» Holiday Gift Guide

Solid plays for the holidays ...Cash in hand...Look who’s smiling now...The right mix...Hot plates for cold days...Santa’s sounds

Solid plays for the holidays

Christmas won’t be such a silent night when the music lovers on your list get some of these digital discs

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Classic calls

Ladies and gentlemen, Santa has yet to enter the building—but when he does, he’s liable to be hauling a whole bunch of the Hitstory three-CD boxes (RCA), gathering all the biggest tunes by his highness Elvis Presley. If Elvis is the king of rock ’n’ roll, Beach Boy Brian Wilson is the sad, mad prince of pop, a title confirmed earlier this year when he finally got his lost masterpiece Smile! (Rhino) properly recorded, assembled and released in both CD and DVD format. That would sit nice next to the new What I Really Want for Christmas CD (Arista), which sees Wilson arranging assorted seasonal standards—and a couple of thematic Beach Boys numbers too. Eric Clapton worshippers will cream themselves when they receive a copy of Cream’s Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005 reunion double CD (Reprise), catching the trio in fine live form, lo these many years later. Going back a bit, Clapton joins Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Ravi Shankar and of course George Harrison, grand poobah of the event, on the live CD and double DVD of The Concert for Bangladesh (Apple), capturing the famous benefit blowout at Madison Square Garden in 1971. Icons of the ’70s King Crimson lived up to their “progressive rock” tag by consistently evolving, as became clear with their outstanding work in the ’80s. Proof lies with the new The 21st Century Guide to… Vol. 2 box set (Discipline), four CDs of live and studio tracks spanning from ’81 to 2003. Another behemoth of prog, Rush, ring in the big three-oh with the R30 (Anthem) anniversary world tour package—two hi-def DVDs, two exclusive CDs, interviews, archival footage, even collectible guitar picks and backstage passes.

Rocking their stockings

While Rush might be about the biggest name in rock to come out of Canada, they’re not the only maple staples. Fans of the Tragically Hip have a sweet Yule to look forward to, with the Hipeponymous box set (Universal) up for grabs. It contains the recent Yer Favourites double CD and two DVDs—the That Night in Toronto live concert film and another of videos and more. To counterbalance the Cancon, there are a couple of releases de chez nous that would sit nicely under the sapin. Jean-Pierre Ferland’s Jaune was a groundbreaker in 1970, a controversial Quebecois Sgt. Pepper’s. Not only was it re-released in a box set this year, the accompanying Jaune_2005 (GSI) saw the album’s tracks “revisited” by folks like Jérôme Minière, Kid Loco and Champion. There’s also Jean Leloup’s 1985-2003: Je joue de la guitare (Audiogram), the best-of CD and DVD of videos from this essential figure in Quebecois pop. Wilco’s Kicking Television double CD (Nonesuch) catches the band live in Chicago this past May, while the DVD The Electrifying Conclusion (Plexifilm) documents the four-hour meltdown that was the last Guided by Voices concert, also in Chicago, on New Year’s Eve 2004. Radiohead’s 27 5 94 The Astoria London Live DVD (Capitol) is a throwback to the days when they still did “Creep” live, a sugarplum for the longtime fan. Queens of the Stone Age, meanwhile, cough up Over the Years and Through the Woods (Interscope), their first live CD, with a DVD to boot, plus visits from Dave Grohl and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons.

Loads of loudness

Ever wonder what Ozzy Osbourne covering the Beatles and Bowie would sound like? Under Cover (Epic) will sate your curiosity. The big news for metalheads this year, however, was Rob Halford wrapping up his dubious solo digression and getting back where he belongs—on the mic with Judas Priest, a return gloriously displayed on the live-in-Tokyo-2005 DVD Rising in the East. On the nu-metal end of things, those masked marauders Slipknot offer 9.0: Live (Roadrunner), a jam-packed double concert CD. It doesn’t get any heavier than the Stooges, though, and their self-titled debut and follow-up masterpiece Fun House (Elektra) have been re-released this year, all remastered and shit with tons of bonus tracks—these would go well with Iggy’s ferocious, de-Bowified remixing of Raw Power (Columbia) from a couple years back. A real sweet find for the pimply punker is the Ramones special package Weird Tales of… (Rhino), with three CDs of all their best, a documentary DVD and a super-cool comic book. Gabba gabba hallelujah! Both the Stooges and Ramones pop up in Punk: Attitude (Capitol), the punk-umentary by Clash comrade Don Letts released on DVD this year—dig that bonus reprint of legendary ur-’zine Sniffin’ Glue #7! Letts doesn’t get as far as the new school, so the Blink 182 Greatest Hits CD (Geffen), and Green Day’s Bullet in a Bible live CD/DVD (Reprise), will have to suffice.

Sweet beats and beeps

Branching off from punk were the new wave, new romantic and danceable post-punk movements, which gave us the likes of Eurythmics, whose Ultimate Collection (RCA) rounds up all of Lennox and Stewart’s hits from over the years, and the goth scene, accurately captured on The Suicide Girls Black Heart Retrospective CD (Epitaph) with tunes by Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Cure, Bauhaus, Joy Division and more. This one would go well with a copy of the DJ Morpheus mix CD I Can’t Live Without My Radio (Tigersushi). The set by the onetime Minimal Compact member includes Shriekback, Love & Rockets and “World Destruction,” that classic jam by Timezone (John Lydon and Afrika Bambaataa!). Then there was New Order, who wrote the book on the dance/rock crossover—as evidenced on their new, comprehensive double CD Singles (London). There’s a straight line to be drawn from New Order and the batcave scene to the modern electronic dance-music movement. Some standout artists in that arena appear on the Extra DVD (Sense), an anthology of cool electronica videos including Wong Kar-Wai’s clip for DJ Shadow’s “Six Days” and the long version of the day-to-day Desi dementia that is Laurent Garnier’s “The Man With the Red Face” video. The Basement Jaxx double CD The Singles Special Edition (XL) collects all their hits, but it’s the second disc, with mash-ups, live joints, alternate versions and so forth, that really sweetens the deal. Clubbers on the go will get a lot of mileage out of a new CD/DVD series care of global fun-time guide Time Out. The Other Side: New York (Time Out), for instance, offers a cool mix by Fischerspooner, a fat booklet and a visual excursion through the Big Apple’s less obvious corners with Casey Spooner himself. Damian Lazarus handles the London edition, Black Strobe the Parisian jaunt. Of course, the one you’ve all been waiting for is B in the Mix (Jive), which is the likes of Peter Rauhofer, Jacques “les Rythmes Digitales” Lu Cont and Justice remixing—wait for it—Britney Spears.

Christmas rapping

For source material of a slightly higher standard—and a two-fer of two-fers—snap up the Verve Remixed 3 (Verve) and Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked (Verve) double-disc sets. The former sees the Postal Service, RJD2, Brazilian Girls and Danger Mouse having their way with vintage numbers from the popular jazz label, mostly by songbirds like Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan. The latter has Kid Koala, Prefuse 73 and RZA tackling Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef and other material from Verve’s out-there offshoot label Impulse!. Both have a second disc of the original tunes, untouched. Soul divas to savour include Destiny’s Child with their hits compilation CD #1’s (Sony Urban), and Angie Stone with Stone Hits: The Very Best of… (J). One of the most impressive and ambitious artistic efforts this past year, in soul music or otherwise, has to be R. Kelly’s open-ended song serial “Trapped in the Closet,” a demented soap opera punctuated by ever more ludicrous cliffhangers. Best part is, Kelly’s created a video cycle for it, the first chunk of which can be had on the Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1–12 DVD (Jive). With less tracks than 1999’s best-of package Sounds of Science, this year’s Solid Gold Hits (Capitol) offers a more up-to-date overview of the Beastie Boys catalogue—15 tunes culled from the whole of their career. A crash course in the ways and means of Black Thought, Rahzel, ?uestlove and the gang—that is, Philadelphia’s lords of live-hop the Roots—can be had in the two CDs Home Grown! The Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Roots Vol. 1 and 2 (Okayplayer), with rare remixes, unheard numbers, alternate versions and exhaustive notes by ?uestlove himself. Memory lane gets a little bloody when one brings up Notorious B.I.G., whose posthumous career rolls ahead with the Duets: The Final Chapter CD (Bad Boy), on which the magic of technology pairs Mr. Smalls up with Eminem, the Game, R. Kelly, Faith Evans, Missy Elliott, Nelly and many more. Alternately, there’s the Tupac DVD Live at the House of Blues (Eagle Vision), catching the man on stage with Snoop Dogg and more in ’96.

Worldwide wish list

Without Jamaica’s musical exports, of course, there couldn’t have been hip hop, which leads us to the biggest name in reggae, Bob Marley. Pitch out that copy of Legend, possibly the most overplayed and irritating greatest-hits album ever, and replace it with Africa Unite: The Singles Collection (Island), which includes a will.i.am remix of the title track and a new, posthumous track, “Slogans” (with a Clapton cameo, no less). The Trojan Dub Massive Chapter 1 and 2 CDs (Sanctuary), meanwhile, offer dub sides by Upsetters, King Tubby, Sly & Robbie and more, lovingly “placed” by Bill Laswell. More current is Beenie Man—so current, he just played here last week. Kingston to King of the Dancehall: A Collection of Dancehall Favorites (Virgin) gathers together a fat yet by no means complete CD of the man’s hit songs, and sweetens the deal with a DVD of videos and a documentary. For a more global musical mish-mash, check out what Charlie Gillett of BBC Radio compiled for the Sounds of the World double CD (Wrasse)—Youssou N’Dour, Mariza and Montreal fave Lhasa de Sela are among the many artists and countries represented. Need something even more spicy? There’s Señor Coconut’s mix CD Coconut FM: Legendary Latin Club Tunes (Essay), which kicks up a storm of cumbia, aciton, favela funk and of course reggaeton.

Cinematic sounds

With Aishwarya Rai, arguably the world’s foxiest lady, popping up on Letterman and the cover of Cosmo, it’s clear the song-and-dance sensation that is Bollywood is about to blow wide open internationally. The Indian film industry’s Byzantine star system makes the Hindu pantheon look minimalist, so a good place to begin would be Bollywood: An Anthology of Songs From Popular Indian Cinema (Silva Screen), two CDs (one old-school, one au courant) of first-rate filmi music. The set is certainly brimful of Asha—Asha Bhosle, that is, the grand old dame of the genre, who this past year jammed out the magnificent You’ve Stolen My Heart album (Nonesuch) with avant-gardiens Kronos Quartet. Film-score buffs will also appreciate Itinerary of a Genius (Milan), two discs of noted Ennio Morricone compositions played to perfection, or maybe Rediscovering Lost Scores Vol. 1 and 2 (East Side Digital), largely unreleased material from electronic-music matriarch Wendy Carlos’s scores for The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Tron and UNICEF shorts. Carlos was a major collaborator with the seminal synth-maker Bob Moog, whose passing away this year brought a poignant note to the release of the excellent documentary by Hans Fjellestad, Moog (Plexifilm), featuring chats with Money Mark, Keith Emerson, Stereolab and Moog himself.

Kids’ stuff and comic capers

Speaking of Stereolab, a great gift for groupies of the “groop” would be the Oscillons From the Anti-Sun box set (Too Pure), rounding up three CDs of rarities and goodies, plus a DVD of videos and a bunch of cool stickers. The ’lab also pop up alongside Beck, Eels and Tipsy on Dimension Mix (Eenie Meenie), a benefit CD for autism research that’s a tribute to another electronic pioneer, Bruce Haack. Wrap that one up with a copy of the Haack: The King of Techno DVD (Koch Vision), a doc about the madman who made freaky sci-fi sounds—for kids! Speaking of whom, something kinda brainy for the youngsters is the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s Baroque Adventure triple CD (Analekta), a bilingual and highly educational audio-theatrical romp through that period of classical music history. Most definitely not for the kids, on the other hand, are the Salvation: Oxford November 11, 1992 double CD (Ryko), two hours of the now-deceased potty-mouthed prophet Bill Hicks showing how stand-up can be smart and incisive while still raw and hilarious, and The Aristocrats Original “Soundtrack” (V2), a companion to the Penn Jillette doc about the filthiest joke in comedy history. This is for certain—George Carlin, Gilbert Gottfried, Drew Carey and especially Sarah Silverman will be getting big, fat lumps of coal in their stockings.