Milwaukee, WI | What’s driving today’s physical media resurgence? This week, Lake Effect is celebrating Bob Reitman’s new album, 12th House, ahead of an Oct. 12 release party that WUWM is hosting at the Pabst Theater. The album will be released exclusively on vinyl. And while that’s exactly on-brand for Reitman, it did get us thinking about the resurgence and continued relevance of physical media—especially among younger generations. To find out more, Lake Effect’s Audrey Nowakowski spoke with Marc Tasman, director of Digital Arts and Culture at UW-Milwaukee. Tasman discusses a handful of factors that make vinyl and other physical media so attractive today.
Burnaby, CA | Physical media’s popularity continues to rise: Why are so many old-school forms of media still used? Physical media has been coveted by collectors and niche communities for decades. DVD’s, CD’s, vinyl records, video games, VHS tapes and cassettes continue to be loved by those who hold onto them. Everyone has a different story about how they became interested in them, but a common theme is having these formats be introduced by a family member or close friend. Maya Cresine is a lifelong collector and enjoyer of records, CD’s, tapes, DVD’s, VHS’s and more. She’s one of many who frequent thrifts stores and record stores all around the world, and that crowd is growing.
UK | Jake Bugg announces intimate record store tour ahead of new album Alamo: Singer-songwriter Jake Bugg has announced an intimate UK record store tour to celebrate the release of his seventh studio album, Alamo, arriving on 13 November 2026 via Thirty Tigers. Fresh from a headline appearance at Nashville’s Centennial Park as part of Americana Fest, Bugg will kick off a 20-date in-store run starting at Circuit in Kingston on 8 November. The tour includes stops at Rough Trade East in London, Rough Trade Nottingham, and HMV location across the country, featuring acoustic performances, live Q&A sessions, and album signings. Produced by multi-Grammy winners Jimmy Hogarth and Steve McKewan, the 11-track record sees the 32-year-old artist return to his folk and country roots.
Los Angeles, CA | Inside 5 of Los Angeles’s best hi-fi bars: Where they are and why they sound so good: LA had some of the first hi-fi bars in the US, and now they’re all over the city. In 2018, the first hi-fi bar in the United States opened in Los Angeles. It was called In Sheep’s Clothing. While that establishment unfortunately closed in 2020 during the pandemic, it started a trend of hi-fi bars and spaces spreading all over the City of Angels. Hollywood. The beach. Northeast LA. Downtown. No matter the neighborhood, a place to have a drink and listen to a top-tier sound system in LA is never too far away. As MusicTech reported earlier this year at VinylCon Los Angeles, the explosion in vinyl sales has sparked greater interest in hi-fi listening, and these spaces can serve as entry points to showcase analog quality.
Manchester, UK | White Label: New all-day vinyl café to open at Depot Mayfield. A new all-day vinyl café is set to open its doors at Manchester’s Depot Mayfield this weekend. White Label, which opens at the front door of Depot Mayfield on Sat 26 Sep, will move from early-morning coffee and breakfast to lunch and after-work drinks, backed by an evolving programme of music and events. The team says music and vinyl culture will be at the heart of the operation, curated by Manchester DJ Stu Richards, who brings 20 years of experience spanning jazz, funk, soul, reggae, disco, house, techno and drum and bass. The name White Label is a homage to the plain vinyl pressings traditionally circulated among DJs, record shops and promoters ahead of a track’s official release.
At These New Restaurants, the Sound System Is Just As Important As the Food: Get to know the restaurant trend that’s winning over diners and audiophiles alike. In a time of AI-generated playlists, many restaurateurs are opting for something a little bit more offline: vinyl. Across the country, new matcha shops, moody wine bars, and cool-kid restaurants are investing in hi-fidelity listening experiences. The trend can be traced back to Japan in the late 1800s, with the opening of the first kissatens, Japanese-style cafés or tea rooms. After World War II, some kissatens showcased Western jazz and classical music while still serving a café menu in a space where listening to records was more important than talking. Eventually, the concept evolved, becoming well-designed spaces for post-work whiskeys—precursors to today’s hi-fi bars.
Los Angeles, CA | Bruno Mars, Cardi B And More Get Liquid-Filled Vinyl For ComplexCon 2026: Vinyl collectors heading to ComplexCon 2026 are getting something considerably more unusual than another colour variant. Atlantic Records is teaming with Bad World for a collection of limited-edition liquid-filled records available exclusively at the Los Angeles event. The records will be housed inside the first-ever Bad World Vault, opening October 3 and 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. And they’re only being sold in person. The collaboration takes a selection of major Atlantic Records releases from 2026 and gives them Bad World’s liquid-filled vinyl treatment, turning the physical records themselves into collector pieces.
Wrensilva’s Most Affordable Hi-Fi Console Just Got a Glow Up: The California-based brand released this modern record console earlier in the year. Now, it’s adding a second option. Earlier this year, Wrensilva introduced the Studio, a beautiful modern record console (aka an all-in-one hi-fi system). It comes complete with a turntable, speakers and streaming capabilities. And it’s packaged in a handmade, mid-century-inspired wooden cabinet. It costs $9,990. Believe it or not, that makes it the most affordable record console that the California-based brand makes. It’s positioned below its flagship M1 ($18,900+) and The Standard ($14,900+).
Best Turntable Upgrade? Five Vinyl Products Compared: These five products serve very different parts of a vinyl system: one complete turntable, two cartridges, a record-cleaning machine and a stabilizer. Here is which one makes the strongest all-round buy—and where the alternatives make more sense. These five vinyl products are not direct rivals in the usual sense. The Clearaudio Compass is a complete turntable, while the Rega Nd9 and Hana Umami Black are cartridge upgrades; the Pro-Ject VC-E Mini cleans records, and the HumminGuru LUMI is a stabilizer with a built-in speed test and lighting. Comparing them still matters, because each addresses a different way of improving or completing a vinyl setup.
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