2025 in calendar celebs
Jam Master Jay
When I was attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the school closed a street near the student union and held a free concert/block party on the Sunday before the first day of classes. When I was a freshman and sophomore, both concerts were hip-hop legends. My sophomore year, the Sugarhill Gang and DJ Melle Mel performed, and in my freshman year, Run-D.M.C. headlined the event. It was 1995, so Jam Master Jay was still with us and still in the group. I remember them putting on a quality, high-energy show. I also saw some of Run-D.M.C.'s Fun Fun Fun Fest set many years later after Jam Master Jay had died. I can't remember who was filling in as guest DJ that night.
Steve Gorman
Steve Gorman was the longtime Black Crowes drummer from 1987 until 2001, with a second brief stint in 2005. After his less-than-flattering portrayal of the Robinson brothers in his 2019 memoir, I doubt he'll be playing with them again. I saw him play with The Black Crowes at Stubb's during the 2001 SXSW festival near the end of his first run with the band. I know The Black Crowes are one of those bands that hipsters sneer at, but I happen to really like their first four albums, especially the second one. Here's a delightful anecdote from an old Ryley Walker tweet for all those sneering hipsters. When Walker and Destroyer's Dan Bejar toured together and shared a vehicle, the only driving music they could agree on was the Unwound discography and The Black Crowes' Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.
Neko Case
I've seen Neko Case, both as a solo artist and as a member of The New Pornographers, live multiple times at multiple venues, including the only Austin City Limits TV taping I've attended.
Snoop Dogg
I caught some of Snoop Dogg's set at one of the Fun Fun Fun Fests during that brief window of time when he was performing reggae music as Snoop Lion. Not his finest hour.
Corin Tucker
I saw Corin Tucker live with Sleater-Kinney back in the late '90s. I really liked that band when Janet Weiss was the drummer, but I can't get into the St. Vincent-produced record or the subsequent post-Weiss records, and I don't like how they handled Weiss's departure.
Favorite records of the year
BASIC - Dream City EP
Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee (one of my favorite records of the 21st century)
Neko Case - Neon Grey Midnight Green
Destroyer - Dan's Boogie
Employees of the Month - In Space
Eraser - Hideout
Flowers Destroy - Hawks Listen
Hayward x Dalek - Hayward x Dalek
Cass McCombs - Interior Live Oak
Dan Melchior - Reveries
Mint Mile - andwhichstray
Modern Nature - The Heat Warps
Motherfuckers JMB & Co. - Music Excitement Action Beauty
mssv - On and On
Nape Neck - The Shallowest End
Orcutt Shelley Miller - Orcutt Shelley Miller
Gwenifer Raymond - Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark
Retail Simps (as The Educated Fools) - Tantric Decapitation: 69 mins of trichotomy and
liquefaction
Rose City Band - Sol y Sombra
Sessa - Pequena Vertigem de Amor
Tropical Fuck Storm - Fairyland Codex
Twisted Teens - Blame the Clown
Twisted Teens - Twisted Teens
Jean-Claude Vannier - Jean-Claude Vannier et son orchestre des mandolins
Winged Wheel - Desert So Green
I also liked these records
AVTT/PTTN - AVTT/PTTN
Circuit des Yeux - Halo on the Inside
Guided By Voices - Thick Rich and Delicious
Guided By Voices - Universe Room
Mclusky - The World Is Still Here and So Are We
Melvins - Thunderball
The Men - Buyer Beware
The Moles - Composition Book
Mourning [A] BLKstar - Flowers for the Living
Osees - Abomination Revealed at Last
Mike Polizze - Around Sound
Rip Van Winkle - Blasphemy
Ty Segall - Possession
Superchunk - Songs in the Key of Yikes
Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override
Venamoris - To Cross or to Burn
Neil Young - Coastal Soundtrack
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts - Talkin to the Trees