2009 HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS

Since it's nearing the gift-giving season, here are some ideas for all those music lovers on your list, for budgets both big and small...

BOOKS

DA CAPO BEST MUSIC WRITING 2009
DAVID BYRNE - Bicycle Diaries
OUR NOISE: The Story Of Merge Records
MERGE RECORDS COMPANION: A Visual Discography Of The First Twenty Years
GIG POSTERS: Rock Show Art Of The 21st Century
ULTRAVIOLET: 69 Classic Blacklight Posters From The Aquarian Age And Beyond

Here's just a smattering of the many music books for sale here at our shop, with many more titles listed below by theme. Speaking of lists...

LISTS

MUSIC LISTOGRAPHY: Your Life In (Play) Lists
INVENTORY: By The Writers Of The A.V. Club
HANG THE DJ: An Alternative Book Of Music Lists

Making lists seems to come naturally to the minds of most music fans, and the writers of these books are looking for a few likeminded list-loving readers. Know of any on your list?

CHILDREN

LEARN TO SPEAK MUSIC: A Guide To Creating, Performing & Promoting Your Songs
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Yo Gabba Gabba!: Music Is Awesome!
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - Kids Go! (book/DVD)/Here Comes Science (DVD/CD)

Kid-catering picks from this past year come in the form of a terrific how-to by this very website's former editor (!), a CD from the Nick Jr. network's biggest series, and two new creations from Brooklyn's best-known pair of songwriting Johns.

DVDs

SCOTT WALKER: 30 Century Man
ANVIL!: The Story Of Anvil
NIRVANA: Live At Reading
WOODSTOCK: 2-Disc 40th Anniversary Edition (Director's Cut) (DVD/Blu-Ray)

These and many more music-related feature films, documentaries and concert videos are stocked in our extensive DVD section (now supplemented by a select but growing assortment of Blu-Ray discs).

POP/ROCK

BIG STAR - Keep An Eye On The Sky
THE BEATLES - The Beatles In Mono/The Beatles Stereo Box Set
TOM WAITS - Glitter And Doom Live/Orphans (LP Box Set)
LOWSIDE OF THE ROAD: A Life Of Tom Waits
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS - The Live Anthology
NEIL YOUNG - Dreamin' Man Live '92/Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1
THE ROLLING STONES - Get Your Ya-Ya's Out! (40th Anniversary 3CD/DVD) 

New box sets, live collections and books abound by and about these (and many more) much-loved classic rock stalwarts.

 

PSYCH/GARAGE

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Where The Action Is!: Los Angeles Nuggets
UGLY THINGS - Issue #29
THE MASTER'S APPRENTICES - S/T (2CD Deluxe Edition)
LOVE - Love Lost

From the newest installment in Rhino's ongoing Nuggets sequels to long-running fanzine Ugly Things, current UT cover subjects The Master's Apprentices and yet more unreleased Love unearthed by the folks at Sundazed, the lysergically-inclined are well-covered here. 

PUNK/NEW WAVE/ART-ROCK/PROG

DEATH - ...For The Whole World To See
THE FEELIES - Crazy Rhythms/The Good Earth
DEVO - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!/Freedom Of Choice
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day By Day (book)/New York Art (book)/An Illustrated History Of A Walk On The Wild Side (book)/Singles 1966-69 (7" box set)
KRAFTWERK - Reissues/12345678: The Catalogue/Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (DVD)
ON SOME FARAWAY BEACH: The Life And Times Of Brian Eno
33 1/3 SERIES: Another Green World
HARMONIA & ENO '76 - Tracks And Traces

If this lot of reissues, videos and writings is anything to go on, 2009 was a bumper year for oddball oldies. Got any black sheep to buy for?

AMERICANA/FOLK

OXFORD AMERICAN MAGAZINE - Southern Music Issue #11
HANK WILLIAMS - Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings
WOODY GUTHRIE - My Dusty Road
LEONARD COHEN - Live At The Isle Of Wight/Live In London
THE LEVON HELM MIDNIGHT RAMBLE: Photographs By Paul LaRaia

Oxford American's annual Southern Music Issue inevitably sells out by the end of the holidays, and the enclosed CDs (as with last year's issue, it's now a two-disc set) are a surefire means to new discoveries.

SOUL/R&B/BLUES

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Can You Dig It?: The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1969-1975
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Sweet Soul Music
R. CRUMB'S HEROES OF BLUES, JAZZ AND COUNTRY: 2010 Calendar
CLASSIC BLUES ARTWORK FROM THE 1920s, VOL. 7: 2010 Calendar (w/ CD)
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Light: On The South Side

Calendars and compilations from such trusted labels as Soul Jazz, Bear Family and Numero Group deliver the goods with class. If you've got the means, Light: On The South Side is one particularly badass book/LP package!

JAZZ

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Freedom, Rhythm & Sound: Revolutionary Jazz 1965-80 (2CD or book)

Speaking of Soul Jazz, this coffee-table tome and related two-disc compilation from the aforementioned UK label do a great job of outlining the do-it-yourself ethic and black-power tenor of the times from the beginnings of the free-jazz era and beyond.

WORLD

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-1981
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization Of West Africa
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Panama! 3: Calypso Panameno, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Tipica On The Isthmus 1960-75

Some of the newest picks from our African and South American sections, courtesy of the always-reliable Soundway and Honest Jon's labels.

HIP-HOP

THE RZA - The Tao Of Wu
PEANUT BUTTER WOLF - 45 Live
EDAN - Echo Party

The RZA follows up on The Wu-Tang Manual with an in-depth look at his life, business and production methods, while Peanut Butter Wolf and Edan both tackle Traffic Entertainment's disco-rap and old-school holdings in their own ways. Wolf's is a more extensive and hands-off affair, while Echo Party takes a hyper-edited micromix approach, with layers of added synth, drum machine, and even a bit of kazoo!

NOISE/EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC

THROBBING GRISTLE  - Gristleism
THE WIRE PRIMERS: A Guide To Modern Music
HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS: Arthur Russell And The Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Warp 20: Chosen/Recreated (2CD)/Unheard (2CD)/Box Set (5CD+5x10"+book)

Noiseniks can bask in the clangour of Gristleism, the successor to the Buddha Machine (co-designed by FM3's own Christiaan Virant with TG); crack open either The Wire editor Rob Young's anthology culling from the magazine's popular column or Tim Lawrence's long-promised definitive Arthur Russell biography; or covet the 20th anniversary monolith put out earlier this year by Sheffield techno-not-techno mainstay Warp Records.  

GIFT CERTIFICATES

And as always, if you're still stuck, gift certificates are available in any denomination.

Happy holidays!