Last week was my kid's spring break, so it was mine, too. Our family rents a cheap, one-bedroom cabin out in West Virginia semi-annually, so we've gotten to know and fall in love with the Canaan Valley and its surrounding towns. We spend our days cooking, grilling, hiking, fishing, reading and cooling in the river. And the real charm: There's no internet nor cell service. A chance to reset, which is what spring sometimes offers. 

I always bring a box of CDs or tapes with me on this trip, so here's a rundown of music for the morning, dinnertime, early evening and late. (What does this video have to do with the Viking's Choice mixtape? Absolutely nothing, though — new season, new music. Springtime, right?) —Lars Gotrich

Further reading/listening:

• An of episode of NPR's All Songs Considered — for which I was asked to guest, but had to decline due to time — about this very thing: spring music for a reset

• To me, Talk Talk's last three albums are a meticulously collaged triptych of spring — the NYT published a nice piece on the pivotal Spirit of Eden in February

• Rolling Stone's ★★★★ review of Rickie Lee Jones' Flying Cowboys, originally published in 1989

Stream the Viking's Choice mixtape. Follow me on Bandcamp and check out previous mixes via Buy Music Club. Tracklist below:

PALMAR DE TROYA, "THE METHOD"
SERPENT, "L'himne nacional"
Khun Narin, "Poet Wong Pt. 1 (เปิดวง ตอน 1)"
Fire-Toolz, "Balam =^..^= Says IPv09082024 Strawberry Head"
Kaloja, "Spectral Spring"
Panopticon, "The White Cedars"
Sofía Campos, “Intacto”
The Saddest Landscape (feat. Julien Baker), "The Invisible Hurt" 
Actress and Suzanne Ciani, "Concrète Waves London A5"
underscores, "The Peace"
LYRRE, "Orchard"
Julia Sabra, "My love is like the sea"
Maryam Saleh, "Wanas ونس"
Spiritual Law, "SLANDER ME"
SLIFT, "A Storm of Wings"
Birth (Defects), "Deceiver"
BASIC, "Index of Memories"
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, "Like Swimwear (part one)"
Beth Orton, "The Ground Above"
Marc Leclair, "114e jour"
LOS THUTHANAKA, "Wara Wara (capo-kullawada)"
David Watson & Bill Nace, "Walnuts"
ROMPERAYO, "Pindongos (Versión en Bloque)"
Lazyhorse, "Are There Bars In Heaven?"
ULTHA, "Sister Faith & Sister Chance"
Joseph Branciforte & Jozef Dumoulin, "⊐"
The Reds, Pinks & Purples, "New Leaf"
MEMORIALS, "Dropped Down The Well"