The best albums for spring listening: The 10 best vinyl deals available on Amazon this week
Welcome back to Far Out’s weekly vinyl corner feature, where we look to bring you a tempting selection of records from some of our favourite artists, bargain vinyl deals to look out for, and unmissable limited-edition releases. This week, we’re welcoming the spring with some of the greatest albums for this quietly optimistic time of year.
Vinyl sales grew for the 15th consecutive year in 2022, rising to 5.5million units, the highest level since 1990, when …But Seriously by Phil Collins was the year’s biggest-selling studio album. The return to plastic has steadily climbed since the invasion of streaming services in the late 2000s. While the weightless, highly accessible and practical format is great for discovering and consuming swathes of new music while you’re out and about, there’s nothing like coming home to a bit of vinyl.
Fellow collectors will agree that if there’s an artist or album you love, there’s always a good reason to have the turntable at the ready and a 12″ slot reserved on the shelf for inevitable expansion. The sound quality of vinyl brings something more hearty and vibrant with its analogue warmth and crisp definition that there really isn’t a substitute for.
So if, like me, you have a soft spot for these groovy discs of plastic, allow me to walk you through ten hot picks for this week. The list includes a selection of classics from Nick Drake and Van Morrison, alongside some modern essentials from Radiohead to Big Thief.
The following selections have been handpicked by Far Out Magazine, and as a result, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
The 10 best vinyl deals available on Amazon this week:
Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left
Some will argue that Five Leaves Left is more of an autumnal album with a name like that, but it’s the perfect album for both spring and autumn. After all, ‘‘Cello Song’ boasts the beautiful lyrics: “For the dreams that came to you when so young / Told of a life / Where spring is sprung”.
Dake’s first record brandishes some of his finest compositions, including ‘Saturday Sun’ and ‘River Man’. It holds a perfect range of emotional dynamite for a peaceful sunny Sunday afternoon in spring. So listen to this masterful debut album by the late great Nick Drake this spring as you sail towards summer “on the crest of a wave”.
Available for purchase here from £25.99.
Talk Talk – The Colour Of Spring
Towards the late 1980s, Talk Talk frontman and creative lead Mark Hollis led the group away from their association with the ’80s synth-pop movement. The release of The Colour of Spring in 1986 made the first step towards the band’s eventual sound that transcended contemporary subgenres and could only really be described as post-rock.
Alongside the subsequent two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, The Colour Of Spring marks Talk Talk’s most consummate work. The album still holds a golden thread of the group’s early pop sound and is a joy to listen to on the turntable, thanks to its meticulous production value. With “spring” in the name, this one’s a no-brainer for this time of the year.
Available for purchase here for £22.10.
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
In 1968, Van Morrison released his second solo album, Astral Weeks. The music within takes a welcomed departure from his previous pop hits such as ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and ‘Spanish Rose’. Astral Weeks presents a newfound maturity to Morrison’s lyrics, and the music brings a more refined and progressive take on the folk tradition.
Astral Weeks has an uplifting psychedelic feeling akin to this time of year’s promise of warmth. The album has a lot to offer, but personal highlights are the title track and ‘Sweet Thing’, with its lyrics: “And I will walk and talk / In gardens all wet with rain,” a particularly spring-like image in my mind.
Available for purchase here for £21.86.
Slowdive – Souvlaki
In 1994, Reading group Slowdive made a proud mark on the musical map with their second album and prevailing masterpiece, Souvlaki. The album is awash with the atmospheric beauty that only the pedal-happy guitarists of the shoegaze subgenre can gift us.
While the album as a whole gives a beautiful soundtrack for this time of year with classics like ‘Alison’ and ‘Dagger’, it’s, of course, the dazzling ‘When the Sun Hits’ that will truly welcome us into the warmth of spring.
Available for purchase here for £28.99.
Brian Eno – Another Green World
As we begin to shed the vitamin D-deficient skins of the winter and bask in the stronger sun of spring, so too do all the plants. In spring, we can expect a fair deal of rainfall and a lot of sunlight. All the while, you’ll see your world turn a little greener.
That’s about as close as one might get to tying Brian Eno’s masterpiece 1975 solo album, Another Green World, to spring. But, for me, the association doesn’t stop there. The uplifting experimental instrumentals throughout perfectly capture that spring feeling. There’s a certain spring-like quality to ‘St Elmo’s Fire’ (if you ignore the mention of “August” in the refrain).
Available for purchase here for £24.44.
Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Ohio Indie-folk group Big Thief bring a nostalgic and sentimental feeling to much of their music that makes it a delight to listen to at any time of the year. But their latest album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, seems perfect for a spring listen. The music covers a range of moods while maintaining a dominant atmosphere of optimism.
As we wrote in our glowing album review last year, it’s “a record that allows for creativity to grow and procreate among the liner notes while also staying true to the soil it was first planted in. There aren’t many albums that have the opportunity to please everyone all of the time. But there aren’t many bands like Big Thief around.”
Available for purchase here for £27.79.
The Kinks – Face To Face
The Kinks’ fourth studio album, Face To Face, was released during the height of the British invasion in 1966. As the colourful psychedelic album artwork suggests, the music within reflects the bright and breezy hippie era.
One might call this more of a summer album with its number one single, ‘Sunny Afternoon’, but the album isn’t all fun and games – there are dark and doubtful themes running throughout. After all, ‘Sunday Afternoon’ is Dave Davies’ wry commentary on the contemporary state of British politics.
Available for purchase here for £21.99.
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool [Limited Edition White Vinyl]
Radiohead released one of the greatest albums of the 2010s in their 2016 release, A Moon Shaped Pool. The ambient art-rock soundscapes throughout give the album the feel of an epic film soundtrack of sorts. Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne described the album as “cinematic” while inducting Radiohead into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
The bold and sentimental music makes for an enjoyable listen that never tires upon a repeat with its diverse balance of emotions and tempos. A Moon Shaped Pool most certainly deserves its place in your spring soundtrack and has a strange way of complimenting any mood you might find yourself in.
Available for purchase here from £32.99.
![Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool [Limited Edition White Vinyl]](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/static/uploads/1/2022/07/Radiohead-A-Moon-Shaped-Pool-Limited-Edition-White-Vinyl.jpg)
Galaxie 500 – Today
Massachusetts-born dream-pop group Galaxie 500 introduced a distinctive slow neo-psychedelic style in 1988 with their debut album, Today. The distorted dreamy haze of the album evokes distant memories in a sentimentally chilled-out atmosphere.
A highlight can, of course, be found in ‘Tugboat’, the album’s only single, but the album as a whole is a beauty to behold and then some. And I hear you ask whether it has any more direct links to spring. Well, the first track on the album is called ‘Flowers’, and if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, I wager you’ll start seeing a few blooming bulbs very soon.
Available for purchase here from £29.99.
Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children
Scotland’s most celebrated electronic duo, Boards of Canada, made the perfect instrumental album for spring in 1998. Music Has the Right To Children is widely considered their masterpiece and flows with an ambient beauty that lures one to the wild.
If you’re looking for something atmospheric but punchy and uplifting while you venture into the great outdoors, then look no further. While the album is ambient, its downtempo beats should pump a little bit of vitality into our systems as we prepare for summer.
Available for purchase here from £25.50.
