Idolator: idolator gift guide

Goth-Punk Barbie Proves That Even The Most Punk-Rock Fifth-Grade Girls Aren't Safe From Mattel's Oppressive Standards Of Femininity

Maura Johnston — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:45:00 EST

Dressed in a black and red goth glam ensemble, Hard Rock Goth Punk Barbie® features a short ruffled skirt, fish net stockings, fingerless gloves and a lace up corset accented by a silver "spider" necklace and earrings. An exclusive Hard Rock® Collector Pin and electric guitar (a replica, of course) complete the look.

Consider this my Thanksgiving present to all of you—well, my tipping you off, anyway, since each doll costs $70 (!!) and there's no way that I have enough scratch to afford that present. (And no, my mother probably wouldn't have allowed me to bring this into the house until I was at least 13. Or maybe 14, even—she was pretty strict!)

Goth Punk Barbie [Hard Rock Rock Shop; HT Evie Nagy]

Super Holiday Box Set Madness Times Two!

Michaelangelo Matos — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST

The holidays are a-comin', which means it must be box set season again. And the final weeks of 2008 will see a couple of doozies that are positively late-'90s in their gigantism. One is from a major label, Warner Bros.; the other from an independent, Merge. But what's most striking is how much the two sets have in common.

Warner Bros.' box isn't, strictly speaking, a box. Revolutions in Sound is a hardcover book, written by the estimable Warren Zanes, celebrating the label's 50th anniversary that comes packaged with a USB flash drive featuring 320 (!) tracks—about 20 CDs' worth—that, according to the press release, range "from Jimi Hendrix to My Chemical Romance, the Grateful Dead to Madonna, Fleetwood Mac to Frank Sinatra, Tab Hunter to the Red Hot Chili Peppers," not mention, "Green Day, Van Halen, Michael Bublé, Regina Spektor, The White Stripes, Cher, Curtis Mayfield, Ramones, REM, Faith Hill, Alanis Morrisette, Randy Newman, Funkadelic, Seal, Big & Rich, Alanis Morrisette, Linkin Park, Josh Groban, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton and hundreds of others." (Let's hope, for the box's sake, that Prince and his many, many WB-released side projects are among those "hundreds of others.") There will also be a 10-CD box, and the book will be published on its own, as well as the February-slated "current artists cover the label's catalog" comp of the type that has been cluttering used and clearance racks since WB subsidiary Elektra issued Rubaiyat back in 1990.

Usually I'd say "by contrast" before discussing the Merge package, but Score! Merge Is 20! differs from Revolutions in Sound primarily by not stuffing its tracks onto a thumb drive. The set isn't out until January, but the label is offering pre-orders for $179 through Sunday, after which it goes for $199. What you get for that price: 14 compilation CDs, each put together by a special guest like Peter Buck, David Byrne, Zach Galifianakis, Georgia Hubley, Miranda July, Jonathan Lethem, Amy Poehler, or Alex Ross; the inevitable remix CD (Battles, Caribou, Jason Forrest, Junior Boys, John McEntire (of Tortoise), Barbara Morgenstern, and Mark Robinson are among the participants); another catalog-covers disc; a softcover book of the label's cover art; a new Scharpling & Wurster CD; and as-yet-unspecified "other stuff."

I admit it: I'm curious about both sets, even if I'm unlikely to shell out for either. If I were to go for one, it'd probably be the WB, if only because I've been waiting for someone to finally put out an official MP3 box set for years. To see a major label do it is especially intriguing. Who, I wonder, will be next? But I have to say that of the two catalog-covers discs, the Merge has more of my interest, if only because one of the credits there is for "Tracey Thorn & Jens Lekman"—a pair I'd love to hear do an entire album together.

Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Launches 50th Anniversary Celebration [PR Inside]
Score! Merge Is 20! [Merge Records]

Michael Stipe Embraces Preppy Chic

Maura Johnston — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:15:00 EST

Ever in tune with fashion's shifting winds, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has moved on from being a shirtless Marc Jacobs model to designing limited-edition, 150-euro polos for Lacoste. (That's $192.72 at current exchange rates, FYI.) Yes, now you too can wear the same shirt worn by people who sneered at "college rock" in the '80s, only this time it's OK because the guy who put black bars over his nipples in the interest of making a statement about MTV came up with the design. Is this an example of irony, or is it just the circle of life? I can't tell anymore.

Michael's shirt is a two tone photographic image depicting a crowd at a stadium concert from the perspective of a performer on stage. The chaotic crowd image contrasts against colors of the Lacoste petit piqué fabric that both obliterates detail and accentuates silhouette. Michael's image was originally in red as part of the Visionaire 54 Sport issue, a collaboration with Lacoste to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

"What many people do not know about Michael is that he is an accomplished photographer as well as a musician," explains Cecilia Dean, co founder and editor of Visionaire. "This photo captures both of his sides: it was taken as a photographer while also a performer on stage." Michael's polo comes in three colors for men (green, grey and ivory) and another three for women (fuchsia, grey and ivory). Each is packaged in an LP album-inspired sleeve."

Voila:

I feel like I've seen this concept before... but I guess the shirt in that case didn't have a little alligator on it.

LACOSTE - HOLIDAY COLLECTOR EDITION - MICHAEL STIPE [Lacoste.com; HT Joe Keyes]
MICHAEL DOES THE GATOR [REMHQ]

Kiss' Mr. Potato Head Line Was Made For Spudding You, Baby

Maura Johnston — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Why would one be surprised that Kiss had branched out into a line of branded Mr. Potato Head dolls? After all, they've hawked condoms, and coffins, and Barack Obama T-shirts, and coffee, and... well, the list goes on. But there's something almost cuddly about these renderings of Kiss in spud form, a certain roundness that's missing from the latest comic-book renderings of the group. And it's making me want to force through a lot of puns involving Kiss song titles and various ways of serving potatoes—"I Love It Baked"? "Turn On The Broiler"? "Cold G(rat)in"?—but instead I'll just show you the prototypes of the potatoes themselves, because really, the headline of this post alone is groanworthy enough.

I can't wait to pair the Gene face with the Ace outfit. Oh, the sacrilege!

KISS Online [Official site; HT Rob Murphy]

OK, Idolator readers: We have 17 hours to ...

Maura Johnston — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:45:00 EDT

OK, Idolator readers: We have 17 hours to cobble together £3,600.00 (hey, it's only about $6,000 these days!) in order to successfully bid on the bus that the Spice Girls rode around in during Spiceworld. Just think: We could give it a fresh coat of paint, replace the interior (since the in-bus shots were actually filmed on a soundstage, WTF) and outfit that baby with wireless Internet and—kablam! Instant Idolator remote office! (I mean, this could run on biodiesel, right?) [eBay via Popjustice]

Buy Me This Record Cabinet And I Will Be Your Friend Forever And Ever, And Maybe Give You Backrubs

Maura Johnston — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:30:00 EDT

This custom-built record cabinet comes via Atocha Design, and it's apparently very customizable; designer Jen Levin Atocha will craft drawers for records of the 12-inch and 7-inch variety, as well as DVDs and CDs, in your choice of wood. Of course, the starting price for one of these babies is $12,500. But we all have to mature from the milk-crate/cobbled-together-Ikea world of shelving sometime, and what better way to do that than to blow a lot of cash? (What do you want me to do, buy a house? Hahaha!) [Apartment Therapy; HT mishaps]

The Internet Gets Helpful

Maura Johnston — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Where to find a decent turntable and amp in the $100-$300 range. (Feel free to add your own suggestions. I'm not in the market for one right now, but you never know!) [Ask Metafilter via Whatevernevermind]

Behold: An MP3 player that's designed to ...

Maura Johnston — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:45:00 EDT

Behold: An MP3 player that's designed to look like the Birds Nest stadium that was built in Beijing for the Olympics. Unfortunately, if you want an accompanying cool fireworks display, you'll have to buy an old iPod Nano and fuse the two together. [Geeph via The Listenerd]

The Megadeth Wrist Splints: For When You Want To Hurt As Bad As Dave Mustaine

Maura Johnston — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EDT

From the "That Which Does Not Kill My Career Can Probably Fatten My Paycheck A Little More" department: Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is auctioning off the wrist splints he wore after suffering a compressed radial nerve in his left arm six years ago, an injury that many thought would end his career. (Mustaine was among them; he broke up Megadeth that April, only to reform the band two years later.) Bidding is at $300 now, but there are still five days left in the auction! And they're even autographed! In black Sharpie! After the jump, Mustaine demonstrates the gear.

ebay - wrist brace

Why do I have a feeling that whoever buys these is going to make a YouTube video of himself playing guitar while wearing the plastic mechanism? Call it a hunch.

MEGADETH- Wrist Splints Worn &Signed By Dave Mustaine [eBay via PTW]

Crate-diggers of the Northeast, you now ...

Maura Johnston — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Crate-diggers of the Northeast, you now have plans this weekend: There's a big record sale happening today and tomorrow at an apartment in New York City. About 15,000 slabs of vinyl, "very dance and dj-oriented.... lots of the obscure and the familiar (house/club/80s90sdance), although the collection has been thoroughly picked through for some time now," will be up for grabs at the low price of two dollars a pop. More details at the link, but do note that if you want to do any sampling of the wares, you'll need to bring your own turntable. [eec / Pic via Ben Sisto]

The Shit Box: For Those People Who Really, Really Can't Stand Festivals' Reliance On Porta-Potties

Maura Johnston — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EDT

How to make your day at a music festival even more cumbersome: Tote around The Shit Box, a portable toilet that you carry around in the form of a 14-inch flat pack. Honestly, the only "advantage" to this box that I can see is the ability to stick all those free flyers and pieces of swag that are forced upon me during the course of the day inside, but perhaps you can come up with an alternate use for the thing. [The Brown Corporation (oh, come on now) via Can't Stop The Bleeding]

The Chocolate 7-Inch Forces People To Choose Between 180-Gram Vinyl And 70% Cacao

Maura Johnston — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:30:00 EDT

Former Ultragrrrl protoges Innerpartysystem will release their next single as a limited-edition seven-inch, although I hope that any mailorders of the single are sent via refrigerated truck: The single will be crafted entirely from dark chocolate, which will supposedly take to your turntable "like a normal, if slightly crackly, vinyl single" if kept at the right temperature. (Tay Zonday is so wishing he'd thought of this first.) And obviously, if the song's no good, you can always turn the 7-inch into a delicious treat; I have a recipe for an amazing flourless chocolate cake, if you're in need of an idea. [Kerrang via Absolutepunk]

The "Hood.E": For Those Times When You Want To Add A Soundtrack To Your Day, Shut Off Your Washing Machine

Maura Johnston — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT

I'm not sure if the "Hood.E" (ugh!) is going to really take off as a concept—sure, I love curling up in hoodies, but unless this shirt's hood weighs something like 20 pounds, the speakers that are built into it are probably as good as the ones built into a '77 Pinto. On the bright side, its gimmickry reminded me of past gifts both good and bad:

God bless those Office DVDs.

"hood.e" puts mp3 speakers in your hoodie hood! [core77, via the listenerd]
The Office (ORIGINAL) Hat FM [YouTube]

How Did This Guitar Only Sell For $255?

Maura Johnston — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:15:00 EDT

OK, so it's probably really heavy to tote around on stage. And a pain in the ass to take on tour. And if one neck breaks you're likely going to be in need of four replacements. But surely these specifications are at least worth $100 a paragraph before shipping?

First neck is 4 string bass neck with 22 frets on rose wood fret board-smooth maple neck great feel with two full size bass pickups which provide great bass sound-along with chrome tennessee brand tuning gears which hold solid tune- position marker dots on side of neck-chrome bridge-trus rod in neck

Second neck is 8 string mandolin neck with 20 frets on rose wood fret board-smooth maple neck with 1 single coil mandolin pickup -Chrome tuning gears hold solid mandolin tune- position marker dots on side of neck-rose wood fully adjustable bridge

Third neck is 5 string banjo with 22 frets and rose wood fret board -1 extra wide banjo pick up provides great banjo sound-position marker dots on side of neck-5th string geared .ivory color tuning gears hold great banjo tune along fully adjustable rosewood bridge-trus rod in neck

Forth neck is 6 string guitar neck with 22 frets on rose wood fret board-smooth maple neck great feel with two full size P-90 guitar pickups which provide great guitar sound-along with chrome tennessee brand tuning gears which hold solid tune- position marker dots on side of neck-chrome bridge and tail piece-trus rod in neck

That's 23 strings, people! And it has a "silver sparkly" finish. I wish I'd known about this before bidding had ended, because I would have gone for it.

NEW PRO QUADRUPLE NECK BASS MANDOLIN BANJO AND GUITAR [eBay via Listening Post]

George Foreman's MP3-Ready Grill Brings Together Fat Beats, Lean Meats

Maura Johnston — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:45:00 EDT

While looking for a grill for backyard barbecuing, I came across the above permutation of the George Foreman Grill, which—squint hard!—has a teeny weeny iPod dock at its base. And a 10-watt speaker! "MP3 Player Not Included," it says, but if the people on Foreman's product-development team were smart, they'd bundle in a tiny digital-music player that has the sounds of sizzling meat and/or George's motivational speeches preloaded. Just to keep the branding going, you know?

George Foreman MP3-Ready Grill [Target.com]

The Rihanna Umbrellas: Now In Extra Sparkly

Maura Johnston — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:45:29 EST

Totes' line of Rihanna-branded umbrellas were so successful, they've branched out into a second line of the portable shelters. The one pictured at left, which I suppose was designed to emulate the umbrella that Rihanna's phantom legs dance around in the song's video, will set you back fifty bucks. Fifty! I feel bad spending more than seven dollars on an umbrella because I've left about 12 of them on the subway during the six years that I've lived in New York, but maybe people who own their own cars and don't have to worry about such commuting-related losses will be less wary of dropping the cash. [totes-isotoner.com, via Songs For Soap]

The Bamboo Stereo: For Those Nights When You Want To Get Really Close To Your Music

Maura Johnston — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:05:54 EST

No, that isn't one of those snuggle pillows that the person up top is getting comfy with—it's a detachable set of speakers for a still-in-concept-phase "bamboo-inspired" stereo, and designer Soohyuk Im is apparently planning on encasing it in enough pliable material so as to make it an object that one can hunker down in bed with, should one decide to drown their pre-sleep moments in music. Or really reconnect with their molding-for-seven-years copy of Cyborgasm, either way.

Concept Stereo Adds Cuddle-ability To The Mix [Gizmodo]

Taser's Holster/MP3 Player: For When You Need Musical Accompaniment For Your Victim's Pleas For Mercy

mjohnston — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:20:53 EST

First person to make a joke about the "don't tase me, bro" remix being automatically included on this 1-gig player's hard drive^* is totally, utterly fired.

Taser unveils holster with music player [MSNBC; HT Jon Solomon]

^* only $72.99 list! Buy it now!

Be Careful With Ted Nugent's Balls

jharv — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:20:05 EST

They're even more fragile than eggs! Wango tango under the mistletoe this year as you trim (geddit?) the tree with these finely crafted Nuge ornaments. Surely if the Nuge's marketing department had thought this through they woulda made 'em look like (love) grenades, right?

Limited Edition Ted Nugent Holiday Ornament [Ted Nugent Official Store; Willfully Reference-Misquoting Hat Tip: ODB, R.I.P.]

Hey, remember the Ringboxx, the "land line ...

mjohnston — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:15:27 EST

Hey, remember the Ringboxx, the "land line ringtones" doohickey that doubles as an oddly shaped jewel in Universal Music Group's digital-music licensing crown? Well, just in time for the holidays, it can be yours for the low price of $39.95! And a few shreds of your dignity, because seriously—ringtones for land lines? [Ringboxx [Home Phone Tunes]

Mid-Range Audio Goes To The Dogs

mjohnston — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:30:21 EST

From the product description for the dog's-body-shaped speakers that go by the name of (what else?) Woofers: "This is functional kitsch; the wrong becomes the new right. By adding a function to an otherwise grotesque object, it acquires new aesthetic values, becoming an object of desire.... Ofcourse this speakersytem, with it's unusual set-up, is not to hold up against a high-end/high costs speaker system, but it's engineered by a professional audio studio, and sounds remarkably well, compared to your everyday speakersystem!" In other words, the €599 sticker price won't necessarily buy you a good set of speakers, but man, will it freak out any kids that you'll be forced to invite over for the holidays!

Woofer [POAA.nl; HT Kevin Colligan]