(Newswire.net — March 3, 2021) — foresaw that vinyl will be alive and well during this time. After all, why should we listen to vinyl when we can easily play and skip music using our phones? We asked the CEO of UnifiedMFG which offers the fastest vinyl pressing turnaround in LA, why custom vinyl records are booming again and we learned that it’s not just the sound quality that customers are after, people are buying vinyl again because of the nostalgia and the awesome packaging. And because short run vinyl pressing is so easy to customize these days, we see a lot of one of a kind vinyl releases. Here are some of the coolest ones we found:
#5 “Home” by Rhye
Home is the 4th studio album of the R&B musical project, Rhye. The project once consisted of founder Canadian electronic musician, Mike Milosh, and the Danish instrumentalist, record producer, and songwriter, Robin Hannibal. Now, the project is a music collective with Milosh leading them. The 13-tracked studio album was released last January 22, 2021 by Loma Vista Recordings. It is the first ever Rhye album that refrained from only utilizing Milosh voice. It had 49 other voices which were from the 49-membered Danish National Girls’ Choir. According to metacritic, it is the 44th best rated album of 2021 with an average of 74 out of 100 as its rating. The album peaked at number 40 in Ultratop Flanders’ Belgian Albums chart and peaked at number 45 in Swiss Hitparade’s Swiss Albums chart.
#4 “Sound Ancestors” by Madlib and Four Tet
This album is a collaboration between solo acts Madlib and Four Tet. Otis Jackson Jr., professionally known as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist and rapper. Kieran Hebden, also known as Four Tet, is an English musician known for being active in electronic music. Both collaborated for the album Sound Ancestors which was released through Madlib Invazion on January 29, 2021. The 16-tracked album was produced by Madlib and arranged, edited, and mastered by Four Tet. Sound Ancestors had an average of 83 out of 100 according to metacritic. The album also debuted the Billboard 200 at number 153 in America and peaked at number 10 in Billboard’s US Vinyl Albums and Official Charts Company’s UK R&B Albums chart.
#3 “Collapsed in Sunbeams” by Arlo Parks
Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho, known professionally as Arlo Parks, is a British poet and singer-songwriter. The album “Collapsed in Sunbeams” is her debut album which was released on January 29, 2021 through Transgressive Records. The international standard edition of the album has 12 tracks, the international deluxe edition has 20 tracks with 8 bonus tracks, and the Japanese deluxe edition has only 17 tracks with only 5 bonus tracks. With this debut album, many critics praised both Arlo Parks’ vulnerability and versatility. According to Metacritic, it had an average of 83 out of 100. It peaked at number 3 in two of Official Charts Company’s charts, UK Albums chart and Scottish Albums chart.
#2 “Little Oblivions” by Julien Parks
Julien Baker is an American multi-instrumentalist and singer known for her music that tackles issues about addiction, human nature, mental illness and spirituality. She is also known for being a member of the Boygenius, an indie band she was in together with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The album Little Oblivion is Baker’s third studio album released on February 26, 2021 by Matador Records. The album with its 12 tracks was a goodbye to the acoustic alt folk genre she had with her two albums. In addition to this, Little Oblivion also features a full band sound, with Julien Baker playing almost the entirety of it. The album also received high scores from critics with metacritics reporting an average of 85 out of 100. The album also debuted at number 6 in the American iTunes chart and has been in the US Album Chart for 5 days and counting.
#1 “Hermitage” by Moonspell
Moonspell is a Portugese gothic metal band that was formed in 1992. They quickly became the most popular metal band in Portugal and are an important figure of the gothic metal genre. They are known for their albums “Wolfheart and Irreligious” and “Night Eternal.” Their 10-tracked album Hermitage was released and distributed by Napalm Records on February 26, 2021. It is the gothic metal band’s thirteenth album for their 25 years in the music industry. With this album, they have shown everyone on this planet just how they became a phenomenon some few years ago and why they are still relevant up to this day.
It’s just the start of the year yet we see a lot of beautiful vinyl record releases. It will be a delight to see more as the year rolls by. Is there a vinyl record design that really blew you away?