Welcome…

By 1993, The Stone Roses had become this huge, beautiful

THE STONE ROSES

While The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut album is an

THE 6O GREATEST DEBUT ALBUMS OF ALL TIME!

Some artists develop their sound over the course of a long career, working gradually towards a creative peak, while others hit the ground running and deliver a fully realised masterwork at the first time of asking. And it’s the latter group we pay tribute to here as Gary Tipp names vinyl’s greatest debut albums

On the record

A Different Kind Of Tension and Singles Going Steady

Simon says

Having probed music-industry gender inequality last month, the Bella Union founder focuses on his own label and predicts a more progressive future

DAUGHTER OF SWORDS

My new album is… like a house. Each song feels like

The Completist

Never afraid to duck an issue, Pete confronts the eternal question, does your collection of 80s 12-inch singles still justify a space on your shelves?

#25 Meet The Residents

No prizes are awarded for guessing where the inspiration

Mac & These

Newly discovered Fleetwood Mac recordings featuring blues legend

LINER NOTES

This year has seen some great vinyl releases with etched B-sides, but it’s an artform that goes back decades. The first etched disc I ever bought was in 1989, which was an incredible boom year for the format

PENELOPE ISLES

Shimmering guitars and lush harmonies abound from Bella Union’s latest signings

THE VINYLIST MICHAEL FISHBERG

It’s well over 10,000 records and counting for Michael

CRATE DIGGING WITH… CRAIG FINN

Craig Finn is taking a break from The Hold Steady to release his fourth solo record, I Need A New War. Here, the indie rock ‘n’ roller walks us through 10 of the most formative albums on his record shelves

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

The Mexican classical guitar duo started out as Mexico City metalheads. Rod tells Gary Walker how Metallica’s Master Of Puppets set them on their way

PRIMAL SCREAM

It’s over 33 years since Primal Scream’s debut single Velocity Girl introduced one of music’s most unpredictable collectives to the public consciousness. A brand new singles compilation showcases just how maverick “one of the last high-energy rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world” have remained ever since. John Earls hears from mainman Bobby Gillespie about the perilous future of rock ‘n’ roll, how he doesn’t understand his children’s music and becoming an accidental political hero…

The Unbearable Lightness Of being

Aldous Harding’s new LP, which mixes gothic psych-folk and catchy pop melodies, looks set to catapult her to a wider audience. She tells Jonathan Wright about its creation

ABOVE THE WEATHER

A concept album about religion, written at 40,000 feet, Oh My God is Kansas troubadour Kevin Morby’s fifth solo record since going it alone. He tells Gary Walker why it could be the best thing he’s ever done

Tom Dalgety

The British producer has helmed a series of stellar rock records, earning Grammy and BRIT Award nominations along the way. He talks Gary Walker through his highlights

BLACK BLOSSOMS, MELANCHOLY & METAMORPHOSIS (1997-98)

In this extract from Melissa Chemam’s new book telling the story of Massive Attack and the trip-hop sound that emerged from Bristol, we hear how the shifting political climate in the UK and band tensions in the studio paved the way for the album that would become Mezzanine

The Cure DISINTEGRATION

On their eighth album, The Cure turned their backs on the skewed brand of pop that had yielded a succession of hits, and opted instead for doom-laden introspection. Against all expectations, as Neil Crossley explains, it was the album that would become their crowning achievement

IF IT AIN’T STIFF

From pub rock to punk and straight into new wave, Stiff Records was the stuff of indie fantasies. Genre-breaker, cult laboratory, purveyor of sleeves and objects that still remain collectible artifacts, Stiff had it all. But is there an even deeper side to the label that we’ve been missing? Gareth Murphy goes behind the scenes

NORMAN SEEFF

A legendary photographer who’s worked with The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell and Blondie, Norman Seeff possesses a vast body of album artwork. Teri Saccone checks his CV

The Diskery

One of the UK’s longest-standing record shops, Morris Hunting’s The Diskery is a well-loved Birmingham institution. Garth Cartwright meets the man carrying on Morris’ legacy

DIGGING FOR VICTORY

Pro vinyl dealer Mark O’Shaughnessy’s obsessive pursuit of a 7” single by an obscure US soul band led to sweaty palms in a Florida record shop

Wewantsounds

From spiritual jazz to Japanese synth-pop, the French reissue label are making an eclectic range of music available again on vinyl. Chris Parkin joins the dots

CLOSER

Recorded at the last minute, the band’s breakthrough 45 in the US nearly didn’t make it onto the album, as Gary Tipp discovers

David Bowie With John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson

CLAREVILLE GROVE DEMOS/THE ‘MERCURY’ DEMOS

Primal Scream

MAXIMUM ROCK ‘N’ ROLL THE SINGLES VOLUME 1: 1986-2000 & VOLUME 2: 2000-2016

The National

I AM EASY TO FIND

DREAM MACHINES

Premium loudspeakers with superior sound and a different way of doing things

AVID INTEGRA

John Pickford fails to find fault with AVID’s newest integrated amp

AVM ROTATION R 2.3

This clever turntable from Germany can compete with the best in its class, as Paul Rigby testifies