Hey! Here’s something I’ve never done before for this blog – our first holiday gift guide!
I’ve been cruising holiday gift guides and there isn’t one aimed at the hard-to-buy-for music nerd and general snob in your life. So – here it is!
For the aspiring songwriters in your life
I’ve recommended Jeff Tweedy’s How To Write One Song to nearly every musician/aspiring musician I know – fuck Rick Rubin’s tome to “creativity,” this book is obsessed with honoring songs, of all shapes and sizes. It doesn’t require any musical skill to utilize, so it’s a great book for everyone from your Swiftie cousin who’s thinking of writing music for the first time to your grizzled musician lifer friend who’s hit the creative doldrums thanks to too many midweek slots at Arlene’s Grocery. It’s kind, it’s gentle, it’s inspiring – give it to someone who you want to hear more songs from.
For your friend who is into the “indie sleaze revival”
Don’t let your pal who read Meet Me In The Bathroom for the first time get it twisted on what the OG downtown New York freaks sound like – this year Soul Jazz reissued their crucial New York Noise compilation on yellow vinyl for its 20th anniversary, and it’s still as perfectly curated and darkly funky as ever. Tell them to spend significant time with “Contort Yourself” before any musical opinions are allowed into the group chat.
For your friend with really specific pop culture fascinations
I really love Adam Villacin’s drawings, half because of his style and talent, but also because his eclectic subject selection is so enjoyable. Do you want a portrait of Robert Palmer? Love’s Arthur Lee? Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman??? If you don’t (and I don’t understand why you don’t) someone on your shopping list definitely will.
For the friend who wants to get into modular synthesizers despite their emotional and social toll
Look – I don’t advise getting anyone into synthesizers. It’s a black hole of disposable income that allows you to make sounds your friends and family describe as “not really music.” But are they deeply fun, rewarding instruments? Yes. The Make Noise 0-Coast Monosynth is a great starter semi-modular for a friend/loved one who wants to learn about modular synths, as it’s patchable but set up to make usable noises right out of the box. Just…keep an eye on them.
For your recovering karaoke addict friends
During the height of COVID, my wife and I turned off all the lights in one of our rooms, threw a blanket over the window, turned on a laser and whipped out two BONAOK karaoke mics to sing along to YouTube karaoke vids. We ended up doing this many, many times over the last few years, inviting friends over to scream infidelities in our living room. Did you know there’s a ton of Saddle Creek karaoke on YouTube? Well now you do.
For your friends who are finally getting tinnitus after years of loud-ass shows
Taking care of your ears is neither sexy nor fun, but I do love Loop earplugs for a slightly more fashionable and music-friendly earplug to reduce the stress on my aging ear canals. It’s a great way to tell someone you love to stop being a dumbass and not to go deaf at the Mclusky reunion shows.
For your friend who’s really into jazz and definitely already has all the records you could ever think of buying them
Trying to figure out the right level of deep cut to buy for your jazz-loving friend is an impossible task. Are you unsure if they’re still deep in an Ahmad Jamal phase? Are they newly going hard on new Bandcamp jazz from the LA scene? Don’t waste your time or money – make a donation in their name to the John & Alice Coltrane Home, a group restoring and preserving the home where John wrote A Love Supreme and Alice tracked her records in the house’s basement studio.
For your friend who cruises Reverb all day and doesn’t really play guitar but talks about gear like they do
This is a Guitar Uncle-adjacent gift, but if you have a friend who only kinda-sorta plays guitar but is already stupidly into the idea of expensive and rare gear, this is a $34 clone of the Klon Centaur, the most expensive boutique overdrive pedal you can buy. The kicker? People actually really really love it.
…and for friends who cruise Reverb but have more expensive taste and/or actually play guitar
If the above applies to a friend who actually does play guitar, and doesn’t just make lo-fi loops at home, the Dot Dot Damage is your move. It’s a nasty octave fuzz made by Travis Johnson, formerly of Death By Audio pedals and currently of rock band Activity. His new octave fuzz/distortion pedal the Dot Dot Damage just went on sale, and it’s already been praised by Xiu Xiu for sounding like a dying amplifier, but in a good way.
For friends who are ingredient obsessives
Not music, but if you have friends who love showing off their new chili crisp or the one spice they got at Kalustyan’s at dinner, this single-origin Spanish olive oil from Graza will have them stoked. It honestly does make a huge difference in sauces and dressings, and I’ll never go back to oil NOT in a squirt bottle again. Wirecutter liked it too, if you’re a NERD.
For friends who love a one-of-a-kind print and are into 1980s NYC subculture
Finally, if you have cash to spend, and you have a friend who is into counterculture ephemera, anything from the Wrong Answer store will have them absolutely tickled. They have old letterhead from folks like Keith Haring, Raymond Pettibon Black Flag flyers, and stuff like the Cocaine Consumer’s Handbook. Nothing is cheap, but it’s all truly one-of-a-kind stuff that always feels like you’re definitely getting your money’s worth.
wowww I have this olive oil too yo. the bomb. and the rest of the list is the bomb too
Thank you for the Coltrane Home shout out, Tyler! Great list besides. Reminded me to break out New York Noise for the first time in way too long. James Chance the greatest.