This year’s Uproxx Gift Guides are brought to you by Sirius XM, check out their site to find all the holiday music and content you need to get into the gifting spirit.
As streaming continues to cement itself as the primary way a lot of people listen to their favorite artists, demand for physical releases of music is dwindling… unless we’re talking about vinyl. Fans wanting to have something they can hold and something that offers high audio quality have flocked to vinyl, the decades-old format that has long been in the midst of a revival that doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
The odds are high that you have a vinyl-loving music fan on your holiday shopping list. If that’s the case, keep reading and take a look at some of the best vinyl gifts to stick under the tree (or do with whatever is appropriate for your celebration of choice) this holiday season.
Beach Boys — Pet Sounds (Reissue) and The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (Reissue)
Price: varies
The Beach Boys have a couple of different appealing options for gift-giving. If you want to be on the nose with a Christmas gift, there’s The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album. If you want something more suited for year-round play, there’s Pet Sounds. Both albums have been reissued for this holiday season, pressed on limited-edition colored vinyl. California might not be the biggest holiday signifier for most, but trading a white Christmas for sunshine isn’t a bad idea.
The Beatles — 1962-1966 (‘The Red Album’) and 1967-1970 (‘The Blue Album’)
Price: varies
“Now And Then” is the headlining new Beatles release of the year, but the legendary group also delivered some compelling reissues of two classic compilation albums. The new versions of the collections come with expanded tracklists, all pressed on bold-colored, semi-translucent vinyl. Either release is a great way to introduce some Beatles highlights to any record collection, whether it’s for a longtime fan or a newcomer looking for somewhere to start diving into The Fab Four.
Future — Pluto, DS2, Super Slimey, Monster, Beast Mode, 56 Nights, Purple Reign, Future, and Hndrxx (Reissues)
Price: varies
Future is currently offering the perfect opportunity for fans to get his work into their vinyl collections: He’s bringing nine of his albums and mixtapes to vinyl in a series of drops. Pluto, DS2, and Super Slimey kicked things off on October 20; Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights arrived on October 27; and Purple Reign, Future, and Hndrxx dropped November 3. The options are plentiful and you can’t really go wrong with any of them for the hip-hop fan on your shopping list. Or, you know, just get them all.
Various Artists — Barbie The Album (VMP Designer Edition) and Barbie The Album (VMP Kendom Edition)
Price: $140
Barbie was the movie of the year, but it had the soundtrack of the year, too. Given that Barbie as a brand has been a merchandising titan for decades now, the Vinyl Me, Please vinyl editions of the soundtrack are packed with goodies, and they come in both Designer and Kendom flavors. So, put your lurking thoughts of death aside and dig into one of the most fun albums of 2023 with one of the most fun physical music releases of 2023.
Bright Eyes — Cassadaga (Reissue)
Price: $39.99
Like VMP, Bandbox also frequently comes through with excellent, one-of-a-kind reissues. Among their offerings right now is a new pressing of Bright Eyes’ Cassadaga on exclusive “yellow vortex” vinyl. What’s more, if you’re looking to go big for the Conor Oberst fan in your life, you can get a discount on a Bright Eyes bundle of Cassadaga, Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005), and The People’s Key, all in exclusive-colored pressings. Whether purchased together or separately, all three pressings come with an artist fanzine, which includes “career-spanning features on Conor Oberst & co., rare photos and a Bright Eyes crossword puzzle,” and that’s the sort of touch you don’t really find anywhere else.
Green Day — Dookie (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
Price: $174.98
Dookie is certainly in the conversation when it comes to the most classic albums of the ’90s. It’s somehow already been 30 years since it was released and the band has released a vinyl box set that has a bunch of rare and unreleased material, as well as other goodies, included. There’s a 36-page 12” x 12” book, the band’s Woodstock ’94 performance, a 17-track unreleased club show from Barcelona in 1994, 17 unreleased demos, and 6 studio outtakes (3 of which were previously unreleased).
Taylor Swift — Taylor’s Version Albums
Price: varies
The fact is that nobody in music had a bigger year than Taylor Swift. (Nobody in the world had a bigger year than Swift in any sense, Time declared by naming Swift their Person Of The Year for 2023.) Her Eras Tour was a massive event that had the world looking back through her storied discography, and the good news for vinyl-loving Swifties is that Swift loves the format, meaning she makes her albums, whether they’re all new or Taylor’s Version rerecordings, available in a number of varieties, as a quick look at her online store will show.
Olivia Rodrigo — Guts
Price: varies
By virtue of having only been a major star for a few years now, Rodrigo isn’t on Swift’s level yet, but she sure is off to a white-hot start. She released her second album, Guts, this year, and like its predecessor, it topped the charts and yielded a No. 1 single in “Vampire.” Rodrigo, like Swift, puts a lot of care into her vinyl pressings, too, as Guts is available in four striking colors.
Nirvana — In Utero (30th Anniversary Reissue)
Price: varies
Nirvana’s Nevermind reissue was a big deal in 2021, and this year was In Utero‘s turn. The beloved Nevermind follow-up is 30 now and it’s was re-released in a number of formats, including an 8-LP edition that offers a whopping 53 unreleased tracks, including two previously unheard full shows from the In Utero tour. It’s big, it’s beautiful, and will thrill the rock fan in your life.
Tyler The Creator — Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale
Price: $39.98
Tyler crushed it with Call Me If You Get Lost in 2021, and then, two years later, he went ahead and revamped it with Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale, which adds essentially another album of new material to the tracklist. It’s a big project, so this vinyl edition is pressed on three “Geneva blue” LPs. The original album picked up the Best Rap Album award at the Grammys in 2022, and now an even better version of the project is ready for your turntable.
Janelle Monáe — The Age Of Pleasure
Price: varies
Monáe made waves upon waves in 2023 while not being afraid to show off her true self (a process that frequently involved revealing some skin) in promotion of The Age Of Pleasure, her latest album. That philosophy extended to the vinyl release of the project, too: Open the packaging and you’ll be greeted by a giant painting of bare breasts. All of this should not obscure the fact, though, that Monáe brought it musically, and the soulful, carefree sounds of The Age Of Pleasure ought to sound fantastic on vinyl.
Vinyl Me, Please Subscription
Price: varies
Month after month, the folks at Vinyl Me, Please consistently crush it with their vinyl reissues, which usually come with some sort of exclusive feature to them, whether it’s a distinct color variant or new listening notes written by somebody involved with and/or passionate about the album. VMP makes it easy to give a membership as a gift, as you can spring for 3, 6, or 12 months in a variety of genres, including the newly launched Rock track.
Secretly Society Subscription
Price: varies
VMP is awesome, but here’s another vinyl subscription option worth looking into, a more specific one that might end up being a better fit for the indie fan in your life: Secretly Society, from the family of record labels that includes Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar, and Dead Oceans. You get one new album a month, and for a taste of what the selection looks like: In 2023, albums of the month included exclusive pressings of Japanese Breakfast’s Soft Sounds From Another Planet, Wednesday’s Rat Saw God, and Claud’s Supermodels.
JBL Spinner BT Record Player
Price: $399.95
All that vinyl and nothing to play it on? If you’re shopping for somebody whose turntable is on its last legs or could just use an upgrade, this setup from JBL is a solid option. JBL’s reputation for quality holds up here, and a nice quality-of-life upgrade here is bluetooth connectivity, making it easy to use this with the headphones and other audio equipment you already own. It also sports a slick modern design, meaning it should look great in even the trendiest of homes.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
