Holiday Gift Guide 2016: 35 Perfect Presents for Music Fans
With a growing number of gadgets, deluxe edition LPs and fancy headphones on the market, it can be hard to nail down a killer gift, so we did the heavy lifting, narrowing it down to the best items you'll want to for the music fan in your life – or add to a wish list of your own.
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The Wireless Turntable: TRNTBL by VNYL
For the person on your list who has a Sonos, the TRNTBL by VNYL is the perfect mate. It streams directly to the multiroom system or any Bluetooth or AirPlay speaker. Yet another new reason to get jazzed about vinyl. $420; trntbl.co
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The Luxe Headphones: B&O Play Beoplay H8
Cross the audiophile off your list: Wireless, noise-canceling headphones don't get much better – or better-looking – than the premium B&O Play Beoplay H8. $499; beoplay.com
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The Portable Microphone: Blue Raspberry Microphone
Calling all podcasters (and wanna-be's): The palm-size Blue Raspberry connects directly to a laptop, iPad or iPhone to create a professional-grade recording studio on the go. It captures high-res, 24-bit audio and enhances the sound of your voice (or an instrument) – even in a noisy room. Not included: an original podcast idea. $199; bluemic.com
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The Modern Radio: Como Audio Solo
Rediscover the joys of radio, but with a twist: The great-sounding Como Audio Solo has built-in WiFi and streams stations from all over the globe. That means reggae from France or pop from Nigeria are just a preset away. $299; comoaudio.com
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The Mini Assistant: Amazon Echo Dot
Your wish is Alexa's command – the always-listening Amazon Echo Dot can be stealthily placed in any room so you can ask to play a song whenever the urge strikes. It pairs with Bluetooth speakers and also performs basic smart-home functions. $49; amazon.com
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The Professional Earbuds: Shure SE215m+SPE
The pro monitor-like design of Shure SE215m+SPE helps improve fit, blocks outside noise and adds extra bass. Plus, they kinda make you look like Adam Levine. $119; shure.com
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The E-Music Maker: ROLI BLOCKS
Put on your producer hat with ROLI BLOCKS, a mini modular music studio that lets you create digital jams no matter how skilled you are. The Lightpad (each device is sold separately) is touch-sensitive, so you can tap and swipe your way to a club hit – or just rock out with your friends. From $179; roli.com
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The Smarter Streamer: Google Chromecast Ultra
Make any TV smarter with the Google Chromecast Ultra – it can handle 4K video and easily send content to the biggest screen in the house. $69; google.com
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The Wearable Speaker: Polk BOOM BIT
Drop the tiny Polk BOOM BIT speaker into stockings this year – it's perfect for running and cycling, or whenever you get tired of wearing headphones. $30; polkaudio.com
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The Petite Powerhouse: VIZIO SmartCast Crave Pro
The toaster-size VIZIO SmartCast Crave Pro is a fetching wall-shaker, and more than enough speaker for any room. If you do need more power, it connects to other VIZIO speakers to create a multiroom system. $300; vizio.com
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The Retro Gaming System: NES Classic Edition
Whether you grew up playing Donkey Kong or love all things gaming, the NES Classic Edition, a retro remake of the 1985 Nintendo system, will entertain for hours. It comes with 30 classic games pre-loaded, including PAC-MAN, Galaga and Punch-Out!! $60; nintendo.com
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The Affordable TV: Insignia 55″ 4K Roku Ultra HDTV
If you (or someone you love) has been holding off on upgrading to 4K until the price is right, here's your sweet spot: The Insignia 55" 4K Roku Ultra HDTV looks amazing, has an intuitive streaming system baked right in and is affordable. Best of all? No Black Friday to deal with. $549; bestbuy.com
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Bob Dylan,’The 1966 Live Recordings’
With the exception of the infamous "Judas!" show at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, Bob Dylan's 1966 electric tour of Europe with the Hawks has only been heard on dodgy-sounding bootlegs. That changes when this epic 36-CD set chronicling every show on the tour, including 18 previously unreleased soundboard recordings. It captures every boo, catcall and fiery rendition of "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Ballad of a Thin Man." "I realize it's loud music," an exhausted Dylan said after getting pummeled with boos at London's Royal Albert Hall. "If you don't like it, that’s fine. If you've got some improvements you can make on it, that’s great. But I'm not going to disagree or fight with you"
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Pink Floyd, ‘The Early Years 1965 – 1972’
There are no casual fans of Pink Floyd's salad days, the short period in which they transformed from Stonesy garage rockers into psychedelic mad scientists and then again into cosmic space rockers, before they redefined prog rock with Dark Side of the Moon. The group's ginormous new 27-disc box set, The Early Years 1965 – 1972 – which comes in packaging about the size of a treasure chest – presents an exhaustive look at that period with 12-and-a-half hours of unreleased audio and seven hours of rare concert footage. (If that seems like a lot, there's also a two-disc version.) Highlights include the group's bluesy 1965 recordings with original lead guitarist Rado Klose, unreleased Syd Barrett–era tracks "Vegetable Man" and "In the Beechwoods," hours of video from the Barrett era, footage of their early ballet and concept performances, a jam with Frank Zappa, reproduction seven-inches and memorabilia and much, much more. Some of it has circulated as bootlegs, but it has never looked or sounded this good.
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The Rolling Stones, ‘The Rolling Stones in Mono’
This hugely important set is a testament to the living history of what remains the greatest rock & roll band's greatest decade. The Rolling Stones in Mono collects all the albums the band recorded during the Sixties on CD, LP, digital and hi-res formats. The vinyl box contains 16 LPs; the CD version contains 15 discs. There are versions of all the group's U.S. and U.K. albums as well as a fantastic two-LP collection of on-LP singles and EP tracks, including "Con Le Mie Lacrime," a version of "As Tears Go By" sung in Italian, "Stoned" (the instrumental B-side of "I Wanna Be Your Man") and the 1965 outtake of Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long." The collection also comes with a 48-page book containing a 5,000-word essay by Rolling Stone's David Fricke and rare photos by Terry O'Neill.
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The Kinks, ‘The Mono Collection’
In the Sixties, the Kinks developed from the raw singles band of "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and of the Night" into the brilliant album artists that crafted classics like Something Else and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. This amazing vinyl set collects all eight of the albums they released during the decade, plus the previously out of print in the U.S. mono mix of Live at Kelvin Hall. It also includes the bonus double LP compilation The Kinks’(a.k.a. The Black Album) and a hardcover 48-page book that has interviews with Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory. There's also a 10-CD version.
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The Who, ‘My Generation: Super Deluxe Edition’
Pete Townshend dug deep to present the most thorough portrait of the Who's formative years with the release of a super-deluxe edition of their groundbreaking debut LP, My Generation. The five-disc box set contains the album in mono and stereo, as well as a bevy of outtakes, B-sides and other odds and sods. The most exciting addition, however, is a disc of Pete Townshend's songwriting demos from the period. They provide a greater understanding of the depth of Townshend's talents during that particularly fruitful period and show why he's one of the strongest voices of his generation.
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Elvis Presley, ‘The Album Collection’
Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the release of his debut LP, this epic box set Includes restorations of 57 Elvis Presley albums originally released on RCA Records from 1956 through 1977, plus three new discs of rarities from the 1950s, Sixties and Seventies. It also includes a lavish, hardbound 300-page book with commentary, discographies and recording session details. Of course, his early RCA albums and the electric 1968 comeback that spawned From Elvis in Memphis are the highlights but this astonishing deep dive lets you experience and reassess less-known periods in the King's career, such as LPs like Promised Land and Raised on Rock, recorded at Stax studios in 1973.
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Led Zeppelin, ‘The Complete BBC Sessions’
This three-CD, five-LP set expands Zeppelin's original 1997 BBC Sessions album into a super-deluxe package that in many ways becomes a kind of shadow history of the band's development from 1969 to 1971. The new edition uncovers eight unreleased recordings they made for the BBC, including a "lost" three-song session from 1969. As Rolling Stone's Joe Levy noted in his four-and-a-half star review of the set, "The songs are familiar, but the protean variations of these renditions provide fresh jolts of Zeppelin's audacious blend of brutality and delicacy, desperation and entitlement."
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Lou Reed, ‘The RCA & Arista Album Collection’
This 17-disc boxset contains every album the late Godfather of Punk recorded from his 1970 debut to 1986's Mistrial. Packaged in a beautifully austere black box, it isn't just a fitting tribute to his most iconic recording period, it's also the final project of his life (Reed oversaw the remastering of the original albums). The set comes with insightful liner notes from Hal Willner and reproductions of several promotional posters from the era. A six-LP 12-inch vinyl edition, The RCA & Arista Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1, is also available, comprised of remasterings of his albums from his 1971 breakthrough to 1982's landmark LP, The Blue Mask.
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David Bowie, ‘Who Can I Be Now (1974-1976)’
Following the excellent 2014 Five Years 1969-1973 box, this 12-CD box or 13-LP set continues the story from 1974 to 1976, a fascinating transitional period in the artist's career. The heart of the collection is 1974's glam apocalypse Diamond Dogs, 1975's soul-influenced Young Americans and the genre-warping 1976 masterpiece Station to Station. Also included is 1974's David Live, a remastered version of that release, another concert album titled, Live Nassau Coliseum '76, an alternative mix of Station to Station and Re:Call 2, a disc of singles and non-album B-sides. The real find amid all this is Bowie's "lost album" The Gouster, begun during prior Young Americans and discarded; in his liner notes longtime Bowie producer Tony Visconti calls the record "forty minutes of glorious funk."
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The Band, ‘The Last Waltz, 40th Anniversary’
The Band is releasing four versions of their legendary 1978 farewell concert film to celebrate its 40th anniversary. There's a remastered two-CD version, four-CD/Blu-ray Deluxe Edition, six-LP Deluxe Edition vinyl edition and a massive four-CD/2-Blu-ray Collector's Edition. The sets include rare performances not featured in the film, including "Furry Sings the Blues" (with Mitchell) and "All Our Past Times" (with Clapton). The CD version also features new liner notes from Rolling Stone's Ben Fong-Torres and David Fricke. The Collector's Edition – limited to 2,500 copies worldwide – includes complete audio, a Blu-ray of the film, a second Blu-ray with a rare 1990s interview with Scorsese and Robertson, a photo gallery and 5.1 audio mix of the original album. The set also includes a 300-page book featuring a full replication of Scorsese's shooting script, rare and previously unseen photos and a foreword by Scorsese.
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Eric Clapton, ‘The Studio Albums 1970-1981’ and ‘The Live Album Collection 1970-1980’
Clapton's emergence as a solo artist and the Seventies defining guitar legend is chronicled throughout these two handsome box set collections. The eight-LP studio set begins with his 1970 self-titled debut and goes through his greatest work, including 1972's landmark Layla, with Derek and the Dominos, and 1974's 461 Ocean Boulevard and 1977's Slowhand. The live box collects four live albums on six LPs, including 1970's Derek and the Dominos In Concert and 1973's The Rainbow Concert.
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Kris Kristofferson, ‘The Complete Monument & Columbia Album Collection’
To honor the singer-songwriter, poet and country music icon on his 80th birthday, this 16-CD set covers his first decade in music and includes 11 studio albums as well as bonus live and demos discs, chronicling this emergence as country’s first modern outlaw and one of its essential literary visionaries. Two of the concert recordings are previously unreleased. Producer/musician Don Was offers an aesthetic appreciation, titled "Kris Kristofferson True American Hero," and the set also features an insightful essay on Kristofferson's artistry penned by Rolling Stone's Mikal Gilmore.
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NRBQ, ‘High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective’
The eclectic rockers' compile highlights from a 50-year, 21-album, 17-member career as one of America's most beloved cult bands onto this five-CD set. The Q's catalog is far too epic and rangy to absorb unless you're a lifelong fan and this is excellent one-stop shopping, including songs like "Magnet," "Ridin' in My Car," "Me and the Boys" and "Captain Lou" as well as live tracks side-project cuts and several unreleased tracks.
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Marvin Gaye, ‘Volume Three: 1971-1981’
The third and last installment in a career-spanning overview of Gaye's Motown years, this seven-album vinyl box set covers of his most artistically important period. Beginning with political and spiritual 1971 masterpiece, What's Going On and ending with 1981's In Our Lifetime and including the sex classic Let's Get It On, the double-LP divorce classic Here, My Dear and his great duets album with Diana Ross, Diana & Marvin.
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R.E.M., ‘Out of Time: Deluxe Edition’
R.E.M. took a lighter approach when they were writing 1991's Out of Time, and it worked in their favor. The hits "Losing My Religion" and "Shiny Happy People" not only helped the LP become the band's first Billboard Number One, they also sold more than 4 million copies. A new box set, marking the record's 25th anniversary, offers insight into the making of the album with a disc of demos (including a version of "Radio Song" with drummer Bill Berry singing a verse and some instrumental jams), an acoustic live performance and a Blu-ray with the album's unforgettable music videos.
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Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, ‘The Complete Studio Albums Volume 1’
Petty and the Heartbreakers are celebrating their 40th anniversary with the vinyl reissue of their entire catalog. The first volume contains nine LPs, beginning with their 1976 debut and ending with 1991's Into the Great Wide Open. The second picks up with his move to Warner Brothers for the 1994 double-LP Wildflowers and continues up to his most recent album with the Heartbreakers, 2014's Hypnotic Eye.
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Soundgarden, ‘Badmotorfinger, 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition’
Soundgarden will mark the 25th anniversary of their commercial breakthrough Badmotorfinger with a massive, seven-disc deluxe box set this fall. The box contains a remastered edition of the original LP, previously unreleased studio outtakes, live recordings, music videos and more. The super-deluxe box set edition contains four CDs, two DVDs and a Blu-ray audio disc and, of its 109 tracks (including video), 79 are previously unreleased. It also comes tricked out with a revolving Badmotorfinger icon box (batteries included) and 12-inch 3D Lenticular Litho of the Badmotorfinger icon with silver foil. If that seems a little intense, the group is also putting out a pared-down, two-disc edition of the reissue. There will also be a double-LP version and a single-disc reissue.
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‘Temple of the Dog, 25th Anniversary Edition’
The lone 1990 album from this Seattle super-group (which featured Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as future members of Pearl Jam) offered a blueprint of sorts for the soon-to-explode grunge moment. Here it receives the deluxe treatment with a reissue of their original LP, a disc of demos and DVD-Blu Ray offerings including the video for their MTV hit "Hunger Strike" as well as recent gatherings of the group and footage of their November 1990 set at Seattle's Off Ramp Café.
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Nina Simone, ‘The Philips Years’
Nina Simone recorded what is arguably her greatest and most important work in the years covered on this seven album box set, which begins with 1964's Nine Simone in Concert and ends with 1967's High Priestess of Soul. These albums incorporated jazz, blues, soul, folk and opera and including highlights like her iconic, haunting version of "Strange Fruit" and the title track to 1965's I Put a Spell on You. With Simone's influence over contemporary hip hop and R&B at a peak, these albums are as vital and resonant as ever.
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Blink-182, ‘Vinyl Box Set’
This 10-disc box set includes the beloved pop-punk band’s six studio albums beginning with the group's 1995 debut Cheshire Cat through their 2011 release, Neighborhoods, as well as the 2000 live album, The Mark, Tom & Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back!. Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch, Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket will be released as single LPs with the live album, their 2003 self-titled album and Neighborhoods being issued as double LPs. And for Blink fans still stuck in the digital age, MP3 download cards will also be included for each title.
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Big Star, ‘Complete Third’
Big Star's never completed their third album, but it remains a harrowing classic. This fan-grail offers every known recording from the 1974 sessions, which have been the basis for several reissues over the years (even though Big Star ‘s Alex Chilton never intended the album as a Big Star record at all). This deep dive shows in full why it remains a classic of avant-pop exploration and demented genius run wild.
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‘Jazz Festival: Jim Marshall’ Book
Photographer Jim Marshall's black-and-white shots taken at the Newport and Monterey jazz festivals during the 1960s capture an era that can't be ignored. Over 95 percent of the photographs collected in this book haven't been seen before, making it an essential tome for fans. $75.
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Lego Beatles Yellow Submarine Set
Part of its Idea series, LEGO has translated the Fab Four for its trippy Yellow Submarine set. Not only does it have a functioning propeller and rudder and periscopes, but you'll finally have little LEGO John, Paul, Ringo and George for posterity. $59.99