Some music lovers want it all, no matter how obscure, and these new box sets certainly cover a lot of ground. When looking for holiday gifts for the completist in your life, these new box sets from the likes of Björk, Prince and Jimi Hendrix may do the trick.
Björk
Utopia Bird Call Boxset
For those inspired by the 2017 birdsong-influenced album Utopia, iconoclastic singer Björk offers up this collection of 14 handmade bird call flutes, photo book and a USB containing the album, bonus track, video clips and, of course, bird call training videos.
Order it here
Velvet Underground
The Complete Matrix Tapes
These legendary and oft-bootlegged performances have been available in various forms over the years, but this new set finally brings the complete holy grail of live VU recordings to vinyl, sprawling the 2015 collection across eight LPs.
Order it here
Factory Records
Use Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-1979 / Factory: Communications 1978-1992
Factory Records remains most famous for shepherding Joy Division and New Order into the world. But this pair of new sets, released to honouring the pioneering label's 40th anniversary, showcases the breadth of their roster. Use Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-1979 reproduces FAC catalogue numbers 1 through 10, while Factory: Communications 1978-1992 reissues the 2009 compilation on eight LPs.
Order them here
Mute Records
STUMM433
Not only did Mute Records find 50 artists from across the label's history to record "covers" of John Cage's landmark, silent composition "4'33" — including Depeche Mode, Yann Tiersen and the Afghan Whigs — but they're also giving away all profits to the British Tinnitus Association and Music Minds Matter charities in honour of Inspiral Carpets' Craig Gill.
Order it here
Prince
1999 Super Deluxe Box Set
The occasion is dubious — the 20th anniversary of the record's title, not its release. But new material included in this ten-LP, plus DVD, supersedes the questionable timing. 35 unreleased recordings, a new concert film and a lyric and photo book from imperial-phase Prince make this a must have.
Order it here
Frank Zappa
Halloween 73
Frank Zappa famously loved Halloween, and put on a special show for the holiday until he retired the tradition in 1984. These two sets capture the 1973 iteration, which went down in Chicago, and are accompanied by a Zappa Halloween mask and matching gloves.
Order it here
Ozzy Osbourne
See You on the Other Side
The Ozzman cometh once more in this massive 24-LP collection that houses every studio album Osbourne recorded, plus all the requisite B-sides, live cuts and demos a completist could want. See you on the other side, indeed.
Order it here
Ty Segall
Pig Man Lives Volume 1
The ever-prolific Ty Segall offers up a decade's worth of demos in the form of this four-LP box set. Designed for "the freak, the fan, the head," the set is sure to offer new nuances to the finished studio versions, plus a few new rarities to dig into.
Order it here
Jimi Hendrix
Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts
Band of Gypsys was the only official document of Hendrix's time with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, but the record was pivotal, inspiring the whole of funk rock. The four shows from which the original record was created are presented here, unedited across eight LPs for the first time.
Order it here
Check out other music- and film-related gift ideas courtesy of the Exclaim! Gift Guide.
Björk
Utopia Bird Call Boxset
For those inspired by the 2017 birdsong-influenced album Utopia, iconoclastic singer Björk offers up this collection of 14 handmade bird call flutes, photo book and a USB containing the album, bonus track, video clips and, of course, bird call training videos.
Order it here
Velvet Underground
The Complete Matrix Tapes
These legendary and oft-bootlegged performances have been available in various forms over the years, but this new set finally brings the complete holy grail of live VU recordings to vinyl, sprawling the 2015 collection across eight LPs.
Order it here
Factory Records
Use Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-1979 / Factory: Communications 1978-1992
Factory Records remains most famous for shepherding Joy Division and New Order into the world. But this pair of new sets, released to honouring the pioneering label's 40th anniversary, showcases the breadth of their roster. Use Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-1979 reproduces FAC catalogue numbers 1 through 10, while Factory: Communications 1978-1992 reissues the 2009 compilation on eight LPs.
Order them here
Mute Records
STUMM433
Not only did Mute Records find 50 artists from across the label's history to record "covers" of John Cage's landmark, silent composition "4'33" — including Depeche Mode, Yann Tiersen and the Afghan Whigs — but they're also giving away all profits to the British Tinnitus Association and Music Minds Matter charities in honour of Inspiral Carpets' Craig Gill.
Order it here
Prince
1999 Super Deluxe Box Set
The occasion is dubious — the 20th anniversary of the record's title, not its release. But new material included in this ten-LP, plus DVD, supersedes the questionable timing. 35 unreleased recordings, a new concert film and a lyric and photo book from imperial-phase Prince make this a must have.
Order it here
Frank Zappa
Halloween 73
Frank Zappa famously loved Halloween, and put on a special show for the holiday until he retired the tradition in 1984. These two sets capture the 1973 iteration, which went down in Chicago, and are accompanied by a Zappa Halloween mask and matching gloves.
Order it here
Ozzy Osbourne
See You on the Other Side
The Ozzman cometh once more in this massive 24-LP collection that houses every studio album Osbourne recorded, plus all the requisite B-sides, live cuts and demos a completist could want. See you on the other side, indeed.
Order it here
Ty Segall
Pig Man Lives Volume 1
The ever-prolific Ty Segall offers up a decade's worth of demos in the form of this four-LP box set. Designed for "the freak, the fan, the head," the set is sure to offer new nuances to the finished studio versions, plus a few new rarities to dig into.
Order it here
Jimi Hendrix
Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts
Band of Gypsys was the only official document of Hendrix's time with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, but the record was pivotal, inspiring the whole of funk rock. The four shows from which the original record was created are presented here, unedited across eight LPs for the first time.
Order it here
Check out other music- and film-related gift ideas courtesy of the Exclaim! Gift Guide.