Xmas Gift Guide - Gifts Galore
Uptown staff and contributors check in with ideas for presents
Uptown Staff

Stumped for a Christmas gift? Sick of shopping? Need a few good ideas before you snap?

Fear no more, with Uptown’s 2005 Christmas Gift Guide. We’ve asked several of our contributors to put together lists of gift ideas from their areas of expertise.

Want a music DVD for the friend with caviar taste in sounds? Ask John Kendle or Jeff Monk. Got a film buff on your list? Check in with Amanda Stefaniuk. Bookworm in the family? Get some ideas from Quentin Mills-Fenn. Sick of consumerism? Marlo Campbell has some alternative gift ideas for socially conscious citizens.

Enjoy, and we’ll see you at the mall on Dec. 24...

Music for Musos
John Kendle

U2
Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago
DVD
(Island/Universal)
Neither as emotional as their Slane Castle gig nor as electric as the Elevation show from Boston, this U2 DVD, recorded over two nights in May at the United Center, is nonetheless memorable for two things: Bono is audibly, visibly struggling with his voice (showing his humanity, perhaps) and the band dug out several nuggets for this leg of its two-year world tour. Aficionados will groove to Boy songs such as Electric Co. and An Cat Dubh, while Running to Stand Still makes a rare appearance and Bullet the Blue Sky and 40 both make welcome returns to the show. As ever, the concert is wonderfully shot and there are few extras. U2 likes to let the shows stand on their own.

The Tragically Hip
Hipeponymous
2-CD/2-DVD boxed set
(Universal)
A long-awaited package in the band’s Hall of Fame year, Hipeponymous is a typically Hip affair — that is, done on the band’s terms and no one else’s. The two-disc ‘hits package’ is dubbed Yer Favourites as its contents, save for two new tracks (No Threat and The New Maybe), were selected by fans through an online poll. The concert DVD, That Night in Toronto, was shot at the Air Canada Centre at the end of last year’s In Between Evolution tour. The band is lean and fluid; Gord D. is in fine, fighting-mic-stand-and-ranting mode; and the cinematography is excellent, often presented in split-screen. The hits collection and concert film are available individually, but fans should be given the full package as they will want Downie’s hand-penned scrapbook/booklet and the short films on the bonus disc — a behind-the-scenes doc called Macroscopic, and The Right Whale, a collection of instrumental scores set to the visuals they used on the tour.

Punk: Attitude
Two-DVD set
Fremantle Media/Metropolis Group
(Koch)
Director Don Letts is a punk legend in his own right. When he was DJ at London punk venue The Roxy, he turned most U.K. punks on to the reggae that seeped into their work. He also made The Punk Rock Movie on Super-8. He’s the Rasta pictured crossing the road in front of a phalanx of bobbies on the cover of Black Market Clash, and he was a member of Big Audio Dynamite. This outing is a two-hour, historical discussion of the attitude and ethos that helped create punk and which ultimately led to Nirvana, and it features vintage footage from several of Letts’ flicks and interviews with several of the genre’s main players. While Letts does a great job of tracing the origins of punk back to ’60s U.S. garage bands through the MC5, Stooges, Ramones and CBGB and thus to London, he suddenly loses the plot by bypassing the ’80s and heading straight for Kurt. This sharp left turn will leave viewers wanting more. Maybe there’s a sequel in the works.

New Order
ITEM: A Collection & New Order Story
Two-DVD set
(Rhino/Warner)
Manchester’s dark, minimalist rock act Joy Division ushered in the end of punk, and after singer Ian Curtis hanged himself, the band’s remaining members soldiered on, managing to rise above the vagaries of musical fashion to become a much-loved and wildly influential dance/synth/pop/rock entity that challenged listeners and dared pop culture’s tastemakers to pigeonhole it. This set documents the band in two ways — through a collection of its videos and through a lengthy but thorough documentary tale produced by veteran British rock journo and scenester Paul Morley. Fans will love the clips, while the musicologist in your life will appreciate the doc.

Green Day
Bullet in a Bible
DVD/CD
(Reprise/Warner)
The first 40 minutes of Green Day’s show in Winnipeg in May 2005 was the most powerful thing I saw all year. As the Bay Area boys played the first half of their American Idiot concept album, including the Jesus of Suburbia suite, they showed that 30-something punks can grow up to be both snotty and thoughtful. That show can be relived here through footage shot live at The National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England. The sheer scale of the gig is amazing, and the songs are shot through with interview footage that will enlighten those who didn’t realize the band nearly broke up prior to recording its latest album. The DVD is so well edited that you won’t even notice the lack of extras.

Not Buyin It
Marlo Campbell

Can’t bear the thought of going to the mall and buying yet another crappy gift this holiday season?
Instead of scented candles or the latest MuchMusic compilation CD, why not consider some alternative gift ideas that will help those less fortunate?

UNICEF Gifts of Magic
www.shopunicef.ca
UNICEF is offering ‘Gifts of Magic’ that you can purchase on behalf of a loved one. A package that includes a display card and a certificate explaining the donation will be sent out, and a child somewhere in the world will benefit from your gift. It’s win-win: Mom gets something under the tree, you come off looking generous and socially conscious (which, of course, you are), and people who need help get some.

For only $35 you can buy a ‘gift of water’ — a supply of water containers, water-purification tablets and water-sanitation kits for three families — or a ‘gift of play,’ which is a box of fun toys such as soccer balls and hand puppets (who wouldn’t want a hand puppet?) that gets sent to a child who has lived through a war, natural disaster or other emergency situation. Big spender? A gift of $110 provides vitamins, medicine, school books and fees for one year for a child orphaned by AIDS.

GlobalGiving
www.globalgiving.com
GlobalGiving is another cool organization that connects donors directly to social, environmental and economic development projects around the world, everything from equipping a youth centre in Sierra Leone with a music room to rescuing children from forced labour in India. You get to choose exactly where your money goes and who it’s going to affect.

GlobalGiving can also send a card to your gift recipient describing the project you chose to support in their name and the impact your donation will make. Did you know that by donating only $4 you can provide care and food for a donkey (who wouldn’t want a donkey?) for a family in Darfur, Sudan?

Actually, this specific project is hoping to raise $25,322 to provide for 6,000 donkeys, considered a key asset and source of income for people living with the threat of murder, rape, starvation and displacement (not a lot of happy holidays over there this year).

Now before I get bombarded with irate e-mails, I realize that there are literally hundreds of worthwhile causes out there that need our support.

I encourage you to tailor your donations according to your own personal interests or those of your gift recipient.
Looking for the perfect gift for a diabetic environmentalist who loves cats? Split $60 between the Canadian Diabetes Association, Greenpeace and the Winnipeg Humane Society; write a nice letter explaining why you chose those particular organizations; then put it in a reusable festive gift bag. You’re good to go.

Christmas Metal Health
Mike Warkentin

Slayer
Still Reigning
DVD
(Universal)
You can’t give this as a Christmas gift — but you can give it as an evil anti-Christmas gift to the metalhead in your life. Slayer is the king of thrash bands, and 1986’s Reign in Blood is the king of thrash albums. This DVD features the band playing the disc straight through, with six additional songs tacked on at the end. A short documentary, Slayer in Their Own Words, is also included. The energy is ferocious, and the finale features the band playing Raining Blood in the midst of an onstage blood storm. As if that isn’t the coolest thing ever in the history of time. Merry bloody Christmas.

Zakk Wylde Boomers
Guitar strings
(GHS)
Ever wonder why your version of Black Label Society’s Lords of Destruction doesn’t sound right? First of all, you aren’t Zakk Wylde, but gear is important too. You might not be able to afford a custom-made Gibson Les Paul axe, but you can get a set of Wylde’s signature strings for a reasonable price. These fat boys are the heaviest of the heavy — the low E string is a massive .060 gauge, which is thicker than even the so-called heavy strings from most manufacturers. The high E, B, and D strings are comparatively light, allowing you to shred like a mofo before dropping into the low riders to churn up some wicked shit. Be warned: These strings will seriously mess up the neck of your guitar if you aren’t careful. A perfect stocking stuffer.

AC/DC Anthology
Music book
(Music Sales)
Some heavy music is easy to play but sounds like crap. Other heavy music is damn-near impossible for the average guitarist. The best blend of simplicity and awesomeness has always been found in the hallowed music of AC/DC. Aside from Angus Young’s solos, most AC/DC songs are so simple that any monkey with a guitar can play them. This monkey gets a kick out of the AC/DC Anthology from Music Sales. It’s got most of the favourites, and tablature is included for those of use who have no idea what the hell all those lines and dots mean on a page of sheet music. G! G-G-C-G-C-D! Man, You Shook Me All Night Long rocks.

Oil of Love
(KamaSutra)
A lot of heavy music is sexual, which is cool. Even metalheads can be tender and gentle sometimes, so give KamaSutra’s Oil of Love a try when you need to coax the tight black jeans off your partner. It’s slippery and sexy and won’t stain your sheets, and a little bit goes a long way. Blow on it and let your partner feel a tingly sensation that recalls the first Iron Maiden concert he or she went to. It also comes in nine different flavours, all of which are pretty tasty. I recommend Raspberry Kiss because it looks a bit like blood — which is sooo metal.
A six-pack of beer (cans)
Six cold ones will get you through the worst non-metal family event in style, even when you’re forced to listen to your family’s weak music.

Notes You Need 
Jeff Monk

Bob Dylan
No Direction Home
Two-CD set, Two-DVD set
(Paramount Pictures, Columbia Legacy)
Fans both casual and obsessed equally welcomed this double-whammy release (and PBS broadcast) of the earliest Bob Dylan music and film footage available. The two-CD set gathers rarities and alternate versions going back to the very roots of His Bobness’ career. It’s a great place to start for the simple fact that everything Dylan came to represent for years to come sprang from his so-called protest music of the mid-’60s. It’s all here, including his myth-shattering electric versions performed in front of audiences not quite ready to allow the man his muse. The Martin Scorcese-produced documentary DVD is much more than a marketing adjunct to the audio takes; it’s a masterfully created and honest look at Dylan fighting to be accepted as an artist rather than a media plaything.

T.Rex
Born To Boogie
Two-CD set, Two-DVD set
(Sanctuary Records Group)
The long-awaited reissue of the amusing yet rocking Ringo Starr-directed film and the companion album finally ties up a long-left loose end in music history. Marc Bolan’s music may eventually be lost to the mists of time — as every decade passes since his death it seems fewer and fewer music fans realize what a special contribution he made. The DVD set features the only concert footage available of Bolan and T. Rex in their prime, along with enlightening and often hilarious interviews with a former producer and band member. A couple of neat docs are also included. The album is a mix of tracks from the day at Wembley (there were two shows recorded in their entirety) with some goofy soundtrack tidbits thrown in for good measure.

Emerson Lake & Palmer
Beyond The Beginning
Two-DVD set
(Sanctuary Records Group)
Though England’s Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer won’t necessarily be fondly remembered by anyone under 30 years old, they do hold the esteemed position in rock history of being one of the handful of bands that lit the bomb which exploded into punk in Great Britain. Their combination of bombastic classical rock and far-over-the-top rock-star excess is boldly documented on this sumptuous set. This no-stone-left-unturned, four-plus-hour extravaganza is as bloated as ELP was in its dying days, and that’s what actually makes this package a winner. Practically everything is here, including an unflinching bio and all the embarrassing moments that led to the band’s ultimate demise.

Tom Russell
Hotwalker
CD
(Hightone Records)
Before this record, American singer/songwriter Tom Russell released a career’s worth of reasonably enjoyable albums that would hardly distinguish him from any number of other John Prine-esque troubadours. Hotwalker (subtitled: Charles Bukowski and a Ballad for Gone America) is an ingenious and intense piece of work where Russell fairly channels ghosts of the beat generation, and he’s aided by his own tunes and spooky spoken-word cuts from the likes of Jack Kerouac, Lenny Bruce and Bukowski himself. Listening to this album in one sitting is recommended; its cinematic expanse is thrilling to the ear and will open new creative synapses in even the most rigid mind.

Digital Desires
Amanda Stefaniuk

King Kong: Two Disc Special Edition
Two DVDs
(Warner Brothers)
Just in time for the December release of the Peter Jackson remake of King Kong, Warner Brothers has lovingly put together several different editions of the film. What you like will depend on how much of a commitment you have to the big gorilla. The regular release contains a digitally restored version of the 1933 film and a second disc full of documentaries. RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World focuses on the production history of this renowned classic. At over two hours, it’s certainly chock full of detail, including a breakdown of the legendary missing ‘spider pit sequence.’ I’m King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper takes a glimpse into the life of the adventurous co-director. A Collector’s Edition includes this DVD inside an attractive tin case, accompanied with a reprint of the original theatrical program and a miniature fold-out poster. A box set loses the tin and adds two additional feature films, Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young, and for this reason it’s the most recommended.

Jerry Lewis: The “Legendary Jerry” Collection
10-Disc set
(Paramount)
It’s time to rid the world of the cliché that only the French love Jerry Lewis. After delving into this set, you’ll understand their devotion to and admiration of this goofy, endearing man-child. This set encompasses 12 years and the evolution of a career. After the middle-of-the-road Martin & Lewis selection The Stooge, we see Lewis’ tutelage under director Frank Tashlin (Cinderfella) and, finally, his emergence as a total filmmaker himself with The Bellboy. These colourful delectations are given gorgeous transfers and have never looked better. Thanks to Lewis’ enormous amount of archival material, the discs are packed with amazing bonus features, including commentary by the man himself, deleted scenes, bloopers and much more. That’s truly remarkable for films that are almost 50 years old.

Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941
Seven-DVD set
(Image/Paradox Entertainment Group)
For the hardcore cinephile on your shopping list, Unseen Cinema may be the ideal gift to give. This comprehensive collection of short films contains a treasure of rarities never before available or assembled. With each disc devoted to a particular
esthetic, such as American surrealism on Disc 2 and amateur home movies on Disc 6, each viewer will no doubt have a favourite. Opting for some recognizable names, curator Bruce Posner showcases the early, or in some cases neglected, works of directors such as Ernst Lubitsch, Orson Welles, Sergei Eisenstein, D.W. Griffith, Victor Fleming and even Canadian animator Norman McLaren.

A Christmas Carol: Emerald Edition
DVD
(Morningstar)
The definitive edition of the 1951 version of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic has recently been released for the Christmas season. It contains both the U.K. and North American edits (although it’s hard to discern between the two) and keeps the picture in its original black and white, unlike some previous colourized releases.

Book ’Em
Quentin Mills-Fenn

Andrew Moore
Russia: Beyond Utopia
(Chronicle Books)
The Western mindset seems to view post-Communist Russia as a place all drab and colourless, but photographer Andrew Moore banishes that idea with his big book of photos of the new Russia. Steering clear of ideologies — whether leftist or capitalist — Moore shows us a country that “cultivates amnesia” by looking toward a glorious future or remembering a fabulous past. With his large-format camera, Moore documents a big country of extremes, from the crystal-encrusted subway station in St. Petersburg to a room in a Ukrainian palace now used as a hip hop rehearsal space. Russia defies any one person’s attempts to encapsulate it, but Moore does a beautiful job of depicting the mundane and the magnificent.

David Stephenson
Visions of Heaven
(Princeton Architectural Press)
Look up. Look way up. David Stephenson’s photographs are almost out of this world, so to speak. The Australianborn photog got flat on his back and pointed his camera to the roof and came up with this spellbinding collection of pictures of domes in religious buildings from England to Russia. Long exposures bring out details rarely noticed or noticeable. For the love of God, the architects and artists responsible wanted to bring heaven a little closer, if barely. From the 1,900-year-old Pantheon in Rome to a 19th-century synagogue in Hungary, these domes are a combination of function and imagination, of engineering and metaphysics. Stephenson gives us glimpses of paradise just beyond reach, and that’s just the way things were supposed to be.

Eric Boman
Blahník by Boman
(Chronicle Books)
What’s on the ground beneath her feet? If she’s lucky, she’s slapped on a pair of Manolo’s. In what must be one of the more extravagant books of the season, acclaimed fashion photographer Eric Boman composed some still lifes around the work of his old friend, the Swiss-born shoe god Manolo Blahník. Boman shows shoes and boots in the kitchen sink, in the branches of a dogwood tree and under the wheels of a vintage Cadillac. Every few pages we get snippets of conversation from the two: about the shoes, general inspiration and friends such as Paloma Picasso, who just happens to have written the book’s introduction. Lavish, eccentric and luxurious, it’s shoe porn to be sure — but does that have to be a bad thing?

Sights and Sounds
Don Beat

Hanzo the Razor
Three DVDs
(Home Vision Entertainment)
“He’s dirtier than Harry and shaftier than Shaft,” howls the hoopla hype on the back of this lack-bluster, no-frills box compiling all three very not dull Hanzo flicks: Sword of Justice (1972), The Snare (1973) and Who’s Got the Gold? (1974). Hanzo Itami is an honest-to-death nutbar of a good samurai cop. He’s also a weapons and sex master in this trio of spicy samurai-sploitation flix starring Japanese film legend, actor and producer Shintaro Katsu — known to curious sword fans in the film world as the definitive Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman. The Hanzo series is slightly adult themed, a little un-PC, fulla funky music and quite unlike anything ever created for the samurai market. The DVD extras are few — just trailers for all three movies — but the insightfully written colour liner inserts are well done, and the slick ’n’ simple packaging pretty much sums up the effort that went into bringing this devious, salacious marvel to DVDdom.

Albert Ayler
Holy Ghost: Rare and Unissued Recordings (1962 - 1970)
Nine CDs
(Revenant)
U gotta see ’n’ hear this crate to believe it. It’s what all creators of box sets should aspire to create. Ten discs of rare and not-so-rare hi- & lo-fi tracks from this master, a lavishly illustrated 200-plus page colour hardcover book, a photo of Ayler and horn as a youngster, a facsimile scribbled note on hotel stationary, reproductions of magazine articles and show bills, actual dried spirit flowers... The whole shebang comes in a plastic-resin spirit box cast from a hand-carved original template. The book helps to shed light on the often murky and spooky life of Ayler, who died mysteriously after a spiritual existence spent confounding and freaking out stuffy jazz heads. His work smacks of pure freedom to inspire other genres to freak out. Indeed, experimental noise acts such as Clevo's Electric Eels have cited Ayler as an influence, the MC5 dug him, and Psychedelic Stooges and Television saw Ayler as a motivating force. The man did all this on a shoestring, all while blowing earth-shattering blasts of sax to ears and minds too easily blown. Crank this and blow yer own!