Friday, January 31, 2025

Cecilia Castleman at the Blue Room January 25, 2025

So...I took five excitable pre-teen girls to the Blue Room in hopes of inspiring them. 

My two eldest daughters and three of their friends were all giggling and laughing in the car ride over, going to see Cecilia Castleman for no other real reason besides it was at the Blue Room and an all-ages show and it seemed that they just might like it. My wife and I had separately come to the same conclusion that our eldest best connects with her friends via music, and given our direct connection to so much of it, we should be exposing these kids to any and all appropriate stuff every damn chance we get. So with my office mere yards away, it was an absolute no-brainer to drag a field trip on down to the Blue Room. 

None of us had listened to Cecilia prior to that night, but that kinda felt irrelevant. I remember that age, just seeing ANY live music would've captivated and enraptured me in a way that is just impossible now. The promise, the potential...it's intoxicating when you land it and some of us spend the rest of our lives dreaming of recapturing it. 
 
But 9pm start for a headliner can be a reach for the circadian rhythm of a body used to being in bed by that time. My eight-year-old laid on the floor and subsequently requested to be held all before Castleman sang a single note. The four older girls, fifth-graders all of them, held up a little better. I gave them the pep talk that the moment they wanted to leave, we could go. So after 40 minutes or so, they politely told me they were ready to go. 

The show was solid, Cecilia has a spectacular voice, it was her birthday, the band was locked in (I guess she usually plays solo?) and just a great example of an artist doing it right. And I think the girls appreciated it, in addition to the free Coca-Cola and Liquid Death I gave them (a ten year old holding a 16 oz. can will never "look" right, it just seems like a beer no matter what) and the game of Truth or Dare they played on the patio where, I shit you not, one of the dares was "say the word 'poop' as loud as you can." 

Stopped off at the merch table and I felt it was as good a reason as ever to blow some money on vinyl. So I bought multiple copies of Castleman's 8" lathe-cut single of "It's Alright" record and handed them to the girls, a little souvenir from their first-ever show at the Blue Room for the three of them whose last name is not Blackwell. I also let them each pick an LP from the storefront...two copies of "White Stripes Greatest Hits" and one copy of "No Name" if you're curious. 

Probably too soon to tell if any of my five young charges had that life-changing moment last week, but I could see other folks in the audience, adults, staring in their direction with a look on their face, not longing, but thinking back to that age, to the promise of everything that lay ahead and its ability to blow your worldview wide open. We'll get them there yet.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

All The LPs I LIstened To in 2024...

 

  1. Melvins - Stoner Witch

  2. Dex Romweber - Good Thing Goin’

  3. Misha Panfilov Sound Combo - Days As Echoes

  4. Young Creatures - The Future Is Finally Now

  5. Karen Dalton - Shucking Sugar

  6. Jeff Cowell - Lucky Strikes And Liquid Gold

  7. Panda Bear Sonic Boom - Reset

  8. Tala Vala - Modern Hysteric

  9. Buzzcocks - Time’s Up

  10. Sugar Tradition - More Sugar

  11. Sorcery - Stunt Rock 

  12. Randy Holden - Population III

  13. Gwen Marston - Songs For Small Fry

  14. Kornove Sestry Spievaju - Slovenske Korene

  15. Explosion - All The Pretty Girls

  16. Teens For Christ - Thank You Lord

  17. Annabel Lee - Mother’s Hammer

  18. Various Artists - Brown Acid Vol. 18

  19. The Hits - self-titled (untitled?)

  20. Free Energy - New Horizons

  21. Anton James - Off The Cuff

  22. Danny Vann - Remembering…With Danny Vann & Memories

  23. Fraction - Moon Blood

  24. The Blu-Tones - Romanian Dances

  25. The Local Honeys - Little Girls Actin’ Like Men

  26. Marcus Machado - Blue Diamonds

  27. Bone Machine - Decapasaururs

  28. Band-X - The Best of Band-X

  29. Mouth Congress - Waiting For Henry

  30. White Hills - Splintered Metal Sky

  31. Various Artists - Brown Acid Vol. 17

  32. Cleta Brooks - I Learn To Trust In Jesus

  33. Schafer High School Symphonic Band / Gerisch Middle School 1979

  34. Johnny Ambrose & Dorothy Mains - A Man And Woman Of Song

  35. Beat Boys - Analyze This Freak

  36. Music By Joe And Elwood Chipcase - s/t

  37. The Shins - Live At Third Man Records

  38. Fake Indians - Inforock LP

  39. The Hives - The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons

  40. Darity - You Choose What Remains

  41. Chady Chad - Ugly Like Me

  42. Emily Nenni - Long Game

  43. Danielle Durack - Escape Artist

  44. Mount Worcester - Mount Worcester

  45. The Local Honeys - The Local Honeys Sing The Gospel

  46. Various Artists - Colemine Records Soul Slabs Vol. 2

  47. Black Peaches - Fire In The Hole

  48. Umut Adan - Bahar

  49. Orchestra Gold - African Psychedelic Rock

  50. Various Artists - West Michigan Country Music Album

  51. Stephanie Anne Johnson - Jewels

  52. Dianne Baker - Songs Alive

  53. Dearborn High School - DHS Jazz Show

  54. Arcano 16 - Venus EP

  55. Orchestra Gold - Medicine

  56. The Blackwater Fever - Temptator

  57. Redd - Monsters & Mothers

  58. Sylvio Fraga - Robal Nenhum

  59. New Math - Die Trying & Other Hot Sounds

  60. Arcano16 - XVI

  61. Black Moon Tape - The Salvation of Morgane

  62. Master Wilburn Burchette - Music Of The Godhead

  63. Drahla - Useless Coordinates

  64. Francisco Mora - Mora!

  65. Wendy Eisenberg - Time Machine

  66. Ned Collette - Old Chestnut

  67. Sarah Mary Chadwick - Sugar Still Melts In The Rain

  68. Ruby Force - Evolutionary War

  69. The Okemos Jazz Ensemble - Straight Ahead

  70. Solomon Burke - Best Of Atlantic Soul 1962-1965

  71. Lou Johnson - Sweet Southern Soul

  72. Dave Grohl - Play

  73. Ama Dots - Ama Dots

  74. Low Life - Downer Edn

  75. The Blassics - Togetherings

  76. La Murga + Loco_motive - Volumetrical Gooma

  77. Red Lantern - Turns On

  78. Harvi Griffin - The Voice and Harp of…

  79. Alice Cooper - Easy Action

  80. The Nuclear Banana - Riot On Kansas City Strip

  81. Baby Huey - The Baby Huey Story / Living Legend

  82. Mande Dahl - Let The Juices Run Between

  83. Breakout - Blues

  84. The Middle Wages / Los Halos split LP

  85. MC Breed & DFC s/t

  86. Bendigo Fletcher - Terminally Wild

  87. Various Artists - There Is No Finish Line Soul Step Records compilation

  88. Sime-E & ADUM - The Cry EP / ADUM EP

  89. Parker Louis - All Good Things

  90. The Scrubbers - Vol. 1

  91. Capital Punishment - Roadkill

  92. Golden Smog - Down By The Old Mainstream

  93. Various Artists - Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque

  94. WIld Nothing - Indigo

  95. The Beau Brummels - Bradley’s Barn (expanded edition)

  96. Alice Cooper - Killer

  97. Beau Diamond - Out Of Context

  98. Denby High School - Spring Concert 1956

  99. The Schizophonics - People In The Sky

  100. Go Hirano - Go Hirano

  101. The William Loveday Intention - Will There Ever Be A Day That You’re Hung…

  102. Rich Ruth - Water Still Flows

  103. Jack White - Live at the Blue Room 4-19-2014

  104. WITCH - Live at TMR

  105. Sharptone Records sampler

  106. Mdou Moctar - Funeral For Justice

  107. Infinite River - Tabula Rasa

  108. Mountains And Rainbows - Particles

  109. Susu - Call Susie

  110. Linda Martell - Color Me Country

  111. Usonian Automatic - self-titled

  112. UT - Early Live Life

  113. FNU Clone - BInary Or Die

  114. K9 Sniffies - Master’s Touch

  115. Elite Force - Watch Out Baby

  116. Bhajan Bhoy - To Love Is To Love (Vol. 1)

  117. Untitled Eyes - self-titled

  118. Dead Sea Apes - Rewilding

  119. Dan Sartain - The Lost Record

  120. Myriam Gendron - Mayday

  121. Tyvek - Overground

  122. Uptight - Sweet Sister

  123. Power of Zeus - Uncertain Destination

  124. Burke, Black & Redmon - Too Hot To Dance, Too Cold To Plow

  125. Footloose - Call In Well

  126. Teegarden & Van Winkel - Experimental Groundwork

  127. Fiddlin’ Chubby Anthony with Big Timber Bluegrass - Love And Life

  128. Michael Quatro - In Collaboration With The Gods

  129. John & Rosy Goacher - Begone Dull Care!

  130. Various Artists - Behold the Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR and Boogie

  131. Sister Felix Sings the Songs Of Patrick Mason - Now It’s Time

  132. The Spurlow Band - Live Sold-Out

  133. The RFD Band - RFD 2

  134. Verdun - The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol

  135. Various Artists - Ladies From The Canyon

  136. Joel Mabus - Grassroots

  137. Up-TIght & Makoto Kawabata - self-titled

  138. Madam - Thanks For The Noise

  139. IHS Band - The Answer

  140. Nod - Nod

  141. Footloose - Country In The City

  142. MX-80 Sound - Better Than Life

  143. Melted Men - Jaw Guzzi

  144. Curtis Godino and HIs Orchestra - Discorporation soundtrack

  145. Rebel Kind - Just For Fools

  146. 4-Letter Words - Band In Boston

  147. The Johnsons - Regressive Bluegrass

  148. The Woggles - Time Has Come

  149. Death Squad - Split You At The Seams

  150. The Gentlemen’s Agreement - Just For The Record

  151. Charlie Rich - I Hear Those Blues - Rich In Stereo

  152. The Stooges - Fun House (ERC version)

  153. Various Artists - Perfect Like the Angels

  154. Kelley Stoltz - La Fleur

  155. Fat Produce - Fresh Squeeze

  156. The Medicine Dolls - Filth and Wisdom

  157. Combustor - s/t

  158. V-Tones - The Beginning

  159. Jay Round - Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

  160. Interpol - Live At Third Man

  161. Nate Mercereau - Excellent Traveller

  162. Bob Dylan - Live 1974 TMR Vault

  163. Atlantis Aquarius - Leo’s Rising

  164. Queens Of The Stone Age - In Times New Roman

  165. Jake Orrall & Kunal Prakash - ASMR1

  166. Various Artists - Hillbillies From Hell Vol. XII

  167. Various Artists - Mr. Bongo Record Club Vol. 3

  168. Iggy And The Stooges - Metallic KO

  169. Choirs of Gospel Temple Baptist Church - Where Could I Go

  170. Slizz - Detroit, Michigan EP

  171. Various Artists - Excavated Shellac REEDS

  172. Various Artists - They Came From Outer Limits Lounge Vol. 1

  173. Bel Air Lip Bombs - Lush Life

  174. Amanda Whiting - After Dark

  175. Liminanas/Garnier - De Pelicula

  176. Guitar Wolf - T-Rex From A Tiny Space Yojouhan

  177. Straight Arrows - On Top

  178. Joseph Allred - O Meadowlark

  179. DJ Baby Chocolate - Feelings

  180. Rob Noyes & Joseph Allred - Avoidance Language

  181. Eyeswater - This Great Midwestern Darkness

  182. Guitar Wolf - Beast Vibrator

  183. Calvin Johnson - Gallow’s Wine

  184. XV - Basement Tapes

  185. Mestizo Beat - Jaragua

  186. Sister John Angela - Easy Keeper

  187. Ribbon Stage - Hit With The Most

  188. Voolva - The Stars Are Ours

  189. Branson Anderson - Applecore, Baltimore

  190. Tom Petty - Live in Glasgow ‘82 Gennaro Tapes

  191. Werewolf Diet - Landmine Territory

  192. Lightnin’ Hopkins - Last Night Blues

  193. Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More

  194. Albert King - Live Wire - Blues Power

  195. Arthur Baker / Jose Parla - The Awakening

  196. Various Artists - Perfect Like The Angels: Raw African American Gospel 62-80

  197. Moondog - Moondog

  198. John Lee Hooker - Burning Hell

  199. Skip James - Today!

  200. Mike Watt - Ring Spiel Tour ‘95

  201. The Hard Quartet - The Hard Quartet

  202. Paul Simon - Seven Psalms

  203. Cass Weir - Mandolin Magic

  204. Hani Polyphonic Singing In Yunnan China (Sublime Frequencies)

  205. Ted Lucas - OM album

  206. Daulet Halek - Dombra Solo

  207. Teddy At Night - Good In The End

  208. 208 - Nearby

  209. Gism - Detestation

  210. Kurt Vile - The Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness

  211. ZOUO - Agony Remains

  212. Kurt Vile - Child-ish Prodigy

  213. Metallica - Leftovers From The Black Album Box Set

  214. Mirage - In The City

  215. Material Girls - Leather

  216. Future Kill - Mind Tasters Floor Wasters

  217. Øyvind Holm - After The Bees

  218. Virgil Deuce - Time & Record

  219. Dicken Choir - Movin’ Right Along

  220. Dicken-Lawton Rock Ensemble - Wheelin’ On

  221. Stef Chura - Messes

  222. Penza Penza - Neanderthal Rock

  223. Misha Panfilov - The Sea Will Outlive Us All

  224. Jerry Lee Lewis - Killer in Stereo: Good Rockin’ Tonight

  225. Grocery Bag - Break You

  226. Eric David Wallace - Mindful

  227. Joe Step - Sacrifice

  228. Metallica - St. Anger Live Rarities

  229. Chet Baker - It Could Happen To You: Chet Baker Sings

  230. Dicken-Lawton Rock-Jazz Ensemble - Good Vibrations

  231. Infinite River - Space Mirror

  232. Sarason - Reflections of Self

  233. Gloria Plotnik Bookstein - Vocal Recital

  234. Robert White & The Candy Mt. Boys - In The Saviours Hands

  235. Bill Evans Trio - Sunday At the Village Vanguard

  236. Michigan Dairy Food - The Changed World of Farmer Brown

  237. OXZ - Along Ago

  238. Nathaniel Rateliff - And It’s Still Alright

  239. Ex-Cult - Negative Growth

  240. Joe Kool - Ain’t Nothin’ But A Joe Kool Parti

  241. John Juan - Never Sleeping

  242. Spahn Ranch - Back To The Wood

  243. Daniel Lanois/Rocco Deluca - Goodbye To Language

  244. Pharoah - Point Of Entry

  245. Inkster Church Of Christ Chorus - We Came To Praise Him

  246. Selmi’s - Beginning

  247. Headroom - Head In The Clouds

  248. Obedient Wives Club - Cinematica

  249. Doldrums - The Air Conditioned Nightmare

  250. Tad - 8-Way Santa (reissue)

  251. Strange Wilds - Subjective Concepts

  252. The Mills Brothers - Cab Driver

  253. Tad - Salt Lick (reissue)

  254. The Lennon Sisters - Somethin’ Stupid

  255. Various Artists - The Best Of Dope Folks Records Vol. 2

  256. Soundgarden - Ultramega OK (expanded reissue)

  257. Vincent J. Verdoot - The Big Parade / Between 53 Whistles of the Calliope

  258. The Infinites - self-titled

  259. Powell - Frankie & Jonny

  260. Dewolff - Rosita Rapida

  261. Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today

  262. Scatteredtrees - Song For My Grandfather

  263. The Revenge - self-titled EP (In The Red Records)

  264. The Scientists - 9H20 SiO2

  265. Wolfmanhattan Project - Blue Gene Stew

  266. Jackie Shane - Any Other Way

  267. Protomartyr - Formal Growth In The Desert

  268. Kresge Store Background Music - #234

  269. Dr. Forrest Stevenson - A Trilogy Of Love

  270. Flowers Destroy - Hawks Listen

  271. The Courettes - Back In Mono

  272. Wand - Ganglion Reef

  273. Cory Hanson - Pale Horse Rider

  274. Wand - 1000 Days

  275. Reigning Sound - Memphis In June

  276. The dB’s - Stands For Decibels

  277. Ikey Owens - Ikey Owens

  278. Jack Kerouac - Readings From The Beat Generation

  279. Katie Morey - Friend Of A Friend

  280. Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots - Beat-A-Mania

  281. Trolls Of Amsterdam - Wilson Drive

  282. Indian Summer - Giving Birth To Thunder

  283. Various Artists - The Factory Outlet (Numero Group 2533)

  284. Clairo - Charm

  285. Various Artists - There Is No Finish Line: Soul Step Sampler Vol. 2

  286. Matt Duncan - I Will Write Your Song

  287. Emily Nenni - Hell Of A Woman

  288. Coastal Club - All Of The Things You Said

  289. Bendigo Fletcher - Memory Fever

  290. Various Artists - There Is No Finish Line: Soul Step Sampler Vol. 3

  291. Bendigo Fletcher - Consensual Wisdom

  292. The People’s Victory Chorus and Orchestra - The School

  293. Jean-Yves Bosseur - Musiques Vertes

  294. Couch Flambeau - Bunny Hideout

  295. MJ Lenderman - Live At Third Man Records

  296. Pete Yorn - Live At Third Man Records

  297. Mary Anne Rivers - self-titled

  298. Ryan Allen - Song Snacks Vol. 1

  299. Big Business - The Beast You Are

  300. Bryan Tysoe - You

  301. Colin Linden & Luther Dickinson with the Tennessee Valentines - Amour

  302. Thunderbirds Are Now - Justamustache

  303. Extra Arms - Up From Here

  304. Extra Arms - Headache

  305. Don Howland - Endgame

  306. Axe And The Oak - Electrocution

  307. Alice Bag - Sister Dynamite

  308. A Burning Bus - self-titled

  309. Lavender Flu - Barbarian Dust

  310. DAS - Now

  311. The Cheetahs - self-titled

  312. Bonny Doon - self-titled

  313. Brian Owens & The Royal Five - Love Came Down

  314. Green Dragon - self-titled

  315. Bonnie Cosby - Virginiana

  316. Josephy Allred - Traveler