the room and wait for it to finish whenever my wife and I rewatch the film.

Second, because it has one of the most over-the-top, memorable '80s soundtracks you’ll ever hear. Composed by jazz musician Klaus Doldinger and renowned producer Giorgio Moroder and with vocals from Limahl (of Kajagoogoo) and Beth Anderson, the opening banger alone immediately plucks my heart’s nostalgia strings.

With this special Record Store Day 2025 release, which features the whole soundtrack, including recordings originally thought lost to the ages, I can’t help but think it’s time to return to Fantasia.

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to The NeverEnding Story OST on Tidal

Stone Temple Pilots – Live in New Haven 1994

For sheer enjoyability, Stone Temple Pilots' Purple is one of my favourite albums ever recorded, not to mention proof that 1994 was one of the best years for music. It's one of the CDs I had on repeat in my car back in the old days, enjoying heavy rotation alongside the likes of Radiohead's The Bends and a Feeder Greatest Hits album. Hey, it was a different time.

Live in New Haven 1994 was actually released on August 23, 1994, a month after Purple had hit shelves, so it's not surprising to see the setlist packed with favourites from the band's sophomore effort. Interstate Love Song, Meatplow, Still Remains, Vasoline, Silvergun Superman – they're all there, while heavy-hitters from the group's debut Core also feature.

17 live tracks on two separate LPs courtesy of one of the finest grunge outfits ever? Very nice.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to Live in New Haven 1994 on Tidal

De La Soul – Bigger & Respect

You don't just get re-releases of golden oldies for Record Store Day, you also get lost classics that see the light of day as part of the event. Bigger and Respect were originally recorded during the studio sessions for De La Soul's excellent 2004 drop The Grind Date, but they never made it to the final cut.

As part of the celebration for the album's 20th birthday (2004 was 20 years ago?!), the group decided to unearth and revitalise Bigger and Respect from the archives. Presented on vinyl for the first time as a double 7in set, the once-lost tracks have been paired with instrumental versions ofRock Co.Kane Flow and The Future.

They're not the easygoing, sun-splashed tunes that you'll find scattered across the group's Daisy Age icon 3 Feet High and Rising. Instead they employ the harder, leaner aesthetic gaining traction as noughties hip-hop found its stride.

Naturally, they nailed it. Hey, this is De La Soul. They can do anything.

Words by Harry McKerrell

Discover the exclusive Record Store Day 2025 release

Listen to Bigger on Tidal

Listen to Respect on Tidal

MORE:

9 tips for new or returning vinyl fans that will help you on your record-collecting journey

Vinyl Week 2025: all of the latest reviews, advice and features

How to easily add a turntable to your music or TV system

What Hi-Fi?’s 2025 Vinyl Week special event is in full swing and to help celebrate I have talked to a trio of independent record shop owners, asking for their top tips to help newbies get into the analogue format.

If, like me, you were expecting another list of tips to help you avoid buying damaged vinyl, or handle your new purchase once you get it home, you’re in for a surprise.

Because all three of our store owners chose to use this year’s Record Store Day celebration (Saturday 12th April) to urge fans to think about the hardware they are using. After all, not all hi-fi is created equal.

Start with the turntable

Drift Records manager, Rupert Morrison tells What Hi-Fi? that the most important thing to do, when getting into vinyl, is to make sure you have a solid turntable.

“Spend what money you have on a robust turntable. If the price seems too cheap, it's going to be a crappy experience. Use discovery platforms like blogs and streaming sites to find something you're into, and invest in vinyl when you love it,” Morrison says.

“Better still, spend some time at the record shop and get to know them. Shops love it when people come and hang out and contribute to the culture. The stereo in a record shop can blow your mind a hundred times a day; that is what 12th April (Record Store Day 2025) should be celebrating.”

While we always suggest also checking out our best turntables buying guide for accurate buying advice, the point holds true.

We comparatively test turntables every year and find huge differences, technically and sonically, between each model – at both the higher and lower ends of the market.

Regardless of your budget, we urge you to research the specific model you are thinking about buying.

This is especially true in the current market; simply paying more won't necessarily get you the best bang for your buck. There are plenty of fantastic-sounding affordable options for buyers on a budget starting at around £199 / £200.

These include the Award-winning Pro-Ject Primary E, which sits at the top of our best budget record players guide.

Flashback Records owner Mark Burgess, agrees, adding that new buyers should avoid the allure of super-cheap all-in-one system. In his experience, he says, they not only tend to sound bad but can also gouge records.

“The best advice to people just getting into vinyl would be not to get a cheap all-in-one player," he tells What Hi-Fi?. "The sound won’t be very good and you’ll potentially ruin your records. Spend a little extra and get an entry-level turntable, separate amplifier and separate speakers.”

The two-star experience we had reviewing the Crosley Keepsake and Crosley Cruiser are a good example of what he means about cheaper vinyl systems, with both featuring atypically heavy tracking weights that can damage your records quickly.

Editor’s note: As a person who destroyed a copy of my dad’s Yes, Close to the Edge on a cheap vinyl system as a kid, I can personally attest to the wisdom in Burgess’ advice.

Pay the same care picking your hardware you do choosing your music

12 Bar Music and Social founder, Sam Tame adds that paying attention to the hardware you are using is particularly important, given the personal nature of vinyl purchases.

“One of my favourite quotes is, ‘My record collection tells the story of my life better than I can.’ Records are like postcards from different moments in time, allowing you to relive those memories with every spin,” he says.

“My advice? Start with a good turntable and speakers (not one of those retro briefcase lookalikes – while they may look cool, the sound quality will be disappointing). Don’t be afraid to ask for help when choosing records. Every album adds to your story, so take your time, explore, and enjoy the process of building your collection.”

If you're eager to take these three experts' advice and invest in a decent setup to play your records, then make sure to keep checking out What Hi-Fi?, where we we constantly test the latest hardware that will do your vinyl justice.

On top of that, if you have a specific question, you can also get in touch with us on our forums, social media pages, shared whathifi@futurnet.com email address or directly below our articles in the shiny new comments section.

MORE:

How to choose the right record player for you

Our picks of the best budget record players

We pick 9 of the best Record Store Day 2025 releases – Sam Fender, De La Soul, Waxahatchee and more

I began collecting vinyl in the 1980s, back when it wasn't so much a conscious act of 'collecting', but as a music-loving kid was simply my preferred format to buy LPs and singles on. Having survived its own 'death' and returned, strongly, in the last decade or so, vinyl has become so much more than the commodity it once was.

I'm thankful I was never tempted to get rid of my old records as I transitioned to CD and then MP3, and since I started to buy vinyl again, the nature of my record buying is unabashed 'collecting', adding each new purchase proudly to my existing collection (even if I already owned it on a digital format).

Record collecting is an extremely satisfying hobby and one that is easy to get hooked on. But it can be an expensive one. With the average price of vinyl having gone up by, according to Discogs' research, 24 per cent since 2020, inflation in particular has changed the way we are buying records.

Record lovers are by necessity exercising more caution in their buying, prioritising quality over quantity and focusing on records they really want. If you're just starting out on your collecting journey, or returning to it, post-revival, it's even more important to take care when building, and maintaining, your precious vinyl collection.

Here are ten tips encompassing what to do and what not to do, to help you make, and keep, a great record collection.

Check the physical vinyl if you're buying second-hand

If you're crate-digging for second-hand records, check the actual vinyl itself before you commit. No decent record shop owner is going to mind you (carefully) taking the record out of its sleeve, and finding the best light to hold it up to, to check for obvious scratches, marks etc. I've bought second-hand records that, while the sleeve was in good condition, the record itself was fairly poor.

It cuts both ways that you can't always judge a record by its cover – I just picked up a bargainous copy of The Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet at a record fair, whose sleeve was in a sorry state, with evident patches where stickers (probably from a lending library) have been removed. A tatty sleeve, for sure. But, the record itself is in very good condition for its age.

If you're not sure that you're looking at any sort of a bargain, get your phone out and quickly search for the record on Discogs, which is a handy resource for telling you what a record is selling for, dependent on its condition, and what it would cost you to get it posted to you. This will all help you assess the value of a record you're considering buying from a store.

• Here are more tips for buying second-hand vinyl

Make sure your record player is level, stable and watch out for floor vibrations

If the floor of your listening room is noticeably bouncy, or flexes with footfall (often this will be an upstairs room), be careful when your records are playing. Jumping around my student bedroom to Nirvana's Nevermind, upstairs in an old terraced house, caused my deck to jump and the needle to scratch Smells Like Teen Spirit permanently, rendering it unplayable without a massive jump, less than three days after Nevermind's release. And it's still in my collection, and still ruined.

You can read more about how to properly set up your record player to get the best sound and preserve your records better.

Use plastic wallets, you'll be glad you did

I used to think plastic sleeves made shelves of vinyl look a little scruffy, preventing you from seeing the spines which, when new, looked lovely and helped identify the record too. But years of thumbing through my collection has caused the spines to become scuffed and dog-eared.

Plastic wallets will help keep your record covers and the vinyl inside in much better nick. To help your filing, use cardboard dividers to help narrow down your search if you can no longer read the spines due to the plastic wallets.

Store your record collection properly

We've already compiled a handy guide to storing your vinyl records – but the main points here are: keep them away from excessive light or heat, and in a dry place; use plastic wallets and dividers to stop you over-thumbing them; store them upright, not stacked; make sure to put the vinyl back in its inner sleeve; and use recommended products to keep them clean.

Be especially wary of heat. Vinyl really, really doesn't like getting hot. Don't store your vinyl in direct sunlight or too close to a radiator or heat source, but also be careful on the way home from the record shop. Should you be lucky enough to have bought your new record on a particularly hot day, don't leave your new purchase in the car while you wander off to other shops. Like dogs, it's cruel – and no, you can't just crack a window.

Once, years ago, I'd bought Dinosaur Jr's seminal Bug album and, after an extended day out, got a takeaway on the way home – and put the well-wrapped food in the same bag as the vinyl. When I went to play my brand new record, I found just five minutes of excess heat had warped it and rendered it unplayable.

• Our step-by-step guide on how to clean your turntable

Listen through decent kit

If you're reading What Hi-Fi? in the first place, then we really shouldn't need to say this – but if you're serious about vinyl, you should have at least good, if entry-level, gear with which to play your records. You can find many buying guides for best affordable turntables and other necessary gear on What Hi-Fi?, and you can also have a set-up with fewer boxes than a full separates system entails – for example a turntable with a built-in phono stage and a pair of powered speakers.

You don't need only the very best set-up to enjoy your collection, but of course the better it sounds, the more you'll enjoy your records. It's sort of the point. We'd probably recommend not playing your records on those all-in-one decks that looks like a suitcase, too.

Speaking of which, make sure the tracking weight of your tonearm isn't too heavy (or too light), which can each cause their own kinds of problems for your vinyl. Again, follow our guide to setting up your turntable properly.

Check the record you're buying online is the real deal

For the serious collector, of course, there are plenty of sites online to virtually dig for rarer editions, but if you're just starting out there's few better places to look at than eBay and Discogs. The latter’s marketplace features bona fide dealers, and it tells you the condition (based on established grading criteria, such as Mint, Near Mint, Very Good Plus, down to Fair/Poor) of every listed record's vinyl disc, and also its sleeve.

Being able to compare an album's various listing prices should also ensure you don't overpay. As on eBay, be sure to check the seller's history, star rating and reviews. If you're going via eBay and the like, a good seller should give you plenty of information about the record's condition, and even a catalogue number. You can always cross-check that record against listings on Discogs to check value and authenticity (and again make sure to read the seller's history and reviews).

You can't always 100 per cent trust the grading (one person's idea of 'near-mint' isn't necessarily going to make it so), but it's a fair start. If you have the time, it's worth a quick Google for mentions of a record's catalogue number on forums, message boards and comments sections, as whole batches may have fallen victim to factory error or pressed on sub-par vinyl.

Fakes are rare, but they are out there, unfortunately. These are pirated pressings, as opposed to bootlegs (which can themselves be worth owning as they preserve albeit unofficial live recordings, outtakes or otherwise unreleased tracks that might otherwise have been lost), that will not be mastered from an owned, original recording. If you're in any doubt as to the authenticity of a record, we have some tips for spotting fakes here.

Know what you want in your collection

There's a lot of music out there, and it can be a bewildering experience wandering into a well-stocked record store without knowing what you want. I still experience at least a partial mind-wipe of the records I'm after as soon as I walk in the door.

It helps to keep in mind an idea of what you're looking for, or better yet keep a list. If you're collecting – and as a hugely collectible thing, vinyl records have a certain cache that means you'll want your collection to be only full of great things, not impulse buys – it might help to give you a better start to your hunt to have at least prioritised artists.

After some cool albums, but not sure where to start? Something like Rolling Stone's Greatest Albums of All Time contains, obviously, plenty of records that are considered classic. You're not going to go far wrong with having Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Nirvana's Nevermind, Prince's Purple Rain or Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (all in the Top Ten) in your collection, for example.

Or you can always peruse our list of the best-sounding vinyl records to test turntables for inspiration.

...but, most importantly, collect what you love

Don't let anyone tell you that Daphne And Celeste Save The World isn't worth owning on vinyl, should you happen to be a big fan…

And don't be intimidated into buying that classic hard bop jazz album that everyone always goes on about if you're never, ever going to listen to it. Because, specifically, you even don't like jazz.

And don't feel like you just have to buy something because you've spent an hour or more filing through records, if you haven't found something you really want. Just walk away, and return another day. You'll be glad you did.

MORE:

From voice to vinyl: how records get their groove

How to set up a turntable and get the best sound

Old is gold: why I massively prefer old vinyl to new

Happy Record Store Day!

We hope you're out and about at your local independent record store, shopping for some new vinyl, or simply enjoying spinning your record collection at home. With Record Store Day 2025 landing this Saturday 12th April, our editorial team (and a few special guests) have spent all week celebrating all things turntable and vinyl-related.

Our Vinyl Week special has been packed full of fascinating features and useful advice, from handy tips on collecting records, whether the weight of a vinyl record makes an impact on sound quality, why hunting for old vinyl can be more rewarding than buying new re-issues, and even a fresh perspective on how using a turntable differs from CD and streaming.

Some of the world's top turntable manufacturers have shared their favourite records with us, which included personal stories on how an album or track made an impact on their lives and how they design turntables.

We've published reviews on three very different turntables, including the unique Audio-Technica Sound Burger, while our editorial team has offered advice on how to set up a turntable correctly to get the best performance, and what to look for when choosing the right spinner for you.

We've also explored a more sustainable future for vinyl, brought real-life insights from independent record store owners on current buying habits, and run down the 20 best turntables we've reviewed in the past 50 years.

You can stay updated with all the latest features, advice and reviews by heading to the Vinyl Week hub, or simply check out all the links below. We're also posting exclusive videos and images on our social media (as we dig into our 50-year magazine archive), so head to Instagram and Facebook for some turntable treasures from the past.

As ever, thank you to our readers who have commented and shared their vinyl collection and turntable memories so far. Vinyl Week may be over soon, but we all know we'll be spinning records for the rest of the year...

Reviews

• Audio-Technica Sound Burger (AT-SB727): not just a novelty; this is a charming, fun concept with plenty of appeal
• Vertere SG-1/Xtrax high-end turntable: spectacular in appearance, engineering and sound quality
• Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT turntable: an easy-to-use record player that successfully balances performance, features and affordability

Features

• My most valuable record: What Hi-Fi? staff reveal their most precious vinyl possessions
• The 20 very best turntables of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime
• We asked 8 of the world's top turntable designers for their favourite records – here's what they said
• Is 180g vinyl worth it? We asked several hi-fi manufacturers if a record’s weight can impact sound quality
• Unsurprisingly, our readers own a lot of vinyl, but cost and quality are now big concerns
• 5 special edition record players that demand to be seen and heard
• I have listened to my favourite music on vinyl, CD and streaming – and the differences go far beyond sound
• We reveal 10 top music journalists’ most treasured vinyl records: Tom Petty, Motörhead, The Doors, plus some big surprises
• Old is gold: why I massively prefer buying old vinyl to new
• We asked three record store owners what young people are buying – and their answer wasn't Taylor Swift
• Now that vinyl record sales are on the rise, is there a more sustainable way to manufacture them?
• We pick 9 of the best Record Store Day 2025 releases – Sam Fender, De La Soul, Waxahatchee and more
• I interviewed three independent record store owners – and they have one big piece of advice for vinyl newbies
• From voice to vinyl: how records get their groove

Advice

• Best turntables 2025: top record players tested by our expert reviewers
• How to store records: 9 tips for keeping your vinyl tip-top
• Buying your first record player? Here are 8 questions you should ask yourself
• I’ve just planned my Record Store Day – here are 4 tips for shopping success tomorrow
• 9 tips for new or returning vinyl fans that will help you on your record-collecting journey
• How to spot fake records: 10 tips to avoiding counterfeit vinyl
• 13 of the best turntable accessories to elevate your vinyl experience
• How to set up a turntable correctly and get the best sound
• How to easily add a turntable to your music or TV system
• How to choose the right record player for you
• Best high-end record players: from Linn to Michell to Technics – ultimate premium turntables tested by our review team
• How to change the cartridge on your turntable
• Best Bluetooth turntables: top wireless record players tried and tested

In celebration of our annual Vinyl Week, which this year begins on 7th April ahead of Record Store Day on the 12th, we want to know all about your record collection.

We're all of course familiar with the (prepare for the cliché) 'Vinyl Revival', and news stories abound about how popular the old analogue format has become, but have we reached a bit of a saturation point now? Has this popularity had a detrimental effect in terms of availability and prices? And has the availability of hi-res streams changed how people feel about vinyl?

We would love to get feedback from our readers on all of that.

So, how big is your vinyl collection? Have you been collecting for decades or are you a relative newcomer? And how have your vinyl-purchasing habits changed in recent years?

If you're buying more or less than you used to – why is that?

Are you buying vinyl new or second-hand, and where from? And how do you feel about 'Special Edition' records?

And this might be a controversial question, but do you actually listen to all of your vinyl, or are there some records that you've bought purely for the pleasure of owning them? We won't judge.

If you can give us some insight into any of these topics (and/or some general thoughts on the lay of the vinyl land), we will be very grateful – and the best, most interesting responses will make it into a feature that we'll be publishing during Vinyl Week.

You can post your thoughts in the comments section of this page, on our social media channels or directly on our forums, and we'll dig into your responses towards the end of the week.

Thanks in advance for your contributions!

You can now read the accompanying feature: Unsurprisingly, our readers own a lot of vinyl, but cost and quality are now big concerns

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Check out our guide to how to spot fake records

Here are the best turntables available right now

How to store records: 9 tips for keeping your vinyl tip-top

Record Store Day means lots of special edition vinyl is on sale – but beware. There are plenty of counterfeits and forgeries around that you will want to avoid. Not only do these leave the artists, retailers and record labels out of pocket, but they could sound awful too.

You want to be especially careful when it comes to coloured vinyl, as often these are sold as 'limited editions' when indeed they're fakes.

To make sure you're buying the genuine article and not lining the fraudsters' pockets, follow these tips from record shop owners and the authorities so you know the telltale signs to look out for.

And happy record shopping!

1. Spot the difference

By counterfeits, we mean pirated records – those that pretend to be an official release, but aren't.

That's as opposed to bootlegs, which are often live recordings, outtakes or other tracks that were previously unreleased.

Bootlegs are still unofficial, and illegal as they don't pay royalties to the artists. But collectors view them much more sympathetically, as they do preserve music that would otherwise have been lost.

2. Start with the packaging

The inks used in the 1960s and 70s sleeve art had much more depth to them, as they were oil-based. But after the OAPEC oil crisis these were phased out as they became too expensive.

"If a record claims to be an original from that period, look for the deeper colours," says Nick Brown from Intoxica Records.

While you won’t get obvious signs like spelling mistakes (as the covers are copies of the originals), there are other things to look out for.

Most new vinyl is shrink wrapped, but not fakes, as it cuts into the counterfeiters’ profit margins.

"I've never seen a shrink wrapped fake, so if it's brand new and not wrapped, that's a red flag," says Graham Davis, the owner of Casbah Records.

If you see circular marks on the sleeve, run your finger over them.

"If they're genuine ring wear (marks from the vinyl where it's rubbed the sleeve), they will feel textured," says Brown. If they're smooth, it means the cover has been copied from one that does have genuine ring wear marks, so avoid them.

"You can also check out if the original was a gatefold sleeve," says Chris Bress from Reckless Records. And if the copy you've seen isn't, you know it's not genuine.

You should also look closely at the barcode.

"Often the vertical lines will have some pixelation or jaggedness to them, so that's a good way to tell a fake," says Mark Burgess, the owner of Flashback Records.

3. Enter the matrix

Another way to tell if a record is genuine is to look at the matrix number.

This is the number assigned to each side of a record – when a record is cut, this number is either machine stamped or handwritten on the runout groove (between the last track and the label).

A counterfeit record won't have a machine stamped matrix number, but just because the number is handwritten that doesn't mean the record is a fake, as some small labels write theirs by hand.

"Whether it's handwritten or machine stamped, the matrix number should correspond to the catalogue number on the label," says Brown.

You can use sites like Discogs to check which records should have which matrix numbers.

A record should also have an engineer's stamp to show who actually mastered the record. If it's a particularly sought-after record or label, you should be able to look up which engineer's stamp it should bear.

Most classic Blue Note records feature Rudy Van Gelder's 'RVG' stamp, for example.

But even those in the know can find it hard to tell the difference sometimes.

"The first Iron Maiden single has been counterfeited so many times, if I saw one I would have to do some research before I could say conclusively whether it's a fake," says Tony Boothroyd from Vinyl Tap. "And I've been selling records since 1985."

4. A choice of colours?

Some fraudsters use coloured vinyl to either cover their tracks (by claiming it’s a foreign import) or to make them seem more collectible.

"Coloured vinyl often signifies a limited edition, and tends to hold its value better – hence the attraction for counterfeiters," says Boothroyd.

Having said that, if it's a special edition for Record Store Day, bought from a participating store, you're on safe ground. You should also check the edge of the vinyl, and you might want to wear gloves while you do so.

"We've come across some very poorly trimmed vinyl with very sharp, serrated edges that’s at risk of cutting your fingers," a spokesperson from the British Phonographic Institute's (BPI) Content Protection Unit tells us.

That's not what they mean by 'cutting a record'.

5. Check the genre

Some genres are more susceptible to counterfeits than others.

"There are a lot of northern soul counterfeits doing the rounds, but not many reggae ones," says Ben Bell from reggae specialist Lion Vibes.

6. Don’t trust your ears alone

While it's true that some counterfeits can sound truly awful, it's not guaranteed to be the case. In fact, some can even sound better than the original pressing, thanks to the technology that's cheap and readily available today.

Of course, you won't know what it sounds like until you get it onto your turntable.

And those that sound bad, sound really, really bad. "Thin and watery, like an MP3," is Ben Bell's verdict.

The counterfeiting process can throw in some unwelcome additions to the track, too.

"I once heard a counterfeit that had been recorded from a Mac computer – I know because I could hear the Mac's volume adjustment chime on the track," says Bell.

The audio of a counterfeit vinyl is often taken from a CD master, which isn't optimised for vinyl. The equipment it's been transferred with, the cutting engineer, the plates, will all be of inferior quality, and there are no checks for defects. Hence the poor sound quality.

The running time could also be different from the official version, depending on when the person recording it pressed stop.

"Playing a counterfeit won't damage your system, just your sense of pride," says Burgess.

7. Making a Swift buck

If a record is selling for much less than its current usual RRP (£10-£12 for a new Taylor Swift LP, for example), chances are it's a fake.

"If it looks too good to be true, it probably is," says Davis.

8. Careful where you buy

A lot of counterfeiters operate online, so be particularly vigilant on sites like eBay. If the seller can't answer your questions as to the record’s provenance, alarm bells should be ringing.

You should also check their seller feedback to see if any buyers have had a bad experience with them.

"Check too if they use stock images rather than real photos of the product," the BPI's spokesperson says. "And keep an eye out too for hybrid releases, where there is one original track and then several remixes, often with artwork taken from an original release."

Record fairs are a much safer bet than online, as the fraudsters have been mostly weeded out by organisers who don't want any association with such unscrupulous types.

They're more likely to operate at markets, especially those around tourist hot spots.

9. Contact the authorities

If you suspect you've bought a knockoff, you could try contacting the seller, and if they don't refund you, call your local Trading Standards or email the BPI on contentprotection@bpi.co.uk.

10. See the bigger picture

A counterfeit record might seem tempting, especially if it's cheaper than the real article and could sound better (though admittedly that's a slim prospect).

But remember that this is a criminal activity, and one that punishes true music lovers.

"Counterfeits damage the industry for everybody," says Burgess. "The artists and record labels don't get paid, legitimate shops are undercut, and punters get a substandard product.

"There's nothing good about it."

So if you see an LP for a tenner less than it should be, just remember that somewhere along the musical food chain, someone is paying a much higher price.

"Ultimately, it's taking money out of mostly impoverished artists' hands," says Bell. "And that's something that really p**ses me off."

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Record Store Day returns for Black Friday 2024. This year's event sees special vinyl releases from more than 100 artists, including The Beatles, Bebe Rexha, Jungle, Garbage, and Rage Against the Machine. Consider all musical bases covered.

As ever, all releases are special limited editions, and are available only from independent record stores. The doors open at 8am on Friday 29th November – that's Black Friday for other retailers, too.

Here's the full list of releases. Want to leaf through them in person? Find your local participating store using this tool on the RSD website.

Record Store Day celebrates all things vinyl, with special releases, merchandise and live performances all part of the fun. It's a chance to show your appreciation for everyone involved in the independent side of the music business, including workers at the stores, the labels, distributors and the artists themselves.

The main event takes place in April, but the Black Friday special is an antidote to the online sales madness.

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The 11 best Record Store Day 2024 releases – Gorillaz, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth and more

And the best record players to hear them on

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of all things vinyl, celebrated its 17th year this year, bringing with it a predicted £10 million boost to the indie record store industry in the UK alone.

A large part of that is down to the incredible number of limited edition records released for Record Store Day. There were 443 special releases in 2024, with many of them packing striking designs and limited edition album art that only make them all-the-more collectable.

Starting from 2009 (RSD started in 2008 with fairly slim pickings), we have picked out some of our favourite (and occasionally bonkers) limited edition picture disc designs, which make buying vinyl and never listening to it a more understandable viewpoint than ever.

Did you pick any of these up? Do you have another favourite picture disc from the archive? Let us know in the comments.

The Killers – Spaceman (RSD 2009)

After a relatively quiet first year for picture disc releases, Record Store Day was really finding its feet in 2009, with artists and labels realising the potential the event had for sales.

For RSD 2009, The Killers jumped on the bandwagon and released their single Spaceman on a limited edition 12" picture disc. It also included the previously unreleased Four Winds on the B side.

Them Crooked Vultures – Mind Eraser, No Chaser / HWY 1 (RSD 2010)

For RSD 2010, Them Crooked Vultures released a limited edition 10" record with recordings of Mind Eraser, No Chaser and HWY 1, both played live at Hordern Pavilion. 

It was presented in a transparent red sleeve, with Vulture Speak on the B-side – an exclusive interview.

Daft Punk – Tron Legacy: Translucent (RSD 2011)

Tron: Legacy was released at the end of 2010, so for RSD 2011, Daft Punk and Disney released three limited edition vinyl designs – all on a translucent record with a choice of blue, red or yellow rings, with blue being the most sort after. 

They all had the same tracklist, and featured the songs Derezzed, Tron: Legacy's end title track, End of Line and a rare track called Castor – the latter was only previously included on the special two-disc edition of the soundtrack.

Nine years later, the soundtrack was re-released on RSD 2020 to celebrate the film's 10th anniversary. This was another collector's dream, with a blue translucent glow-in-the-dark design.

Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the UK (RSD 2012)

The Sex Pistols released a limited edition 7” record of their first single, Anarchy in the UK, for Record Store Day 2012. It featured the original single artwork etched onto the record itself.

The re-mastered picture disc also featured the original b-side track, I Wanna Be Me, and was limited to 3,500 internationally.

David Bowie – Drive-In Saturday (RSD 2013)

It's hard to pick just one of David Bowie's many limited edition picture discs, but the RSD 2013 7" record is a striking double-sider worthy of note. 

Re-released to mark the 40 years since its original release, Drive-In Saturday was limited to just 3,000 pieces, and includes the stereo version of the title track, as well as the Russell Harty Plus Pop version in mono.

Ray Parker Jr – Ghostbusters (RSD 2014)

In honour of the film's 30th anniversary, Ray Parker Jr released a glow-in-the-dark 10" record of the iconic theme tune.

As well as the original song, there was an instrumental version, extended version and a dub remix. It was limited to 4,000 copies worldwide.

Father John Misty – I Loved You, Honeybee (RSD 2015)

To celebrate RSD 2015, Father John Misty released a red heart-shaped 7" disc featuring an acoustic version of I Love You, Honeybear – the title track of his album of the same year.

It also featured the B-side, I've Never Been a Woman, and was limited to 5,700 copies worldwide.

The Monkees – Saturday's Child / You Just May Be The One (RSD 2016)

The Monkees released a 7" picture disc for RSD 2016, featuring Saturday's Child (mono TV version) with You May Be The One (mono TV version) on the B-side. 

It shaped like The Monkees' logo and was limited to 5,000 worldwide.

Toto - Africa / Rosanna (RSD 2017)

For RSD 2017, Toto released a 7" vinyl of their 1982 classic, Africa, with Rosanna on the B side. And of course, it was shaped like Africa. It was limited to 2,500 copies worldwide.

Twin Peaks soundtrack (RSD 2018)

For RSD 2018, Twin Peaks fans were in for a treat – Warner Bros reissued the 2017 Twin Peaks soundtracks as two limited edition double LP picture discs.

The designs featured memorable and poignant stills from the series, including the Red Room's curtains and its chevron floor, Laura Palmer's homecoming queen photo and the New Mexico bomb explosion.

Madness – One Step Beyond (RSD 2019)

Madness celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2019, and they marked it by releasing this limited edition picture disc of One Step Beyond for Record Store Day of the same year.

As well as the original 7" single and 2009 remastered version of the track, this record also had the Italian and Spanish versions of the song, all presented on a shaped picture disc of the band performing their iconic "Nutty Train" dance.

Prince – Sign O' The Times (RSD 2020)

Record Store Day was postponed in 2020, but Prince fans found this exclusive release of his ninth studio album well worth the wait. 

The wider reissue of Prince's double album, Sign O' The Times, got a special limited 140g picture disc release for RSD 2020, with 16 tracks and two complementing designs in orange and blue. You can get a closer look at it in this YouTube video.

Mastodon – Fallen Torches (RSD 2021)

Mastodon recorded Fallen Torches on 2019 as a tribute to their long-standing music manager Nick John, who died in 2018. 

Originally it had been planned to be released to support their European tour, but as the industry descended into chaos around the pandemic, it just didn't happen. 

It was instead included on their album, Medium Rarities, but they also released this special shaped 12" picture disc for RSD 2021. It included title track and the instrumental.

The Cure – Wish (RSD 2022)

For Record Store Day Black Friday 2022, and for the 30th anniversary of The Cure's Grammy-nominated album Wish was pressed onto double picture disc for the first time. 

Including hit singles like High and Friday I'm in Love, it was newly remastered audio by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios.

Bluey – Dance Mode (RSD 2023)

Look, it may only be the parents of little ones that find this one of the best picture disc releases of 2023, but we dare you to watch it and not be completely hooked.

Aside from it's fantastic writing and heartfelt messages that every seven-minute episode delivers, the music is a huge part of the show too, and Dance Mode is a certified banger. Add that to this striking zoetrope design and this limited edition record a winner in our books.

Blur - Parklife (RSD 2024)

There are so many fantastic picture discs to choose from for RSD 2024, but we do have a soft spot for this one – another zoetrope picture disc, this time of Blur's Parklife.

The classic Britpop album turns 25 in April this year, and this special limited edition record is part of the celebrations. 

It was Blur's first number one album in the UK and includes four top 20 singles – Girls & Boys, To The End, End of A Century and Parklife.

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Read all of our Vinyl Week 2024 features

Whether you're a seasoned collector, new to the vinyl craze or have just bought a new album or two during Record Store Day, you'll want to know the best ways to store your precious records.

Even more so than it was decades ago (when it was a common enough commodity), vinyl is a precious and much-loved format that requires care and love. Records, even second-hand ones, are pretty pricey these days (even non-rare LPs), and you'll want to keep them in tip-top condition.

Vinyl is quite a fragile and easily damaged material, and dirt, fingerprints and dust can cause your records to skip, scratch and impact the quality of the playback.

Here we present a quick guide on the do's and don't's of vinyl care and storage.

Play it cool

Vinyl (or to give it its proper name, polyvinyl chloride aka PVC) doesn't cope well with extreme heat. It can start to warp near heat sources, so it's vital you keep your records in a suitably cool place.

That means away from heaters, radiators and fires, and away from windows where the sun can heat them up in the warmer weather.

If you're storing them in an attic, bear in mind that heat rises so the top of your house can be the warmest place. If in doubt, it might be worth investing in a thermometer, or even better one with a hygrometer which measures moisture and humidity in your chosen storage room. You can pick up a hygrometer for less than a tenner, too.

Stay away from the light

Just to reiterate, sunlight is the enemy of not just vampires and goths, but vinyl records. The sun's UV rays can cause an LP's beautiful sleeve artwork to fade.

Crate diggers might have noticed that those record fair or car boot sale prizes may have somewhat lost their looks due to the previous owners' lack of care around sunlight and bright rooms. So keep them shaded.

Carry on and keep calm

If you plan on DJing, or even if you're just taking your vinyl round a friend's house regularly, it makes sense to carry your vinyl in a sturdy, built-for-purpose record box. These can also look good in your music room, and may be just the ticket for smaller spaces where you might need to store your records under a desk, say.

They will hold a fair few 12-inches. This one from Fenton (pictured above) looks the business and is solidly built, as I can personally attest, and holds up to 30 records.

Cut and dry

Most houses, particularly older buildings, can be prone to mould, mildew or excess condensation, and mould is very bad for your records. Aside from giving your records an unpleasant musty sort of smell, the mould can in the very worst cases creep into the grooves of a record.

You can monitor levels of humidity using a hygrometer, to make sure that the part of the house in which you're storing them isn't too damp. The ideal humidity level is between 45 per cent and 55 per cent, just so you know.

Under pressure

If you need to stash your collection in your attic or other storage while, say, you move house, store them as you would if they were on display – upright. They may not be on display, but don't just pile them flat on top of each other.

Lots of records piled on top of one another will create a fair bit of pressure on those at the bottom – which over time can cause them to warp.

Also, keep them close together and upright, rather than leaning them to avoid pressure in this way. If possible use dividers to separate the records, which will give the vinyl a little more room to breathe.

Plastic fantastic

We shouldn't have to tell you that investing in some plastic wallets will protect your precious vinyl, both in terms of the disc and the outer sleeve.

They're relatively inexpensive and – while it might take you a few beats longer to put them away properly – will safeguard what is now a fair old investment in your favourite music format.

Divide and conquer

Especially for day-to-day use, dividers are a great idea for many reasons. If your vinyl albums don't have an outer plastic sleeve to protect them, thumbing through your collection from above or the sides (and let's face it, narrow album spines are hard to read) will inevitably wear on your beautiful cardboard sleeves.

And you will thank yourself, if only for the time it will save you on said thumbing-through even a carefully alphabetised collection.

Inner peace

Make sure your records are put back properly in their inner sleeves. Even the standard paper inner sleeves will provide extra protection, but even those can scratch your vinyl; consider replacing them with plastic ones, which are better in that they tend to be anti-static – you can get a 50-pack of these for around £15.

Sleeves made of polyethylene rather than PVC are also better at protecting the vinyl from UV rays.

Clean minds

Always give your records a quick clean with a dedicated record cleaning cloth (or even a glasses cloth) before putting them away. This will prevent the build-up of dust, human and pet hairs (or god forbid, mould or mildew) which will eventually cause problems for playback.

A good quality microfibre cloth, a bottle of cleaning solution and ideally an anti-static brush will be included in a record cleaning kit that can be had for around £20, and we would argue this is absolutely essential for record care.

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It's that time again – Record Store Day 2024 takes place today, Saturday 20th April, and to get you in the mood, we've been celebrating all things vinyl with seven days of features, advice and reviews in our Vinyl Week 2024. Sales of vinyl are on the up, and last year grew at their fastest rate this decade. Time for a party.

Record Store Day is just that. As well as the special releases and limited edition vinyl, it includes all sorts of in-store performances and events to bring together the whole record store community and highlight these shops as hubs with the ability to unite music lovers of all kinds from any background. It's also a chance to celebrate the people working in the shops and the independent labels that make such a diverse selection of music available in the first place.

RSD started in the USA 16 years ago, and has since grown into a global event. This year, over 270 stores will take part in the UK alone – you can find one near you using the handy Store Locator tool.

Excited? Here's everything you need to know about Record Store Day 2024.

• Record Store Day returns! RSD 2024's exclusive vinyl releases include Blur, Gorillaz, Pixies and more
• Brainfreeze at 25: how this all-45 mix changed the wider vinyl world
• The What Hi-Fi? team on the first vinyl records they ever bought

What is Record Store Day 2024?

It's a day celebrating independent record shops and the vital role they play in their communities.

It all started in 2007, when vinyl sales were a fraction of their current number. Faced with increased digital competition from both online retailers and digital streaming services, a group of record store owners in Baltimore, Maryland wanted to raise awareness of the flagging format, and to highlight the thousands of people who work in and around record shops. They decided to hold an event – the first Record Store Day took place on 29th April 2008.

The event has been held every year since, even managing to weather the pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, due to Covid-19 restrictions, it was delayed until later in the year, and then was held as a series of 'RSD Drops'. In 2020, the first RSD Black Friday was held to spread the celebration into the winter. This has continued to be held every year since.

In 2022, Taylor Swift became RSD's first-ever global ambassador for the event's 15th anniversary. Swift's 2023 RSD exclusive Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions became the first RSD vinyl to debut inside the Billboard 200 top 10, at number three. This year, pop legend Kate Bush will be the event's official ambassador, as confirmed by BBC News.

RSD is all about the special edition vinyl. You can't usually buy these limited editions online (not officially anyway, but there are always a few unscrupulous re-sellers around), nor can you pre-order or reserve any copies – you have to get up early and queue like everyone else. The whole point of the day is to get people visiting record shops, after all.

Some shops hold events too, like signings or special performances, or even just dishing out merchandise. Check out the official RSD website to see what's happening at your local store.

For the first time this year, RSD has teamed up with online vinyl marketplace Discogs for a post-event sale called "Record Store Day Afters" on Monday 22nd April, where fans can buy the exclusive limited-edition releases from official shops online and internationally.

Record Store dates: when is RSD 2024?

Apart from those pandemic years [shudder], RSD has taken place every April, and this year is no different. The date for your diary is Saturday 20th April 2024 – remember, you can't reserve any special releases, you'll have to get down to the shop yourself, along with every other vinyl head in the area. Better set your alarm...

The best Record Store Day 2024 releases

Below you'll find the complete list of RSD 2024 releases. There are quite a few, including reissues and special editions from the likes of The Beat, Young Fathers, Tricky, Sonny Rollins, Sonic Youth, Sun Ra, The Orb, Public Image Limited, London Grammar and even the Airplane! soundtrack. Yes, really.

And it's not just vinyl. Among the releases are cassettes, hardback books, picture discs and plenty else besides.

Don't fancy trawling the full list? Check out our pick of the best Record Store Day 2024 releases – including Gorillaz, Pearl Jam, South Park and more.

Here's the full list of RSD 2024 releases...

100 Gecs – Snake Eyes: 10" Picture Disc

10000 Maniacs – Playing Favorites: LP

101 Strings – Astro-Sounds From Beyond The Year 2000: LP

1975, The – The 1975 Live At Gorilla: LP

86TVs – You Don't Have To Be Yourself: 10" EP

94 East Featuring Prince – The Legendary Recordings, 1975-1985: LP

Aggrovators – Dubbing at King Tubbys: LP

Aggrovators – Dubbing At King Tubbys Vol 2: LP

Ahmad Jamal – Live At Bubba's: LP

Air – Kelly Watch The Stars: 12" Picture Disc

Airplane! Soundtrack (Complete Score) – Airplane! Soundtrack (Complete Score): LP

Alan Parsons Project, The – Pyramid ‘Work In Progress’: LP

Alberto Baldan Bembo – The Soul of “Ali” Ben Djamballa: LP

Alborosie – Dub Pirate: LP

Alex Chilton – Cliches: LP

Alison Goldfrapp – The Love Reinvention: LP

Amancio D’Silva – Reflections: LP

America – Live From The Hollywood Bowl – 1975: LP

Anne Briggs – Anne Briggs: LP + 7"

Apocalyptica – Worlds Collide (Deluxe Edition): LP

April March / Kelley Stoltz – April March Sings Kelley Stoltz: LP

Art Tatum – Jewels In The Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings: LP

As December Falls – As December Falls: LP

As December Falls – Happier: LP

Ashaye – Dreaming / What's This World Coming To: 12"

Ashby – Power Ballads: LP

Ashnikko – Demidevil: LP

At The Drive-In – In/Casino/Out: LP

At The Gates – Slaughter Of The Soul: LP

Ateez – WORLD EP.FIN : WILL: LP + 7"

Average White Band – Live At The Rainbow Theatre: 1974 (RSD 2024): LP

Azymuth – Jazz Carnival: 12"

Barclay James Harvest – Barclay James Harvest & Other Short Stories: LP

Be Bop Deluxe – Futurama (Stephen Tayler Mix): LP

Beat, The – Wha’ppen? (Expanded Edition): LP

Bebe Rexha – All Your Fault: Parts 1 & 2: LP

Bevis Frond, The – Live At The Great American Music Hall: LP

Big Country – Why The Long Face: LP

Bill Evans Trio – Everybody Digs Bill Evans: LP

Billie Marten – As Long As (EP): 10"

Billy Bragg – Bloke On Bloke: LP

Birdmask – Tristan: 12" EP

Black Delta Movement, The – In Acetate: 12" EP

Black Sabbath – Paranoid: LP

Black Watch, The – The Morning Papers Have Given Us The Vapours: LP

Blessed Madonna, The – Have Mercy EP: LP

Bloc Party – The High Life EP: 12" EP

Blue Aeroplanes, The – Beatsongs (Expanded Edition): LP

Blues Pills – Birthday / Don't You Love It: LP

Blur – Parlklife (Zoetrope LP): Zoetrope LP

Bob Frank – Broke Again -- The Lost Recordings (Limited Wine Red Vinyl Edition): LP

Boogie Down Productions – Poetry/ 9mm Goes Bang: 7"

Brian Poole & The Tremeloes – Twist & Shout: 7"

Brother Jack McDuff – Ain't No Sunshine: LP

Bryan Ferry – The Right Stuff: 12" EP

Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club: LP

Caitlin Rose – The Stand In: LP

Cannonball Adderley – Burnin In Bordeaux - Live In France 1969: LP

Cannonball Adderley – Poppin In Paris: Live At The Olympia 1972: LP

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – The Spotlight Kid (Deluxe Edition): LP

Carol Douglas – The Disco Sound of Carol Douglas: LP

Catfish & The Bottlemen – The Balcony: LP

Celeste – Everyday: 7"

Charlatans, The – Indian Rope Beggars: 12"

Charlie Watts – Live At Fulham Town Hall: LP

Cheech & Chong – Up In Smoke: LP

Chet Baker & Jack Sheldon – Chet Baker / Jack Sheldon - The Lost Studio Album: LP

Chills, The – The Lost EP: LP

China Burton – You Don't Care (About Our Love): 12"

Chris Isaak – Beyond The Sun (The Complete Collection): LP

Chris White Experience, The – The Best Of: LP

Christophe – Les Mots Bleus: 12"

Clement Bushay and Carl Bert – Reggae for lovers: LP

Cockney Rejects – Unforgiven: LP

Come – Eleven:Eleven (Deluxe Edition): LP + 7"

Cramps, The – Ultra Twist (30th Ann.): 12"

Cranberries, The – Bury The Hatchet (The Complete Sessions) (RSD 2024): LP

Cure, The – The Top - 40th Anniversary Picture Disc: Picture Disc

Daft Punk – Something About Us (Love Theme From Interstella 555): 12"

Damage – Recorded Live Off The Board At CBGB: LP

Dandy Warhols, The – Live At Levitation: 12"

Das Koolies – Das Koolies Remixed: 12"

Dave Allison – Conscious Dream: LP

David Bowie – Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth): LP

David Sylvian & Nine Horses – Snow Borne Sorrow: LP

De La Soul – Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996: LP

De La Soul – Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996: CD

Deacon Blue – Peace Will Come: LP

Dead By Sunrise – Out Of Ashes: LP

Dead Horse – Dead Horse Tapes, The - Blown Away: LP

Dead Or Alive – The Pete Hammond Hi-Nrg Remixes (RSD 2024): LP

Def Leppard – Live At Leadmill: LP

Delia Derbyshire – Inventions for Radio: CD

Devin The Dude – Acoustic Levitation: LP

Dexys x Dutch Uncles – Dance With Me: 12"

DITZ X Heavy Lungs – DITZ X Heavy Lungs Live At The BBC: 12"

Divorce – Heady Metal: 12"

Doctor Who –Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction (Zoetrope Picture Disc RSD 2024): Picture Disc

Dolores O'Riordan – Are You Listening: LP

Dome City Orchestra Feat Delisha, The – Dig It! (Extended/Short/Instrumental): 12"

Don Carlos – Pass Me The Lazer Beam: LP

Donna Summer – "Many" States Of Independence (RSD 2024): LP

Doors, The – Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968: LP

Doors, The – Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, September 20, 1968: CD

Dr John – The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968–1974: LP

Dr. Alban – It's My Life: 10"

Dream Syndicate, The – Sketches for the Days of Wine and Roses: LP

Dub Syndicate – Mellow & Colly: LP+CD

Durutti Column, The – Vini Reilly: LP

Dwight Yoakam – The Beginning And Then Some: The Albums Of The '80s (4LP): LP

Dwight Yoakam – The Beginning And Then Some: The Albums Of The '80s (4CD): CD

Earl Hooker – There's a Fungus Amung Us: LP

Elaine Brown – Seize The Time - Black Panther Party: LP

Electrafixion – Burned: LP

Ellie Dixon – In Case Of Emergency: 7"

Elton John – Caribou: LP

Emika – Transcended Before Me feat. Horace Andy: 12"

Emma Bunton – A Girl Like Me: LP

English Teacher – Live At The Brudenell Social Club: 12"

Ennio Morricone – Allonsanfan OST: LP

Ennio Morricone – Come imparai ad amare le donne OST: LP

Ennio Morricone – Storie di vita e malavita: LP

Ennio Morricone (feat Joan Baez) – Sacco e Vanzetti OST: LP

ENNY – We Go Again: 12”

Eric Carr of KISS – Unfinished Business: The Deluxe Edition: LP

Even More Dazed And Confused (Music From The Motion Picture) – Even More Dazed and Confused: Music from the Motion Picture: LP

Everything But The Girl – At Maida Vale: 12"

Faces – The Complete BBC Sessions: LP

Fall, The – A Country On The Click (Alternative Version): LP

Family Tree, The – We Shall See Him As He Is: LP

Family Underground – For The Love Of You/Everybody Knows: 7"

Farm Dogs, The – Last Stand In Open Country: LP

Fat Generous – Night Time Cool Breeze / Shake Your Body Down: 7"

Fatboy Slim – Everybody Loves A Remix: 12" Zoetrope

Feso Trombone – Freedom Train: LP

Fetty Wap – Fetty Wap: LP

FFRR – FFRR Sampler Vol. 1 (ORIGINALS): LP

Field Music – Binding Time: 12"

Fields of the Nephilim – Burning the Fields LP: LP

FIZZ – Live At Middle Farm: LP

Fleet Foxes – Live On Boston Harbor: LP

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours: LP Picture Disc

Flirtations, The – Still Sounds Like The Flirtations: LP

Flying Burrito Brothers, The – Bluegrass Special: Live in Amsterdam 1972: LP

Foghat – Live In New Orleans 1973: LP

Fools Garden – Lemon Tree: 12" Picture Disc

Fox The Fox – Precious Little Diamond (40th Ann.): 12"

Frank Turner – Girl From The Record Shop / All Night Crew: 7"

Frank Zappa – Zappa For President: LP

Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Live at Levitation: 12"

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette: LP

Fun Boy Three – Extended: LP

Future Sound of London – ISDN: CD

Future Sound of London – ISDN: LP

Future Sound Of London – From The Archives: LP

Gabriels – EP Live From London 2023: 12"

Galen & Paul – Uno Mas: 12"

Garbage – Lie To Me: LP

Gemma Cullingford – Komiza Project, The: 12"

Gene Clark – No Other Sessions (50th Anniversary of No Other): LP

Gene Clark – The Lost Studio Sessions 1964-1982: LP

Gentle Waves, The – Swansong For You: LP

George Harrison – Electronic Sound: LP Zoetrope

George Harrison – Wonderwall Music: LP Zoetrope

Ghost-Note – Mustard n' Onions: LP

Global Communication – Maiden Voyage (30th Ann.): 12"

Goat – The Gallows Pole: Original Score: LP + 7"

Goblin / Gianni Dell'Orso – Virus OST: LP

Golden Earring – The Cut Sessions: LP

Goldie Lookin Chain – Manifesto, The: LP

Goldie Lookin Chain – Mike Balls Boutique: LP

Gorillaz – Cracker Island (Deluxe): LP

Gotan Project – Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre): 10"

Grapefruit – Around Grapefuit (plus London Session): LP

Grateful Dead – Nightfall Of Diamonds: LP

Greg Foat & Gigi Masin – The Fish Factory Sessions: LP

Grohl, Benante, Ian – The Regulator: 7"

Groove Armada – White Light: LP

Groundhogs, The – Black Diamond: LP

Half Japanese – Our Solar System: LP

Harmonia – Musik Von Harmonia / Anniversary Edition: LP

Hawkwind – Live: LP

Hayseed Dixie – Let There Be Rockgrass: LP

Held By Trees – Solace (Expanded Edition): LP

Herman's Hermits – Only Last Night [Single]: 10" Picture Disc

Hives, The – Lex Hives and Live From Terminal 5: LP

Hives, The – Black And White Album: LP

Holly Humberstone – Into Your Room (with MUNA): 7"

Hooveriii – Quest For Blood: 12"

Horace Andy & Sly and Robbie – Livin' It Up: LP

Howlin' Wolf – Live in Europe (Bremen, 1964): LP

Ian Hunter – Ian Hunter Defiance Part 2: Fiction: LP

Ipanemas, The – Samba Is Our Gift: LP

J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E. – Strong Island: 7"

Jack Adkins – American Sunset: LP

Jamiroquai – Live At BBC Maida Vale: 2006: 12"

Jane Weaver – Quantify / Deep Perelle: 7"

Japanese House, The – ITEIAD Sessions: 12”

Jeff Buckley & Gary Lucas – Songs To No One: 12”

Jeremy Gluck with Nikki Sudden & Rowland S Howard – I Knew Buffalo Bill: LP

Jessie Ware – Tough Love 10th anniversary: LP

Joe Pesci – Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (Limited Clear with Orange Swirl Vinyl Edition): LP

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros – Rock Art and the X-Ray Style: LP

John Lennon – Mind Games: 12" EP

John Minnis' Big Bone Band – Classic I-Live: LP

Johnnie Mae Matthews – I Have No Choice/ That's When It Hurts: 7"

Johnny Marr – Marr's Guitars: Hardback Book

Joseph Cotton – New Fashion Way: LP

Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band – Anda Jaleo: LP

Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band – Perlas: LP

Josh Wink – Higher State Of Consciousness Erol Alkan remix: 12" EP

Jowe Head – The Other Side Of The Forest (Original Movie Sountrack): LP

Kaiser Chiefs – Kaiser Chiefs' Easy Eighth Album: 12" Picture Disc LP

Karen Harding – Take Me Somewhere: LP

Kate Nash – Back At School b/w Space Odyssey 2001 (demo): 7"

Katy J Pearson – Katy J Pearson & Friends Presents Songs From The Wicker Man: 12”

Keane – Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam (29/11/2004): LP

Kenny Dorham – This Is The Moment: Sings And Plays: LP

Killing Joke – Live At Lokerse Feesten, 2003: LP + DVD

Kim Wilde – Special Disco Mixes: LP

King Kong – Repatriation: LP

Kirsty MacColl – Titanic Days: LP

Kristin Hersh – The Clear Pond Road Sessions: LP

Kristin Hersh – Hips & Makers (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition): LP

Kula Shaker – Natural Magick: 12" Picture Disc LP

La Roux – Trouble In Paradise: LP

Ladytron – Light & Magic: LP

Lamont Dozier – The New Lamont Dozier Album - Love and Beauty 50th Anniversary (RSD 2024): LP

Larry Heard presents (Various Artists) – Rebirth 10 Compiled By Larry Heard Aka Mr. Fingers: LP

Laufey – A Night At The Symphony: LP

Leaf Hound – Grower Of Mushrooms: LP

Lee "Scratch" Perry – Skanking With The Upsetter: LP

Lemonheads, The – The Hotel Sessions: LP

Lightning Seeds – All I Want / Pure: 10"

Lil Peep – Star Shopping: 7"

Lil Uzi Vert – Luv Is Rage: 12"

Lily Allen – It's Not Me, It's You: LP Zoetrope

Liminanas & David Menke, The – Heureux Gagnants (OST): LP

Linda Ronstadt – The Asylum Albums (1973-1978): LP

Little Richard – Right Now!: LP

London Grammar – The Remixes: LP

Lora Logic – Pedigree Charm [Deluxe Edition]: LP

Lordi – Bend Over and Pray the Lord: LP

Lovejoy – Concrete / The Fall: 7"

Lovejoy – One Day / Sex Sells: 7"

Loveless, The – Elected: 7”

Lowell George – Thanks, I'll Eat It Here (Deluxe Edition): LP

Ludovico Einaudi – Live At The Royal Albert Hall: LP

Lulu – James Bond - The Man With The Golden Gun Picture Disc (RSD 2024): Picture Disc

Madchild – Lawn Mower Man (10 Year Anniversary): LP

Madness – Embarrassment: 12" EP

Maisie Peters – The Good Witch (Deluxe): LP

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy – The Mighty Warriors - Live In Antwerp: LP

Mal-One – Listen Up Punk! Punk Art Poetry: LP

Mansun – Little Kix: LP

Manu Dibango – Manu 76: LP

Marc Bolan & T. Rex – Zinc Alloy (50th Anniversary Zoetrope Picture Disc RSD 2024): Picture Disc

Marianne Faithfull – Faithful Forever: LP

Mark Knopfler – The Boy: 12"

Mavis Staples – Have A Little Faith: LP

Maximum Joy – Why Can't We Live Together (previously unreleased version featuring Janine Rainforth): LP

Melys – BBC Sessions Vol 1 (John Peel Sessions & other selected rarities): LP

Members, The – Greetings From Knowhere: LP

Men, The – Manhattan Fire (New York City Demos): LP

Michael Gray – The Weekend: 7"

Michael Schenker Group – MSG (Expanded Edition): LP

Midge Ure – The Gift [Early Versions]: LP

Mike Oldfield – Hergest Ridge 50th Anniversary: LP

Mike Welch – Renovations Remastered 2024: LP

Miles Kane – Miles Kane & The Evils: 10"

Militarie – Gun Life Under The Sun: 10"

Monty Python – Live At Drury Lane 50th Anniversary: LP Picture Disc

Morcheeba – B-Sides & Beats: LP

Morrissey & Siouxsie – Interlude: LP

Motley Crue – Supersonic and Demonic Relics: LP

Motorhead – Remorse? No!: LP

Motorpsycho – SMALL BOATS - Shelling England* By The Round: CD

Mr.Big – The Big Finish - Lean Into It Live: LP

Mudhoney – Suck You Dry: The Reprise Years: LP

Nancy Sinatra – How Does That Grab You?: LP

Nat King Cole – Live At The Blue Note - Chicago: LP/CD

Near Jazz Experience feat. Mike Garson – Character EP: 12" EP

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – F*#!IN UP: LP

Nerina Pallot – Love Will Tear Us Apart: 10"

Nightmares On Wax – Carboot Soul (25th Anniversary Edition): LP + 7"

Noah Kahan – I Was/I Am: LP

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Magic Secrets #2: 7"

Norman Connors – She's Gone / Mr.C: 7"

Northside – Chicken Rhythms: LP

Notorious B.I.G., The – Ready To Die: The Instrumentals: LP

Oceansize – Home & Minor: LP

Offspring, The – Splinter: LP Picture Disc

Oh Wonder – Oh Wonder: LP

Olafur Arnalds – And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness: LP

Olivia Dean – Live At The Jazz Café: 12"

OMD – Bauhaus Staircase Instrumentals: LP

OMD – Junk Culture Companion: LP

Orb, The – The Holloway Brooch (An Ambient Excursion Beyond The Orboretum): 12"

Orbital – Orbital: LP

OST / Barry Gray – Stingray: 7" EP

OST / Barry Gray – UFO: 7" EP

Other Two, The – Tasty Fish Remix EP: 12”

Outsiders, The – Calling on Youth - One to infinity demos & early songs: LP

Paramore – RE: This is Why (Remix Album): 12"

Parliament – Osmium Deluxe Edition (RSD 2024): LP

Pat Thomas featuring Lalo Schifrin – Desafinado: LP

Patrick Prins – Le Voie Le Soleil: 12"

Paul Weller – TBC: 7"

Pearl Jam – Dark Matter: LP

Pete Wylie & The Mighty WAH! – Heart as Big as Liverpool: Heart-Shaped Vinyl

Peter Murphy – Peter Live - Volume One – Covers: LP

Pharoah Sanders – Harvest Time (収穫時期 - Radio Edit) / Love Will Find a Way (ラヴ・ウィル・ファインド ・ア・ウェイ- Radio Edit): 7”

Piero Umiliani – L’Arcangelo OST: LP

Pixies – Live From Red Rocks 2005 (RSD 2024): LP

Prefab Sprout – Lions In My Garden: 12"

Prince Buster – Back To Where It All Began - The Blue Beat Years: LP

Prince Far I – Cry Tuff Chants On U: LP

Propaganda – Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (Volume 1) / The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (Volume 1): LP

Public Image Limited – This Is PiL: Cassette

Public Image Limited – What The World Needs Now: Cassette

Public Image Limited – End Of World: Cassette

Public Service Broadcasting – Gagarin: 7"

Pulp – Intro The Gift Recordings: LP

Queen – Cool Cat: 7"

Queen Latifah – Nature of a Sistah: LP

Ramones – The 1975 Sire Demos (Demos): LP

Ras Allah – Heaven Is My Roof: LP

Replacements, The – Not Ready for Prime Time: Live at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL, January 11, 1986: LP

Residents, The – LEFTOVERS AGAIN!? AGAIN!?!?!: LP

Richard O'Brien / OST – The Rocky Horror Show (original Richard O'Brien demos): LP

Richmond Fontaine – Post To Wire (20th Anniversary Edition): LP

Richmond Fontaine – Winnemucca: LP

Ringo Starr – Crooked Boy EP: EP

Roches, The – The Roches (Limited 45th Anniversary Ruby Red Vinyl Edition): LP

Roger Waters – The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux (Picture Disc): 12" Picture Disc

Rolling Stones, The – Live At Racket, NYC: LP

Rolling Stones, The – Rolling Stones: LP

Royal Trux – Royal Trux: LP

Scott Walker – Tilt (half speed master): LP

Sex Pistols – The Filth & The Fury OST: LP

Shed Seven – Changed Giver: LP

Shelly Manne – Jazz From The Pacific Northwest: LP

Sia Colour – The Small One: LP

Sinead O'Connor – You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart - 30th anniversary: 12"

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Nocturne: LP

Sisters of Mercy, The – Body and Soul / Walk Away: LP

Sizzla – Kalonji: LP

Sleater-Kinney – This Time / Here Today 7" Single: 7"

Slits, The – In the Beginning: LP

Soft Cell – Non Stop: LP

Sonic Youth – Hits Are For Squares: LP

Sonny Rollins – Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recording: LP

Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Remixes: LP

Sorrow – Sleep Now Forever: LP

Soundtracks & Head – Daga Daga Daga: LP

South Park – South Park The 25th Anniversary Concert: LP

Space Lady, The – The Space Lady's Other Hits: LP

Spoonfed Hybrid – Spoonfed Hybrid (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition): LP

Steel Pulse – Handsworth Revolution: LP

Steps – Deeper Shade Of Blue – The Remixes (Zoetrope Picture Disc RSD 2024): Picture Disc

Steven Wilson – Harmonic Divergence: LP

Suede – Autofiction: Live: LP

SUN RA – AT THE SHOWCASE - LIVE IN CHICAGO: LP

Sun Ra – Inside The Light World: Sun Ra Meets The OVC: LP

Suns of Arqa – Wadada Magic: LP

Super Furry Animals – Fuzzy Logic (B-Sides & Besides): LP

Supergrass – Kiss Of Life Is 20: 10"

Superior Elevation – Giving You Love / Sassy Lady: 7"

Sylvia Telles – Princess Of Bossa Nova! Amor De Gente Moça (Musicas De Antonio Carlos Jobim….E Mais!): LP

Talking Heads – Live On Tour: LP

Team Sleep – Team Sleep: LP

Telescopes, The – Editions: LP

Telescopes, The – Growing Eyes Becoming String (Remix 7"): 7"

Television – Live At The Academy NYC 12.4.92: LP

Temples – Sun Structures: LP

The Jimmy Castor Bunch – It's Just Begun/ Troglodyte (Cave Man): 7"

Thin Lizzy – Live at Hammersmith 16/11/1976: LP

This Is The Kit – Live at Minack Theatre: LP

Tinman – Eighteen Strings (Original Mixes): 12"

Todd Rundgren – Todd: LP

Tom Grennan – What Ifs & Maybe's: LP

Tom Jones – It's Not Unusual: 7"

Tom Tom – Club Genius Of Love Remix Album: LP

Trashcan Sinatras – Wild Pendulum: LP

Travis Biggs – Solar Funk (RSD 2024): LP

Tricky – Angels With Dirty Faces: LP

Two Lone Swordsmen – Still My World: LP

U2 – Atomic City - Live from Sphere: 10"

UB40 – UB45: LP

Ufo – Lights Out In Tokyo - Live: LP

UK Subs – UK Subversives (Fall Out singles collection): LP

Ultramagnetic Mc's – The Ultra's Live At The Brixton Acadamy: LP

Ultravox – Steven Wilson Extended Re-mixes: 12"

Universe City – Can You Get Down / Serious: 12"

Unwritten Law – Blue Room (30 Year Anniversary): LP

VA (Blaine L. Reininger, Durutti Column, Stockholm Monsters) – Greetings from S.G.V. -The Greetings LP: LP

VA – Timeless Jazz Classics (Compiled by Gilles Peterson): LP

VA / Soul Jazz Records Presents – Punk 45: Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young: LP

VA / Soul Jazz Records Presents – 300% Dynamite: LP

VA / Soul Jazz Records Presents – Studio One Rude Boy: LP

Various – Crawling The Walls / Meets....: CD

Various – Andy Smith's Northern Soul Essentials: LP

Various – Los Nuggetz: Garage & Psyche from Latin America: LP

Various – DJ Koco - Brazil 45 Vol.5: 7"

Various – The Bristol Roots Explosion: LP

Various – Blue Note Re:Imagined: LP

Various - Room In The Sky – In a Lovers Rock Style: LP

Various Artists – Murder Was The Case Soundtrack 30th Anniversary: LP

Various Artists – A Tribute To NEU!: LP

Various Artists – The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs Of Nick Drake - The Singles Collection: 7"

Various Artists – Penrose Showcase Vol.II: LP Picture Disc

Various Artists – The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed: LP

Various Artists – Nashville Goes Fuzz: LP

Various Artists – Lost In Translation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack): LP

Various Artists – Ripples Presents… Psychedelic Sunshine Pop from the 1960s: LP

Various Artists – Hillbillies In Hell: Whiskey Is The Devil: LP

Verve, The – No Come Down: LP

Village Choir, The – Along The Beach PT1/ Sweet Hot Lips: 7"

Vince Guaraldi – It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown OSR: 12"

Viv Albertine – Flesh: 12”

Wailers, The – The Best Of The Wailers: LP

Weeknd, The – Live at SoFi Stadium: LP

Who, The – Story Of The Who: LP

Wilco – The Whole Love Expanded: LP

Willie Nelson – Phases and Stages: LP

Winfield Parker – I Wanna Be With You/ My Love For You: 7"

Wingmen – The Model/I Got A Right: 7”

Winston Reedy – Red Rose: LP

X-Press 2 – Muzik X-Press/ London X-Press: 12"

X-Ray Spex – Conscious Consumer (Picture Disc): LP

X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents: 12”

Yardbirds, The – Psycho Daisies - The Complete B-Sides (RSD 2024): LP

Yardbirds, The – 5 Live: LP

Yellowman – Zunggugungzuguzungguzeng: LP

Yes – Yale Bowl '71: LP

Young Fathers – DEAD (10th Anniversary Edition): LP

Young Thug – Jeffrey: LP

Youth Meets Radical Dance Faction – Cockroach Town: 12”

Yusef Lateef – Atlantis Lullaby - The Concert From Avignon: LP

Yusuf/Cat Stevens – Numbers: LP

Yusuf/Cat Stevens – Izitso: LP

How to get the most from your new records

Whether you're new to vinyl or a hardened veteran, the experts at What Hi-Fi? have plenty of advice on choosing the best turntables, how to get it set up to sound its best, other accessories you'll need, and plenty of great-sounding vinyl to play on your record player too.

Here's a list of the best advice around turntables below to get you started.

• See our pick of the best turntables for every budget
• Strapped for cash post-RSD splash? These are the best budget record players you can buy, including Bluetooth models
• Find out how to add a turntable to your Sonos setup
• Here's our guide on how to set up a turntable and get the best sound
• Want an easy upgrade? Here's how to change the cartridge on your turntable
• You'll also need a phono stage, or a stereo amplifier with one built-in
• Want to build a five-star turntable system?
• 15 of the best vinyl records to test your turntable
• These are our 16 best-sounding vinyl records

And check out all the latest Vinyl Week 2024 features, reviews and advice

Record Store Day is back for another year, and it's set to be one of the biggest events yet. The popular annual celebration of all things vinyl is back with another raft of exclusive releases for 2024. The official day of celebration is Saturday 20th this year, but bear in mind that exclusive discounts and events are happening across the year to keep vinyl sales strong.  

RSD 2024 sees hundreds of exclusive and limited edition releases being made available to customers on a first-come, first-served basis, with vinyl albums spanning genres from rock and pop to jazz, hip-hop, reggae, classical and even folk. 

There's almost certainly something in there for you, and we've included a link to the official list of course, but a few major artists such as Blur, Bryan Ferry, Frank Turner, Madness and Pixies will have audiophiles reaching for their wallets in anticipation of the big day. Pearl Jam is unveiling an RSD exclusive coloured edition of their new album Dark Matter (out April 19th), while Gorillaz is set to unveil a limited-run deluxe vinyl edition of their 2023 smash Cracker Island. 

Hundreds of artists and musicians have joined together for this latest RSD initiative to treat fans with limited edition vinyl recordings that can solely be discovered in independent UK record stores. You can find the event's participating stores by using RSD's handy store locator.

The full list of records is available online, but we've picked out a few choice cuts that we're particularly excited about:

• Black Sabbath: Paranoid (12" EP)
• Bloc Party: The High Life (12" EP)
• Blur: Parklife (Zoetrope LP)
• The Cranberries: Bury The Hatchet (2LP)
• De La Soul: Live at Tramps, NYC, 1996 (LP, 140 gram, tan vinyl)
• Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1LP, picture disc)
• The Lemonheads: The Hotel Sessions (LP)
• Madness: Embarrassment (12" EP)
• Nat King Cole: Live At The Blue Note (2LP / 2 x CD)
• Pixies: Live From Red Rocks 2005 (2LP)
• Siouxsie & The Banshees: Nocturne (2LP Coloured)
• South Park: The 25th Anniversary Concert (3LP blue vinyl)
• Supergrass: Kiss Of Life Is 20 (10" clear)
• Thin Lizzy: Live at Hammersmith 16/11/1976 (2LP)
• The Verve: No Come Down (LP)
• Yusuf / Cat Stevens: Numbers and Izitso (1LP Lenticular Covers)
  
  

This year’s Record Store Day list also features a new solo release from legendary Beatle Ringo Starr, with the former kit man revealing a four-track EP titled "Crooked Boy” alongside songwriter Linda Perry.

According to Scott Gamble of Crash Records: "We're so excited for the best day of the year to return. It's so humbling to see this support and to make these fans happy. Every year I think we can't top the last, but the list constantly impresses with literally something for everyone".  

Record Store Day will return on April 20th 2024 in the UK, with artists and labels from across the globe signing up for this initiative which champions independent record shops and the virtues of vinyl. 

MORE:

The best record players on the market to play your RSD releases on

The best turntable accessories to upgrade your vinyl sound

The best turntable deals on offer now

10 of the best love songs to test your hi-fi system

If you love the 90s, you are in for a treat. National Album Day has officially announced its exclusive list of limited edition 90s albums that are to be released as part of the annual event which celebrates "the art of the album". Happening across the UK on Saturday 14th October, National Album Day sees the special releases available to buy from selected stores across the UK – although you can get ahead of the game by pre-ordering from 9am on Wednesday 13th September. 

This year's collection features some of the finest albums from the most underrated decade in music history, including a yellow-vinyl version of REM's Automatic for the People, an LP of The Cranberries' Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? and, best of all, a "Lilac Wine" (see what they did there?) version of the Jeff Buckley's seminal masterpiece Grace. And who wouldn't want to get their hands on that? 

There's also a host of other releases to keep all fans of this eclectic era happy, with artists as varied as Blur, Bob Dylan and Gabrielle, as well as indie icons of the time such as Dinosaur Jr., Idlewild and Catatonia.  Something for everyone, then.

• Check out the full list of National Album Day releases here

Now in its sixth "edition", National Album Day aims to bring the music community together annually to "celebrate the art of album", an initiative similar to Record Store Day's attempts to pay tribute to all things vinyl. This year, NAD has a specifically 90s theme that hopes to spotlight the decade that gave us Britpop, grunge and the golden age of hip-hop. It also threw up the Spice Girls and Dannii Minogue, but it's a small price to pay for Stone Temple Pilots and the golden age of the Wu-Tang Clan, both of which feature in this year's event.
 
Bowers & Wilkins returns as the official partner of National Album Day, with the event enjoying a week-long build-up and various events including live performances, in-store artist appearances and record store promotions. 

This year's 90s event has something for everyone, with an eclectic lineup of releases showcasing just how diverse and experimental this oft-maligned era actually was. For more information about National Album Day and a full list of the releases on offer, check out the initiative's official website. 

MORE:

Record Store Day reveals vinyl releases for Black Friday, including Joni Mitchell and Prince

40 of the best 1990s albums to test your speakers

Here's our guide to the best turntables you can buy now

Record Store Day is back with another raft of exclusive vinyl releases for Black Friday, and there are some big names involved. The vinyl initiative usually has its biggest annual celebration on the third Saturday in April  (the official "Record Store Day"), but offers exclusive deals, discounts and events across the year in a bid to keep the vinyl flag flying and celebrate music in its traditional form. 

This year's RSD Black Friday event is one of the biggest we've seen, with more than 170 exclusive releases being made available to customers on a first-come, first-served basis. Taking place officially on 24th November of this year and continuing online for as long as remaining stocks last, the event features a raft of exclusives that can only be snagged as part of this major event. 

Tastes will vary, of course, but massive names such as Jeff Beck, Lil Wayne, Post Malone, Prince and Charles Mingus will have an allure for many. A box set of De La Soul's seminal 3 Feet High And Rising, not to mention Joni Mitchell's Court And Spark Demos and The Doors' Live From Bakersfield are the sort of highlights that feature tracks with a heavy rotation within the walls of our testing rooms.  

More than 90 artists have come together to join in with this latest RSD initiative to release limited edition vinyl recordings that can only be found from independent record stores within the UK. You can find the full list of participating stores right here. 

The full list is available online here, but we've picked out a few choice releases that should have vinyl lovers salivating at the prospect:

• Bob James Two (12")
• Charles Mingus Incarnations (LP)
• De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising (7" box set; 12 7", 42 gram, custom 7" and more)
• The Doors Live from Bakersfield (2CD, 2-LP/140g)
• Faces Had Me A Real Good Time...With Faces Live In Session At The BBC 1971 (LP)
• Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - Live at the Paradise Lounge (LP)
• Gil Scott-Heron Winter in America (LP)
• Grateful Dead Fillmore West, San Francisco (5-LP)
• Jerry Lee Lewis Live at the Palomino Club (2LP)
• Post Malone The Diamond Collection (Clear 2xLP)
• Prince Gett Off (12")
• Ultravox Quartet (2LP, 2CD)
• Various Artists Asteroid City (2LP)
• Willie Nelson Shotgun Willie (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (140g 2LP)

According to the initiative's official website, Record Store Day looks "to shift the culture of 'Black Friday' by moving away from the mass-produced, low-priced nature of the day to creating an array of unique and special vinyl records that will bring value and joy to collectors all over the world". A fine sentiment indeed.

Record Store Day continues to run its April placeholder event, even if it was interrupted by the smaller matter of the global pandemic in 2020 and 2021. This year’s event took place on 22nd April 2023 and saw a raft of releases from eclectic artists ranging from The Cure to The Cranberries, Elton John to Ennio Morricone. This Black Friday's showcase isn't quite as mega as the main day itself, but there are still plenty of fantastic exclusives to enjoy. 

MORE:

The best record players on the market to play your RSD releases on!

The best turntable accessories to upgrade your vinyl sound

The best turntable deals on offer now

The resurgence of vinyl sales since a low point in 2013 has been great news for die-hard music lovers everywhere. Some of the credit for today’s very welcome (and impressively persistent) ‘vinyl revival’, as it’s been coined, must go to initiatives such as Record Store Day, an annual celebration that champions vinyl, and all those who sell, collect and enthuse about the once-endangered format.

In the organisation’s own words, Record Store Day (RSD) is “a day for the people who make up the world of the independent record store – the staff, the customers and the artists – to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role these independently owned stores play in their communities.” Now isn’t that wonderful?

Record Store Day is a global event, too, bringing together those vinyl and music lovers from all over the world. So how does it do that exactly? Well, through record store events and the release of new records. Below we have provided the lowdown on Record Store Day – what it entails, this year’s dates (spoiler alert: it’s this weekend) and how you can get involved.

According to Record Store Day's own website, the event marks “the one day of the year when over 260 independent record shops all across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture”. With worldwide vinyl sales now looking stronger than ever and 2023’s event promising dozens of exclusive vinyl records released specifically for the occasion, there’s certainly a lot to celebrate.

What is Record Store Day 2023?

Record Store Day officially launched on 29th April 2008, with the concept conceived the previous year at a meeting of independent record store owners who looked to raise awareness for the hundreds of distributors dotted across the US and further afield. 

The day itself sees record shops around the globe sell the exclusive batch of vinyl albums released especially for the event, with many limited in number and going on sale on that day. More on those special releases below. 

Many bricks-and-mortar stores also host events and sales in conjunction with the celebratory event, too, such as Rough Trade hosting special live music performances or This Is Soho handing out merchandise, advice and even some sneaky cans of beer for those who patronised its four London stores in 2022.

Like many special so-called “days”, though, the initiative goes far beyond a solitary date in the musical calendar. Just as charities such as Red Nose Day work far beyond their annual telethons, Record Store Day is a fully-fledged organisation that, in its own words, “works with independent and major labels throughout the year to create contests, special releases and promotions”.

• You can also check out RSD’s exclusive documentary series Behind the Counter

Record Store Day dates: when is RSD 2023?

True to tradition, Record Store Day has kept its April placeholder in the calendar over the past 15 years. While it was interrupted by the global pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when it was pushed back to later in the year and split into two events (or ‘drops’, as they were called), last year saw it return to its regular April spot, business as usual.

This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday 22nd April 2023. That's tomorrow, so get queueing... 

The best Record Store Day 2023 releases

The full list of Record Store Day 2023 releases can be found below, but once again we couldn’t help ourselves – in true What Hi-Fi? tradition, we’ve sat down to collaboratively compile the releases we are most excited about seeing, and hopefully hearing. 

You can see our curation of team What Hi-Fi?'s 15 best RSD 2023 releases, which includes special vinyl pressings of live albums by Stevie Nicks and Midlake, limited-edition Thin Lizzy and Pixies releases, and even songs from Bluey.

Read our picks of the 15 best Record Store Day releases 2023 – Pixies, T. Rex, The 1975 and more

And the entire Record Store Day release list is as follows:

1975, The – Live With The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: 2LP

1975, The – Live With The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: CD

1975, The – Live With The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: 1Cassette

A Flock Of Seagulls – B-Sides & Rarities: LP

A Place To Bury Strangers – See Through You: Rerealized: 2LP

Acid Mothers Temple – Paralyzed Brain: 12″

Adicts, The – Fifth Overture: LP

Alan Silvestri – Summer Rental (soundtrack LP): LP

Alex Chilton – Live at Anvers : LP

Ali Farka Toure – Green: LP

Alison Goldfrapp – Remix EP: LP

Alison Moyet – The Other Live Collection: LP

Alpha & Omega – Ancient A&O: LP

Alpha & Omega – Another Moses: LP

Altered Images – Clara Libre: 12″

Althea and Donna – Uptown Top Ranking: LP

Amorphous Androgynous – Tales Of Ephidrina: 1LP+12″

Amorphous Androgynous – Tales Of Ephidrina: CD

Archie Shepp – À Massy: 2LP

Arooja Aftab – Live In London: 12″

Artful & Ridney ft. Terri Walker – Missing You: 12″

Athletes Of God, MSW, Lady Blackbird – Fontella/I Don’t Want To Be Normal: 7″

AURORA – The Woman I Am: 7″

Baby Queen – Colours Of You: 7″

Baker Gurvitz Army, The – The Baker Gurvitz Army: LP

Bardo Pond – Peel Sessions: LP

Bark Psychosis – SCUM: 12″

Bastille – Bastille: MTV Unplugged : LP

Beach House – Become: 12″

Belinda Carlisle – Remixes: 2LP

Ben Webster – In Hot House: LP

Bert Jansch – Toy Balloon: LP

Bert Jansch – When The Circus Comes To Town: LP

Bevis Frond, The – Hit Squad : 2LP

Big Moon, The – Love in The 4th Dimension: 12″ + 7″ bonus tracks

Bill Evans – Treasures – Solo, Trio & Orchestral Records from Denmark (1965-69): 3LP

Bill Grace – Chances Go Round / Lonely: 7″

Bill Nelson’s Red Noise – Live at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester 1979: 2LP

Billy Foster & Audio – Billy Foster & Audio: LP

Billy Joel – Live at the Great American Music Hall: 2LP

Björk – Ovule (Sega Bodega Remix) / Atopos (sideproject Remix): 12″

Black Keys, The – Live At Beachland Tavern: LP Orange

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Live at Levitation: 12″ + Flexi 7″

Black Sabbath – Never Say Die!: LP

Blitz Vega (Johnny Marr & Andy Rourke) – Strong Forever: 12″

Bluey – Dance Mode! : 1LP

Blur – Blur Present The Special Collectors Edition: 2LP

Bob Marley & The Wailers – Stir It Up: 7″

Bob Marley & The Wailers – Mr. Chatter Box b/w Mr. Chatter Box Dub: 7″

BODEGA – Xtra Equipment: LP

Born Heller – Born Heller: LP

Breakwater – No Limit (Mike Maurro Mix) / No Limit (12″ Single Version): 12″

Brian Eno – FOREVER VOICELESS: LP

Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (10th anniversary Deluxe): LP

Bros – When Will I Be Famous? / I Owe You Nothing remixes: 12″

Butcher Brown & Bruce Hornsby – Secret House (12″ single) : 12″

Caitlin Rose – “A) Johnny Velvet B) Carried Away (Demo) ”: 7″

Canned Heat – Vintage: LP

Carl Cox – Deep Space X (Juan Atkins Remixes): 12″

Carole King – The Legendary Demos: LP

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine – 30 Something: Picture Disc

Celeste – Lately EP: LP

Cesária Évora – Radio Mindelo (Early Recordings) : 2LP

Charlie Parker – Afro Cuban Bop: The Long Lost Bird Live Recordings: 2LP

Chet Baker – Blue Room: The 1979 VARA Studio Sessions in Holland: 2LP

Chet Baker – Chet (Mono): LP

Chuck Boris Trio, The – Funky Nassau / Shaft: 7″

Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers – Berro e Sombaro: 7″

Come – Gently Down the Stream: DOUBLE LP

Confidence Man – RE-TILT EP: 12″

Corviria – Psyco Analysis: LP Black

CRAC – All For You: LP

Cranberries, The – Wake Up + Smell The Coffee: LP

Cure, The – Show: 2LP

Cynthia Sheeler – I’ll Cry Over You Pt 1 / I’ll Cry Over You Pt 1: 7″

Czar – Czar: LP

Damian Lewis – Zaragoza : 7”

Dan Penn – Unheard Demos: LP

Darren Hayes – Let’s Try Being In Love – The 12 Inch Mixes: 12″

Darren Hayman – Lido: LP

David Bowie – LAUGHING WITH LIZA – THE VOCALION AND DERAM SINGLES 1964 – 1967 : 5 x 7″ box

David Byrne – The Complete Score From “The Catherine Wheel”: 2LP

David J – Urban Urbane: 2xLP

Death – Fate: The Best of Death (Reissue): LP

Delines, The – Night Always Comes, The: LP

Dennis Olivieri – Welcome to the Party: LP

Dermot Kennedy – Sonder (Exclusive Pic Disc): LP

DIIV – Live at the Murmrr Theatre: LP

Dirty Projectors & Björk – Mount Wittenberg Orca : 2LP

Dismemberment Plan, The – Change: LP

Dizzy Gillespie Quintet – Live in Las Vegas 1963: 2LP

Doctor Who – The Amazing World Of Doctor Who: 2LP

dodie – Hot Mess EP: 12″

Dolly Parton – The Monument Singles Collection 1964-1968: 2LP

Dome City Rock Orchestra, The – Quiet Village Pt 1 / Quiet Village Pt 2: 7″

Donna Summer – A Hot Summer Night (40th Anniversary Edition): 2LP

Donnas, The – Message from The Donnas–The Early Singles (Limited Metallic Gold Vinyl Edition): 2LP

Dorsey Burnette – Hard Working Man (1960-1964): LP

Duran Duran – Carnival Rio!: 1LP 

Durutti Column, The – Treatise on the Steppenwolf + Human Avatars: 2LP

Dusty Springfield – Cameo: 2LP

Easy Life – Live From Abbey Road Studios: LP

Echo & The Bunnymen – Peel Session 1997: LP

Ed Rush & Optical – Wormhole: 5LP Boxset

Eddie Money – The Covers: LP

Edgar Froese of TANGERINE DREAM – Ages: 2LP

Ellie Goulding – Halcyon Nights: 2LP

Elton John – Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player: 2LP

Elvis Presley – Sings Aaron Schroeder: LP

Elvis Presley – Elvis Is Black: 3LP

Elvis Presley – Burning Love – The RCA Rehearsals: 2LP

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery: LP

Ennio Morricone – Gli Occhi Freddi della Paura OST : LP

Ennio Morricone – Il Serpente OST : LP

Ennio Morricone – Le Foto Proibite di una Signora Per Bene OST : LP

Ennio Morricone – Senza Sapere Niente di Lei [Segreto #5] : LP

Envy Of None – Envy Of None: LP

Eric Carr of KISS – Rockology: 2LP

Ernest Ranglin – Below the Bassline: LP

Essential Logic – Beat Rhythm News (Waddle Ya Play?): LP

Ethics, The – Now Is The Time: LP

Etta Marcus – Heart-Shaped Bruise: 12″

Experimental Audio Research – Mesmerised: 12″

Fake Blood – I Think I Like It: 7″

Fall, The – Live 1977: 12″

Fantastic Aleems & Leroy Burgess, The – Get Down Friday Night (Special Re-Mix) / Get Down Friday Night (Vocal): 12″

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Live at Roundhouse: 3LP

Flash & The Dynamics – The New York Sound: LP

Fleetwood Mac – Albatross: 12″

Flowers of Hell, The – Odes: 12″

Foals – Life Is Yours (Life Is Dub): LP

Frank Black – Live 2006: 12″

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – The Drugs / Parasite: 7″

Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart: 2LP

Frankie and The Witch Fingers – ZAM: 2×12″ + 7″

Fred Davis & The Blues Express – Fred Davis & The Blues Express: LP

Frou Frou – Off Cuts: LP

Future Sound of London, The – Life In Moments: LP

Garbage – Witness To Your Love: 12″

Gaturs, The – Swivel Your Hips Pt 1 / Swivel Your Hips Pt 2: 7″

Gaz Coombes – Turn The Car Around (Acoustic Album): 12″

Generation X – Generation X: LP

Geraint Watkins – In a Bad Mood + In a Raw Mood: 2xLP

Giant Sand – Center of the Universe: 2LP

Goblin – Rarities (Film Versions and Alternates): LP

Gong – Angel’s Egg: LP

Graham Bonnet – Line-Up: 12″

Grateful Dead – Boston Garden, Boston, MA 5/7/77: 5LP

Greentea Peng – RISING: 12″

Groove Armada – Black Light: 2 LP

Groundhogs, The – Crosscut Saw: LP

GTR – GTR: 12″

Haircut 100 – Haircut 100% Live! : LP

Hal Blaine – Psychedelic Percussion: LP

Half Japanese – The Band That Would Be King: LP

Happy Mondays – Balearic Beats: LP

Harvey Scales & Seven Seas, The – Trying To Survive (7″ Mix) / Bump Your Thang (7″ Mix) : 7″

Hawkwind – The Iron Dream – Live 1977: 12″

Heidi Berry – FireFly: LP

Heidi Berry – Below The Waves: LP

Herbert – Musca Remixes 12″: 12″

Heroin – Discography: 2LP

Higsons, The – Run Me Down – The Complete Two-Tone Recordings: LP

Hoax, The – So What/Cargo Recordings: LP

Honey Bane – Violence Grows: 12″

Howard Jones – Complete BBC Sessions 1983-1987: 2LP

Hugh Cornwell – Moments of Madness DUB: 12″

Hyla Parker – Joe / Quiet Tunes: 7″

Ian McCulloch – Slideling (20th Anniversary Edition): LP

Icarus Line, The – All Vows Boxed: 5LP box

Iced Earth – Plagues Of Dystopia: 12″

Jackie Stoudemire – Flying High / Guilty: 7″

Jacob Collier – Never Gonna Be Alone: 7″

Jah Thomas – Tribute To Reggae King Bob Marley: LP

Jah Wobble – Redux: 2LP

Jamiroquai – Live at Maida Vale : 12″

Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires – The Sound Emporium EP: 12″

Jazz Artist Guild – Newport Rebels: LP

Jazz Butcher – Dr Cholmondley Repents: A-Sides, B-Sides and Seasides: 2LP 

Jerry Harrison – The Red And The Black (Expanded Edition): 2LP

Jerry Lee Lewis – Live at the Palomino Club: 2LP

Jessie Ware – Free Yourself: 7”

Jesus Jones – Live in Chicago 1990: 2LP

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – Up Your Alley: LP

João Donato E Donatinho – Sintetizamor: LP

JoBoxers – Like Gangbusters: 12″

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros – Streetcore: LP

John Lunn & Eivør – The Last Kingdom – Destiny Is All: LP 12″

John Lennon – Gimme Some Truth: 10″ Box Set

John Massoni w/ Sonic Boom – Think Of Me When You Hear Waves: 12″

John Powell – How To Train Your Dragon 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): 2LP

Jonathan Richman – Jonathan Goes Country: LP

Jorja Smith & Joy Orbison – Rose Rouge: 12″

José González – Local Valley Remixes: 12″

Joyce, Naná Vasconcelos, Mauricio Maestro – Visions of Dawn : LP

Juan McClean, The – “A Happy House (Mark E remix of Matthew Dear v Audion Remix), AA Happy House (Matthew Dear V Audion Remix): 12”

Juno Reactor – Transmissions (30th Anniversary Edition): 2LP

K-Solo – Tell the World My Name (Limited Lemon Vinyl Edition): LP

Kae Tempest – Nice Idea EP: 12″

Karin Jones – Under The Influence Of Love: LP

Kasabian – Rocket Fuel : 10″

Keith Richards – Vintage Vinos: 2LP

Koko Taylor – I Got What It Takes: LP

Lacuna Coil – Shallow Life: LP

Lacuna Coil – Dark Adrenaline: LP

Laibach – Nova Akropola: 2LP

Landscape – From The Tearooms Of Mars…To The Hell Holes Of Uranus: LP

Larry Bright – New Dimensions: LP

Larry Coryell – Introducing The Eleventh House: LP

Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival (Mac Miller) – You: 10″

Latin Blues Band – I’ll Be A Happy Man / Take A Trip: 7″

Leftfield – This Is What We Do (Ambient Mixes): 2LP

Liminanas & David Menke, The – Thatcher’s Not Dead (OST): 2LP

London Grammar – If You Wait: 2LP

Louisa “Markswoman” Mark – Breakout: LP

Loyle Carner – Yesterday’s Gone: LP

M / Robin Scott – Pop Muzik/Baby Close The Window: 12″ EP

M.E.B – That You Not Dare To Forget: LP

Madison Avenue – Polyester Embassy: 2LP

Madness – I Do Like To Be B-Side The A-Side, Vol. 3: LP

Madonna – American Life Mix Show Mix: LP

mal-one – punk rock pictures on my wall: 12”

Mansun – Before The Grey Lantern: LP

Marc Almond – Fantastic Star: 2LP

Marcel King – Reach For Love – Singles 1983-1988: LP

March Violets, The – Made Glorious: 2xLP

Maria McKee – Late December/ Live Acoustic: 2LP

Marianne Faithfull – A Secret Life: LP

Marianne Faithfull – A Secret Life: CD

Mars Volta, The – Frances The Mute + The Widow (Live) – Record Store Day exclusive: LP 12″

Marvin, Gaye/ Shorty, Long – This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (It’s Killing Me)/Don’t Mess With My Weekend: 7″

Max Roach & Archie Shepp – Force – Sweet Mao – Suid Afrika 76: 2LP

Max Romeo – Every Man Ought To Know: LP

Maximum Joy – White & Green Place (extra-terrestrial mix) plus essential dance tracks: MLP

Maxwell Udoh – Survival Of The Fittest: LP

Medeski Martin & Wood – It’s a Jungle In Here (Limited 30th Anniversary Clearwater Blue Vinyl Edition): LP

Metronomy – Small World Special Edition (Record Store Day): LP

Midlake – Live at the Roundhouse: 12″

Midnight, The – Red, White and Bruised: The Midnight Live: LP

Mike Flowers Pops, The – Wonderwall: LP

Mike Oldfield – TUBULAR BELLS – OPUS ONE: LP

Mikey Dread/ Edi Fitzroy – Original General / Queen Of Harlesden: 10″

Miles Davis – Rare Miles From The Complete On The Corner Sessions: LP

Missing Persons – Live in New York 81′: 2LP

Mötley Crüe – Helter Skelter: 12″

Motörhead – Lost Tapes Vol:4 : 2 LP

Mozzy – Bladadah : 2LP

Mr Benn – The Music: LP

Mr.Big – Mr.Big: 12″

Muddy Waters – Hollywood Blues Summit 1971: LP

Murphy’s Law – Murphy’s Law: LP

NAS – Made You Look: God’s Son Live 2002: LP

NENA – 99 Luftballons : 12″

Nico – Live at the Library Theatre ’80: LP

Nightingales, The – Out of True: 2LP

Noctorum (Marty Willson-Piper) – Offer The Light: LP

NOISY – FAST FWD: TO VINYL (EP): LP

Nuggets – 50th Anniversary Box : 5LP

Ocean Colour Scene – B-Sides, Seasides and Freerides: 2LP

OFF! – Free LSD B-Sides: 12″

Oh Sees – Smote Reverser (Golden Fleece Edition): 2LP

Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version: 2LP

Orb, The Featuring Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – The Upsetter At The Starhouse Sessions: LP

Orville Peck – Bronco: 2LP

OST / David Shire – The Conversation OST: LP

OST / James Bernard – The Devil Rides Out Picture Disc OST: 7″ Shape

OST / Nino Rota/Carmine Coppola – The Godfather Suite: LP

Ottile Patterson – 3000 Years With Ottilie : LP

Paul McCartney – Red Rose Speedway: Half Speed

Paul Simpson – Astral Girl EP: 12″

Peaness – Are You Sure? : LP

Pearl Jam – Give Way: 2LP

Pearl Jam – Give Way: CD

Pearlfishers, The – Sky Meadows: 2LP

Pearls Before Swine – One Nation Underground: 2LP

Pearls Before Swine – Balaklava: 2LP

Pere Ubu – Raygun Suitcase: LP

Peter Tosh – Live & Dangerous: Boston 1976 : 2LP

Phil Ochs – Best of the Rest: Rare and Unreleased Recordings: 2LP

piri & tommy – froge.mp3 : LP

Pixies – Demos: 10″

Pixies – Doolittle – Live In Brussels, 2009: 2LP

Pogues, The – The Stiff Records B-Sides 1984- 1987: 2LP

Poison Girls – Hex: 12″

Polica – Shulamith: 12″

Police, The – Every Breath You Take: 2 X 7″ single

Porcupine Tree – IA / DW / XT: 12″

Porridge Radio – 7 Seconds / Jealousy (demo): 7″

Prince Rakeem – Ooh I Love You Rakeem/Sexcapades: 12″

Prodigy, The – Invaders Must Die Remixes +: 12″

Ramones – Pleasant Dreams – New York Sessions: LP

Reggae Specials – Reggae Beatles Vol 2: LP

Republica – Speed Ballads: LP

Residents, The – Our Finest Flowers: 12″

Rich Kids – Ghosts of Princes in Towers: LP

Richard Caiton – Thank You / Where Is The Love: 7″

Ringo Starr of the BEATLES – Stop & Smell the Roses: 2LP

Ringo Starr of the BEATLES – Stop & Smell the Roses: CD

Roger Rodier – Upon Velveatur: LP

Rolling Stones, The – Beggars Banquet: LP

Romeo Void – Live from the Mabuhay Gardens November 14, 1980: LP

Sam Fender – Wild Grey Ocean/Little Bull Of Blithe: 7″

Sam Smith (feat. Kim Petras) – Unholy: 7”

Sarah Kinsley – The King / Cypress: 12″

Schleimer K – Schleimer K: LP

Scott Weiland – 12 Bar Blues: 2LP

Scuba – Hardcore Heaven: 12″

Sea Power – Everything Was Forever: LP

Selecter, The – Live at the NEC 1980: 2LP

Self Esteem – Compliments Please: LP

Seth Lakeman – The Somerset Sessions: LP

Sheena Easton – The Essential 7″ Singles 1980-1987: 2LP’s + 7″

Shirley Scott – Queen Talk: Live at the Left Bank: 2LP

Sigur Ros – Kveikur: 2LP

Simple Minds – Neapolis: LP

Siouxsie & the Banshees – A Kiss In The Dreamhouse: LP

Sir Douglas Quintet – Texas Tornado: Live from the Ash Grove Santa Monica 1971: LP

Sisters of Mercy – The Reptile House EP: LP

SIX BY SEVEN – System One: LP

Slade – Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply: LP

Slits, The – (Un)Cut – The Demos And Alternative Mixes: LP

Smithstonian – Mississippi Mud / Just Sitting: 7″

Smoke, The – It’s Smoke Time: LP

Snapped Ankles – Blurtations: 12″ EP

Soft Cell – Light Sleepers: 12″

Son Volt – Day of the Doug: LP

Sonny Stitt – The Bubba’s Sessions: 2LP

Sonny Stitt – Boppin’ in Baltimore: Live at the Left Bank: 2LP

Soul Asylum – MTV Unplugged: 2LP

Soul Jazz Records Presents – New York Noise: Dance Music from The New York Underground 1978-82: LP

Soul Jazz Records Presents – Studio One Ska 20th Anniversary Edition: LP

Soul Jazz Records Presents – Gipsy Rhumba: The Original Rhythm of Gipsy Rhumba in Spain 1965 – 1974: LP

Soul Jazz Records Presents – 200% Dynamite! Ska, Soul, Rocksteady, Funk & Dub in Jamaica: LP

Soul Jazz Records Presents – Holy Church of the Ecstatic Soul:: A Higher Power: Gospel, Soul and Funk at the Crossroads 1971-83: LP

Soweto Kinch, London Symphony Orchestra, Lee Reynolds – White Juju: LP

Sparks – Live at Record Plant 74′: 12″

Spectrum and Silver Apples – A Lake Of Teardrops: 12″

Spencer Tune – Nightmare: 12″

Stairsteps (aka The Five Stairsteps) – 2nd Resurrection: LP

Steeler – Steeler: LP

Stetasasonic – In Full Gear (35th Anniversary): 2LP

Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna Live 1981: 2LP

Stewart Copeland – Klark Kent: 12″ EP

Suede – “Suede” demos: LP

Suggs & Paul Weller – OOH DO U FINK U R : 7″

Suicide – A Way Of Life – The Rarities EP: 10″

Sun Ra – Haverford College, January 25 1980: LP

Sunburst Band / Dave & Maurissa, The – Secret Life Of Us (Special 45 Version) / Look At The Stars (2-Step Soul Mix): 7″

sunn O)))/Boris – Altar: 2xlp

Supergrass – St. Petersburg: 10″

Suzi Quatro – Back To The Drive: 2LP

Suzi Quatro – Quatro: 2LP

Swedish House Mafia – The Singles: LP

Sweet – Block Buster! / The Ballroom Blitz: LP

Swell Maps C21 – Polar Regions: LP

Sword, The – Gods Of The Earth: LP

Symposium – One Day At A Time: 12″

T. Rex – Rockin’ & Rollin’: LP

Tangerine Dream – Live in Paris, Palais des Congrès: 3LP

Taproot – Welcome: LP

Taylor Swift – “folklore: the long pond studio sessions”: 2LP

Tears For Fears – Saturnine Martial & Lunatic: 2LP

Ted Nugent – Nuge Vault VOL 1: Free-For-All: 12″

Telescopes, The – Hungry Audio Tapes: LP

Terry Callier – Hidden Conversations: LP

Theo Lawrence – A Country Mile: 10″

Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous – Hammersmith 15/11/1986: 2LP

Tom Grennan – Here: 7″

Tony Troutman – What’s The Use? / Instrumental: 7″

Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes Rarities: LP

Travis – The Invisible Band (Live): 2LP

Tricky – Pre-Millennium Tension: LP

TSU Toronados – Please Heart Don’t Break (7″ Mix) / Ain’t Nothin’ Nowhere (7″ Mix): 7″

TV Mania – Bored Of Prozac and the Internet?: LP

Twink & The Sitar Service – Twink & The Sitar Service: LP

U2 – New Year’s Day – 40th anniversary edition: 12″ EP

UFO – “Will The Last Man Standing [Turn Out The Light]: The Best of UFO”: 2LP

Ultramagnetic MCs – Ultra Ultra / Silicon Bass: 12″

Una Luz Y El Zigui – Buenos Días Juventud: LP

Unloved – Killing Eve’r “Ode To The Lovers”: LP

Van Halen – Live: Right Here, Right Now: 4LP

Various (Mike D) – Brazil 45 Boxset Vol.4: 7″ x 5 Box

Various Artists – Ska La-Rama : LP

Various Artists – Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage: 2LP

Various Artists – Monsters, Vampires, Voodoos & Spooks: 2LP

Various Artists – Behind The Dykes 3 (Beat Blues And Psychedelic Nuggets From The Lowlands): 2LP

Various Artists – Bossa Nova at Carnegie Hall: LP

Various Artists – Secretly Distribution x Music Declares Emergency Presents…: LP

Various Artists – 50 Years of TV’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2: 2LP

Various Artists – For The Love Of Haiku: 2LP

Various Artists – Philly Groove Records: When Times Are Bad We Turn To Love (Rarities and Unreleased): 2LP

Various Artists – OCEANS TWELVE (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) (Limited 2-LP Gold “Faberge Egg” Vinyl Edition): 2LP

Various Artists – You Flexi Thing Vol 11: 7″

Various Artists – Hillbillies In Hell: A Chrestomathy: Subterranean Sacraments From The Country Music Underworld (1952-1974): LP

Various Artists – Jazz Dispensary: Hotel Jolie Dame: LP

Various Artists – Psyche France Vol 8: LP

Various Artists (Soundtrack) – Akilla’s Escape: 2LP

Various/ Lee Hazlewood – Fools, Rebel Rousers & Girls on Death Row – The Lee Hazlewood Story 1955-1962: LP

Vartan, Sylvie – Salut les Copains! Beginnings of…YE-YE! : 2LP

Velvet Hammer – Party Hardy (7″ Mix) / Happy (7″ Mix) : 7″

Verlaines, The – Bird Dog: LP

Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes [Picture Disc] : LP

Virgin Prunes, The – The Debut EPs: 2×10″

Week That Was, The – The Week That Was: 12″

Wendell Harrison – Fly By Night: LP

While She Sleeps – SO WHAT?: 2LP

White Town – Women In Technology: LP

Wilco – Crosseyed Strangers: An Alternate Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: LP

Willie Dixon – Catalyst: LP

Willie Tee – Please Don’t Go / My Heart Remembers: 7″

Willie Tee – Funky Funky Twist / First Taste Of Hurt – Alternative Version (Blue Version) : 7″

World Party – Seaview Records Presents World Party Curated By RSD: LP

X-Press 2 – Lazy / Kill 100: 12″

xPropaganda – The Heart Is Strange – The Remixes: 1LP

Yard Act – 100% Endurance (Elton John Version): 7″

YES – “Live at Knoxville Civic

Auditorium”: 3LP

Yumi Zouma – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory: LP

Yusef Lateef Yusef Lateef’s Detroit Latitude 42° 30′ Longitude 83°: LP

Looking forward to Record Store Day? So are we...

Now living on the other side of the world in Melbourne, Australia, our managing editor Becky Roberts is more excited about RSD 2023 than ever before. Why? The reasons for this are pretty simple: it's been four years since she properly enjoyed the one-day-the-day in-store crate digging, the quality of releases this year, the health of vinyl and the quality of today's turntables' performance.

Read more: Why I'm looking forward to Record Store Day more than usual this year

Our guides to getting the best from your new records

You've bought your coveted new RSD 2023 releases. Now what? You've got to play them, of course! Whether you've already got a trusty turntable or are looking for a brand new record player to spin your newly bought vinyl on, we're here to help.

Below you'll find guides to the best turntables on the market (for every budget and every need), as well as tips on how to set it up and get it sounding its very best. Your reading guide is below:

• See our pick of the best turntables for every budget
• Strapped for cash post-RSD splash? These are the best budget record players you can buy, including Bluetooth models
• Here's our guide on how to set up a turntable
• ...and how to get the best sound from it
• Want an easy upgrade? Here's how to change the cartridge on your turntable
• You'll also need a phono stage, or a stereo amplifier with one built-in
• Want to build a five-star turntable system?
• 15 of the best vinyl records to test your turntable
• These are our 12 best-sounding vinyl records

With Record Store Day spinning into our consciousness as it returns to its traditional April spot this weekend, we at What Hi-Fi? have been celebrating the occasion with a week of special vinyl and turntable news, reviews and features.

Live right now, What Hi-Fi?'s Vinyl Week, in association with Technics, hasn't only been designed to fully prepare you for the Record Store Day grab but also get you in the mood to lower that stylus, recline your favourite armchair and spend some quality time with your record collection.

We have everything from how-to guides and definitive best-of lists for those in a position to shop, set up or tweak their system in order to get it to its very best. There are four hot-off-the-press reviews of record players and cartridges coming, too, including the first deck from veteran Dual to have passed through our test room doors in years. 

We're also sharing with you our pick of the best 2022 RSD releases – exclusive to the event and limited in number – including where you'll be able to find them on the day. You can even look forward to an interview with a former Premier League referee who opened up his own record shop. There'll be a quiz too, of course, and much more besides!

• Technics: defining turntable culture for half a century
• Technics celebrates 50 years of the SL-1200 with Limited Edition turntable

This year's Record Store Day will be the first in two years to follow the traditional format whereby record stores around the world stock themselves with a number of special 'RSD releases', available exclusively that April weekend and in-store. Because of You Know What, Record Store Day in 2020 and 2021 were forced to go online and be split into multiple dates, somewhat diluting the annual brick and mortar event experience, so it feels extra crucial that we show as much support as we all can for the stores this year.

The good news is that records themselves are in a good place. Vinyl sales in the UK are at their highest level in over 30 years (Entertainment Retailers Association), while in the US records revenue has grown to $1bn for the first time since 1986 (Recording Industry Association of America) following a 15th consecutive year of growth. 

So, let's make it 16 years, shall we?

Vinyl Week reviews

Lenco LS-410 all-in-one turntable review

Sumiko Rainier cartridge review

Dual CS 418 turntable review

La Boite Concept Square turntable review

Vinyl Week features

How to digitise your vinyl collection - rip your records to hi-res

28 record stores to visit before you die

Me, my stack, my record shop: Premier League referee Jon Moss

15 of the best turntable accessories for better vinyl sound

The very best record players of the 21st century

The trouble with all-in-one turntables (and what to buy instead)

3 of the best turntable systems for playing vinyl

A brief history of the turntable and vinyl records

9 tips for buying second-hand vinyl

16 best turntables of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime

How to clean your records at home

12 of the best-sounding vinyl records

How to add a turntable to your existing music system

Record Store Day: how to find your local participating record shop

11 of the best Record Store Day 2022 releases

Rediscover your vinyl collection with this brilliant turntable-based hi-fi system

How to get the best sound from your turntable

What Hi-Fi? Vinyl Week news

Audio-Technica AT-LPW30BK is a sleek all-black budget turntable

Cambridge Audio releases Alva TT V2 Bluetooth aptX HD turntable with upgrades aplenty

Rega unveils limited edition turntable to celebrate Record Store Day 2022

Pro-Ject X8 is a minimalist turntable with maximum potential

What Hi-Fi? Vinyl Week deals

Vinyl Week turntable deal: £100 off the Award-winning Technics SL-1500C

Save £80 on this fantastic vinyl turntable system with Bluetooth

The 6 best turntable deals for Record Store Day

With Record Store Day 2022 just days away, we've entered that inevitable pre-event stage of repeatedly casting our eyes over the RSD release list, scribbling down more records on the wishlist each time and totting up how many months' pay cheques we feel justified to spend on them this Saturday (23rd April). Not quite there yet? Well, we reckon it's about time you were.

A small number of RSD 2022 releases (such as Billy Bragg's Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy and Tangerine Dream's Live at Reims Cinema Opera, 1975) won't be available until June 18th due to production delays, but the overwhelming majority should be stocked in a participating record store near you on the day. 

The list below, which we've curated as part of our Vinyl Week in association with Technics, is team What Hi-Fi?'s pick of the lot, featuring a beginner-friendly Patti Smith compilation, Bernard Butler B-sides with a twist, and a first time outing on vinyl for the Pixies' iconic live Coachella performance. (We have to say, though, it's a particularly cracking list this year so this selection could've easily included thrice that many.)

• Browse the entire Record Store Day release list
• See our special Vinyl Week features and reviews

Ray Charles - Genius Loves Company

By Ketan Bharadia, International Technical Editor

Ray Charles's last album would be easy to dismiss as a final frill on a career that spanned over five decades, but it deserves more than that. As the album name implies, the idea is that guest vocalists join Charles on each of the songs. There’s the odd misfire but enough occasions where it works well. Highlights include It Was A Very Good Year with Wille Nelson, Sinner’s Prayer with B.B. King, and the glorious Heaven Help Us All with Gladys Knight. The production is lush and sound quality, lovely and rounded. At its best, this album is a real treat.

Tegan & Sara - Still Jealous

By Tom Parsons, TV & AV Editor

Now this is what Record Store Day is all about. Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara, now slightly unfortunately best known as the singers of Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie, recently re-recorded their excellent, pop-tastic 2004 album So Jealous as a stripped-back acoustic collection, with each sister recording the other’s parts. It’s a cracking release that’s ideal for vinyl, so it’s well worth trying to get your hands on one of the 3100 pressings (only 750 of which will be available in the UK) when they go on sale on 23rd April. Need more convincing? It’s an opaque red vinyl. Nice.

Patti Smith - Curated by Record Store Day

By Becky Roberts, Hi-Fi & Audio Editor

As has become customary for the annual RSD event, three exclusive albums are being released in association with Record Store Day's official charity partner War Child, with £1 from every copy sold donated to help protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children living in conflict. If you haven't already guessed, this Patti Smith compilation is one of them (alongside Deacon Blue and Dire Straits releases). Not only is this charitable cause especially worthy of support this year, but this double-LP, limited to 2,250 copies, also sounds like a right blinder – not least for music fans who, criminally, don't already own Smith on shellac. The RSD-curated album features her classic hits from 1974 to 1996, including Because The Night, Dancing Barefoot and, of course, Gloria.

Betty Harris - The Lost Queen of New Orleans Soul

By Joe Svetlik, Freelancer

If you’re yet to discover Betty Harris, know this: she was the protege of Allen Toussaint, and her backing group was The Meters, both legends of the New Orleans funk scene of the 1950s and 60s. Still not convinced? One listen to her soulful voice is enough to see why she deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as her collaborators. This collection of her 21 singles spanning 1964-69 shows her at her finest.

Rick Astley - Whenever You Need Somebody

By Ruben Circelli, Staff Writer

Years on, the spectre of COVID-19 continues to loom and many out there still feel the pain of isolation. Luckily, pop legend Rick Astley is here once again to hold you close with a remaster of his chart-topping, loneliness-crushing debut record for Record Store Day 2022. Whether it’s the dulcet tones of his timeless classic Never Gonna Give You Up; the funky, synth-laden groove of the album’s self-titled track; or, quite frankly, anything else off the record, Astley’s take on glitzy, smooth '80s pop still transcends over 35 years later.

Bernard Butler - People Move On: The B-Sides 1998-2021

By Becky Roberts, Hi-Fi & Audio Editor

Suede fans during the band's early glory days will painfully remember Bernard Butler's bitter exit, but while it marked the end of his magnificently cinematic guitarwork for the Britpop piece, fans weren't left high and dry for too long. The guitarist released a debut solo album, People Move On, four years later, and from next Saturday the B-sides will be available on vinyl for the first time, with side A featuring the original 1998 vocals and the flipside providing re-vocalled versions recorded only last year.

Sepultura - Revolusongs

By Andy Madden, Deputy Editor

Heavy metal isn’t usually near the top of my streaming playlist but it can occasionally sneak in there, usually when a band releases a cover version that piques my interest. This is why I’ll be snapping up a copy of Sepultura’s Revolusongs, a rare EP choc-full of covers including U2’s Bullet the Sky and Jane Addictions’s Mountain Song. There’s even an, er, interesting rap-metal cover of Public Enemy’s Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos. But I’m more excited about the cover of Massive Attack’s Angel – moodier than the original and dripping in metal.

Joni Mitchell - Blue Highlights 

By Mary Stone, Staff Writer

Fifty years from its initial release, Joni Mitchell’s Blue has achieved the kind of exalted adulation that can seem to weigh heavily on a record, especially one that brims with candid transparency and seemingly effortless poise. Keen to dispel the myth of creative divinity, Blue Highlights is the ninth issue from an ambitious project by Mitchell to make available previously unreleased material from across her vast archive. In the style of the recent The Beatles: Get Back documentary, Blue Highlights reveals Mitchell’s process of writing and re-writing, illuminating listeners with unfinished but revelatory versions of some of her most iconic songs, including the original, staccato demo of canonical break-up ballad Case of You followed by a more caustic rendition with James Taylor while the two were in the first throws of romance. Essential and inspiring listening for fans of Mitchell's work.

Fats Domino - Here Comes... Fats Domino

By Becky Scarrott, Staff Writer

Originally released in 1963, re-issued in 1975 and not since – and never on heavyweight violet-coloured vinyl with individual hand-numbering – Here Comes…Fats Domino was the first studio album Domino recorded away from the Imperial label in over 13 years, thus ending his long-standing relationship with producer/arranger/frequent co-writer Dave Bartholomew. Why the collaboration came to an end is lost to the sands of time, but the new label, ABC, allegedly dictated that Domino record in Nashville rather than New Orleans, where he was assigned a new producer (Felton Jarvis) plus a new arranger (Bill Justis). Jarvis and Justis changed Domino’s sound somewhat – it’s a little shinier, doo-wop and even poppy, with a countrypolitan-style backing chorus in most of his new recordings, but the soulful vocal shines through. 

Whether you enjoy the production here or not, the album features the hit Red Sails in the Sunset and cements Domino’s reputation as a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer – let’s not forget, this is an artist Elvis Presley called “the real king of rock ‘n’ roll” and of whom he said in 1957, “Let's face it: I can't sing like Fats Domino can. I know that.” 

Keith Richards - Talk is Cheap / Live At The Hollywood Palladium

By Tom Bailey, Freelancer

Apparently, Record Store Day isn't just about vinyl; there are exclusive cassettes up for grabs too! Keith Richards doesn't so much 'sing' as holler. But when that hollering spills over some expertly crafted licks and Stones-y live drums, it's pure voodoo magic. Thank goodness this man survived a coconut falling on his head. With any luck he'll keep playing the likes of Take It So Hard for many years to come. If you feel the same, don't miss the chance to snatch up one of 650 double cassette releases of Talk is Cheap, Keef's debut album, on Record Store Day.

Pixies - Live from Coachella 2004

By Becky Roberts, Hi-Fi & Audio Editor

Undoubtedly one of those "I can't believe I missed that" moments for any Pixies fan who didn't attend, the Coachella festival gig from Pixies in 2004 has become one of those iconic live performances. Not only was the band on top form (which you can tell simply from the clips in Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert film and by listening to the performance of Debaser ), it came after the band's decade-long hiatus. This was always going to be a big occasion and it wholeheartedly delivered. The 20-song set has been streamable for just over a year now, but now it's finally hitting vinyl for RSD 2022. And orange and yellow marbled vinyl, at that.

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