"An album on vinyl is a beautiful thing." Kate Bush talks about her love of vinyl

A picture of Kate Bush — (Image credit: Trevor Leighton/AFP/Murray Chalmers PR)

Kate Bush has been talking about her love of the vinyl format, on the day she has been announced as an ambassador for this year's Record Store Day

"Isn’t it great to see how the resurgence in vinyl has taken the Music Industry by complete surprise?" she asks. "It had decided to leave vinyl far behind, but it would seem that not everyone agrees! I love that! I know there are many, many artists who are just as excited to see the audience turning the tide."

This year's this year’s Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record shops, takes place on this year’s Record Store Day, April 20 in the UK. Bush herself is releasing an exclusive 10" UV printed disc entitled Eat The Music, featuring the title track, Lily and Big Stripey Lie from 1993's The Red Shoes album.

"What a huge honour to have been asked to be Ambassador for this year’s Record Store Day. It really is a great privilege," says Bush in a statement on her website.

"In the same way that some people like to read a book on Kindle but also want to have a book as a physical object," she continues, "a lot of people like vinyl and streaming. Both have different appeals.

"The added bonus of vinyl is that it encourages people to listen to albums. An art form that I’ve always thought can be treasured in a unique way. An album on vinyl is a beautiful thing, given a strong identity by its large-scale artwork. There’s a much more personal connection with the artist and their work.

"It’s been fun putting designs together for some of the previous RSDs. This year’s design echoes the cancelled release of Eat The Music as the first single from the album, The Red Shoes. The image was intended to be on the cover of the single bag and is now on the disc as a UV print. The title, Eat The Music, is meant to be a playful nod to ‘If music be the food of love, play on,’ from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

"Each year Record Store Day gathers more attention, more momentum, and attracts more people who cram into indie record stores all over the world to see what’s up. What’s new? This year, I hope you have a fantastic time at this very important event, and that you get to celebrate music that’s been specially released for you."

This year's Record Store Day also sees prog-related releases from The Alan Parsons Project, Be-Bop Deluxe, Hawkwind, Steven Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Goblin, Jane Weaver, GOAT, Mike Oldfield, Harmonia, Roger Waters, Oceanside, Motorpsycho and more...

Full list of releases and participating UK stores.

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.