Well folks, this month we celebrated our two year anniversary! That's right, 24 months have passed since we first opened our doors and what an amazing time we have had.

We want to thank everyone for their support. We had no idea two years ago if the concept of vinyl and coffee would be something that folk had an appetite for in Bury. In that time we've moved to larger premises, added loads more records and a full food service.

We have literally made friends from all over the world and most days it really just doesn't feel like a job. We have an incredible team who always work really hard, so a big thanks to those guys too, we couldn't do it without them.

Birthday celebrations aside, we have another packed newsletter for you. Containing all of our usual content and updates with what has been happening over the last month. Sorry it's a bit of a late one... Luna has hit adolescence, so she decided she was too busy with her mates and a bit camera shy this month (for Luna's Pick). Don't worry though, she'll be back next month!

As always, we've included our favourite pre-order for the month below, but you can always check out our full list of pre-orders here. We suggest you bookmark it for easy access... don't want you missing out on a banger ;)

Just a word of warning... they do move quick!

We do want to hear from you too! If you've got any suggestions for a pre-order we don't have listed, message us here. You can also chat to us about anything else using that same link.

Our most anticipated pre-order this month is:

Damon Albarn - The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows (Black Vinyl)

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows, the new studio album from Damon Albarn, will be released by new label home Transgressive Records on 12th November 2021.

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Albarn return to the music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks which further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem Love and Memory.

Albarn says “I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist.”

Damon Albarn - The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows (Black Vinyl) - £20.99

SHOP NOW

As you know, RSD events are always an exciting time for us all and this years drop one was no different. The queue began at 10pm the night before and by morning there was a line of vinyl enthusiasts stretching around the corner!

Thank you to everyone that came along to make yet another successful day. And guess what?! We don't have to wait long for drop 2! It's less than two weeks away!

We have a dedicated RSD section on our website (HERE), showcasing all the special edition releases and if you've not yet had chance to take a look what's on offer, have a browse online, there are some incredible titles again this year.

Drop 2 (17th July): There will still be social distancing rules in place, so we will need to enforce a socially distanced queue and limits on the number of people in store. Anything remaining in stock from the day, will go online at 6pm that night.

Our doors open once again at 8am and everything will be sold on a first come, first served basis, as quickly as our hands will allow us to pick and pack. We've also invested in some more tech to help us process them through the till quicker too!

(Please remember: no saves allowed for any of these RSD titles, and only one copy per customer so we can fairly share the goodies around).

Wowzers! We've been shortlisted for the Independent Retailer award in the very prestigious Music Week Awards alongside some incredible stores:

Resident Brighton, Crash Records, Banquet Records, Drift Record Shop and Eel Pie Records.

We are absolutely delighted to make it to the shortlist and we can't wait for the ceremony, but it isn't until September, so we'll have to sit tight till then.

Best of luck to us all!

Food, glorious food! Our ever growing team of chefs have been busy cooking up a storm for all of your culinary delights. And from this point on we're also extending our kitchen hours, so we'll now be serving freshly prepared food until 3pm.

Food service:
Mon - Sat: 9am - 3pm
Sun: 10 - 3pm

Favourites include:

All day breakfast
Eggs Benedict
Bacon / sausage sandwich
Pizza
Halloumi baguette
Salt n pepper chicken
Wax and Beans loaded burger

Sides:
Spicy wedges
Salad
Rice

Lite bites:
Toast
Tea cakes
A slice of Ben's pizza 

There's loads more to discover. And we even have fish Friday with seabass and ratatouille on offer, trust me, it's delish!

With the easing of all restrictions, we can finally get some real, live music on the go. The news is most definitely music to our ears!

We are working hard (as always) to try to bring a range of events to you - listening parties, live music, Tim's Turntable workshop, and much more. Keep an eye out on the events page on our website for more updates, but coming soon are:

18th July - Steve Pilgrim: Steve plays in Paul Weller's band, and was recently at no.1 following the release of Fat Pop. Steve is also a accomplished singer-songwriter. He will be performing an intimate, acoustic gig at Wax and Beans marking 10 years of his studio album 'Pixels and Paper'. This is one not to miss, tickets can be bought here.

8th August - Vertaal: Vertaal, a nu-jazz / neo soul duo featuring Theo Howarth and Ajit Gill recently released their new album ‘Paradigm Shifting’. The band will be playing many of the 12 tracks from their double album that was released in March. We can't wait to welcome them at the shop, if you fancy joining us, you can purchase your tickets here. Check out their sound, we have copies of 'Paradigm Shifting’ available to buy here.

14th August - Jay Dunn: We welcome back the wonderful Jay Dunn, a local singer/songwriter. He'll be playing a mix of his own song, as well as some covers and if last time is anything to go by, it'll be an awesome night. Don't miss out, grab your tickets here.

The Oxford dictionary's definition of "a dog's life" reads, "A miserable, wretched existence"

Well, whoever wrote this has never had the pleasure of meeting our Luna (aka Dave). For Luna's day consists of hanging out in the country's coolest independent record and coffee shop, taking naps whenever and wherever she pleases and getting to listen to the most current music releases!

If this is a dog's life, then sign us up!

Luna's pick this month is Francis Lung - Miracle.

2021 album from the Mancunian singer-songwriter. 'For me, ('Miracle') is about the struggle between my self-destructive side and my problem-solving, constructive side', says Francis. 'I suppose through a lot of these songs I'm dealing with these emotional problems, acknowledging the negative aspects of my behaviour instead of burying them, and providing an alternative point of view for myself'. Despite its serious subject matter, 'Miracle' is far from austere in sound, marrying the cinematic, dreamlike quality of Francis's earlier music with the pared-back charm of great singer-songwriters like Judee Sill, Jeff Tweedy and Elliott Smith.

Order your copy here.

Francis Lung - Miracle (Black Vinyl) - £18.99

SHOP NOW

This months blog post is provided by Matt White. Matt is another Vinyl Community member on Instagram, going by the name @mmamoneymaker who is currently posting a record a day for the entirety of 2021.

Record Store Day.

What is Record Store Day (RSD)?

To the average record collector, I guess RSD is like the January Sales. If those sales were held in April (usually) or like recently in June and July. But in direct contrast to the January sales, everything you wanted was more expensive rather than cheaper.

And yet here you are. Meticulously planning to arrive outside your shop of choice (who am I kidding? if you are reading this then of course its Wax and Beans) at some ungodly hour of the day. Hoping it isn’t freezing cold or raining, but most of all, hoping that in the queue lottery you manage to draw yourself between a couple of sound record collectors who either want to chat in general, or just mind their own business. You could always get the flip-side of that, where its non-stop raining, freezing cold and you find yourself sandwiched between a couple of vinyl nerds who want to debate which pressing of their favourite album is sonically the most superior.

Nobody needs that at 5am.

Check out Matt's full blog on our Blog page.