Gift Guide: The Best Box Sets of 2019 – Exclaim!

Gift ideas for the music lover who wants everything, from Frank Zappa to Ty Segall

Published Nov 20, 2019

BjrkUtopia Bird Call BoxsetFor those inspired by the 2017 birdsong-influenced album Utopia, iconoclastic singer Bjrk 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 UndergroundThe Complete Matrix TapesThese 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 RecordsUse Hearing Protection: Factory Records 1978-1979/Factory: Communications 1978-1992Factory 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 RecordsSTUMM433Not 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

Prince1999 Super Deluxe Box SetThe 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 ZappaHalloween 73Frank 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 OsbourneSee You on the Other SideThe 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 SegallPig Man Lives Volume 1The 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 HendrixSongs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East ConcertsBand 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 theExclaim! Gift Guide.

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Gift Guide: The Best Box Sets of 2019 - Exclaim!