Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

4 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

4 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
A 2023 Gift Guide That Will Strike a Chord: 10 Ideas for the Music Lover in Your Life
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
November 23, 2023

Share

LOS ANGELES — For the obsessive record collector or the casual listener, the shower singer or the rock star of tomorrow, a music-inspired gift is never a faux pas over the holidays.

The challenge, of course, is in the decision making. Is a genre-specific festival ticket the way to go? What about a box set fit for a budding audiophile?

A Variety Gift Guide for the Audio Lover

Here’s a variety gift guide for the audio lover in your life — from photo card binders for the K-pop superfan to a pair of some of the best headphones on the market and a cheese board that looks surprisingly hi-def.

It’ll be music to their ears.

 

This cover image released by Verve Label Group shows “Four Women: The Nina Simone Complete Recordings 1964-1967,” seven-LP collection built from the seven albums Simon released for the Philips label during her most prolific creative period. (Verve Label Group via AP)

Give ‘Em Simone:

There are vinyl box sets, and then there is “Four Women: The Nina Simone Complete Recordings 1964-1967,” a massive, seven-LP collection built from the seven albums Simon released for the Philips label during her most prolific creative period. That’s 1964’s “Nina Simone in Concert” and “Broadway-Blues-Ballads”; 1965’s “I Put A Spell On You,” “Pastel Blues” and “Let It All Out”; 1966’s “Wild Is the Wind”; and 1967’s ”High Priestess of Soul,” remastered from the original tape. It is the ideal way to celebrate the musician and civil rights activist, and the ideal gift for a music fan of any walk. Cost: $199.96

This cover image released by University of North Carolina Press shows “High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape,” by music journalist Marc Masters. (AP/University of North Carolina Press)

Hit “Play”

The cassette tape revolutionized the music industry and the music listening experience: You could make mixtapes for loved ones, record that hit song from the radio, or best of all, carry your favorite album around with you. In “High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape,” music journalist Marc Masters provides the definitive text on the tiny-but-mighty piece of plastic. Perfect for the pop-culture obsessed. Cost: $20

This image released by Harry Styles’ company Pleasing shows his woody musk scented fragrance called Closeness. (Pleasing via AP)

For Your Pleasure

In 2021, Harry Styles entered the beauty game with his company, “Pleasing,” beginning with colorful, gender-neutral nail polish. It continued to grow, eventually including skincare and makeup. This holiday season, Styles has entered the fragrance game. Launched this month, Styles’ perfume line includes “Closeness,” described as a “woody musk scent,” “Rivulets,” which is a “floral, fresh amber scent,” and “Bright, Hot,” a “heady woody amber scent with top notes of plum and tobacco.” Something for everyone, or, at least, the pop music fan in your life. It’s a welcome distraction from One Direction’s indefinite hiatus. Cost: $135

Say Cheese

This one might give an audiophile a heart attack, but that doesn’t make it any less adorable. ‘Tis the season to break out the charcuterie board and host a great holiday party — but why not do it in musical style? The “Turntable Cheese Board” from Uncommon Goods is exactly what it sounds like — a cheese board designed to look like the most expensive, slick turntable, featuring a slate platter and hidden slicer in the one arm. Delicious. Cost: $78

Hear It Loud

There’s never a wrong time to upgrade headphones — in fact, it makes for a great gift. Sony’s MDR-7506 headphones are a particularly wise selection. This pair is perfect for aspiring producers, music students, podcast hosts of the future, anyone who wants to look cool walking down the street with studio-grade headphones and beyond. They’re an industry standard for a reason. Cost: $80-$130

This cover image released by Viking shows “My Name is Barbra” by Barbra Streisand. (Viking via AP)

The Way She Was

On Nov. 7, Barbra Streisand released her very long and very long-awaited memoir, “My Name is Barbra.” She’d talked about it for years — in 2021, she told Jimmy Fallon that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had asked her to write a memoir in the early 1980s, when the former first lady was an editor at Doubleday. (Heck, during an Associated Press interview in 2009, Streisand mentioned that she had been writing chapters about her life, in longhand. “I go back and forth,” Streisand said at the time. “Do I really want to write about my life? Do I really want to relive my life? I’m not sure.”) But beyond the wait — and the fact that “My Name is Barbra” is well worth it, a larger-than-life autobiography coming in at a whopping 1,040 pages — are the revelations that await the reader. From her childhood to her marriage to the making of “Yentl” and beyond. Cost: $47

K-Pop Cool

Far too often, holiday gift guides — even those specifically catering to music enthusiasts — fail to account for dedicated, artist-specific fandoms. And that’s a shame, because the most thoughtful presents are often the most specific ones. They communicate to the gift-receiver that the gift-giver really gets them. That they listen. For the K-pop lover, why not get a photocard binder where they can store their limited-edition collection? Just make sure you know who their “bias” (a K-pop term for favorite member) is first, OK? That would be embarrassing. Cost: $13 – $20

It’s Not a Phase

In his second book, “Goth: A History”, Lol Tolhurst, co-founder the influential “goth” band The Cure, explores the often-misunderstood movement, what he calls “the last true alternative outsider subculture.” It’s about the music subgenre born out of late-’70s punk and dread, of course (Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees) but also touches on Tim Burton films, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven,” Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”, Emily Brontë, and an adolescent period marked by black nail polish and nihilism. It’s a well-rounded, interdisciplinary and definitive history and part-memoir, perfect for that friend who swears he liked that band before they were big. Cost: $20 – $25

There’s Something Going On

In 1995, The Roots dropped their influential sophomore album, “Do You Want More?!!!??!,” a critically acclaimed album in hip-hop canon. Now, nearly three decades later, a four-LP box set has been released — a remastered version of the original two LP albums and now with bonus tracks curated by Questlove himself. He and Tariq Trotter, a.k.a. Black Thought, wrote the liner notes, and that’s a kind of exclusive commentary you can only pay for. (And if you’re feeling really generous, you could also throw in Trotter’s new book, “The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are” and become the greatest gift giver in your circle.) Cost: $89.98

Te Amo

What do music fans really want for the holidays? The live music experience, of course. In 2024, the Latin music festival Besame Mucho is headed to Austin, Texas, following the success of its inaugural year in Los Angeles, and should be considered a hot-ticket item. The lineup features Los Tigres Del Norte, Banda MS, Grupo Frontera and many more — a can’t miss event. Cost: $275 – 950

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

UP NEXT

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

UP NEXT

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

UP NEXT

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

UP NEXT

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

Trump Administration Acknowledges Lack of Evidence From Epstein Documents

1 hour ago

Dollar rises after Trump announces Japan, South Korea tariffs

1 hour ago

Merced Man Gets More Than 15 Years for Meth Trafficking, High-Speed Chase

2 hours ago

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

3 hours ago

Tulare County Flume Fire Burns 65 Acres in Sequoia National Forest, Evacuation Order Issued

4 hours ago

Fresno County Fish Fire Burns 15 Acres Near Avocado Lake, 50% Contained

4 hours ago

Wanted Fugitive Found Hiding in Attic Arrested in Chowchilla

4 hours ago

Trump Says US Will Impose 25% Tariffs on Japan, South Korea

5 hours ago

Wall Street Knocked Lower by Tariff Jitters, Musk’s Political Plan Hurts Tesla

5 hours ago

Trial Over Free Speech on Campus, and Trump’s Student Crackdown, Begins

5 hours ago

July 4 Weekend Was No Picnic for Fresno-Area Firefighters. How Bad Did It Get?

How busy were Fresno-area fire departments on July 4 weekend? Some local departments that GV Wire spoke with were still compiling numbers, b...

39 minutes ago

39 minutes ago

July 4 Weekend Was No Picnic for Fresno-Area Firefighters. How Bad Did It Get?

Tulare County fire investigators seized about 300 pounds of illegal fireworks and issued multiple citations during a Fourth of July enforcement operation with the sheriff’s office. (Tulare County SO)
39 minutes ago

Tulare County Seizes 300 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks Over Fourth of July

Model of natural gas pipeline and U.S. flag, July 18, 2022. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

US Proposes Rules That Could Boost Oil, Gas Output in US West

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, June 27, 2025. For months, Bondi promised the release of documents on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that could reveal damaging details, drumming up anticipation over the files, long a source of speculation and conspiracy theories — but on Monday, July 7, a memo by the Justice Department undercut her own statements. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times)
1 hour ago

Trump Administration Acknowledges Lack of Evidence From Epstein Documents

U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken May 4, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Dollar rises after Trump announces Japan, South Korea tariffs

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Merced Man Gets More Than 15 Years for Meth Trafficking, High-Speed Chase

Photo of caution tape
3 hours ago

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

The Flume Fire in Sequoia National Forest has burned 65 acres near Highway 190 with no containment as of Monday, July 7, 2025, prompting evacuations in Tulare County. (CalFire)
4 hours ago

Tulare County Flume Fire Burns 65 Acres in Sequoia National Forest, Evacuation Order Issued

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend