Bleeps on Wax – By Mike Mertes

Over the last few years vinyl records certainly seem to be making a large scale come back, and stores like Wal-Mart and Target have the latest music releases predominantly displayed on their shelves in the format. Along with this resurgence, several labels have been bringing a genre of music not often seen in the West in the form of a 12-inch record: Video Game soundtracks.

In Japan, video game soundtracks have always been widely available in a variety of formats, including vinyl. Trying to track down the original Japanese releases can be difficult and expensive, so it is great to see that game soundtracks in this format are now more accessible. If you don’t have a turntable and want to collect these releases anyway, the good news is that most of them come with codes for a digital MP3 download. Some great releases have been put out by several companies, so let’s look at some of the labels behind these video game soundtracks on vinyl.

The United Kingdom based Data Discs has set the standard in presentation and quality for their vinyl releases since 2015. Over the past few years, they have released the soundtracks for some of Sega’s most significant 80s arcade releases, including Space Harrier, OutRun, Super Hang-On, and Afterburner II.The look and sturdy design of the record jackets are awe-inspiring and feature high-quality artwork from the original arcade games for the cover art. On some occasions, Data Discs will also include a poster with the release to add to the overall package. The vinyl records themselves are also uniquely presented in a variety of colors that often match the colors of the game artwork. The most crucial aspect of any vinyl record release is how the record sounds when played, and Data Discs ensures that this is met to satisfaction. I have many Data Discs releases in my collection and have yet to be disappointed.