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NICHOLAS LUCHAK Enlarge Image

JEN ZORATTI’S BEST BETS

Pearl Jam Twenty
By Pearl Jam; foreword by Cameron Crowe
   
Published in celebration of Pearl Jam’s 20th anniversary and serving as a companion piece to Cameron Crowe’s essential documentary of the same name (also a great gift idea), Pearl Jam Twenty is a definitive, day-in-the-life chronicle of one of America’s most enduring bands — as told by the band itself. Featuring the band’s personal photos, drawings and tour notes, this is a must-own for any fan, diehard or casual. It’s also high on a certain Uptown staffer’s wish list. $40, Chapters/Indigo

PS I Love You vinyl record tote
   
Have vinyl collectors on your list? Get them something cool to haul their record-store treasures in. Hand-silkscreened and designed by Benjamin Nelson of Kingston, Ont., noise-rock duo PS I Love You, this unique tote is a functional work of art. (Note: This gift won’t ship in time for the big day, but you could always save it for a post-Christmas gift exchange — or for yourself.) $12, paperbagrecords.com

Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge
By Mark Yarm
   
With both Pearl Jam’s Ten and Nirvana’s Nevermind turning 20 this year, grunge is once again having a major moment. Written by former Blender senior editor Mark Yarm, Everybody  Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge features more than 250 interviews with those who were there, including members of Mudhoney, Green River, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, Hole, Melvins, Mother Love Bone, L7, Babes in Toyland and many more. (BTW, from Yarm’s blog: "He is of no relation to Mark Arm of Mudhoney. The name thing is just a weird coincidence.") $28.95, Chapters/Indigo

The Beach Boys: The Smile Sessions
   
Called "the most famous unfinished, unreleased album of all time," The Beach Boys’ Smile is a bastion of rock ’n’ roll mythology. Although it was released in a recreated form by its tortured-genius producer Brian Wilson in 2004, this year’s much-anticipated box set, The Smile Sessions, has previously unearthed gems not even the most compulsive collector has heard. Essential listening for Beach Boys fans — and for fans of pop music in general. $169.99, most fine music stores.

The Neil Young Archives: Volume One (1963-1972)
   
In 2010, Neil Young won his first (!) Grammy on the strength of this boxed set, the first volume in a comprehensive, career-spanning archival series produced by Uncle Neil himself. Volume One covers the first decade of his career, from his Winnipeg years with The Squires through to his classic 1972 album, Harvest, including studio and live tracks with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Neil Young with Crazy Horse. A ton of collectible extras — including a 236-page book and a DVD of Young’s 1973 film, Journey Through the Past — make this a must-have for fans. Pricey? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. $300, most fine music stores

Adele: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
   
It makes sense that the best-selling music DVD of 2011 would come from the same soul songbird behind the year’s top-selling album. Recorded at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London at the height of her tour in support of her much-acclaimed album, 21, Adele: Live at the Royal Albert Hall showcases the powerhouse performer at her absolute angelic best. Also: this is a gift with near-universal appeal. I mean, c’mon — who doesn’t like Adele? $19.99, Best Buy

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JARED STORY’S BEST BETS

Batteries
   
That cool new gadget or gizmo is rendered useless by one haunting phrase: "Batteries not included" — so why not give the gift that keeps going and going and going? Seriously, everything requires electrochemical cells these days, whether it be little Johnny’s remote-control car or that weird massage device that Dad bought Mom. What is that, anyway?

Cheese
   
Have you seen the price of cheese lately? This stuff is as good as gold. Any boy or girl on a budget would appreciate a thick stinky brick in their stocking. It doesn’t have to be some frou-frou French funk either; a big block of Cracker Barrel cheddar will do. Steer clear of skinny cheese, though. Some stores like to sell long, thin, misleading packages of marble and mozzarella. Lacking girth, they break in half on first grate.

Boxes and bubblewrap
   
Skip the middle man. A child’s favourite part of Christmas is the packaging the present comes in. Seriously, all the Xboxes in the world can’t compete with a cardboard fort. And bubble wrap, that crazy stuff is endless amusement. You poke it and it pops. You twist it and it pop, pop, pops. Heh, heh, heh.

Dirty magazines
   
Remember the good old days, when you could walk into a 7-Eleven, buy a Hustler and feel like a man? Well, thanks to the Internet, pornography has become a shameful streaming medium confined behind closed doors. Grow some balls and buy your best bud some dirty magazines. Like any other literature, there’s nothing like the hands-on experience. The feel of the paper, the turning of the page, the smell. Wait, what?

Booze

The holiday season can be a stressful experience, what with the packed malls, inadequate gifts, annoying aunts and crappy Christmas concerts, so you might as well be completely trashed for all of it. I suggest Jim Beam Black. At 43% alcohol, it’s exactly 3% better than regular Jim Beam.

An IOU

I know it sounds crazy but with a little creativity, an IOU is a really good gift. Here you are, Dad, an IOU for an afternoon of fishing. Mom, IOU a full day of house cleaning or whatever it is that you do. It’s cute, cheap and nobody has to know you’re just a complete screw-up. Also, IOUs are not legally binding, just in case you’re worried you might actually have to do something.

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JOHN KENDLE’S BEST BETS

For the aging punk rocker in your life

You know this guy. He’s the seen-it-all fiftysomething loudmouth who says Green Day stole everything it knows from The Buzzcocks and The Clash. He’s had Black Flag’s four bars tattooed on his left shoulder since 1984; he’s one of the few people who actually saw The Cure at the Royal Albert; he owns every single by Sham 69 and, when he gets drunk, he talks non-stop of life-changing gigs at exotic, long-gone Winnipeg locales called House of Beep, the Doghouse, Spud Club and Ebony Blues Club. This is the person in your life who simply has to have Rhino Records’ 180-gram vinyl reissues of the first four Ramones albums — Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin. Pressed just last year, these beauties come with the original artwork and a bonus, blue-vinyl seven-inch single in each. Yeah, you may have to wait for shipping but, seeing as Mr. Punk Rock’s have been played so many times they’re almost see-through, that shouldn’t be a problem. $24.98 each, rhinorecords.com

Conversation-starter T-shirts

My "dress T-shirt" is a black Joe Strummer number featuring the lyrics from (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais printed over the face of The Clash frontman. I got it from philosophyfootball.com, a British website run by people who obviously love sports, music and books. The shirts turn over quickly (the Strummer design was discontinued soon after I bought it) but there’s usually 100 or so styles available. You make your picks from one of three categories: Dissenters, which features sartorial homages to the likes of Che Guevara or the International Brigades that fought in the Spanish Civil; Footballers, which features quotes from the likes of Manchester United star George Best, Liverpool manager Bill Shankly and (former goalkeeper and renowned French existentialist) Albert Camus; and Philosophers. My current favourite features commentary from Monty Python’s imagined Greece vs. Germany International Philosophy Match, in which a German team of Hegel, Kant and Marx faces a Greek team starring Heraclitus, Archimedes and Socrates. As the site claims, philosophyfootball are "sporting outfitters of intellectual distinction." Classic. Visit philosophyfootball.com for designs and prices.

Keith Richards’ Life

Keef turned 68 this past Sunday and, apart from the fact he actually made it this far, the biggest shock of the past year for him must have been the fact he became a best-selling author (along with ghostwriter James Fox) with his autobiography. Sure, the gratuitous lines about how well-endowed Mick Jagger is have been oft-quoted but Life is far more than a collection of one-liners and venomous score-settling. It’s actually a thoughtful and remarkably thorough (Lord knows what Richards has forgotten over the years) account of the life of the world’s most infamous bohemian rock star –– and it’s a quick but essential read for anyone looking for more insight into the mystery of The Rolling Stones. This year, it’s also available in audio form. $33.99, Chapters/Indigo

U2’s Achtung Baby re-release

When U2 visited Winnipeg this summer for a gig at Canad Inns Stadium, documentarian Davis Guggenheim shot the band in concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre the day before the outdoor show. Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry even stopped to greet fans outside the old vaudeville house, creating mild hysteria along Donald Street in behind Giant Tiger. Turns out that Guggenheim’s footage was for From the Sky Down, a documentary that accompanies the super deluxe edition of the 20th-anniversary re-release of Achtung Baby, the album that ushered in the ’90s for  the Irish supergroup and which (in hindsight, at least) pointed the way to the group’s esoteric meanderings for the rest of the decade (see: the Popmart tour, Zooropa, Passengers). Of course, the doc alone isn’t the reason to buy this package — Achtung Baby was U2’s last truly great album, and the four CDs, four DVDs and other bonuses will make this a must-have for the U2 fans in everyone’s life. From $139.97, amazon.ca or most fine music stores

Into the Music gift certificates

A gift certificate from Into the Music will let the fickle music fan on your list make decisions for you, and it’ll give him or her a welcome reason to spend two or three hours in the best music store in Winnipeg. Certificates are available in any denomination, from $10 up; visit 245 McDermot Ave. or call 287-8279.

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KENTON SMITH’S BEST BETS

Cinematheque gift certificates and Cinematheque passes
   
It takes a community to maintain an institution like the Cinematheque, and it’s a gift we owe ourselves. So, make a gift of attending Winnipeg’s premiere arthouse theatre. There are $25 and $50 gift-certificate options — not to mention a $99 annual pass for unlimited admissions. (Gift certificates can also be used at the Winnipeg Film Group itself.) There’s also a $55 Ten-Pass, good for 10 admissions at regularly priced screenings, which amounts to savings of $25. To buy online visit winnipegfilmgroup.com/cinematheque, or call 925-3456 for more information.

Empire Theatre passes
   
While I appreciate SilverCity’s spectacular new IMAX facility at Polo Park, I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed the airport-like lobby, nor the often-substandard technical management. My favourite Winnipeg moviegoing destination remains the cozy Empire Theatre location at Grant Park — the "adult" theatre, as a colleague recently remarked. You can find your recent Hollywood blockbusters here, but also find fine foreign and Canadian selections, such as the Swedish adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or Oscar nominee Incendies. And the joint’s own digital projection set-ups look simply sublime. Purchase a $30 gift card at the location now, and get $30 worth of Empire Theatre coupons to boot.

Cinematheque T-Shirt
   
If you love it, flaunt it — the Cinematheque, that is. Or, even more specifically, the man behind it, Dave Barber, who has been programming coordinator from time immemorial; limited-edition Dave T-shirts are available, as well as a new design by local artist James Culleton. T-shirts are $25 in various colours; to preview visit winnipegfilmgroup.com/cinematheque.

Cinemail membership
   
One thing about DVDs over Netflix: you get all the extras a cine-nerd would want. That’s why I’m still down with renting them from the likes of Movie Village, whose fate is in question at the time of this week’s press. Whatever happens, an even more convenient straight-to-your-doorstep option is Cinemail, for which a membership is easily gifted: just sign someone up at cinemail.ca, and give the recipient the code to finish the process. The recipient must be a Canadian resident and have a valid Visa or Mastercard. Subscription plans from $18.95 per month to $47.98 per month can be perused online.

Winnipeg Film Group memberships
   
For the aspiring filmmaker in the family, here’s the ticket to throw them into the creative cauldron that’s our own venerable WFG. Membership options from basic to all-inclusive range from $40 to $110, and can be perused online at winnipegfilmgroup.com. (User memberships are required for some workshops.)