[December 5th, 2007]

30 Beautiful Freak

Much of Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love ($20, Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651, and other locations) feels like hindsight—I suspect that many of the diary entries and notes that comprise its pages were manufactured long after the events they describe. Notes that read “DO NOT COMPROMISE INTEGRITY” and, of her daughter, “I love her so totally completely and utterly,” seem fishy. But while the diaries read more like a defense for one of Love’s much-publicized court cases than an actual tell-all, it’s actually just as compelling because of its artificiality. This is Courtney Love as she wants us to see her, and it’s still fucked up. (CJ)

31 Heaven Is a Place on DVD

When the greatest American director of his generation makes only four movies, and one of those movies is released on DVD a full 29 years after its theatrical run, and that DVD is released by the freaking Criterion Collection, you know what to do. You run out and buy Days of Heaven ($33.95, Watch This, 916 W Burnside St., 223-1791), and then you sit down, disconnect the phone and watch the finest magic-hour filmmaking you’ll ever see. (AWM)

32 Fond Farewell to a Friend

Autumn de Wilde, best known for taking the famous spiral wall photographs on Elliott Smith’s Figure 8 album, is the latest to pay tribute to Portland’s favorite son—but Elliott Smith the book ($29.95, Wallace Books, 7241 SE Milwaukie Ave., 235-7350) doesn’t disguise itself as a biography. The photo-heavy work looks and reads like a sincere attempt to reconcile de Wilde’s understanding of Smith with that of others who knew him. “No one story is correct,” she says at the end of her interview with Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. “Everyone gets split into pieces.” Completists will want it for its included unreleased five-track live CD. (CJ)

33 New Shit Has Come to Light

How do you expect anybody to resist an entire book dedicated to the most minute details of The Big Lebowski ? I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski: Life, The Big Lebowski and What-Have-You ($16.95, Looking Glass Bookstore, 7983 SE 13th Ave., 227-4760) by Bill Green, Ben Peskoe, Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, really ties the room together with interviews with just about every actor in the movie—including the guy who played Saddam Hussein. It turns out his name is Jerry Haleva, he was born in Portland, and he’s a pro-Israel congressional lobbyist. I did not know that, dude. (AWM)

34 We Will Always Respect the Bing

The death of Tony Soprano: It’s tragic, it’s overdue, it’s the end of an era, it maybe didn’t happen. Whatever your theory about what happened after the screen went black, you can wax nostalgic for Paulie Walnuts with The Sopranos Season Six, Part II DVD ($99.99, Borders Books&Music, 708 SW 3rd Ave., 220-5911, and other locations). Don’t stop re-watchin’. (AWM)

35 Give the Gift of Gay!

Is there anything gayer than Rufus Wainwright’s Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall Judy Garland tribute concert ($21.95, Jackpot Records, 3736 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 239-7561, and other locations) ? I guess Rufus Wainwright dressing in drag and lip-syncing his own vocals on a couple of Garland standards while his band does a choreographed dance behind him—which he took to doing on his most recent U.S. tour—is pretty gay, too. But Wainwright’s voice—sort of Thom Yorke meets, well, Judy Garland—fits the bill perfectly, and begs for a huge stage like the one at Carnegie Hall. One gets the idea that this is a project the young singer has dreamt about for a long time, and it’s one that will likely open plenty of new ears to Broadway and The Wizard of Oz alike. (CJ)

36 Richard Dreyfuss Does Some Amazing Things With Mashed Potatoes

Think of your favorite Steven Spielberg movie about aliens. No, the other one. No, the one without Tom Cruise. That’s right: It’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition ($39.99, For Your Entertainment, 915 Lloyd Center, 288-6028, and other locations) ! Complete with interviews with Spielberg, the set includes all three cuts of the movie—including the one with the kinda-crappy-looking inside of the spaceship. Use it to show your kids what life was like before computers made everything look real. (AWM)

37 We Don’t Remember the Popular Kids in High School Singing or Dancing All That Much

Wondering what your youngest relatives are most excited about this Christmas? No, it’s not that loud hippity-hop music. It’s a bunch of clean-cut popular kids at a pretend high school on the Disney Channel—kids who break into horrifyingly chirpy songs that sound sort of like outtakes from Rent . You will not enjoy High School Musical 2: Extended Edition ($29.99, Borders Books&Music) , but your nieces and nephews will. And as long as you don’t live within earshot, it can’t hurt to buy it for them. (AWM)

38 Cheaper Than a Plane Ticket

Box-set compilations are usually a dime a dozen, but The Brit Box ($56.99, Music Millennium, 3158 E Burnside St., 231-8926) —perfect for Europhiles and Shoegazers alike—is an exception to the rule. The comp’s tracks, originally from the mid-’80s to late ’90s, document an impressive array of tracks from huge acts like the Cure and Oasis on down to cult-status imports like Swervedriver and Kula Shaker. It’s a fantastic set primarily because of this breadth, and one that curious young music fans of all stripes ought to find compelling. (CJ)

39 Joy to the World

Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures: Remastered and Expanded ($23.99, Everyday Music, 1931 NE Sandy Blvd., 239-7610) , the band’s first record and an all-around yuletide cheer-up, has just been re-released in a two-disc deluxe edition. The handsome package retains the minimal-industrial feel of the original, and the original album has been remastered for an impressively clean sound. The second disc is a live set, recorded in 1979, just after the release of the LP—a document of a band playing with almost fearsome intensity and focus. In fact, all three of the band’s albums are have been reissued and packaged with a different live show, so get your sad on! (JS)

40 All the Best

If you love giving books as gifts (and who doesn’t?) and you have a music lover on your list, Best Music Writing 2007 ($15.95, Wallace Books) is your best bet. With selections ranging from a blogger’s ALL CAPS indictment of Jay-Z to Jonathan Lethem on James Brown, guest editor Robert Christgau has plucked the very best of 2007’s music journalism for this hilarious and fascinating collection. Who would have thought an analysis of Mariah Carey’s career could be interesting? (JS)

41 My So-Called Best Present Ever

Reissued for the first time in four years, the My So-Called Life DVD box set ($54.99, Everyday Music, 1313 W Burnside St., 274-0961) now features a 36-page book, actor interviews and other bonus features. It’s a show that covers the usual teen-drama bases—sex, drugs, guns, gay friends, the prom—but in a non-preachy way. Parents are portrayed as the out-of-touch control freaks that they really are, and teens (including the downright adorable Claire Danes as Angela) learn life lessons through a clumsy process of trial and error. Though over a decade old, it still feels more relevant than almost anything on TV today. (CJ)

42 Cash Never Goes Out of Style

Who doesn’t like some extra Cash for the holidays? Johnny Cash’s Christmas specials from 1976 and ’77($12.99, Music Millennium) are finally being released on DVD. Johnny and June Carter invite Tony Orlando out to their home in Tennessee for the ’76 special, and plenty of city-slicker jokes ensue. The next year’s special has an all-star tribute to Elvis with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. (JS)

43 Rock ’n’ Read

Love music but hate snarky music critics and their know-it-all reviews? The 33 1/3 series , now available in handy, condensed Greatest Hits formats ($9.95–$15.95, Music Millennium), takes the pretension out of album reviews. The records featured in this series are covered by writers who have loved them dearly and studied them closely, meaning the reader gets both historical information (Franklin Bruno’s essay on Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces in Volume 2) and love letters to the artists (Decemberist Colin Meloy’s take on the Replacements’ Let It Be in Volume 1). See? Critics ain’t so bad. (CJ)

Gimme More

The Can’t See Blues:

R. Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz and Country ($19.95, Floating World Comics, 20 NW 5th Ave., 241-0227 ) includes the legendary comics artist’s original trading cards, along with biographies and portraits of his favorite musicians from Blind Willie Johnson to Blind Willie McTell. Twenty-one-track CD of music compiled by Crumb included.

It’s Not the Size that Matters:

Little People Big World Season 2 ($49.95, Target, 9800 SE Washington St., 252-5850 and other locations) once again features the Roloffs. They’re from Oregon, and—wait for it—they’re little! They also have a book, Little Family, Big Values ($24, Borders Books&Music, 708 SW 3rd Ave., 220-5911, and other locations) , out there, too.

You Can Sing “Aloha” Even if You Live in Aloha:

Handmade in Eugene by Al McWhorter, this Deluxe Sprucehouse Ukulele ($265, Artichoke Music, 3130 SE Hawthorne Blvd. #A, 232-8845) features a full sapele wood casing and is sold exclusively at Artichoke Music.