Turkey Day is over once again, which means like it or not we’re into the holiday shopping season. We’re going to be here all this week to give you the low down on the stuff you SHOULD be buying for your loved ones (of course that means people you really love and not just the people you’re expected to love, just buy those people crap.) We already kicked things off with analog games (board, rpg, etc) but we’ve got a bunch of cool shit to cover over the course of the rest of the week!

But let’s take a look at some Sound & Vision discs (music & movies/tv) that would make great gifts! Think we missed any good ones? Let us know in the comments!

Jonathan Coulton – “Thing-a-Week” Box Set (4 CDs)

Back in 2006 Geek Rock favorite Jonathan Coulton set out on a maniacal mission to write and release a song every Friday of every week of the year. It was a way for him to push himself as an artist and treat his newly-chosen career to “make it” as a musician. This box set collects all four CDs covering the entire year of releases for convenient consumption.

Though the songs are kind of hit-or-miss there are definitely some gems thrown in there like his now infamous cover of “Baby Got Back”, “Re: Your Brains”, “Code Monkey” and live concert favorite “Mr. Fancy Pants”. Whether for the Geek Rock completist or as an introduction to his musical stylings you can’t go wrong supporting JoCo.

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Bruce Springsteen – “The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story” – (3 CDs/ 3 DVDs or BluRays)

You don’t need to be from Jersey to appreciate this extensive box set. Over the span of 3 CDs and 3 DVDs (or Blu-rays) you’ll get the most complete and comprehensive document of the recording of a single album that you could hope for. As Springsteen was in the process of writing what was to be his follow up to break out hit album Born To Run he wrote enough material for two or three albums in order to create a worthy release.

The first CD shows off a much needed remaster of Darkness while the second two form “The Promise”, a collection of outtakes from the sessions, most of which have never been released. The video discs include the documentary of the making of Darkness with tons of vintage footage from the studio sessions and two different live concerts. One from Houston in 1978 on the Darkness tour and one from 2009 that was shot in an empty theater in Red Bank, NJ with the current E Street Band.

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The Beatles – “The Beatles In Mono” Box Set – (13 CDs)

Sure, the world’s most beloved band is on iTunes now but you know what’s not there? These mono versions of their albums. Released simultaneously with the new stereo remasters last year many Beatles fans flocked to this mono version to experience these albums the way they were intended to be heard when originally released. When the albums were recorded and mixed mono was still the defacto standard for music releases. Stereo sound was still new and thought of as a passing fad so the mastering of the stereo versions were passed on to a “B” team, if you will.

When The Beatles albums were finally released on CD in the 80s those inferior stereo masters were the versions put to disc, leaving many die-hards clamoring for the original mono versions on vinyl. If you’re worried about doubling up on the amount of Beatles tunes in your library, don’t fret. You’ll only need one speaker to listen to these.

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Pink Floyd – “Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81″ Deluxe Edition – (2 CDs)

On Show #00013 you listened to Dan and I talk about Roger Waters current tour recreating and updating the original tour for its 30th anniversary.

The original tour with Pink Floyd was only performed in four cities: Los Angeles, New York, London (once in 1980 and again in ’81) and Dortmund due to its massive scale and huge cost (the band actually ended up losing money on this tour). The Dortmund and second set of London shows were filmed and recorded with the intention of working them in to the movie that was eventually released.

This box set is an excellent audio document of the best performances from the shows that were recorded forming a complete concert that until this recent Roger Waters tour was the best way for any of us to experience those shows.

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Miles Davis – “Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition -(3 CDs, 2 LPs, 1 DVD)

I would be a fool to try and sit here typing out some sort of collection of words where I pretend to know anything about jazz, especially when it comes to Miles Davis. I’m about as casual a fan of the man’s music as it gets. That said, if you know this album or someone who likes Miles than this box should be high up on your list of things to get.

3 CDs, 2 audiophile-quality 180 gram LPs, a DVD of a 1969 performance from Copenhagen and a 48 page booklet are all included in a gorgeous box.

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Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series – (26 DVDs or 21 Blu-Rays)

While the movie industry can’t trip over themselves fast enough trying to “reboot” franchises the same plan seems to be working out fairly well for TV (well, maybe not all of them are working out so well). Case-in-point, Ronald Moore’s “re-imagining” of Battlestar Galactica. Whenever I told someone how great this series is I always described it as less of a traditional “sci fi” series and more of a political drama set in outer space. There’s plenty of action, an incredibly well-told story and the best collection of female characters ever put on screen (big or small).

The box pictured here is the repackaged version of the complete series since the first try turned out pretty damn awful. Be sure to grab this one.

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Toy Story Trilogy – $100 (10 DVD/Blu-ray combo disc set)

Ah, Pixar. They’re like your favorite meal from your Mother: you always know that what you’re about to consume is going to be great. At this point they could announce that they’re doing a movie that’s nothing but a single shot of a pencil eraser and I’d be the first in line to see it. With the 1995 release of their groundbreaking first movie, Toy Story, they set up the basis for what has made them the most trusted entertainers working today. What’s really interesting about this box set is that Toy Story and its sequels are pretty much key points in their evolution as storytellers. You’ll see the sparse “sets” where Woody and the gang embark on their first adventure reflecting the then height of technical prowess and then see a couple of scenes in Toy Story 3 that they could only have fantasized about 15 years before.

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Life (BBC version narrated by David Attenborough) – (4 Blu-rays)
Planet Earth (BBC version narrated by David Attenborough) -(4 Blu-rays)

There are DVD versions of these two excellent documentary series but really, no one should buy those. The stunning footage captured in these sets is the best possible showcase for what Blu-ray can do in terms of visual quality. While you’ll be fascinated by the stunning images captured by the documentary crews you might actually learn a thing or two along the way. Great for the whole family to watch during winter breaks.

I want to stress the importance to make sure to pick up the BBC versions of these since the narration was re-recorded for the American broadcasts. Where the aristocats over in England got David Attenborough on the BBC we got Sigourney Weaver and Oprah Winfrey for us mouth-breathers. While Weaver and Winfrey do an OK job neither can compare to Attenborough, it’s the way they were meant to be experienced.

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Inception -(2-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

Hopefully you got a chance to catch one of 2010′s best movies while it was still in theaters earlier this year. If not, be sure to pick this one up for the geek in your life when it hits Blu-ray. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a spectacular performance in Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending film. There is a fight sequence in this movie that left me with my mouth agape. Literally. After it was over I was left staring at the screen like I was experiencing the Star Child at the end of 2001. Absolutely stunning.

The incredible special effects and haunting score are sure to shine on Blu-ray. So whatever level you exist in this movie is sure to please whoever is lucky enough to get it as a gift.

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The Complete Metropolis – $29.95 (2 DVDs or Blu-Rays)

Here’s one to sniff out the true film geeks among our readers/listeners. Fritz Lang’s 1927 German expressionist silent masterpiece is still pretty amazing on many levels today and is definitely one of the easier silent films to sit through for modern sensibilities. The movie is a remark on capitalism focusing on the lowly life of the workers and the luxury that the planners and managers surround themselves with. A son of one of the elite falls for a worker girl and then learns of the horrid conditions that the workers live in. Naturally, an uprising ensues (among other things).

Metropolis has an extensive and fascinating history which can be explored a bit more at the Wikipedia page for the film. Basically there was a lot of footage cut from the film after its original premiere. For 80 years every film historian thought that we would never see the original cut of the film again despite bits and pieces being uncovered here and there over the years. In 2008 a complete version of the film was unearthed in Argentina, making this “complete” cut possible.

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Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy -(3 Blu-rays + Digital Copy)

It’s Back to the Future.

On Blu-ray.

Hopefully you have this already, otherwise who are you and what the hell are you doing here?

And that about wraps it up for this Sound & Vision edition of our Holiday Gift Guide! There’s so much great stuff out there these days since these big studios and labels are trying to entice people to keep buying physical copies of their wares. Be sure to take advantage of that! If you have any additions to what we’ve listed here, please let us know!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for another edition of the PGM Holiday Gift Guide!

Prices listed all reflect suggested MSRP and everything is much cheaper on Amazon.