A Gift Guide for the Austin Music Fan in Your Life

For the Lone Star Vinyl Connoisseur

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Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation's Texas Wild

Adrian Quesada does Destiny's Child, Toadies sing Kelly Clarkson, and Fat Tony tries out the Texas Tornados on this quirky, state-centric covers album benefiting the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation. – Carys Anderson
texaswildalbum.org, $24.99

Willie Nelson 90: Live At The Hollywood Bowl

Everyone from Keith Richards to Snoop Dogg to Norah Jones attended Willie's April birthday blowout in Los Angeles, captured here in 21 performances. Not yet on streaming, the DVD is up for preorder too. – Rachel Rascoe
willienelson.com, $39.98

Como Las Movies' Como Las Singles

Wrapping Como Las Movies' five-year cumbia quest with Sabrina Ellis-assisted single "La 6," the Try Hard Coffee vinyl set comes with an artfully packaged Ecuadorian light roast. Sweet butterscotch and dried fruit notes accompany bandleader Nelson Valente Aguilar. – R.R.
tryhardcoffee.shop, $30

Resound Presents: A Very Homie Holiday

Austin's favorite event bookers shift to gold-speckled vinyl for this Christmas album, featuring classic covers and holiday originals from BÖNDBREAKR, TC Superstar, alexalone, the Texas String Assembly, and more – including Chronicle Music Editor Rachel Rascoe, who sings Margo Guryan with Dorio. – C.A.
resoundpresents.bandcamp.com, $25

The Tender Things' That Texas Touch

Of this triad of weed, shrooms, and synthetic cheese, the Spaceflight Records shop says a "hyper masculine throw back design sensibility is fully on display, and you too can regale yourself of all of what modern traditional country music has come to be." – R.R.
shop.spaceflightrecords.com, $30

Being Dead's When Horses Would Run

No way surf punks Being Dead would issue their rollicking debut LP in plain black. This orange creamsicle disc matches fantastical lyrics and syrupy harmonies. – C.A.
beingdead.bandcamp.com, $25

For the Sonically Decorated Home

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BLK ODYSSY Diamonds & Freaks Ashtray

You'll probably need a cigarette after spinning BLK ODYSSY's sensual June concept album DIAMONDS & FREAKS, so why not rep Juwan Elcock's soul/hip-hop amalgamation while you're at it? – C.A.
blkodyssy.com, $12

ZZ Top Dusty Hill Portrait

Already on display at "Dusty Land" in Dallas, an auction of ZZ Top iconography opens online Dec. 7-9, including a furry white bass spun in the "Legs" video and this 1990 portrait by the artist Frederick J. Brown. – R.R.
julienslive.com, estimated $3,000-$5,000

Toro y Moi Austin Psych Fest Poster

Immortalize the 2023 return of Austin Psych Fest with this appropriately groovy Toro y Moi wall art, designed by Indonesian artist Ardneks. – C.A.
levitation.fm, $35

Brane X Portable Speaker

Amaze the audiophile in your life with Austin-based "sound technology" company Brane's lightweight, cordless speaker, a physics-defying invention that blasts bass with the strength of a passing lowrider. Available for January 2024 preorder. – C.A.
braneaudio.com, $599

Modern Rocks Gallery Kate Bush Print

East Austin's Modern Rocks Gallery, founded by Steven Walker of Modern English in 2014, sources a gorgeous archive of historic rock & roll prints, including this 1978 snap of Kate Bush by British photographer Jill Furmanovsky. – R.R.
modernrocksgallery.com, from $500

Pelvis Wrestley "Holy Host" Sticker Sheet

If your laptop or Hydro Flask is looking a little bare, try out Pelvis Wrestley's stickers, where androgynous angels quote the band's latest countrified synth-pop single. – C.A.
pelviswrestley.bandcamp.com, $7

For the Fan Who Wears Their Heart on Their Chest

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On Being an Angel "Nancy" Shirt

Power-poppers On Being an Angel tap beloved cartoon character Nancy for this tee, a perfect fashion throwback for fans of their nostalgic, melodic fuzz. – C.A.
onbeinganangel.bandcamp.com, $20

Growth in Decay "Community" Shirt

Underground electronic label Growth in Decay, whose owner James Harcrow opened acai bowl/wine hangout Community Garden earlier this year, offers a heartening design declaring, "Community is the New Currency." – R.R.
growthindecay.com, $40

Never "Everything Hurts" Shirt

Post-punks Never deliver an eye-catching pop of primary colors with this tee, which drives home what this disgruntled doodled face says plainly: "Everything hurts." – C.A.
fsgprints.com, $32

Chicken Ranch Peelander Yellow Shirt

Omnipresent Austin artist Peelander Yellow of Peelander-Z dreams up a crazy bird to endorse individualist local record label Chicken Ranch in six different colorways. – R.R.
chickenranchrecords.com, $25

Hyde Park Hotties Tank

Elianna Panakis – who has designed adorably tough wares available at Die Spitz and Farmer's Wife gigs – offers tees and tanks celebrating a certain Austin neighborhood. Not technically music merch, but I've been eyeing one. – R.R.
eliannamp.myshopify.com, $15

For the Listener Who Reads Beyond Liner Notes

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A Curious Mix of People: The Underground Scene of '90s Austin

Featuring members of the Big Boys, Butthole Surfers, Spoon, and more – including the unsung ladies who made Austin DIY more than a boys club – this new oral history should be required reading for all contemporary scenesters interested in learning more about the slacker generation. – C.A.
by Greg Beets and Richard Whymark
University of Texas Press
288 pp., $27.95 (paper)

60 Songs That Explain the '90s

For fans of the Ringer's wry, over-personalized, hilarious, and extremely informative music podcast, there's now a companion reader that also far surpasses its "60 songs" title. I'm flipping straight to "Tubthumping." – R.R.
by Rob Harvilla
Twelve Books
288 pp., $30

A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism

Janelle Monáe helped redirect 21st-century attention to Afrofuturism with her 2018 LP Dirty Computer, but Paul Youngquist's recent release explores Sun Ra's pioneering experimentations with the aesthetic, which probes the African diaspora through a scientific lens. – C.A.
by Paul Youngquist
University of Texas Press
372 pp., $24.95 (paper)

Wayward: Just Another Life to Live

This memoir pushes beyond singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan's 1970 debut record Just Another Diamond Day – and its cult reemergence decades later – into striking detail on her roving existence in the British music scene. – R.R.
by Vashti Bunyan
White Rabbit Books
240 pp., $23

Why Sinéad O'Connor Matters

Reevaluations of maligned "loud women" are always welcome here, but this dissection of Sinéad O'Connor's artistry, activism, and unfounded industry ostracism hits even harder following the artist's tragic July passing. – C.A.
by Allyson McCabe
University of Texas Press
256 pp., $24.95