The indie fan's holiday wish list
By Tyson Lex Wheatley
CNN Headline News
(CNN) -- Want to know what your music-obsessed loved ones want from Santa?
This holiday season, why not "haunt" them with gifts from the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future? Here are three suggestions on how to stuff their indie rock stockings:
Past -- Pavement's "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins." (Deluxe Reissue from Matador)
In 1994, Pavement was burdened with the hype of the "next big thing" while attempting to follow up its stunning debut, "Slanted and Enchanted." The result was the band's most perfectly realized album.
Clever, confident and consistent, "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" was the quantum leap that allowed Pavement to become accessible to the casual listener, while still destroying the glossy world of corporate rock. The album epitomized the slacker noise of early 90's college rock.
A decade later, Pavement's pivotal sophomore act seems livelier than ever. And like "Slanted and Enchanted" two years earlier, "CRCR" now gets the royal treatment with a 10th anniversary reissue.
Lavishly packaged, the two-disc set features material Matador dug up that band members had long lost from their own collections. Included are the original 12-song album bolstered with 37 extra cuts of b-sides, compilation tracks, rarities and outtakes.
Gems including the band's final sessions with legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel make up more than two dozen of the previously unreleased recordings. A 40-page booklet filled with essays and photos completes the story of a band on the cusp of indie rock greatness.
"CRCR" lives again as a historical reference to the particularly fertile period when Stephen Malkmus and Co. literally waved "goodbye to the rock 'n' roll era."
Present -- The White Stripes' "Under Blackpool Lights" (DVD from V2 Records)
 The White Stripes |  |
Let's start by stating the obvious: This film rocks.
The 75-minute DVD documents the Detroit duo's January 2004 concert at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool England. In a truly dynamic performance, a barefoot Meg and a ghoulishly pasty Jack White steamroll through a sweaty 26-song set.
Sporting a deep arsenal of material, The White Stripes center their assault with blistering renditions from highly acclaimed albums "Elephant" and "White Blood Cells." Among the essentials are "Seven Nation Army" and "Hotel Yorba."
But fans will be pleased to see a healthy dose of rare tracks peppered in the mix, including a menacing "I Think I Smell a Rat." And exquisite covers of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and Bob Dylan's "Outlaw Blues" showcase the band's versatility.
The DVD seems to be lost in time, thanks in large part to veteran filmmaker Dick Carruthers, whose previous projects include work with The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Portishead and The Who.
His exclusive use of Super 8 and 16 mm film deliberately exudes the grainy texture of a dated bootleg, complimenting the throbbing pace of the band's no-frills delivery.
Future -- The Arcade Fire's "Funeral" (Merge)
|  The Arcade Fire |
If you haven't yet heard of The Arcade Fire, then you're probably not paying close enough attention. These Montreal, Quebec-based misfits appear to be suspended on the lips and minds of indie rock fans everywhere.
And their debut album "Funeral" has appeared as "flavor of the month" nearly every month since its September release.
The story behind "Funeral" is one of personal tragedy, spiritual growth and triumph over despair. Band members Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Richard Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Win's younger brother Will migrated to Montreal from various North American locales.
Then Chassagne's grandmother passed away in June 2003, and Regine and Win were married just two months later. In March 2004, while the band was recording its debut album, Win's grandfather died, and Richard's aunt passed away the following month.
As a tribute, the group decided to name its newly completed work "Funeral." The result is an honest self-examination mapped out across a sprawling canvas of emotion.
At times theatrical and simple, at times sweeping and epic, "Funeral" examines both the dark and divine. It sounds more like an orchestral movement than a true indie pop album, with swells and breaks and a vast array of instrumentation with sweeping strings, accordions, xylophones, harps and tea kettles.
"Funeral" will no doubt affect you on some emotional level, one that will likely resonate long after the last track ends.
