GIFT MUSIC FANS THESE GREAT BLASTS FROM THE PAST
Wondering how to wow the music lovers on your gift list this year? Check out these winning picks.
“Otis Forever: The Albums & Singles (19681970),” Otis Redding
Redding died in a plane crash at the end of 1967, so how much stuff can a six LP box have from this three year slice of time? So, so, so very much. The glut of Jimi Hendrix and Prince posthumous releases have been treasures, but only Redding released his best music after he passed away.
Listening to this set, the loss feels more tragic than ever. There’s the entire “The Dock of Bay” album — his best record featuring his signature song (there’s a case to be made that “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” is the best pop song). There’s chocked-top-to-bottom-with-r&b-gems “Love Man” with the staggering tower of soul that is “Free Me.”
There’s two more ace albums plus a double LP that’s exclusive to the set with 24 of his singles including “Amen,” “Hard to Handle” and “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember.” Pure genius over a dozen sides of wax.
“Days Are Gone,” Haim
Has it really been ten years since this pop masterpiece came out? It would be easier to remember the date if Haim reissued this every year, and I wish they did — this album deserves to be endlessly hyped until everybody knows it and loves it.
Through smart instincts, strong songcraft, and sunny harmonies, the three Haim sisters built an entire album out of triangulating Fleetwood Mac’s “Hold Me,” Wilson Phillips’ “Hold On,” and Feist’s “1234.” Each lyric delivered in a cocktail of brightness and yearning. Each hook sharp enough to draw blood and sweet enough to make you overjoyed you’d been cut. Each song as great as anything in the Top 40 a decade ago, today or at any time.
One LP features the album. The second shows off forgotten gems and remixes.
“Diamonds And Pearls,” Prince & the New Power Generation
Some doubted Prince could successfully transition from the ’80s to the ’90s. Ha! No, seriously, many thought he was done after 1990 flop “Graffiti Bridge.” Instead, he debuted the New Power Generation and went double platinum with this 1991 ace. Obsessives should get the monster 12 LP “Diamonds And Pearls” box with 47 previously unreleased tracks.
If you only know the big hits, grab the 2 LP set and hear Prince’s (sorta) forgotten masterpiece featuring the effortless, effervescent, Beatles-nodding “Walk Don’t Walk,” break-your-heart-with-reality ballad “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night,” and hip hop-funk-new jack-swing grinders “Jughead” and “Push.”
“The Singles: Echoes From The Edge Of Heaven,” Wham!
I don’t consider any record collection complete unless it has Wham! deep cut “Credit Card Baby.” But I’ve been known to
take things too far with George Michael. So anyway… Want to get started on taking things too far with GM? Great! Start with this awesome double vinyl of Wham! smashes and remixes.
The duo’s first singles somehow balance the experimental and effervescent (a pop rap song from 1982, a disco rap groove that sounds like a first pass as a James Bond movie set entirely in Studio 54, a disco Latin jazz jam that stabs you over and over with hooks, and so much more). But its second wave of hits are simply the purest pop ever made.
First sing along to “Freedom.” Next get up and dance to the sevenminute club mix of “Freedom.” Now cry your eyes out to “Last Christmas.” And look, you’re taking things too far and you love it!
“Raised By Rap,” various artists
It’s straight up crazy to try to encapsulate the enormous sweep of hip hop on four sides of vinyl and yet… “Raised By Rap” nearly did it! Celebrating hip hop’s 50th birthday, Sony Music Entertainment curated a double LP set that begins with Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde’s “Genius Rap” and ends with BIA’s “Whole Lotta Money.”
Along the way, the wax stops at the golden age (Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky”), jazz rap (Tribe’s “Can I Kick It?”), poppy stuff (Fresh Prince’s “Summertime”), heavy stuff (Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Brain”), obvious landmarks (Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind”), and surprising landmarks (“Old Town Road”).
Not definitive, just an awesome slice of beats and history.