Five Rockin’ Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season
From booze to books to backpacks, our choices for surprises under the tree
Having a tough time finding that qunality Christmas gift for that fool in your life who’s impossible to buy for?
Fret not, dear consumer. The Rock & Roll Globe has combed the Internet to find some cool stuff to cop for that finicky present receiver.
Here are five items specially selected by our editor for you to consider this holiday season.
Transformers Super Cyborgs Optimus Prime and Megatron
Price: $85
Nothing says the 80s like the original Hasbro Transformers toyline, which pits two warring factions of a race of robots who morph into various vehicles, animals and even boom boxes. And nothing will look cooler bookending your vinyl collection than this pair of 11-inch versions of Autobot leader Optimus Prime and Decepticon overlord Megatron as part of Super 7’s Super Cyborg deluxe action figure line. For Transformers fans who hated the aesthetic of the Prime and Megatron toys in their first generation incarnations, these versions are accurate to the way they were drawn for the TV series and, in particular, the blockbuster animated film Transformers The Movie. Plus, the detachable chest plates on these guys allow you to see more than meets the eye. That is if you take them out of the box!
Heavens Door Whiskey Bootleg Series Vol. V
Price: $699
On the spirits front, Bob Dylan is taking a cue from the success of his audio archives with his annual Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series, divulging in rare blends that illustrate the innovative approach his company takes to making whiskey. And this year’s selection, Volume V, is no doubt its Rolling Thunder Revue, an 18-year-old straight bourbon that spent a portion of its life aging inside Spanish vermouth rouge casks. This delicious elixir is noted by hints of caramel, honey and vanilla as it glides down your palate. And what’s coolest is that each bottle comes wrapped in a print of Dylan’s 2019 painting No Vacancies and housed in a leather journal. And at 114 proof, this hooch will get you pretty trashed. Tread lightly.
Aretha Franklin
A Portrait of the Queen (BMG)
Price: $69.99 (CD)
The Queen of Soul has been gone five years now, but her music continues to live forever as the next generation starts digging into her vast and prolific catalog. This new box set from BMG brings together some of the very best work of her career, her five indelible Atlantic albums from the early 70s: This Girl’s in Love With You (1970), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1973), and Let Me in Your Life (1974). These are the records that proved Aretha’s genius as a singer/songwriter, collaborating with such names as Duane Allman, Billy Preston, Donny Hathaway and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section to bring more earth, wind and fire to her already powerful soul stylings. Produced with love by Cheryl Pawelski from Omnivore Recordings and featuring expert liner notes from Billboard’s Gail Mitchell and British author David Nathan, the box also contains a slew of bonus tracks that includes such rare material as her spellbinding covers of The Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill” and the Bill Withers standard “Lean On Me” amidst additional outtakes and session demos. If you’re an extra track hound like me, get the CD version.
Jeff Tweedy
World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music (Dutton)
Price: $26
Jeff Tweedy has proven himself as one of the great American songwriters of the last 35 years thanks to his work in Uncle Tupelo, Wilco and his underrated solo material. There’s no doubt he’s penned tunes that people have ingrained in their hearts (“Passenger Side,” “Misunderstood,” “Reservations” all come to mind). But what are the songs that do the same for him? So goes the impetus of Tweedy’s third book, where he recounts the 50 songs that changed his life, from Otis Redding to Billie Eilish. Along the way he articulates the paths by which music and life intersect and how one enhances the other in the way songs are crafted. This is such a sublime read, one that any music fan who’s serious about their love for what they listen to can fully appreciate.
Sufjan Stevens Javelin AKR x J. Stark Limited Backpack
Price: $150
Few albums in 2023 have been as critically lauded as the heartbreaking, yearning 10th LP from Sufjan Stevens. Now fans of Javelin and its colorful sense of intimacy can represent their appreciation for this special music in fine style with a limited edition backpack inspired by the record’s artwork. Stevens’s longtime label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, partnered with Charleston, SC-based bag designers J. Stark on this lovely, durable backpack, made from water repellent 15 oz Duck Canvas and bolstered with a Sufjan art print lifted from Javelin’s accompanying 48-page art booklet. The album art is also represented in a handful of buttons you can affix to the front flap as well, while a custom woven Sufjan label graces the side panel with a sewn-on AKR logo patch on the front. It’s also big enough to hold your laptop in the main compartment with a large interior pocket (9.5″ x 8.5″) and two smaller split pockets (4.5″ x 7″), plus a quick access exterior pocket along the back (9.5″ x 7.5″). If you’re proud of your appreciation for this triumphant work, this backpack is loud enough to let everybody know how you feel.
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