(UPDATED) Sales of vinyl records totalled 168,296 units for the first half of 2011, according to new data released today by Retail Gazette. That's a 55% rise compared to the first six months of 2010. Radiohead’s King of Limbs was the most popular vinyl album release in the last six months of 2011 for the format shifting 20,771 copies.

In the U.S., 3.6 million LPs were sold in the first half of this year According to Nielsen SoundScan. That's  a 37% percent increase from the same period in 2010.

“Whether it is the ‘warmer’ sound many music fans appreciate, the large-scale artwork of a 12-inch sleeve or its sheer retro appeal, vinyl seems to be capturing the imagination of buyers despite the fact it typically costs twice as much as a CD containing exactly the same music,” according to Kim Bayley, Director General of Entertainment Retailers Association.

Top 10 IK Vinyl Albums Jan-June 2011 (according to the Official Charts Company)

1.     Radiohead - King of Limbs
2.     Beady Eye - Different Gear Still Speeding
3.     Adele - 21
4.     Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See
5.     Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys
6.     Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
7.     Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
8.     Noah & The Whale - Last Night On Earth
9.     Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines
10.     Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More