Music-lover Gift-giving guide

Got a music-lover to buy for this holiday season? We can be a tricky breed to buy for: what kind of music do we like? or hate? What do we already have? How do you know what we want? Well, depending on the type of music fanatic you're shopping for, you'll have to take a few things into consideration:

Do you want to buy them:
-Music: CD's, itunes gift cards, record store gift cards, etc. Consider how well you know their musical taste before buying a CD and their preferred medium of music. Do they only download? Or do they love good old-fashioned CD's in the cases and all like I do? If they love CD's see the CD section. If they're all digital, try the itunes gift card. That will also give them the option to get whatever music THEY want. And if they're an illegal downloader (STOP DOING IT!) maybe it will help turn them onto legal downloading and away from the dark side.

-Books about music: Don't limit yourself to "guitar for dummies" or books of your favorite songs sheet music. There is a ton of great musical literature out there about artists, bands, movements and genres. For some of my favorites, see Books

-Movies: So many classic music-themed movies, and no, I'm not just talking about musicals...although there are a lot of great musicals too. I'll list more of those later.

-Technology: Help satisfy your music-lovers appetite with a new musical toy and it doesn't have to be an instrument (though that would be SWEET). Maybe an ipod, an ipod case, the ipod shoe thing, etc.

-TICKETS: YES PLEASE

-Other: C'mon, posters, t-shirts, buttons, stickers etc. we love alllll that crap if it's helping us rep our favorite band.

So...more specifics...let's go:

Music: Great albums came out this year from Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, M.I.A., Rilo Kiley, Radiohead, Spoon, Bright Eyes, Jay-Z, Common, Paul McCartney, NIne Inch Nails, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, Feist, Amy Winehouse, Wilco, Foo Fighters, Kanye West and 50 Cent to name a few. However, if you're not sure about their musical taste or know they are classic at heart (amen to that), older artists are always a safe bet. Go for best of or compilation albums (or just great classic old albums) by artists like The Beatles, The Doors, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Tom Petty or The Stones. They are classic for a reason and walk into ANY record store and you're bound to have ample selection to choose from.
Another cute idea (and one I'm actually using this season): find your favorite independent band or a favorite band that you've seen locally recently and help them out. Buy something they're selling at the show and tell the person you give it to: "Hey, I saw these guys and they tore it up. I think you'll dig it too." Giving it your own personal endorsement helps.
This year I'll be giving my friends and family music from bands including Midnight Spaghetti and the Chocolate G-Strings, The Aardvarks, Shapiro, Parachute Musical and The Machine to name a few, all of which I can say are not only talented musicians, but great people. So, give a great gift of music, while supporting and spreading the word about some of your favorite under-promoted bands at the same time. It's the season of giving!

Books: I love books about music. Some of my favorites are:
-No One Here Gets Out Alive, By: Danny Sugerman and Jerry Hopkins (The Doors)
-Riders on the Storm, By: John Densmore (The drummer of the Doors)
-Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader, By: Benjamin Hedin
-John, By: Cynthia Lennon
-The Last Days of John Lennon: A Personal Memoir, By: Frederic Seaman
-Ring of Fire: The Johnny Cash Reader, By: Michael Streissguth
Some tips on these: The readers are good for ADD-type readers like myself because they are collections of all different news articles, interviews, reviews etc. spanning the musicians entire career, so it's hard to get bored. Each chapter or section is in a new style from a new writer and usually about a new topic.
My favorite books are the two by John Densmore and Frederic Seaman because they are from a very personal perspective and written in very easy-to-understand language. They are straight-forward and I think most revealing. John by Cynthia Lennon is also written in the same simple language, but it is a very opinionated version of the John Lennon story. If you are interested in giving that to someone, I would recommend giving them another book about Lennon as well because that on it's own will make the reader hate him with a passion. Just a heads up.
And if you're totally clueless: Book store gift certificates are a great idea or just go browsing through their music shelves. Chances are you'll find something that jumps out at you as something they could like. Go for it.

Movies: So many, but my favorites:
-High Fidelity
-The Blues Brothers (the ORIGINAL)
-SPINAL TAP
-Empire Records
-Standing in the Shadows of Motown
-Dreamgirls
-Walk the LIne
-Spice World...Heyyy with their reunion happening, I'm sure this one's going to be flying off the shelves!
There are so many classic musicals and music-related films, just take a look around. Their film taste will greatly affect which movie they'd prefer, but my top recommendation...Spinal Tap or Blues Brothers. Both are just CLASSIC.

Technology: Just go to the apple website. Honestly, there are TONS of music contraptions, but i always rely on apple to pull through with the coolest stuff. C'mon, that shoe to ipod thing is awesome! All of their idocks are great gift ideas and any accessories for your friends already-used technology will no doubt be appreciated since it will most likely add years of life to their equipment.

Tickets: What band do they like? See when they are touring nearby. Buy tickets. This one is easy and ALWAYS a great move...as long as they can make it. I'd check on that first...

Other: Seriously: any music junkie loves repping their favorite bands and will do so in any way possible. Anyone who knows me, knows this fact just by walking into my jim morrison-plastered room where my doors bag hang on my chair while I walk around in my doors shirt while listening to peace frog. We love it. Help feed the addiction. Buttons, posters, clothes, stickers, whatever you can find, we will take.



And you thought holiday shopping would be tough this year! Connect with you and your loved ones' inner music-lover and you'll be able to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list :)


And you'll probably find some stuff you want, too.

Happy shopping!