Friday, December 15, 2006

Ten days, or ten shopping days, to Christmas...

...and here's our buyer's guide to the ten best books and DVDs to consider for loved ones.

BOOKS

10 Popjustice Idols: eight in all, and it's a parody, m'lud. Even Stereogum didn't get it
9 The Rolling Stones: A History In Cartoons: an excellent idea, this, a compilation of magazine and newspaper depictions of the Stones annotated by cartoon collector Bill Wyman
8 Morrissey: The Albums: having spent fourteen years driving slowly down the M3 Johnny Rogan gets round to the solo career, with interviews and intricate details
7 Bound Together: wherever you stand on the Libertines backstory the holing of the good ship Arcadia is a fascinating building block of the post-indie UK guitar music landscape, and Anthony Thornton was there nearly every step of the way
6 Nul Points: Tim Moore's evocation of the experience of being nobody's Eurovision favourites isn't his best work but still has comedic mileage wrung out at most steps
5 Rough Trade: Labels Unlimited: the truest trailblazers of the alternative scene are paid handsome dues
4 The Best Of Smash Hits: Open it up! Close it! Hours of fun guaranteed!
3 Sound Bites: never mind the celebritydom, Alex Kapranos' Guardian food on tour diaries turn out to use the actual food as the axis around which detailed life on the road turns
2 Fear Of Music: Garry Mulholland does it again, driving a coach and horses through orthodoxy to list The Greatest 261 Albums Since Punk and Disco in his enthusiastic thought-provoking style
1 Redemption Song: Chris Salewicz's tribute to friend Joe Strummer paints a vivid, potent picture of a driven man who eventually found himself driving nowhere


DVDs

10 It Takes A Nation - The First London Invasion Tour 1987: Public Enemy's barnstorming UK debut hits mid-price
9 Glastonbury: Julien Temple's flawed but worthwhile attempt to capture the Glasto spirit, and the two disc set's got unedited live performances on
8 PJ Harvey On Tour - Please Leave Quietly: deliberately ramshackle, raw document of her last world tour with comments from the usually enigmatic Polly Jean
7 Everybody Stares: The Police Inside Out: Stewart Copeland digs out more than 50 hours of Super-8 footage of The Police's rise to global stardom and the effects thereof
6 When The Light Is Mine: REM - The Best of the IRS Years 1982-1987: videos, live performances, TV spots and so forth from the pre-Green era
5 The Go-Betweens: That Striped Sunlight Sound: turns out as a perfect elegy for Grant McLellan, half back catalogue live show, half storytelling acoustic session
4 The Tube Series 1: not just live performances from this most groundbreaking of shows, although they help somewhat
3 Demon Days Live: How to realise the big concept on stage? With lightboxes, animations, video screens and guests galore
2 Looking For Truth With A Pin/Cutler's Last Stand: the late genius of Scottish whimsy remembered with a documentary and his last live performance
1 Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: 40th Anniversary Celebrations: because nothing is ever quite so cheering as men in their sixties acting up their music hall nonsense on stage

2 comments:

ian said...

Books: The Progressive Patriot?

Simon said...

True, but is it strictly a music book?