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. Today we’re celebrating all things dark and gothic, so get your hairspray and eyeliner at the ready.
Vinyl sales grew for the 15th consecutive year in 2022, rising to 5.5 million 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 dark and moody releases from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Joy Division.
The following selections have been handpicked by Far Out Magazine, and as a result, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
The Cure – Pornography
The Cure established a popular gothic post-punk sound in the late 1970s and early ’80s and hit an early peak with 1982’s slice of abject misery, Pornography. This album spins like a psychedelic horror show or a confusing nightmare, but within the desperation is an unbound beauty.
Pornography marked the end of the first chapter for The Cure and marked the last of the “Dark Trilogy” of albums, which also included Faith and Seventeen Seconds. This dark gem is home to Cure essentials like ‘The Hanging Garden’, ‘A Strange Day’, ‘Siamese Twins’ and ‘One Hundred Years’.
Available for purchase here for £22.99.
Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream
In 1978, Siouxsie and the Banshees made their first discographic diary entry with The Scream. At the time, Siouxsie Sioux brought a new dimension to the burgeoning punk scene as the most prominent female frontwoman. The band’s gothic punk sound informed countless subsequent acts, including Joy Division, Killing Joke, The Cure, Big Black, Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the lead singer of The Cure and temporary Banshee, Robert Smith, once said of the band’s impact on him as an aspiring musician: “It was so different to what we were doing with The Cure. Before that, I’d wanted us to be like the Buzzcocks or Elvis Costello, the punk Beatles. Being a Banshee really changed my attitude to what I was doing.”
Available for purchase here for £25.90.
Joy Division – Closer
Following 1979’s seismic debut album, Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division returned to the studio with producer Martin Hannett for another slice of gold to be pressed by the famous Factory Records. The album takes another step from the band’s early raw punk sound toward something more refined and absorbing while maintaining the classic Joy Division atmosphere.
While it’s perhaps not as iconic as Unknown Pleasures with its catchy cover art graphic, but among fans, Closer often surfaces as the overall favourite. With Joy Division essentials like ‘Heart and Soul’, ‘Atrocity Exhibition’ and ‘The Eternal’, this one is a must for any post-punk enthusiasts.
Available for purchase here for £21.99.
Bauhaus – In the Flat Field
After gracing the world with their unbeatable debut 12″ single, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ in 1979, gothic post-punk pioneers Bauhaus got to work on their debut LP. In the Flat Field did not disappoint, fully establishing the band’s obscure, gloomy mix of dub, glam rock, psychedelia, and funk.
In the Flat Field, released in November 1980, showed Peter Murphy and co at the height of their powers with unmissable classics such as ‘Double Dare’, ‘A God in an Alcove’, ‘In the Flat Field’, and ‘Stigmata Martyr’.
Available for purchase here for £21.97.
Just Mustard – Heart Under
Heart Under, Irish band Just Mustard’s second album, is an unmitigated beauty and easily one of the best albums of 2022. At every turn, this remarkable record reconfigures and stretches the ideas and ambition of a rock band and turns a year of lockdown and personal struggles into a breathtaking artistic statement.
The dark, atmospheric, industrial noise-rock sound comes as something unique, falling between Bauhaus and My Bloody Valentine. The album is home to highlights such as ’23’, ‘Still’ and ‘Seed’.
Available for purchase here for £17.69.
The Horrors – Primary Colours
Primary Colours was released in 2009 as the second studio album for the English alt-rock group The Horrors. The album was produced by Geoff Barrow of Portishead and received a Mercury Music nomination in the same year. Reflecting on the record, Rhys from the band said: “That album is particularly special because it still feels at the point of youthful freedom and really being surprised and excited beyond belief at what we were doing”.
The album is a masterpiece of post-rock exploration that benefits from shoegaze and dark post-punk influences. This beauty is home to highlights such as ‘Sea Within a Sea’,
Available for purchase here for £42.76.
The Smiths – The Smiths
The Smiths, formed in 1982 by Johnny Marr, Morrissey, Mike Joyce and the late great bassist Andy Rourke, brought a refreshing and unprecedented sound to a synth-dominated era. This eponymous debut album of 1983 introduced the band as a towering force of compositional and creative depth.
The album is home to some of the band’s early essentials, such as ‘Reel Around the Fountain’, ‘Still Ill’, ‘Hand in Glove’, ‘What Difference Does It Make?’ and ‘Suffer Little Children’.
Available for purchase here for £21.99.
Portishead – Dummy
Originally released in 1994, Dummy is the debut studio album by Bristol trip-hop band Portishead. After receiving unprecedented critical acclaim, the seminal classic won the 1995 Mercury Music Prize and is often cited among the best albums of the 1990s.
The album is the first of only three over the band’s three-decade existence, and it includes most of their best-known songs, including ‘Sour Times’, ‘Glory Box’, ‘Roads’, ‘Numb’ and ‘Mysterons’.
Available for purchase here for £27.65.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Your Funeral… My Trial
Your Funeral… My Trial arrived as the fourth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 1986. Originally released as a double EP, this LP is home to some of Cave’s most melancholic and ruminative work, as echoed by the expressive album artwork.
“That particular record, which is my favourite of the records we’ve done, is very special to me, and a lot of amazing things happened, musically, in the studio,” Cave said of the album in an interview with ABC in 1992. “There are some songs on that record that, as far as I’m concerned, are just about perfect as we can get really- songs like ‘The Carny’, ‘Your Funeral, My Trial’, and ‘Stranger Than Kindness’, I think are really quite brilliant.”
Available for purchase here for £27.99.
Public Image Ltd. – Metal Box
After the dissolution of Sex Pistols in January 1978, John Lydon began a new musical journey with Public Image Ltd. In many people’s books, the band struck an artistic peak in 1979 with the arrival of their second album, Metal Box. The release featured guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble.
Metal Box is a highly sought-after vinyl release, whether it’s an original pressing or this limited Super Deluxe edition. This rare and pricey collector’s item is housed in a metal container, like the original, and includes rare and unreleased mixes from the recording sessions, along with B-sides and BBC sessions, a live recording from a now legendary unplanned show at Factory Records Russell Club in Manchester arranged on the day of a Granada TV appearance and exclusive posters and art prints.
Available for purchase here for £325.00.
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