Essential Alternative / New Wave Records on Vinyl

Dreampop essential! By the time Cocteau Twins released Heaven Or Las Vegas, they had been perfecting their singular sound for nearly 10 years, reco...

Bjork's fantastically diverse debut solo album from 1993. Those of us who were around back then probably remember seeing the "Human Behaviour" vide...

Official import pressing of MBV's Loveless! This reissue was overseen by Kevin Shields and is fully analog cut, resulting in the truest representat...

Best album of the 90s? Possibly maybe! For her second album, Bjork and her cast of collaborators escaped to the Bahamas to record at Compass Point ...

Vespertine was a departure from the sultry downtempo and chic IDM of Bjork’s previous albums, trading big room extravagance for reticent experiment...

This is the first pressing of this classic in 10 years, and it gets proper dues with 180g vinyl, deluxe packaging complete with original printed in...

In 1988, Robert Smith was 29 years old, panicking that he had yet to deliver a masterpiece before the curtain fell on his 20s. He began writing son...

First reissue of Stereolab's fifth studio album 1997! Their sound here had tightened up even more (read: less rock-ish) since Emperor Tomato Ketch...

This is it, the big one. The Rolling Stone five star all time great Smiths album. I don't really believe in this kind of stuff, especially with thi...

Depeche Mode's epic live album reissued! Originally released in 1989, 101 chronicles the final show of UK synth pop gods' 1988 Music For The Masse...

Sophomore studio album from Black Marble. It's Immaterial finds Black Marble in a transitional phase. Originally composed of Chris Stewart and Ty K...

Post Rock opus from Chicago-via-Kentucky quartet Slint. Hailed as one of the best albums of the genre, the band had already broken up by the time t...

Not a big fan of the symbolic, but Peter Saville's cover art on this one damn near brings me to tears. Was he aware that this was the album that wo...

Debut full-length from Birmingham, England’s Broadcast. The Noise Made By People came after the band signed to Warp Records and spent nearly three ...

It's impossible to overstate how important this debut LP was when it was originally released in October 1990. Nowhere was the pinnacle of a year in...

"Remastered 2LP vinyl version of the classic 1987 compilation originally released via the legendary Factory Records. Substance compiles all of New ...

Certain songs or albums are so strikingly unique, you can remember the first time you heard them. I clearly remember the first time I heard "Black...

This record is scary as fuck. The first time I heard this, I was transfixed. Being only familiar with the sardonic electro-pop of early 80s Kraftwe...

The Cocteau Twins’ very first breakthrough in a career littered with breakthroughs: Treasure established them as the flagbearers of postpunk’s swir...

Mike Kinsella, Steve Lamos, and Steve Holmes formed American Football in 1997, and the trio released this eponymous debut album in 1999 (not to be ...

Unpopular opinion but this is the coolest Cocteau Twins record. It was their first-ever release on 4AD or any other label, with no single or EP pre...

What do you do when your current band decides to take a break? Start another one! After meeting while their respective bands were touring together,...

I have a folder with every Lab review written for the site. There's definite themes that emerge when you read the older ones. Let me set this one u...

"What has happened to us? What will happen to the vampire cult?" Stratosphere is the coveted debut album from San Jose slowcore / space rock / "exp...

Deluxe 180g repress of Depeche Mode's fifth studio album. Black Celebration originally come out in 1986 and cemented the darkening of the DM sound ...

Seminal shoegaze band's 2nd album reissued! The follow up to what might easily be one of the best albums in the genre (Nowhere), Going Blank Again ...

"Fear of Music is the third studio album by American New Wave band Talking Heads, released on 3 August 1979 on Sire Records. It was recorded at loc...

"Document is R.E.M.'s tribute to the work ethic. A snapshot in time, a true documentary, this meticulously-crafted creation pays homage to the grou...

Me and Stony have a mighty addiction to Belle & Sebastian. This is B&S's second album from 1996, generally considered their best album thus...

"Eponymous debut album by acclaimed rock band Blind Melon, released in 1992, featuring breakthrough single 'No Rain'. Fronted by singer Shannon Hoo...

"The debut album from New York-based Talking Heads is a slice of brilliant schizophrenic pop. David Byrne (guitar and vocals), Tina Weymouth (bass)...

This is the album that New Order fans pretend not to like. As in: "I prefer their early, formative stuff like Movement or Power Corruption Lies." W...

"1985 Compilation Reissued On Vinyl LP, includes 'The Killing Moon' & 'Bring On The Dancing Horses'! By the release of Songs To Learn & Sin...

I'm actually glad I didn't get into the Smiths until I was like 22. Let's face it, if my gothy neighbor or whatever gave me their first album on ta...

2004 full length from NYC's Blonde Redhead. This album marked their debut on the legendary 4AD imprint as well as solidifying their place in the pa...

25th anniversary edition! Numero Group celebrate a quarter century of Duster's slow burning classic with this special edition pressed on 180 gram h...

Mozmentous. I kinda dread getting these foundational records of my teenage years in. I feel the need to write a confessional blurb, then Woodman wi...

"Digitally remastered edition of this 1987 release from the legendary British quartet, their final studio album. With producer Stephen Street, The ...

Debut studio album from Northampton's Bauhaus. In the Flat Field was originally recorded in 1980 after the band had wrapped up a 30 date tour. The ...

Trans-Europe Express, originally released in 1977, is a good starting point for any serious b-boy (Afrika Bambaataa sampled the title track for Pla...

Goodbye seventies! Vince Clarke formed Yazoo (called Yaz in the States for legal reasons) with Alison Moyet shortly after quitting Depeche Mode, an...

"The wait is over. All three studio albums by Lush are back in print on vinyl. With a few EPs and a mini-album (Scar) having set the scene, Spooky ...

"By now, you know the story: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, & Patrick 'Murph' Murphy, meet in Amherst, MA. J, Lou & Murph start a band. Said band go...

Kate's sixth studio album, now on deluxe 180 gram vinyl. By 1989, Kate Bush had five albums under her belt and was already an icon with her own ver...

It can be argued that Bjork hit her artistic peak on The Sugarcubes' debut album. Yeah, Debut, Post, Homogenic, all pretty incredible... however, c...

25th anniversary edition! Numero Group celebrate a quarter century of Duster's slow burning classic with this special edition pressed on 180 gram h...

Post Rock opus from Chicago-via-Kentucky quartet Slint. Hailed as one of the best albums of the genre, the band had already broken up by the time t...