Okayplayer's Black Friday Must-Buy Holiday Wishlist
Attention shoppers: The day after tomorrow is the infamous shopping known as Black Friday. That means today is black wednesday--the day we unveil our Okayplayer Holiday must-buy wishlist. Yes, while you fight your way through traffic and rush to catch that rescheduled flight home for Thanksgiving tomorrow, we are scouring the web for fly box sets, coffee table books and ugly-beauty Christmas sweaters, working like little elves to assemble them all into one-stop shopping guide for the Okayplayer in your life. That way while the rest of the world goes zombie apocalypse trying to get that last stepped-on X-box, PlayStation or Tablet that fell behind the shelf--you can spend Black Friday the way it should be spent. Sitting on the couch, getting your x-mas shopping done online and nursing your Turkey hangover. Let's go!
1. For The Record coffee table book from Red Bull Music Academy: You are already familiar, perhaps, with Red Bull Music Academy's steez. They have now translated that steez into a deluxe coffee table book: "a collection of conversations between 36 of music's true masterminds." That list happens to include a who's who of music-creators we are actively obsessed with here at OKP, including (but not limited to Erykah Badu, Nile Rodgers, Metro Area, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Just Blaze, Buraka Som Sistema, Sly & Robbie, Paul Riser (of Motown)...& more!For The Record went on sale monday in the U.S. for $39.95 in certain specialty bookstores, music shops and in the Gestalten online shop.
2. Thelonious Monk Paris 1969 Deluxe Bundle from Blue Note Records
Yesterday Blue Note Records released a rare black & white concert film of jazz legend Thelonious Monk in a live performance with his Quartet at the Salle Pleyel concert hall in Paris, France on December 15, 1969. The film includes a little-seen on camera interview with Monk conducted by French bassist Jacques Hess. Even better, the $13.98 CD/DVD of this collector's item is available in a series of deluxe bundles that includes 180 gram, gatefold vinyl, exclusive 18x24" lithograph, and digital album download (ranging from $19.98- $29.98--get 'em here). Now, okay, yes. Some heads may feel this is a more appropriate inclusion for say, Revive's Black Friday wishlist. But this is on here for 2 very important reasons: 1) real heads know. Miles was the Jay Z of the jazz era, Coltrane the NaS. Monk was the J Dilla. 2) I am actually factually planning to get this for my mom this Christmas.
3. Okayplayer's The Roots Crew Holiday Sweatshirt AKA The Ugly Christmas Sweater, OKP-style, AKA You Are Now Rocking With The Legendary Roots Crewneck. We came up with this holiday-special sweater concept just for the artwork for our 7th Annual Okayplayer Holiday jam with The Roots (announced yesterday--enter to win tickets here!) But we loved it so much we decided to make it an actual holiday-special sweater (ok, sweatshirt) so now you can rock one, too! And finally pay back your aunt for allll those sweaters she's gotten you over the years. Cop it here via the Okayplayer store (ugly christmas socks not included).
4. Holiday-themed Vaporizer
In case the Okayplayer in your life is as much a fan of "The Trees" as they are of The Roots. Christmas trees, dog--what were you thinking about? Cop it here discreetly via Aliababa.
5. Black Weirdo Afropick Tee + Related Gear (via THEESatisfaction). The QueenS of THEESatisfaction just put us up on these items of Black Weirdo gear, available via their bandcamp. You already knew we were going to go for the Afropick tee in Red Black & Green with gold sparklies. But you may also want to combine with a Black Weirdo propaganda button (see below) or depending how warm your area is at Thanksgiving time, even a Black Weirdo tank top. Only you can assess your needs, by asking this question: how black/weird are you? (Note: the correct answer to that question is: Too Black. Too Weird.)
6. The Clash Sound System Box Set. We don't necessarily talk about The Clash all day long here on Okayplayer (you know, unless we're talking about Elvis Costello x The Roots) but let me make it simple for you hip-hop heads: No Clash, no Public Enemy. There's about as many more reasons to eff with "the only band that mattered" as there are Clash songs, dubs, b-sides, 12" mixes, bootlegs and interviews with the band. Here's another reason to eff with this definitive collection of CDs, 45s, photos, documentaries and Clash paraphernalia: it's shaped like a lifesize ghetto blaster. If this one is a bit too punk rock and/or epic for your holiday needs, may we recommend the recent box sets collecting essentials from Sly & The Family Stone (Higher), or Donny Hathaway(Questlove approved!) or any of the collectible releases from Sly, Nas, Miles Davis, Elvis Costello x The Roots, Paul Simon, Charles Bradley, Truth & Soul, Jimi Hendrix and Robert Glasper for Record Store Day.
6. Joe Mansfield's Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession. Box sets, check. Coffee table books, check. Record store limited edition vinyl releases, check. But only one item on our list combines the best parts of all of those different flavors of music-obsessive catnip in one--with the added bonus effect of buying your beathead a drum machine without the actual hardware. Joe Mansfield's ode to the drum machine is a 200+ page poem to the inhuman beatbox with a foreword from How To Wreck A Nice Beach author Dave Tompkins and a double flexi-disc included. 75 drum machines from the author's personal collection are lovingly documented with creamy photography of the quality and production values that can only be described as beatporn. And with that thought we'll leave you alone with a few of these lovelies so you can take your time, um, studyin them. Purchase the real thing from the box set specialists at Get On Down Records and remember Black Friday is also Record Store Day. Buy vinyl!
