The Ultimate Record Collection is your guide to the best music available new on vinyl…
You can listen on the train or in the car, at the computer or on your phone. In your room. In the bath, or out on your bike. You might invest in noise-canceling headphones for your hi-res audio player, or go retro with a cassette mixtape on a Walkman you found in a cupboard.
Or, you could join the swelling tide of music lovers in returning to the joys of listening to great albums on vinyl. Whether you’re drawn in by the luxury of the package, of discovering new stuff, or the audiophile promise of hearing new dimensions in music you already know, vinyl is a fantastic way to listen.
Which is where (i)The Ultimate Record Collection(i) comes in. We can’t pretend this is a definitive list of all the music you will ever want or need. Instead, we’ve made a selection of the very best music available to buy new on vinyl right now.
Inside, you’ll find an authoritative introduction to each decade, and dedicated features on pivotal artists in each, whether that happens to be Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Jack White or Kendrick Lamar. Major developments in music, be that in jazz, Americana, hip hop, grunge or German rock also receive specialist focus.
Rather than limiting things, the emphasis here is on suggesting the vastness of what’s on offer. The only qualification for inclusion in these pages to be a great album which you can buy new on vinyl now. That’s The Ultimate Record Collection – all of the music, but with none of the surface noise.