SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010 the christmas issue}music Forget stockings. These boxes need a sleigh.
have become a big sell BY CHRIS RICHARDS
In the digital age, oversize music sets
What’s that smell? Is thatwhat
chestnuts roasting on an open fire actually smell like? No, it’s something else. Something nutti- er. Somethingwe haven’t smelled since Y2K. Ah yes, it’s a whiff of hoarder’s
panic — a mania that seems to have stricken music lovers this holiday season. The proof? The spate of super-duper-oversize box sets crowding retailers’ shelves this month. Perhaps an- ticipating that imminent dooms- daywhenCDs finally vanish from the Earth, leaving music collec- tors marooned in the infinity of the Internet, legendary artists have rolled out some really big offerings this winter. And some really heavy ones, too. Butnot “big” like theBeatles or
“heavy” like Jimi Hendrix — al- though both have new boxes out, naturally.We’re talking about ac- tual size — hefty box sets that measure 13 inches square, 3 inch- es thick, 9 pounds and 6 ounces. That describes the unneces-
sary voluminosity of David Bow- ie’s “Station to Station — Deluxe Edition” ($165.98), a collection that explodes the great glam rocker’s only-sorta-great 1976 al- buminto five CDs, three LPs, one DVD, gobs of reproduced memo- rabilia and oodles of pointless knickknackery. But it looks al- most cute compared with “The Genius of Miles Davis,” a limited edition set that contains all eight of the Davis box sets released between1996 and 2007 —43CDs in all. This one comes in a trum- pet case and costs—deep breath
—$749. Feels like a bit much, doesn’t
it? Year after year, yule after yule, our music has shrunk from vinyl platters to stocking-stuffable cas- settes to slender CDs to amyriad of untouchable ones and zeroes that mysteriously dance inside our iPods. Box sets stubbornly buck that
trend.Arecent reviewof newsets in the New Yorker touched on music’s decreasing physical pres- ence in our daily lives but cheer- fully noted that “boxed sets are still going strong.” John Lennon’s new“Signature
Box” ($189.99) contains eight CDs from his post-Beatles solo career but for some reason comes packaged in a bulky seven-inch cube big enough to muscle the collected works of John Cheever clear off your bookshelf. On a recent weeknight, the George- town Barnes & Noble had sold out and was awaiting a new shipment. Eternally influential, it’s Len-
non’s Beatles that probably trig- gered this hoarding spree. Last Christmas, the band’s remastered discography sold like hot cakes in box-set form. In November, iTunes began peddling the band’s catalogue digitally for the first time.Withthe greatpopholdouts finally joining the digital world, the end feels nigh. Get your Boss, your Stones, your Jimi and your Zimmy in their latest super-de- luxe, remixed, remastered physi- cal iterations before they all dis- appear forever! “There’s still a solid part of the
population that enjoys that phys- ical experience,” says Tom Cord- ing, vice president of media rela- tions for Legacy Recordings, the folks behind the Miles Davis trumpet case and “The Complete Elvis Presley Masters” ($749), a set that quickly sold out in its initial 1,000-copy run. “It’s a
great occasion to compile [mu- sic] in a creative and compelling way.” Classic rockers haven’t cor-
nered this market. A new Hank Williams set, “The Complete Mother’s Best” ($199.99), collects 71 wonderful live radio perfor- mances sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour from 1951. The 15 CDs and one DVD come in an antique radio-shaped box that’s 10 inches tall. Another reason this season’s
box sets are so much heavier is the recent additionof vinyl to the mix. The Rolling Stones have two new vinyl sets out — one that collects 13 LPS from1964 to 1969 ($389.99) and another that gath- ers 14 LPs from 1971 to 2005 ($419.99). Meanwhile, the four CDs thatmake up the new“Super Deluxe Edition” of the Who’s legendary “Live at Leeds” album ($79.98) come with a bonus 12- inch LP and a seven-inch single. And, yes, Keith Richards is the
man. And, yes, Keith Moon was the man. But what man, woman or child really has room for all this stuff in 2010? As popular music continues to billow and bloom in the digital world, it handily continues to shrink in our physical world — a sweet tradeoff and a perpetual remind- er that our favorite songs should be swirling around in our brains, not clogging our great-grandchil- dren’s landfills. Then again,what’smore fun to
find under your tree? A $100 iTunes gift card? A dozen $100 iTunes gift cards? Or a gift- wrapped box brimming with re- masteredHendrix solos? “West Coast Seattle Boy,” the
new Hendrix anthology, is a sen- sibly svelte 10 by 6 inches and retails for$69.98. If anyone inmy family is reading this, I love you verymuch.
richardsc@washpost.com IV ORLOV FOR THE WASHINGTON POST What’s more fun to find under your tree?
A$100 iTunes gift card? . . . Or a gift-wrapped box brimming with remastered Hendrix solos?
To blast out holiday audio drivel, crank up tunes with some attitude
BY ERIK V. HUEY It’s that magical time of the
year, when we collectively head outside to brave not only the elements and the holiday crowds but also the nonstop barrage of schmaltzy Christmas songs. No trip to the mall, ride in a
taxi or latte in Starbucks is spared from the onslaught — Christmas songs are everywhere, and most of them are utterly horrendous. We expect ice-pick-in-the-ear- drum-inducing drivel from the likes of Alvin and the Chipmunks or fogies such as Burl Ives. But when we’re assaulted with pab- lum by the rock-and-roll estab- lishment—a genre that staked its musical claim as a rebellion against all things staid and corny —it’s particularly offensive. BobbyHelms should have been
prosecuted for infecting the world with “Jingle Bell Rock.” Death Cab for Cutie’s passionless version of Darlene Love’s “Christ- mas (Baby Please Come Home)” is indie rock at its ironically detached, hipster worst. PaulMc- Cartney’s “Simply Having aWon- derful Christmas Time” makes you question his status as a Beat- le. And don’t get me started on the Beach Boys’ Christmas “can- on.” These musical atrocities not-
withstanding, the airwaves occa- sionally sparkle with a soul-af- firming gem still capable of in- ducing a holiday head-bob or a Christmas crank of the volume knob. Below is a list of songs that prove that “Christmas rock” need not be a cacophonous contradic- tion in terms.
10. “Blue Christmas,” Elvis
Presley. The fact that it has been played to death doesn’t dim the fact that it spawned the entire rockin’ Christmas genre.
9. “A Change at Christmas,”
the Flaming Lips. Simply beauti- ful, lyrically, musically and meta- physically.
8. “Sound the Trumpet,” Bob
Marley. ’60s dance hall/ska at its finest, this is Christmas, Kings- ton-style.
7. “2000 Miles,” the Pretend-
ers / “Danny Says,” the Ra-
mones.These soft-punk torch songs, seemingly sung by respec- tive lovers in a long-distance ro- mance, embody the melancholic longing of being apart for the
HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
YOU’LL FEEL GOOD: Let the likes of James Brown— or perhaps ShaneMacGowan or Ronnie Spector—funk up your holiday.
holidays. Both have a timeless feel, aided by plaintive, aching vocal performances fromChrissie Hynde and Joey Ramone, not to mention (in the Ramones’ case) Phil Spector’sWall of Sound girl- group production.
6. “Frosty the Snowman” /
“Sleigh Ride,” the Ronettes. Speaking of Phil Spector girl- group production, Ronnie Spec- tor’s voice is an American trea- sure, with all its N.Y.C. teenage girl-group tonality on full display on these two gems. Ronnie Spec- tor should be on Mount Rush- more.
5. “Father Christmas,” the
Kinks / “Christmas in Hollis,” Run-DMC / “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto,” James Brown. Three modern-day Dick- ensian takes onwhat it’s like to be poor at Christmas. From London to Queens to Augusta, Ga., the story’s the same: “Father Christ- mas, give us some money.”
4. “I Believe in Father Christ-
mas,” Emerson, Lake and Palm- er. Soaring and angelic, this FM AOR classic captures the child- like wonder and adult ennui that the holiday invariably evokes.
3. “Happy Christmas (War Is
Over),” John Lennon. For those of us alive when the world was robbed of John Lennon right before Christmas, this beautiful
psalm still casts a haunting spell. 2. “Christmas (Baby Please
Come Home),” Darlene Love. If you’re a sucker for ’60s girl-group bubble-gum pop, this song is its apotheosis. It is the platonic ideal for Christmas songs; nothing comes close. Next to the Sistine Chapel, Western civilization’s highest artistic achievement might be when Darlene Love belts out “If there were a way, to hold back these tears, babe, it’s Christmas day.”
1. “Fairytale of New York,”
thePogues.Not only the greatest Christmas song, but also perhaps one of the 10 greatest songs ever written. How can you not love a song that begins: “It was Christ- mas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank”? “Fairytale” encapsulates the
entire American Immigrant epic (hope, heartbreak, the quest for assimilation and/or redemption) in a single five-minute song. The jubilant-turned-hateful interplay of the late Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan is like holiday honey poured into a broken whis- key glass. “And the boys in the NYPD
Choir were singing ‘Galway Bay,’ and the bells were ringing out for Christmas day.” Indeed they are . . . and we’re all the better for it.
style@washpost.com
Huey is a freelance writer.
KLMNO
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Classic Victorian Buy it. Sell it.
202-334-6200
GHI
washingtonpost.com CLASSIFIEDS
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