Here’s a new picture of Robert’s stunning artwork in the vinyl edition’s accompanying booklet (above) - for more images, click here.

Working closely with Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja and designer Tom Hingston, this special edition of the band’s acclaimed new album has been crafted to the very highest standards by The Vinyl Factory, and is available to pre-order now.

Housed in a unique black-glitter coated triple gatefold sleeve, this deluxe edition includes Heligoland’s 10 tracks on heavyweight double vinyl and CD, plus an additional 12″ containing four new Massive Attack tracks and a 28-page booklet with exclusive artwork and photography, housed in a striking, black-glitter covered sleeve.

Heligoland features guest vocals from Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey and Tunde Adebimpe. Long time cohort Horace Andy makes a return alongside Massive Attack founding members Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall.

Full product details:

* Two 180-gram heavyweight vinyl records, containing Heligoland’s 10 tracks, crafted on the legendary EMI 1400 in Hayes, Middlesex.
* Exclusive bonus 180-gram heavyweight 12″ vinyl, containing four additional new Massive Attack tracks and remixes.
* Exclusive 28-page booklet, featuring new Robert Del Naja artwork and Massive Attack tour photography.
* CD, containing the full album, housed in a black pochette, with a black-glitter coated cover.
* Triple gatefold sleeve featuring unique black-glitter coated cover artwork by Robert Del Naja.

This deluxe edition is available to pre-order now from The Vinyl Factory.

Having been nominated as one of the Design Museum’s prestigious ‘Designs of the Year’ and voted the no1 “most collectible product of the 21st century” by Record Collector, this morning The Vinyl Factory crafted Pet Shop Boys limited edition vinyl box set scaled new heights, selling for a record-breaking price of £3,100 at auction, over ten times its original price.

The money raised by Oxfam’s online music auction goes to a much-needed cause, aiding the relief effort in Haiti. To read/see more of the other items still available for sale, click here.

The Vinyl Factory has worked closely in collaboration with Hot Chip and their long-time designer Wallzo to create a special vinyl edition of the band’s new album, One Life Stand.

The special edition is limited to 1,000 hand-numbered copies worldwide, and includes two 200g super-heavyweight vinyl records, across which are spread One Life Stand’s ten tracks. The records were pressed on the legendary EMI 1400 in Hayes, Middlesex. The records are housed in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with bespoke artwork printed on both sides. Also included is an exclusive Hot Chip art print featuring One Life Stand cover art.

Click here for more information and to pre-order the item.

Record Collector has voted The Vinyl Factory’s box set for Pet Shop Boys’ Yes number 1 in their list of the Top 50 ‘most collectible’ products of the 21st century! A modest accolade, granted, but we’ll take it.

You can see/read more about The Vinyl Factory in the new issue of Record Collector, out next week…

Farrow Design have been shortlisted for the Design Museum’s Brit Insurance Design Awards, for their work on the Pet Shop Boys‘ Yes – including a deluxe vinyl edition created with The Vinyl Factory.

The vinyl edition, which was limited to 300 copies worldwide and has long since sold out, is comprised of 11 super-heavyweight 12″ records pressed on the classic EMI 1400, and each featuring a Yes album track and exclusive instrumental. Each record is housed in a colour sleeve; when correctly arranged they allow you to make an 8-ft tick, matching the gold-plated metal tick on the smoked transparent perspex box which contains all of the above. You can find more information on this edition here.

Other artists and creative teams shortlisted for the Brit Insurance Design Awards include Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers for Bloom, Beth Ditto and Evans for their collaborative fashion line, and M/M (Paris) for their work on Bjork’s Voltaic: Songs From The Volta Tour.

The xx audio-visual show opened last night at The Vinyl Factory (see above), and you can read more about the concept behind video director Saam Farahmand’s ‘Sculpture of an Album’ in this week’s Time Out, and online via Dazed Digital and Creative Review.

The limited edition of The xx’s debut album is now also in stock to buy from Phonica. Limited to just 500 copies worldwide, the gatefold edition includes a super-heavyweight 200-gram vinyl version of the band’s acclaimed album plus exclusive Matthew Dear remix of their track ‘VCR’ on a bonus 12″ which also features a beautiful etching on the reverse. In addition, the highly collectible package includes three art prints, signed by the respective band members, and hand-numbered, taken from the films featured in the exhibition.

The xx have teamed up with The Vinyl Factory to showcase a unique audio-visual collaboration with video director Saam Farahmand, and create a deluxe limited edition version of their critically acclaimed debut album, voted the ‘best of 2009′ by The Guardian and FACT magazine, among others.

xx: A Sculpture of the Album finds Saam creating “a 3D physical interpretation” of the band’s debut album, xx, which will be displayed at The Vinyl Factory in London for six days from January 8-12, 2010 (opening times below).

The sculpture utilises film, light and sound via three specially created audio-visual units (each unit representing one member of the band with a mix of exclusively filmed footage and mixed sound), and every visitor will enjoy  a totally unique experience of xx.  According to the press release, it’s nothing less than a totally new way to immerse yourself in a record.

To celebrate this landmark event,  fans will have the opportunity to purchase a deluxe vinyl version of The xx’s album, exclusively crafted by The Vinyl Factory . Available exclusively from Phonica (the record shop located above The Vinyl Factory gallery space), fans can buy a limited edition, gatefold version of xx that will include the album on heavyweight 12” vinyl and a second 12” that will feature the brand new  Matthew  Dear remix of The xx’s VCR on one side, and an etching on the other. The package also includes three prints of stills taken from Saam’s footage, one of each band member, signed by each band member.

xx: A Sculpture of the Album
The Vinyl Factory
51 Poland Street
London W1F

Opening Times:

Friday 8th January: 11.30am-8pm
Saturday 9th January: 11.30am-7.30pm
Sunday 10th January: 12midday-6pm
Monday 11th January: 11.30am-7.30pm
Tuesday 12th January: 11.30am-7.30pm

Entrance: Free

The Vinyl Factory’s limited edition release of Massive Attack’s ‘Splitting The Atom’ EP has been nominated as one of the contenders for Art Vinyl’s ‘record sleeve of the year’ competition, justly recognised with a lovely big pic in the recent issue of Mixmag (see above). Get voting here!

Monocle magazine, Tyler Brule’s award-winning digest of global affairs, culture and design, has published a three-page feature about The Vinyl Factory in their latest issue, in shops now.

“Having produced highly collectible runs with artists such as Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys and Damon Albarn, The Vinyl Factory has pioneered a new working relationship within the music industry,” Monocle says. “Companies like TVF produce experiences worth paying for.”

Thanks guys, to hear such support from a magazine we rate highly is a compliment indeed…