For the second year in a row Playboy has had leading musicians design tees representing the ageless bunny logo for their Rock The Rabbit campaign. Boasting an impressive roster in year’s past (Daft Punk, Iggy Pop, the Killer and other have participated in the past), 2009 will not disappoint with designs from Brooklyn rising stars MGMT, mad man Jay Retard, hip-hop royalty Q-Tip, production mastermin/DJ Diplo, dance duo Chromeo, electronica virtuosos Röyksopp and the French princess of pop Yelle amongst others. These fashions, all printed on the comfyest cotton, will all be available at www.shopthebunny.com. And the risque brand isn’t the only hot deal: a portion of the sales will go to chartity.
Here are a few of our favorite bunnies to slap across our chests. Can you guess the artists behind the art?
Answers: Jay Retard’s is bleeding, MGMT’s is the pipe-puffing Hefner-esque management, Diplo’s celebrating the bunny ears with confetti and Röyksopp’s twistin’ those knobs.
Apples In Stereo/ Of Montreal Picture 7” w/DVD Collectibles
Heartfast
So the clock is ticking down and you still haven’t found something to stuff in those damn stockings that are hung by the chimney with care? Well, the folks over at Heartfast may have the solution to your last-minute needs. The Brooklyn label will be releasing a series of collectible picture 7” this month, starting with Apples in Stereo’s “Stephen, Stephen: A Song For Stephen Colbert/ Same Old Drag,” out December 9, and Of Montreal’s “Jimmy” (a Bollywood song recently covered by M.I.A.) and an unreleased track called “Middle Class Ghetto,” out December 16.
To spruce up the releases, each 7” will come with accompanying DVD’s. The Apples In Stereo DVD will feature footage from the band’s famed appearance on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, while the Of Montreal DVD will contain exclusive footage edited by the band from their 2007 US tour. These collector’s items will make a great gift for that person who was either naughty or nice this holiday season.
How can you tell when extreme metal has infiltrated the mainstream? When there is a show that pokes a little fun at it on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. There are very few metal fans out there who haven’t seen at least one episode of this quirky series that tells the story of Dethklok, a death metal band so popular that it has become the world’s 7th largest economy. The complete second season is out now on DVD and makes the perfect gift for the discerning metalhead on your list. With musician cameos from the likes of James Hetfield, Angela Gossow, Mike Patton and Emperor and such classic moments as Murderface’s “Tittyfish” song, Dethklok’s foray into fashion design and a little trip to the amazon because it would be very “Cannibal Corpse”, this 2 disc set is chock full of both the hilarious and very metal. Don’t kid yourself, metal fans have a sense of humor. What could be better on Christmas then opening this putting it on the dvd player and cracking up a brew with that special Darkthrone fan in your life?
Ho ho yo! It’s that time of year again. Actually, “that time of year” seems to start around early August for all the crazed hype that surrounds the holidays. Despite these rough times, we’re implored to go shopping like it’s our patriotic duty. While we’re never ones to besmirch the good ol’ US of A, we still wanted to wait until after Black Friday, Supershop Saturday, Credit Card Denial Sunday, Cyber Monday, and Tapped Out Tuesday to lay down our suggestions for the trinkets and baubles we deem exxx-cellent gifts. And we do mean “XXX,” as you’ll see. Plus, aside from the usual spate of holiday box sets and best-ofs, we’ve reached beyond our musical parameters to see what other odd goodies might satiate your independent music-minded friends, relatives and ex-co-workers… So check out the goodies on our wish lists at this year’s CMJ Gift Guide.
What would the holidays be without a gaudy tree (and/or bush)? Not only will this Champagne Tinsel Tree fill that holiday void, but the 1950’s inspired design can be stored and re-used for years to come. And to sweeten the deal, Urban Outfitters’ recent price-drop makes this glammed-out evergreen more affordable than those real ones they sell on the street corner. Gotta love the recession! This year, feel free to indulge your kitschy side while doing your part to save the environment. Lotte Agullo Collins
Let’s get it out there: the Naughtibod is a vibrator, a lumpily phallic—and not-so-”nano”—musical toy for some personal lady lovin’. You plug it into any standard headphone or speaker jack, and it pulses to the beat of the music, making it just as much a good “happy holidays to me for hours of fun with my stupidly extensive record collection” gift as well as a standard bachelorette gag. It has a splitter for headphones and a second long cord that plugs into the fun part for lots of, uh, movement. Instead of idly slinging pseudo-dirty euphemisms like a softcore rag (”Naughtibod makes happy in the danger zone!” “Naughtibod gets down…down there!”), I’ll provide one important tip: you may be hoping that Marvin Gaye’s sexytime classic “Let’s Get It On” will do the trick. But in fact, like a flock of sweat-caked, half-naked scenesters in a Paris nightclub, this bad boy really goes nuts for the thumping bass sprawled throughout Justice’s A Cross The Universe. Honey, it will buzz like a bumblebee and disturb the peace on your desk, or wherever you choose to put it. Lisa Hresko www.ohmibod.com
New Order Movement/Power, Corruption And Lies/Low-Life/Brotherhood/Technique
(Rhino)
This fall and winter have seen a flood of remastered reissues, box sets and compilation albums from the heroes of the so-called “college rock” era, such as U2, New Order, R.E.M., The Smiths, Jesus And Mary Chain and the Replacements. But why now? Sure, the above artists are all god-like geniuses, and many of the genres CMJ covers likely wouldn’t even exist without them. (Or at least, they would be a lot less fun.) And yes, the bulk of these albums were released in the early to mid-80s, just before the booming popularity of compact discs and digital production. Many of these releases were originally shoddily transferred to CD as an afterthought by their labels, and the sonic facelift is much appreciated. But why did these artists and their respective labels and business partners decide to finally release these newfangled editions in 2008, when the CD format is just waiting for a priest to give it last rites?
Oh well, better late than never. Figuring out the bizarre whims of the recording industry is a fool’s errand anyhow. The budding indie rock fan on your shopping list, especially the young ‘uns who unironically refer to The Strokes as old school, will likely enjoy learning where much of the music they dig came from, in striking new digital clarity. Unless they’ve already ripped thin mp3s it from BitTorrent.
Now it would be hard to go wrong with any of the aforementioned artists’ re-releases, but of all of them, it’s perhaps U2 and New Order who most benefit from the sonic upgrade, as both artists originally saw their luminescent guitar melodies and lock-step grooves muddled by their original CDs. If nothing else, the chiming guitar riffs on War’s “40″ and the full-bodied snare kick in Brotherhood’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” are probably worth the purchase of these sets alone. But all of the albums sound even more bell-clear and lush than they did in Reagan’s heyday.
Of course, all the albums come equipped with a loaded extra disc, some more worth hearing than others. (It sure is great to have the rare, early U2 single “11 O’ Clock Tick Tock” on CD, but geez, New Order sure had a lot of endlessly extended remixes, didn’t they? And an aside — nearly all the Replacements’ extras are nectar for fans.) There are also tons of nifty liner notes and photos, which of course are quickly becoming as obsolete as, well, the idea of giving someone a CD for Christmas. Michael Tedder
Just as the snow has begun to hit the pavement, the urban stylistas at Manhattan Portage have found a snazzy new way to cart around CMJ Gift Guide swag even in the worst of weather. The elements won’t penetrate the thick vinyl vintage messenger bag, a classic but chic design made of 100% waterproof tarpaulin vinyl. The funky material gives a dressed up look to the typically drab winter wardrobe as this messenger comes in an array of primary colors. It’s the ideal weekender tote for one reason: it’s freakin’ huge! The messenger holds up to 1500 cubic inches. And while I’m admittedly not sure how much that actually is, rest assured you’d be able to smuggle one of Santa’s heftier elves in this thing. And he’d stay dry if it rains. Lisa Hresko
Got a hormonally explosive, just post-adolescent relative on your gift list who still thinks Fall Out Boy is power pop? Well, set him straight with a combo history lesson/girl obsession classic. For aficionados of first-era power pop (roughly 1977-82), the 4-song 7″ The Nerves EP this Cali combo released in 1977 is not just a bristling batch of perfect, punk-prodded pop, but a viable argument stopper for where the genre began. Plus, all three members went on to create more influential pop gold (in collector desirability if not actual sales). Singer/bassist Peter Case had the most success with the ‘80s band, the Plimsouls; drummer Paul Collins formed the Beat, releasing a few super slabs (and are back with a new record on Get Hip); and singer/guitarist Jack Lee’s career petered out the quickest with some personal problems that are barely hidden in his sparkly gems. Lee wrote “Hanging On The Telephone” (later a hit for Blondie), featuring the closing, repeated plea of “Hang up and run to me,” that is one of the most purely heart-wrenching codas of that era. That EP is all here, Rickenbackers ringing and scruff harmonies yearning clearer than ever. While those songs and some of the other demos and live tracks on this 20-track compilation have appeared over the years in various quasi-legit versions, usually on small European labels (you wouldn’t believe what a star Case is in Orleans, France), this is the first official release of all the Nerves and immediately post-Nerves related material, with liner notes from Case no less—in other words, the holy moley grail for power pop fans. Had they the cash to make that first EP an album—adding in the sugar rush of “Walking Out On Love” and “Letter To G,” or the mood-piece pound, “Are You Famous”—the Nerves might’ve supplanted the Knack and saved power pop from its cheeky legacy. Standard motifs of skinny ties and “The” band names have reduced the era to a fad; and the genre phrase is flung around so much today it’s become an enervated catch-all for anything vaguely upbeat with vintage guitars played by earnest 20-somethings. Well forget that and grab this One Way Ticket to a time when a band could rankle fellow too-tough punk scensters by simply covering the Beatles. Eric Davidson
Have you ever brushed your teeth with Crust toothpaste? Or cleaned your haunted house with Windhex glass cleaner? Or burned your mouth on Liptorn Molten Lava Soup?Or fed your dog a can of Alpoo? Or dolled yourself up for a night on the town with Cover Ghoul makeup, only to wind up getting blasted on Wheez-It whiskey-flavored crackers before you walked out the door? Well, if you have ever shopped at the surreal supermarket of the mind that is the legendary 70’s “Wacky Packages” sticker series from Topps Trading Cards as a kid, you certainly did.Anthologized by famed graphic artist Art Spiegelman in a beautiful trade-sized hardcover book, Wacky Packages compiles every brilliant, subversive product displacement sticker from all seven series. And each zany image–created by Spiegelman and a host of other noteworthy underground comix artists, including Zippy creator Bill Griffiths, Kim Deitch, Jay Lynch and Norm Saunders–is given its own page.It’s the sticker book you always wanted as a child, and now make for quite a crazed conversation piece sitting on your coffee table as an adult. Ron Hart
Most little girls want to be a romantic storybook princess when really they should want to be a rockstar. It’s a much more lucrative occupation and—since we’ve long evolved from the grunge stage—exudes a hell of a lot more panache than a pretty pretty princess. Plus it means you get to command the mic and show off your bootay in a sparkly catsuit and moonboots. Enter Eltin, a new edition to the Dynamite Girls collectible fashion doll line from Integrity Toys (the suspiciously named designers’ roster also includes collectibles in the likeness of RuPaul and Lana Turner as well as the recently sold-out Katy Perry doll). Li’l Eltin—yes, she’s sporting giant shades a la another Elton (John, that is)—might only be 12″ tall but she comes with a wardrobe piece to die for: an adorable white fur jacket and hat combo suitable for Siberian winters. Collectors and aspiring popstars chose your poison: Eltin can be found as a redhead or with platinum locks. Lisa Hresko www.integritytoys.com
Various Artists Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia
(Sony Legacy)
Maybe it was an ominous projection of that monumental Phillies World Series win in October, but the fine folks at Legacy Recordings seem to have the City of Brotherly Love on the brain, releasing in 2008 alone: a killer 2-CD rarities package of lost nuggets from Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records; and a thick brick of single album reissues of such PIR classics as the first two Teddy Pendergrass solo albums, the O’Jays’ Backstabbers and Leon Huff’s lost late-70s solo classic, Here To Create Music, among others.
But this four-disc upgrade from their still-indispensable 1997 box set, The Philly Sound, is the cream cheese icing on the sonic layer cake, offering a quintessential testament to the label that, as Fred Wesley once proclaimed, “put the bow tie on funk.” Whereas The Philly Sound covered the first decade of Gamble and Huff’s dynasty during the years 1966-76, Love Train encompasses the entire spectrum of the Philadelphia soul movement beyond the legendary production duo’s ‘hood to include key tracks from such local luminaries as the Manhattans, the Stylistics, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, the Ebonys, and Patti LaBelle, along with the superstar names who hit the 2-1-5 to record with legendary Sigma Sound studio house band MFSB, like Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett and the Jacksons.
Tack on a beautifully designed, 61-page booklet teeming with rare photos, album jackets, historical essays, and interviews with Gamble, Huff, and their right-hand man Thomas Bell, and you have the perfect gift for the classic soul fan in your life. Ron Hart
Pure Country – The Leon Kagarise Archives: 1961-1971
(Process)
In our collector world of eBay, online trawling, and limited editions–where even your ol’ grannie who watches Antiques Roadshow thinks her ‘70s hair curlers are worth something—the old stories of some archivist stumbling across a great, forgotten stash of anything are becoming, well, rare and collectible. Which is half the amazement of this beautiful book.
It’s a long, wonderful story, told extremely well in Eddie Dean’s text and Robert Gordon’s foreword. But basically, Leon Kagarise was a solitary, electronics-obsessed teen in the late-50s who fell hard for hillbilly music, which led him to small, outdoor country music concerts in the Washington-Baltimore region. These humble affairs were popular in rural areas then, but already derided as simpleton stuff. Even Nashville had discarded many of its banjo-shredding, foot-stomping, moonshine-slurping originators as the glossy “Nashville sound” was gaining chart prominence in the ’60s. Hence legendary talents like George Jones, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline—and many others left to history’s sunset—were resigned to, but often preferred these small get-togethers where they could play on a wobbly little stage and hang out with their fans for hours afterwards. Kagarise was one of them, and he not only recorded endless hours of these performances pristinely on a reel-to-reel machine (CD comps of which are being planned), but took even more photos of the performers and fans.
The very existence of these concerts and culture had nearly been lost to time. But luckily Kagarise was one of those pack rats who figured nobody would ever care about this stuff, and boxed it all away in his house, until 2001 when a record store owner, Joe Lee, heard some secondhand stories and one thing led to another…
Kagarise’s photos nearly crossover to another dimension, or at least another time where celebrity worship was simultaneously less fervent but more genuine than today’s blood lust. Besides all the historical perspective, the pictures themselves are also visually stunning for the fact that Kagarise was not going for artsy black and white framing, as did most photogs who would deign to even tip-toe into such backwoods affairs (and most didn’t). Instead, these pictures are mostly all full-color, straight-forward shots of people just having fun on a Sunday afternoon; the ones that are shaky or washed out feel like old technicolor stills from a lost documentary.
The subjects themselves aren’t exactly extras in a Transporter movie. They’re Christian folk, cleaned up and polite. “Multicultural” was in no one’s dictionary back then. Nonetheless, the great, colorful, post-cowboy get-ups and mile-high hair would fit right into a John Waters-directed White Stripes video. A perfect gift for the snooty indie rocker on your list who thinks country music began when the Byrds grew beards; or worse, tries to get all ironic about Jessica Simpson.Eric Davidson
Okay, let’s get this out of the way now. This set lacks MST3K’s two funniest episodes, the junk movie epics Manos: The Hands of Fate and Mitchell.But don’t fret, because it does include First Spaceship on Venus, which is certainly no slouch in the gawdawful department.If, as a certain late-night infomercial liked to claim, hair metal ballads taught us how to love, then Mystery Science Theater 3000taught us how to snark. This set features four riff-packed episodes, plus a making-of documentary and a reunion panel from this year’s Comiccon. But the main draw here is a chance to spend time (like, a whole day really) with Tom Servo, Crow and the gang, and enough bad special effects and worse acting to lighten the heart of any curmudgeon. Michael Tedder
Just in time for a rumored reunion of the original members for a new album and tour in 2009, Sanctuary-Universal unveils the first-ever box set chronicling the 45-year career of the mighty Kinks. Comprised of six discs, Picture Book covers the entire spectrum of the somehow still kind of underrated British Invasion demigods’ rollercoaster of a recording history, from the Brothers Davies’ salad days as The Ravens, to their mid-60s hit machine era, to their late-60s gilded age, to their late-70s/early-80s flirtation with new wave, and right on up to the bombastic pomposity of their last proper studio album, 1993’s deplorable Phobia. Of course there’s the requisite garden variety of rare demos, live cuts and alternate takes sprinkled in from every period.If you have someone in your life whose a hardcore Kinks kompletist, Picture Book, though a little pricey at $70 (it’s import only), will certainly restore their faith in good old Father Christmas once again. Ron Hart
Let’s be honest, the mix CD never felt quite as intimate as the mix tape, and as such, time, trial and error have slowly led to the demise of this go-to gift for the strapped-for-cash. Well, those folks across the pond have developed the perfect compromise for us techno-savvy nostalgics—the Mix Tape USB Stick. Encased in the shell of the classic cassette (complete with playlist foldout!), this 64 MB jump-drive stores up to 1 hour of high-quality digital music, and it can be used over and over. Sure it’s a little more pricey than the original format, but they say you can’t put a price on love! Lotte Agullo Collins
Back in the late-80s, the all-star Traveling Wilbury’s records offered a much-deserved back-pat to the great Roy Orbison, not to mention some late-in-life loot with which to enjoy his final years. But the flip side of that coin is that the Wilbury’s were a pretty cheesy affair. Hence, most glimpses of this black-clad master that anyone under 45 might’ve stumbled across have been lame VH-1 Classic clips of the Wilbury’s stumbling through some awkward awards show performance.
So this amazingly amassed, career-spanning box set comes as a good reminder of all that Orbison offered besides his biggest hit, “Pretty Woman” (more remembered now for Van Halen’s version, probably). Orbison is a classic example of a voice and persona that doesn’t come close to fitting into any known genre compartment. His looks weren’t cool ‘50s delinquent rockabilly, though that’s the scene he came up through on Sun Records. The music was more melodramatic street shmaltz with just of hint of the era’s blues twisting. His voice straddled Tin Pan Alley crooning, hillbilly moaning, and an broken-winged Earth angel banished to Saturn to forever wail into the abyss about all the girls he’ll never love. His best Sun sides were soon switched for the burgeoning, glossy, early ‘60s teen drama route, which he should have fit into perfectly, but he had an older soul that wasn’t just making up the drama for effect. He went down some curvy country roads in the ’60s. As his career petered, he was resuscitated by the glowing praise of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and others in the early ‘70s, before those final, happy Wilbury days.
This box includes the expected huge, detailed, and photo-packed book (the dude seriously NEVER took off his trademark sunglasses), but also includes really cool postcards featuring funny images Orbison drew for his 1955 high school yearbook which offer a peak at a sense of humor that’s been obscured by the often gloomy image of Orbison. Eric Davidson
The Best Of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
(Comedy Central)
Before South Park became Comedy Central’s dominant animated force, there was Dr. Katz. The Squigglevision animated show, featuring a psychiatrist and his famous patients, has been off the air close to a decade now, but has seen a few DVD releases in recent years. If last year’s DVD release of the complete series was a bit too pricey, a best of collection will be out in time for the holidays this year.
The single-disc compilation is pretty concise; it’s not really a collection of the best episodes but of the best moments. The focus seems to be the impressive roster of guests who have made their way onto the show over it’s six season run–extracting the best seven minute segments from an episode here or there. Dave Chappelle, Conan O’Brien, Sarah Silverman, and many others all appear on the DVD to hash out their problems in front of Dr. Katz. A few of the show’s non-guest moments find their way into the special features section.
Splitting up the episodes this way may be a bit bothersome to some fans, but doesn’t make the dry-as-office-paper laughs any less funny. Jason Glastetter
Don’t be scared off by the skull-icious packaging design—these head blasters aren’t generic mall metal gear. They’re like pixie stix for your head… only implanted into your ear canal. Skullcandy’s Ink’d earbuds are simple and ideal for listeners who are tired of having to jack up the volume on portable devices to actually hear any music. That shouldn’t be a problem when the speakers are millimeters away from your ear drum, right? With Ink’d there’s a decent amount of noise reduction, and, since all ears are not created equal in size and shape, Ink’d comes complete with three different size rubber tips for a comfortable fit. And, unlike the in-ears that come standard with mp3 players, they won’t fall out of your ears every time you tilt your head.
But for those who prefer a portable alternative to unwieldy stereo headphone and teeny earbuds there is Skullcandy’s Lowrider, which sounds more like a pair of 501s than a set of foldable, mid-sized headphones. These lightweight phones have an adjustable headband and provide a snug over-ear fit with swivel earcups, making them perfect for mp3 player aficionados. And although my glasses are often the bane of my audiophilic profession, Lowriders are even fairly comfortable for us bespectacled (not to mention earring-wearing) listeners. Lisa Hresko www.skullcandy.com
Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like a lost, low budget B-movie about a dog trained to attack black people. Yes, it’s the long-awaited DVD release of the infamous Samuel Fuller oddball from 1982. The script was based on a based-on-a-true-story novel that, believe it or not, had kicked around Hollywood for awhile with Roman Polanski and Arthur Penn connected to it. But by the time it tumbled down to Fuller, it’s budget was nil and the story had switched a few things around, though the basic plot remained: a lonely soul accidentally hits a dog on the highway, she takes it home, nurses it back to health, only to eventually figure out that whoever owned this mutt before must’ve been a really twisted Screwdriver fan. She finds an old coot dog trainer and his African-American friend to help de-program the dog, with specious results.
Supposedly, the racist practice of training canines in this manner was a real hobby of some toothless idiots way way down south, even up until the ‘70s (and, sadly, probably still to this day) The noble hopes of the movie becoming a great American race relations fable were long forgotten, and the studio basically pawned the project off on a declining Fuller as, at best, another violent, controversy-bating, ‘70s drive-in quickie. It barely made it that far. Luckily, Fuller spent a career on such assignments, and turned this strange tale into a kooky cauldron of coming-of-age, creepy almost-gore, and ultimately hopeful (kind of) Americana. Fuller’s intuitive camera catches real physical pain and emotion, with help from a characteristically cool Ennio Morricone score. And I’m not saying Fuller was some clairvoyant, but he got teen star Kristy McNichol to give her best performance, exuding some of the insecurities that would doom her career later.
Despite its incrementally positive revisionist critical opinion, it’s far from Fuller’s best (try Pickup On South Street or Shock Corridor first). But given the usual amazing Criterion presentation—a great transfer, incredibly documented booklet, and informative extras (like an interview with the dog trainer who quit his job on Magnum P.I. to work on this)—it is more impressive on multiple viewings. For now, White Dog is a perfect antidote if all the Xmastime fa-la-la-la-las are driving you batty. Watch this, and you’ll be battier. Eric Davidson
The Best Of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
