What To Get Him For Christmas: The Music-Lover

"AH! It's 4 days until Christmas and I still have no idea what to get this guy! Men are SO hard to shop for!"

I always swore to myself that I would never be this person--scampering around aimlessly mere minutes before Christmas morning still clueless as to what to purchase for my wishlist of individuals with utterly perplexing hobbies and interests.  Yet, here I am, like perhaps many of you, less than four days out scouring over Amazon in hopes of finding some brilliantly inspired gift with which to take advantage of my procrastination-induced subscription to Amazon Prime and its accompanying 2-day shipping.  Only minutes remain on that happy little banner reading, "Want it by Christmas Eve?"  I'm tempted to scream at the absurdity of such a question.

But while my final gifting endeavors threaten to fall into the unthoughtful and unoriginal wasteland that is the iTunes gift card,  I would like to summon all my remaining Christmas spirit to perhaps help some of you fellow last-minuters with one of the most difficult gentleman in the universe to buy for--the Music Lover.  (Just make sure at this point you've got some serious cash for 1-day shipping or a drive to Chicago)

1. Don't Forget the Obvious

El Camino by the Black Keys-Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay

Ok, let's be honest, long gone are the days when you could just buy someone a few CD's from the Music section in Best Buy and call it a day.  Piracy, iTunes, and digital media in general have essentially slaughtered that gifting notion.  That said, don't be afraid of the gift of music, they are "-lovers" after all--times merely call for you to get creative.  If your gentleman giftee is a collector, try picking up a vinyl copy of one of their favorite albums or a classic like Led Zeppelin or the Beatles. Or if by some cosmic phenomenon as a "music lover" they've managed to somehow NOT add the two incredible albums above to their collection, get creative like my friend--who made me a giant sandwich-board sized Mylo Xyloto cover and gave me some music on a flash drive.  Brilliant.

2. "If Ya' her dat Boom-Bap"

A true music lover knows there's no substitute for high-definition, quality, bass-so-bumpin-it-gets-yo-heart-pumpin sound. So this Christmas, give them a musically-induced head implosion with some of the premier headphones modern acoustics have brought us.  While these are certainly not for those content with the $10 pair of Wal-Mart earbuds (as these will set you back around $200 dollars each) they're sure to give your gentleman music lover the eardrum-tickling experience of a lifetime.
Beats by Dr. Dre
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones

3. For the All-Out Tune Spinner

If the music lover on your list has surpassed the normal affinity for music and blossomed into an all-out music fanatic, try something that'll keep them occupied straight until next Christmas.  This wicked cool DJ Software Controller for iPad or iPod is perfect for the guy who likes to remix his entire iTunes library for all his apartment neighbors to hear.  Of course, if your musical gent is missing either of the aforementioned Apple devices, you might just want to stick with a mind-blowingly cool sound system or some concert tickets.

And with that, my dear readers, I leave you to your own devices.  I wish you godspeed should you decide to venture out to the hellish world of retail at any point in the next week (especially the 23rd or 24th) and hope your gifting dreams all come true.  As this will most likely be my last post for this year, I wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas and thank you for a wonderful first year of this blog.  Cheers and God Bless you all.