Albums of the Year so far 2025

My faves so far this year:

Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
The Tubs - Cotton Crown
Darryl Johns - s/t (although it was released December '24)
Pulp - More
billy woods - Golliwog
Squid - Cowards
Destroyer - Dan's Boogie
Panda Bear - Sinister Grift
Eddie Chacon - Lay Low
Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film
Half Man Half Biscuit - All Asimov and No Fresh Air

William Tyler - Time Indefinite

Eiko Ishibashi - Antigone
Addison Rae - Addison
Barker- Stochastic Drift

Amaarae - Black Star
Wevie Stonder - Sure Beats Living
DAYTIMERS - Alterations
Ploy - It's Later Than You Think
Rival Consoles - Landscape From Memory

The Armed - The Future is Here and Everything Needs to be Destroyed
Dijon - Baby

Ooh also:

Mörda- Asante III

Oklou - Choke Enough
Edith Frost - In Space
PinkPantheress - Fancy That
Doves - Constellations for the Lonely
Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones

Katarina Gryvul - Spomyn
Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack - Six Tenants Killing One Homeowner Six Times Over

Guests - I wish I was special

Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You
Circuit des Yeux - Halo on the Inside
Coma Cinema - Grand Delusion
Jules Reidy - Ghost/Spirit
Ethel Cain - Perverts
Ken Pomeroy - Cruel Joke
Postcards- Ripe
Greet Death - Die in Love
Forth Wanderers - The Longer This Goes On
Caroline - 2
John Glacier - Like a Ribbon
Maria Somerville - Luster
Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory
Oklou - Choke Enough
Destroyer - Dan’s Boogie
She’s Green - Chrysalis
Far Caspian - Autofiction
Charley Crockett - Lonesome Drifter

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island

Florence Adooni - A.O.E.I.U.
Water From Your Eyes - It's A Beautiful Place

Daniel Bachman - Moving Through Light

DJ Sotofett – DJ Sotofett & The Colours Of Computer Generated Instruments
DJ Trystero – Cantor's Paradise
Mammo – General Patterns

(takes notes)

love the bandcamp links, good idea.

The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie
Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures
TOPS - Bury The Key
Kali Uchis - Sincerely,
Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
PinkPantheress - Fancy That
Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film
Addison Rae - Addison
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Gwenno - Utopia
McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
Shura - I Got Too Sad For All My Friends
Erika De Casier - Lifetime
Sally Shapiro - Ready To Live A Lie
Adwaith - Solas
Natalia Lafourcade - Cancionera
Wolf Alice - The Clearing
Laufey - A Matter Of Time

xp yes

https://by-guests.bandcamp.com/album/i-wish-i-was-special

https://danielbachman.bandcamp.com/album/moving-through-light

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Phanton Island

this daniel bachman album sounds very promising, thanks sleeve

he's a good follow on bluesky as well

Lots of ones already mentioned but also

DjRUM - Under Tangled Silence
Ex-Void - In Love Again
McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
Jonny Nash - Once Was Ours Forever
DJ Koze - Music Can Hear Us
Wet Leg - moisturizer
Haim - I Quit
Sports Team - Boys These Days

BC Camplight - A Sober Conversation
Big Freedia - Pressing Onwards
Blood Orange - Essex Honey
Lonnie Holley - Tonky
Jamie Liddell - Places of Unknowing
LSDXOXO - DGTL ANML
Obongjayar- Paradise Now
Pinkpantheress - Fancy That
Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies

Real Lies- WWAOE
Jim Ghedi- Wasteland
YHWH Nailgun- 45 Pounds
Barker- Stochastic Drift
HiTech- HONEYPAQQ Vol. 1
Baths- Gut
Ichiko Aoba- Luminescent Creatures
Amaarae- Black Star
Cory Hanson- I Love People

The two that have surprised me the most have been the Cory Hanson, since I did not "like" Western Cum when I heard it, but of course after going back to it I love it quite a bit. I Love People is more folky and countrified, but still has some serious guitar chops and really fantastic lyrics, to my mind.

The other is the Baths record. I wrote up a single of his (with much praise) for XLR8R back in 2009, and don't think I've heard a thing about him or by him since then... and at first, I was like "my god THIS is his voice? ummm" but then after just letting the record play through a few times, I came to really love it— beautifully produced weirdo gay electric pop, highly recommended. https://bathsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/gut

I would have added the new Blood Orange but honestly think the record is quite boring, with two standout tracks ("The Field" and "Mind Loaded")

Tami Neilson's NEON COWGIRL is my very easy pick for country(-adjacent) album of the year, and it's been a killer year for the genre overall.

Other country / Americana / whatever recs: Tony Kamel, Sam Stoane, Willow Avalon, Kane Brown, Crowe Boys, Valerie June, Olive Klug, Kelsey Waldon, The Kentucky Gentlemen, SG Goodman, Caitlin Cannon, Shawnee Kish, Samantha Crain, Kip Moore, Frankie Ballard, and the new Margo Price that dropped yesterday.

my list so far:

Yellowjackets, "Fasten Up"
Sadist, "Something to Pierce"
David Grubbs, "Whistle from Above"
Hiromi ft. Sonicwonder, "Out There"
Rwake, "The Return of Magik"
Messa, "The Spin"
Tower, "Let There Be Dark"
Knats, s/t
the Cure, "Mixes of a Lost World"
Lacuna Coil, "Sleepless Empire"
Gaahls Wyrd, "Braiding the Stories"
Moonlight Haze, "Beyond"
Blood Vulture, "Die Close"
Pool Kids, "Easier Said Than Done"

i also love the Baths album, T (after not paying him a lot of attention over the years) - "sea of men" is one of my most-listened songs of the year so far

here's my list (so far) - will try to furnish with descriptions/links later if anyone's interested

Smerz - Big City Life
YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds
Moin - Belly Up EP
Voice Actor, Squu - Lust (1)
Megabasse - Flamenca
Annie A - The Wind That Had Not Touched Land
The Cloud Maker - s/t
Pink Must - s/t
Raisa K - Affectionately
Model/Actriz - Pirouette
Volodja Brodsky - Raindrops
Marie Davidson - City of Clowns
Lucy Gooch - Desert Window
Teal - Original Watercolour
Snapped Ankles - Hard Times Furious Dancing
Cloth - Pink Silence
Wilson Tanner - Legends
BITOI - Sirkulu
Mira - Erica
Saint Abdullah and Eomac - Of No Fixed Abode
Water from Your Eyes - It's a Beautiful Place
Froid Dub - Tears Maker Chant
Cuneiform Tabs - Age
Lyra Pramuk - Hymnal
Anthony Naples - Scanners

love that anthony naples record

apols for any thread duplicates but here are mine

resavoir / matt gold - horizon
chiu / honer - different rooms
brighde chaimbeul - sunwise
DJ dadaman / moscow dollar - kagaza
vegyn / air - blue moon safari
hawkwind - there is no space for us
ichiko aoba - luminescent creatures
eddie chacon - lay low
ela minus - dia
ie - reverse earth

Fully agree with sleeve re. the guests album but (and I'm sorry to be that guy) it was a 2024 release. Don't let that stop you if you haven't heard it yet.

Here are my 2025 top picks so far:

Andy Boay - You Took That Walk For The Two Of Us
Rebekkah Karijord - The Bell Tower
MPM - ‘Canopies & Cathedrals’
Benedicte Maurseth - Mirra
Severin Black - Country Music
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing

lol oh shit! sorry, I genuinely thought 2025

Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin - Ghosted III

I slept on the Sotofett record despite loving most stuff he does. It's so fire! So many good reference points melded together but also feels an achievement for the end result to not end up in the shadow of those people. Weirdly it feels conceptually similar to Death In Vegas's record - is this the year of the record collection techno record?

Young Gods - Appear Disappear
Gina Birch - Trouble (this is really good btw)

. I only have two to list (at least they’re good ones):

Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

Yves Jarvis - All Cylinders
Sofia Kourtesis - Volver EP
Resavoir & Mat Gold - Horizon
Dijon - Baby
Moon Apple - Four Pillars
Jim Legxacy - Black British Music
Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures
Ben LaMar Gay - Yowzers
Yazz Ahmed - A Paradise in the Hold
Florence Adooni - A.E.I.O.U.
Ulhmann Johnson Wilkes
Juan Wauters - MVD LUV
Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka - Hiraeth
Gwenno - Utopia

need to listen more:
Amaarae - Black Star
The Circling Sun - Orbits
(plus a bunch saved that I haven't listened to yet)

oops, I forgot:
Disiniblud

F7 - Lost In Flower

Typically awesome “tripped out” “hypnotic” techno on Acting Press

my absolute favourites would be the following:

Cuneiform Tabs - Age
Friendship – Caveman wakes up
Horsegirl – Phonetics on and on
Caroline – caroline 2
Smerz – Big city life
Ringo Starr – Look up
Gary Louris – Dark Country
Clipse – Let god sort em out
bd – Economato textil
Mac DeMarco - Guitar
Alex G – Headlights

I really liked these ones too:

Pulp – More
Sofoquina – La colección de garabatos
Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
Ferrocentro Club – VELOZ!
Corazón, Pablo Prisma – Espíritu
Ariel Pink – With you every night
AT - AT
PRESA – Cuerpo en llamas
Big thief – Double Infinity
Los Yolos – Volumen 3

and the last bunch:

Guitarricadelafuente – Spanish Leather
Rubén Blades & Roberto Delgado Orchestra – Fotografías
Real Lies – We will annihilate our enemies
VVAA – Cimatario Fuexo Recordings 01
Cabiria – Radio Coral
KRS-One – Temple of hip hop global awareness
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles - Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles
Aurora Roja – Aurora Roja

however, I still have many albums to check and there are a few here I haven't listened that much, so their positions could change

https://biota2.bandcamp.com/album/measured-not-found

^^ my #1 so far

Tentatively, mine so far are:

POP/ROCK/R&B/MISC.:
caroline - 2
JUSTIN BIEBER - Swag
CHRIS WEISMAN - Lightly
HAVARD VOLDEN - Small Lives
LAURA GROVES - Yes
SARAH MARY CHADWICK - Take Me Out To A Bar / What Am I, Gatsby?

ELECTRONIC:
GAJEK - Cutting Together Apart
FELICITY J LORD - FJL
fyp - S/T
SHiFFRA - Tepidarium
BEATRICE DILLON - Basho
JIM O'ROURKE - Spring on a Teck (Steamroom 66)
girl scout cookies - neuromancer
LUKID - Underloop
SnP 500 - Unrolled
C.D. NOE - Ornamental Hermits
Aa - 水葬
LONE SENTINEL - One Last Sunset

AVANT/EXPERIMENTAL:
RYAN SAWYER'S SHAKER ENSEMBLE - For Those Who Wish To Sing Will Always Find A Song
MARBLE - Колесница Кришны
%%30%30 + BRYAN RURYK - Outside
A LARGE SHEET OF MUSCLE - PH BALLET
JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA - Gift Songs
whait (More Eaze & Wendy Eisenberg) - Close Quarters

JAZZ/IMPROVISED:
JACOB SACKS, EIVIND OPSVIK, MAT MANERI, BILLY MINTZ - Two Miles A Day, So Depending On
SAM WEINBERG TRIO - Of Peeling Passage: Live at Sisters
TIM BERNE'S SNAKEOIL - Snakeoil OK
MILES CAKEBREAD-KRAUS (W/ STEVEN NORONHA & AIDAN MCCONNELL) - For Now
SAM WILKES (W/ WILL GRAEFE, CRAIG WEINRIB, AIDAN LOMBARD & SHAHZAD ISMAILY) - Public Records Performance
EUCALYPTUS - Topology Of Time And Up Express Etc.
NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY AND BITCHIN BAJAS - Totality / BITCHIN BAJAS - Inland See / NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY - Perseverance Flow (halfway to a 3-way tie)
TORTOISE - Touch
GUH - Still Out Of Frame
NELS CLINE - Consentrik Quartet
BILLY HART QUARTET - Just
TIMO LASSY TRIO - Live In Helsinki
STEVE LEHMAN TRIO + MARK TURNER - The Music of Anthony Braxton
MARK TURNER - We Raise Them To Lift Their Heads

METAL/METALLIC HARDCORE:
GRUESOME - Silent Echoes
AXIS OF LIGHT - To The Great Unbearing North
VACUOUS - In His Blood
LOCKSLIP - S/T EP
KASTURN - Rehearsal II

REISSUES/ARCHIVAL RELEASES:
FUGAZI - Live at The Forum London UK, 11/04/02 (FLS1045)
COIL - Black Antlers (reissue)
SUN RA - Nuits de la Fondation Maeght
APHEX TWIN - Music From The Merch Desk (2016 - 2023)
ANGEL SNAKE/MONOPOLY CHILD STAR SEARCHERS - Snakinist Sand Form/No Jaw Nite Rights
PHILIP JECK - The Classic: Live in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland 23.05.2008
MARY HALVORSON QUARTET - John Zorn's Bagatelles, Vol. 1 (reissue)
JIM O'ROURKE - Steamroom 67: Getting The Vapors Again
PERILA - The Air Outside Feels Crazy Right Now
KEVIN DRUMM - Neither Here Nor There

Awesome, thanks for sharing Craig!

Cheers, O!
[edit, holy crap, I just caught via following Thom Gill on BC that Evan Cartwright released a new EP three days ago, and it's bizarre chamber arrangements w/ deadpan female voiceover which will def now end up on the above 'Pop/Misc.' list: https://evanjcartwright.bandcamp.com/album/conversations-with-the-moon ]

some I haven't seen in the thread:

ندى الشاذلي [Nadah el Shazly] - لاقني ثاني [Laini tani]
rusowsky - DAISY
sofoquina - la colección de garabatos

Quick addition that really impressed me on the leftfield instrumental side of things:
THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA (Sam Shalabi, Alan Bishop, Maurice Louca) - Sasquatch Landslide

Seconding the Gajek album

I really like the New Eves album. Folk in spirit, but closer to the Slits, Richard Dawson and Life Without Buildings.

Other likes:

Annahstasia - Tether
Purelink - Faith
Lucy Gooch - Desert Window
Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas - Totality
Eiko Ishibashi - Antigone
Jonny Nash - Once Was Ours Forever
Patrick Shiroishi & Piotr Kurek - Greyhound Days

I literally sent out an email the other week pushing Ava Mendoza, gabby fluke-mogul, and Carolina Pérez's Mama Killa to journalists as the best album of 2025. I had no creative role; all I did was introduce Ava and gabby to Carolina and pay them to make it, but I really hope it shows up on some year-end lists, because I fucking love it.

https://mendozaflukemogulperez.bandcamp.com/album/mama-killa

My own picks:

Isaiah Collier/William Parker/William Hooker, The Ancients
Jeremy Pelt, Woven
Sullivan Fortner, Southern Nights
Masma Dream World, Please Come To Me
Mean Mistreater, Do Or Die
Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner, The Music of Anthony Braxton
Bombardement, Dans la Fournaise
Vijay Iyer/Wadada Leo Smith, Defiant Life
Neptunian Maximalism, Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu (LSDSI)
Venator, Psychodrome
Phantom, Tyrants of Wrath
James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Abstraction Is Deliverance
Ensemble Nist-Nah, Spilla
Matthew Shipp, The Cosmic Piano
Nicole Glover, Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Maya Beiser, Salt
Castrator, Coronation Of The Grotesque
Coroner, Dissonance Theory (out in October)

A handful of things I don’t think have been mentioned so far:

Miami Horror - We Always Had Tomorrow (nu-disco, synthpop)
Means Of Production - Joy (techno)
The Sick Of Man Europe - The Sick Of Man Europe (post-punk)
Baxter Dury - Allbarone (disco, funk)

Nadah el Shazly - لاقني ثاني [Laini tani]

― nacho2908, Monday, September 22, 2025 9:03 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hadn't heard of this before, it's great! Thank you

James K - Friend

Might be my #1

Listened to the Miami Horror. Hits a lot of sweet spots; Saint Etienne, Air France, Avalanches.

My current top 20 be like:

Yasmine Hamdan - I Remember I Forget
Dijon - Baby
Moon Apple - Four Pillars
Lyra Pramuk - Hymnal
Lucy Gooch - Desert Window
Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Oren Ambarchi / Jonas Berthling / Andreas Werliin - Ghosted III
Lucrecia Dalt - A Danger To Ourselves
George Riley - More is More
Nadah el Shazly - Laini Tani
DjRUM- Under Tangled Silence
Amaarae - BLACKSTAR
Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You
Kathryn Joseph - WE WERE MADE PREY
Circuit des Yeux - Hale on the Inside
uh - pleroma
Disiniblud - Disiniblud
Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones
Justin Bieber - SWAG

*Halo on the Inside

Curious what Ivy and Tim think of Nick León's A Tropical Entropy

Annahstasia - Tether
Oklou - choke enough
Lorde - Virgin
Debby Friday - The Starr Of The Queen Of Life
Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
Ela Minus - DÍA
Addison Rae - Addison
George Riley - More Is More
Rose Gray - Louder, Please
PinkPantheress - Fancy That
Mallrat - Light hit my face like a straight right
Erika de Casier - Lifetime
Jessica Winter - My First Album
Ninjarachi - I Love My Computer
Jade - That's Showbiz, Baby
Amaarae - Black Star
Anthony Naples - Scanners
Gelli Haha - Switcheroo

still to come that might make the list: Rochelle Jordan, Sudan Archives, Lady Wray, Say She She, Hatchie, anaiis, Hannah Jadagu

Curious what Ivy and Tim think of Nick León's A Tropical Entropy

― hungover beet poo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 September 2025 00:15 (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've liked the individual tracks released as singles (and he seems to like collaborating with underrated artists I stan for) but I still need to listen to the album properly.

Annahstasia - Tether

omg I totally forgot about this amazing album - both the fact of its existence and how good it is

really digging Fillerkiller by Phatness, dubby breakbeat/slow jungle

this Lukid album is fresh

Oh shit yeah the Phatness is real real good, thanks for the reminder

enthusiastically adding to this thread:

Joanne Robertson - Blurrr

I currently only want to listen to this album

Thanks for the Joanne Robertson heads-up. This is gorgeous. She doesn't miss.

The Happy Fits - Lovesick

Ultra cheesy. Hooks for days.

Ganavya album Nilam

She’s an Indian singer from the Tamil region who performed at Big Ears last year and I think took classes from Vijay Iyer at NYU. South Asian tradition influenced but also some spiritual jazz. Her harpist William Overton has played with Shabaka Hutchings. She has an acoustic bassist named Max Ridley.

The album title is the Tamil word for land and refers to the concept of finding a place where one can stand. The album was co-produced by Nils Frahm in Berlin. I think Arooj Aftab fans might like it. I saw her put to music a Palestinian poet’s poem the other night at a concert on her tour . Not sure if that one is on album

Ganavya’s voice has so much range and emotion

Got a playlist going for my 2025 albums:
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/37560470

Darkside
Chicago Underground Duo
Ensemble Nist-Nah
Billy Hart Quartet
Nidia & Valentina
Valentina Magaletti & YPY
Men I Trust
Bogdan Racyznski
Nikki Nair
Dijon
Oren Ambarchi
Lucrecia Dalt
Eliot Krimsky
Kieran Hebden & William Tyler
Barker
some other stuff probably

Erika de Casier - Lifetime

I have listened to this practically exclusive to anything else this year, but now I'm slowly catching up

Not mentioned yet:
Bad Bunny - DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
Tropical Fuck Storm - Fairyland Codex

From this thread, thanks to the person who mentioned Mira - Erica EP, that was lovely.

Thanks, all, for promoting the Erika de Casier.

paul p on the oren ambarchi thread recommended Christer Bothén - Donso n’goni which just came out on Black Truffle and it's beeeeeeeautiful.

Active in the Swedish jazz and improvisation scene since the 1970s, often heard on bass clarinet, Bothén travelled to Mali in 1971, eventually making his way to the Wassoulou region in the country’s south where he encountered the Donso n’goni, the sacred harp of the hunter caste of Wassoulou society. Though playing the instrument has traditionally been restricted to those who belong to the hunters’ brotherhood, Bothén found an enthusiastic teacher in Brouema Dobia, who, after many months of intensive one-on-one lessons, gave Bothén his blessing to play the instrument both traditionally and in his own style

listened to the james K. album twice today, cosign on it being a favorite of the year so far

_Nadah el Shazly - لاقني ثاني [Laini tani] _

― nacho2908, Monday, September 22, 2025 9:03 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hadn't heard of this before, it's great! Thank you

Had a truly insane and trippy track on the “This is Cairo Not the Screamers” comp on Nashazphone a few years ago, excited to listen to a full record.

Speaking of Nashazphone, they put out an Evan Parker/Jean-Marc Foussat record this year that sounds incredible at first listen.

https://purelifetapes.bandcamp.com/album/fluid

Bakground doin cool atmospheric electronic things

Everyone enjoying the Nadah el Shazly album should go post on my thread about it <insert “please sir”/bottom emoji>

will also say Tim that I very much enjoyed the Yasmine Hamdan album on my commute this morning

I will post once I listen..

what I am listening to at the moment, Tim, is the Annahstasia album that you enthused about above. It is, indeed, gorgeous. I love it.

will also say Tim that I very much enjoyed the Yasmine Hamdan album on my commute this morning

this is great! listened to it last night and was blown away.

:-)

I half suspect Nicolas Jaar released that “edit” of the first single solely to bring attention to her. Such an amazing album.

yasmine hamdan is very much the stuff wow

Really enjoying it as well, ty

Tyler Childers - Snipe Hunter

Ramble by Sebastiano Carghini

nxd can vouch for this one, pretty magical, brilliantly executed abstract ambient idm post-glitchy "lo-fi" whatever stuff..riyl actress/early huerco s/ulla i guess

brimstead i would look forward to checking out a 2025 albums of the year list from you if you happen to be thinking of putting one together.

aw thanks map, i haven't been too locked in this year but i'll probably make a list eventually

<3

Humanhood / The Weather Station
Nilam / Ganavya
Riviere Noire / Reginald Omas Mamode IV

James Holden & Waclaw Zimpel - The Universe Will Take Care of You
billy woods - Golliwog
BYONOISEGENERATOR - Subnormal Dives
DEATH META - MALWARE
james K - Friend
Barker - Stochastic Drift
Deftones - private music
Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love
Purelink - Faith
Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas - Totality
Youth Code - Yours, With Malice

(I can't believe that Holden/Zimpel only came out a few months ago. Feels like I've already been listening to it for years it's so familiar when I play it - I almost forgot to put it on my list.)

Gaahls Wyrd, "Braiding the Stories"

this is so good!

(I can't believe that Holden/Zimpel only came out a few months ago. Feels like I've already been listening to it for years it's so familiar when I play it - I almost forgot to put it on my list.)

Feeling this. The also-excellent and related Light-Space Modulator and Wojciech Rusin albums are in a similar boat for me - I associate those two very intensely with my April work trip to London and now they all feel like they came out in a very different moment in time.

love that wojciech rusin record

nobody fw the los thuthanaka LP? just picked it up since it’s bandcamp friday

i didn't like it anywhere near as much as dj e

I prefer American Drift. But I still love the new one, absolutely a top ten album for me.

i think it's great!

nobody fw the los thuthanaka LP? just picked it up since it’s bandcamp friday

i really like it, been not far from the top of the pile since it came out. not all of it all the time, but when you need some full on chaotic solar energy in your head it’s perfect.

yeah i gotta be in the mood but when i am it’s tremendous

chaotic wrong word. more high intensity hypnagogic. anyway listening to it now and yes it’s one of favourites this year.

I have kind of given up on Holden after I found the previous two records, particularly “Imagine This Is…”, a total snooze. Is the new one quite good?

new agriculture record going straight on the list

not that i listen to dozens of new releases a year (unless maybe i happened to, idk) but Park Jiha's All Living Things was easily my favorite

new yasmine hamdan can get added to the candidates pile

I've not known where to start with this thread really. It's been a spectacular year but what would we really gain. Like, everything I've given at least 9/10 to would take up way too much space and nobody would really be interested

but alright. let's do it as Bandcamp links where possible. in chronological order

Fucktoids - s/t (pop in opposition fuckabout by my friends)

Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack - Six Tenants Killing One Homeowner Six Times Over (IDM post-punk flameout)

Salvia - Tulip (queer industrial artpop)

Janis Lago - Pseudodenpa Part 1 (queer collagepop with maximalist structures and cloud-rap-inspired vocals)

Logan Posthumous - Would You. Could You. On A Train? (extremely weird pop music featuring strange tone clusters, by another friend of mine)

Janis Lago - Pseudodenpa Part 2 (see above)

GFOTY - Influenzer (the queen returns)

Smiqra - Rgyagdze! (electronic thrash-industrial nightmare about oxen)

Clipping - Dead Channel Sky (it's Clipping bitch)

Acoleuthic - Held Together By Tape (my album lol, it's bedroom prog ofc. I haven't rated it but I'm including it here just cos)

Spellling - Portrait Of My Heart (dramatic artpop)

Lost Crowns - The Heart Is In The Body (maximalist RIO)

Celestaphone and Dealers Of God - Cult Subterranea (the greatest fun conspiracy hip-hop has had)

Michael Woodman - Hiss Of Today (bedroom prog by someone who can actually play instruments)

Kiran Leonard and No Tailgate Group - Small Brown Bed/With You Waltz (live album by post-indiefolk orchestra)

Shearling - Motherfucker, I Am Both: Hallelujah And Amen (single hour-long post-industrial noise-rock confessional)

Cocojoey - Stars (Fire-Toolzian noisy widescreen mathpop)

SimCard StyleGAN - (square brackets) (hyperliterate shitpost-but-serious collagecore by a pal of mine)

Cori&her - No Arms For Plasticine Gods (the final boss of imagocore, utterly overwhelming through-composed nightmare RIO/noiseprog, by a pal of mine & almost certainly my aoty)

Fairhorns - adam, adnan (organ-led heavy metal by MXLX who at this point qualifies as a pal of mine too. what can I say I get around)

23wa - AZ (far-side French hip-hop. not a pal of mine. yet)

Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love (I like popular things sometimes too!)

Water From Your Eyes - It's A Beautiful Place (I like ILX-popular things sometimes too!)

Jack Wiegold - Bal Costume (solo post-folk, leave you to work out whether I'm pals with them)

Yowie - Taking Umbrage (microtonal brutal dance as performed by a guitar/guitar/drum trio)

Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound (ecstatic black metal)

And there's still loads more to come. If any of the above doesn't seem terminally irritating, give it a click

imago, i DL’ed the 23wa record, i think at your recommendation from the RYM thread? anyway, it’s really great

one recent addition to my list:

Franco Rossino - Franco Rossino #1 (lo-fi acoustic bedroom punk by a member of dumb)

xp :D

as i say, incredible things are always happening. that album really does feel like the future

not that i listen to dozens of new releases a year (unless maybe i happened to, idk) but Park Jiha's All Living Things was easily my favorite

― Cock A. Doodledoo (Deflatormouse), Saturday, 4 October 2025 18:52 (two days ago)

Okay this is beautiful

Definitely listen to the rest of her work (Park Jiha)

Yeah I have listened to a lot of her prior work, I was just sublimely unaware of this new and fantastic album

new call super is insane, instant top five record of the year

An excerpt from my list:

billy woods - Golliwog
Tyler Childers - Snipe Hunter
Rochelle Jordan - Through the Wall
Saint Etienne - International
Liquid Mike - Hell is An Airport
Erika de Casier - Lifetime
Ashley Monroe - Tennessee Lightning
Sharon Van Attachment & The Attachment Theory - Sharon Van Attachment & The Attachment Theory

omg I had forgotten Ashley had a new album. And it’s so good!!! She can devote herself to remaking Sparrow forever AFAIC.

Isn't it? Reminds me of what Lee Ann Womack also triumphed with a decade ago.

^^^^ yep

my god "Magnolia"

Thanks Alfred for the discovery of Tyler Childers - I naturally started with Purgatory but might listen to the new one

Apart from its formal qualities, the Tyler Childers album is fun.

Rochelle Jordan album would be on my list above if I made it today, goddamn

Mine right now:

Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution
Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film
Messa – The Spin
Scimitar – Scimitarium I
Century – Sign of the Storm
Helms Deep – Chasing the Dragon
Crypt Sermon – Saturnian Appendices EP
Deftones – Private Music
Castle Rat – The Bestiary
Bubba – Cogwheels of the Pious Forge

If you like Century and Castle Rat, check out Anchorite's Realm Of Ruin.

Stuffed I've deigned worth of physical purchase this year so far

Peki Momés - self-titled
Yasmine Hamdan - I Remember I Forget
Miki Berenyi Trio - Tripla
Madeline Kenney - Kiss From the Balcony
Marina - Princess of Power (more a function of my completist nature than actual enthusiasm)
Gelli Haha - Switcheroo
Smut - Tomorrow Comes Crashing
Le Pain - Dirge Technique
Maria Usbeck - Naturaleza
Lonnie Holley - Tonky
Lady Gaga - Mayhem
Thala - Avalanche
Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives Of Q Lazzarus (Music From The Motion Picture)

new call super is insane, instant top five record of the year

― ivy., Tuesday, October 7, 2025 11:25 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

!

It’s fantastic - not sure about top five for me but at least top ten

One more vote for DJRUM - Under Tangled Silence. and for Purelink - Faith.

'Under Tangled Silence' is such a beautiful album

After a few listens, I want to cosign imago’s support of 23wa’s ‘AZ’— it’s a transformative listen, full of interpolations and references but entirely original. Never heard anything quite like it. And it’s a pay what you want download.

Another that I don’t recall being mentioned is Mammo’s ‘General Pstterns’— on the record’s bandcamp page, there is some fan saying (and i paraphrase) that “there’s ab old truism about there not being innovative dub techno after Basic Channel, but this comes pretty close,” and i agree. The tracks emerge and shift sometimes imperceptibly— definitely a big surprise for me.

it is, of course ‘General Patterns’ lol

hey yeah this 23wa record is super interesting, thanks to its boosters on this thread -- it feels like bricolage, honestly I'm hearing it not as forward-looking but as kinda retro; it's assembled as if many of its elements were samples, it feels post-Bomb Squad (but decades later, with constituent elements that are newer). to me its weak spot is the vocal melodies, which are kinda de rigeur "when you want a vocal melody maybe do this" gestures, but be that as it may they work: as table says, a transformative listen, provocative in the sense that I get to engage a lot of my listening skills as it plays -- a real pleasure that continually surprises but doesn't exhaust, for me anyway

pretty sure they're sampling Schooly-D by way of FSOL around the midway point of "Arise"

agreed on that sample! the sample that Ye used from YB's "Lambo" (the "o-o-o-o-o-okay") also features prominently throughout.

i can agree with the bricolage, but it still seems "forward" thinking to me in that it isn't using these samples and interpolations in the same way that most other hip-hop producers have, and it's bringing in elements of noise and hyperpop that are...unusual to say the least. Like this could be on Orange Milk type vibe.

Anyway, glad you're liking it.

im feeling it too. am I imagopilled

what’s people’s general strategy on ‘pay what you want’ stuff? give along the lines that you’d hope to receive yourself for the same product?

the new haai... omg so lovely

I may have done this a couple of times already whenever this thread pops up but Eli Keszler’s s/t x1000

First record since Maxinquaye to take me to that specific murky Lynchian space since 1995

Stereolab - Instant Holograms
Cate Le Bon - Michelangelo Dying
Das Koolies - Pando
Ceephax - Slam Zone
Cate Brooks - Lofoten
Cardiacs - LSD

Another to add:

Blawan- SickElixir

get your subs ready.

Some I've been enjoying

SAULT - 10
TV Girl & George Clanton - Fauxllennium
Kate NV - Room for the Moon Live
Domenique Dumont - Deux Paradis
E Ruscha V - Music to Watch Seeds Grow

Haven't really started to pull together my list just yet, but a recent one that is a strong contender is The Heat Warps from Modern Nature. Beautiful record.

I may have done this a couple of times already whenever this thread pops up but Eli Keszler’s s/t x1000

First record since Maxinquaye to take me to that specific murky Lynchian space since 1995

Those who want to know such things will want to know his partner is the repulsive Anna K. from Red Scare.

whoaaaa @ the Blawan album

it’s tremendous

this 23wa record slaps

don't like the blawan at all, snoozy ableton loop music, but i never cared for him much in the first place. he's no british murder boys.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think it's great.

Also I wouldn't classify his stuff as in the same wheelhouse as BMB.

dont quote me on this but 23wa:gen z::0pn:millennials

The Necks - Disquiet

👍👍

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think it's great.

― a tv star not a dirty computer man (the table is the table), Wednesday, October 15, 2025 2:35 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

haha i like that people enjoy things. it's just not for me. i've tried, with that one.

The Blawan album reminds me of Speedy J circa Public Energy No 1 (and in particular “Patterns (Remix)”, though it cannot quite live up to that masterpiece) more than BMB.

Yeah I can hear Speedy J in there too

it doesn't remind me of bmb per se, it's just that bmb make alive-sounding music in that vein of noisy industrial techno whereas blawan does not.

but i dunno why i'm pontificating about it here, maybe because i've always wanted to like him. i like his sounds presented in 10 second bursts but nothing ever comes alive for me over a few minutes of a track. it's frustrating.

both too busy and too inert.

yeah my experience is exactly the opposite.

i have listened to the Blawan record more times in the past five days than I have listened to the most recent BMB record since it came out—- and I love Surgeon. found the record deeply boring. so we must have some weird opposite ears or something!!

you know what they say about opposites..... they're different!

i might give it another try, i really only listened to one track but it took me back to the last few times i've tried to get into his stuff, and only 2 of the new album tracks are streaming on bandcamp... but i'm done jamming up this cool thread, which is a good 'check things out' thread for the year. some hit, some miss, life is a mystery.

one more thing: i think that live, Blawan is an incredibly talented DJ. but i think that his records aren’t necessarily standard DJ/producer fare, and it’s helped me to approach them not thinking of dancefloor efficacy but their textural qualities. this new one’s “growl” (as another ilxor put it) is its calling card: it sounds like something is going to come out and bite the listener at any moment, but it never does, and instead we’re kept in a sort of static state of apprehension. like a sort of post apocalyptic sonic edging. i like this sort of thing, but do understand that ymmv with it

xps flying to italy later and have saved the necks for the plane journey

xp hey yeah this is a cool discussion table. i like the growl sounds too, and i hear the tension with no release aspect. i'm going back to it and it's way more action-packed than i gave it credit for. the bit that kind of turned me off was at 1:39 of "NOS" - a section of loops dropped next to each other that felt clunky to me. but i hear a lot more today, it's starting to make sense and pull me in, i wasn't seeing all the shit flying at my face in it haha.

There was a good interview with him here, I like that it was made in the box and with a lot of vocal sounds since he didn't have access to all the hardware that he was using for awhile: https://crackmagazine.net/article/profiles/blawan-sickelixir-interview

f&ck i am old and now clearly out of the loop for proper new music.
don't do spotify, don't get promos *
subsequently, the only new stuff i get to listen to is buying stuff by artists/bands/labels knowing i will love their stuff.
hence this year for me it's all been about

the black dog (3 albums in one year !),
adrian sherwood,
mark stewart,
public enemy,
skrillex,
and most unexpectedly - pop will eat itself.

i have loved every minute of their new albums.

(* and i am perfectly fine with this.)

thanks for sharing that interview, J0rdan

or Jordan, sorry i attributed to the board’s other Jordan lol

The newish Chase Icon album, Icon Baby, is great fun.

this year has been super deep, imo, and i've loved a lot of albums mentioned here, but here are some that haven't been mentioned that deserve recognition:

ringlets - the lord is my german shepherd (time for walkies) (new zealand jangly post-punk)
niontay - fada of 3 (down-n-dirty, cerebral, mostly unintelligible (complimentary) hip-hop)
nino paid - love me as i am (baltimore crank, which is the current dmv street style, very heartfelt and inventive)
titanic - hagen (surprised nobody has mentioned this yet, considering how much everyone loved mabe fratti's album last year and this is even better)
marshall allen - new dawn (best-ever debut solo album by a 100 year old)
saba & no id - from the private collection of saba & no id vol. 1 (no frills, effortlessly musical, chicago rap music)
jane remover - revengeseekerz (banger after banger)
water margin - gleaming cursed (compelling and chops-y post-hardcore, with quality songwriting)
bickle - gut feeling (zoomer how to dress well? idk he can't really sing but he gets to the heart of things)
duval timothy - wishful thinking (why tf is nobody talking about this album?)
pino palladino & blake mills - that wasn't a dream (with chris dave on drums, these are the best musicians in the world; see also uhlmann johnson wilkes)
no joy - bugland (fire-toolz production, just mind-blowing album)

also want to co-sign yves jarvis, jim legxacy, barker, friendship, djrum, the tubs, ben lamar gay, amaarae, billy woods, bad bunny, pulp, horsegirl, i could go on.

Maria Somerville - Luster

Cosign this - way more substantial than it seemed on initial plays; starts like a more prettified Grouper and kind of sharpens into focus as it progresses. The last 3 tracks are dreamily insistent but then you return to the start and realise that it all is

New Possible Humans record is really good. Too bad Trouble In Mind isn't around to put out a US version of physical media. AUS version won't ship to US.

Yeah, opening track slouching heat been perfect for these warm Sydney days in name and content

Shout out to another Aussie 2025 release with an unjust lack of fanfare:

Karl Frog - Yes Music

1. Opening track Colonial Hearts could be one of Bowies best unreleased track
2. Dancing in a tomb makes you want to. Perfect Yo La Tengo WFMU cover song
3. European Synthetic Country: not my favourite on the album but still a catchy enough chorus
4. Legends of the Niche - fa fa far, fa fa fa far. Destroyer pastiche from a less cynical, probably happier Australian.
6. Hemlock of Hardware - okay my plane is taking off now but this track and the following are my favourite on the album.

A proper bedroom project. Karl Frog is the man

a few more additions:

Pouya Ehsaei - People of the Wind
Deradoorian - Ready for Heaven
Coatshek - Sound Bath
Mert Seger - Empire des Pulsions
Acopia - Blush Response
Big Hands - Thauma

so many great records this year:
osees - abomination revealed at last
bjorn eriksson - plays guitar
m. ward - tender/wading
kuntari- mutu baton
the orb - buddhist hipsters
sam prekop - open close
kiln - lemon borealis
tropical fuck storm - fairyland codex
holden & zimpel - the universe will take care of you
djrum - under tangled silence
polulation II - maintenant jamais
bitchin bajas - inland see
four tet & william tyler - 41 longfield street late 80s
reissue of the year for me: klaus wiese - sabiha sabiya
kuntari and bjorn eriksson haven't been mentioned I think. kuntari I saw live this summer, amazing percussion-heavy Indonesian duo. bjorn erikkson, really really beautiful album, worth checking out. also, still proud of my own album, sunshine recorder - mango midnight (sorry)

Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override; better than any Wilco album since, I dunno, A Ghost Is Born?

yeah, kinda shocked by how good the Tweedy is

thono - nice to see Population II and Osees on your list, been loving both of those

that new feeo album is the best shit ever

it's liquid mike again, for the 3rd year in a row. what are the chances

Kind of a random question but I feel like someone here could probably help - is there a list somewhere of the major/notable reissues that have come out this year?

This person on discogs always has cool extensive reissue lists every year:

https://www.discogs.com/lists/2025-Favorite-Reissues-Compilations/

oops

https://www.discogs.com/lists/2025-Favorite-Reissues-Compilations/1580415

Thank you!!

digging that Acopia album immensely, been jamming it daily of late.

Kind of a random question but I feel like someone here could probably help - is there a list somewhere of the major/notable reissues that have come out this year?

They don’t have a running list but each week Super Deluxe Edition posts the notable new releases e.g. https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/out-this-week-on-24-october-2025/

Pulse Emitter - Tide Pools

Listened to the HAAi and Djrum albums a bunch in the past few days. The latter strikes me as an instant classic— really beautiful and unique. I like the HAAi record but honestly other than one or two tracks, it doesn’t grab me. I know it might not be the most apt comparison, but where the james K. record is warm and breathy, the HAAi record feels cooler, more controlled, and I am just not sure it’s worth a whole LP of songs….whereas I can listen to the james K record on repeat, no problem.

I started a dedicated thread for it, but since I learned about it from this thread: yes, that Djrum album is astonishingly good, thank u ilm

Update yr lists:

Perera Elsewhere - Just Wanna Live Some

absolutely love fantasma by brazilian producer silvestre. ambient, hip-hop-influenced dance music. really absorbing, with a sense of humor
https://silvestre-music.bandcamp.com/album/fantasma

damn that is sick

incredibly dope beats.

Sick album

seriously i'm so impressed by it. it's so much fun to listen to. and gah those beats. i haven't like thrilled to beats in a while. he's got the touch.

Not yet in the thread

Sudan Archives - The BPM
Makaya McCraven - Off the Record

S.G. Goodman - Snapping Turtle

Was mentioned by jon_oh in passing, but sounds right up ILM's alley. Slow-burning country-minded singer-songwriter. Come year end I might push for the lead song.

wow this is great

https://sanambeirut.bandcamp.com/album/sametou-sawtan

(SANAM - Sametou Sawtan)

yeh love that record

One more vote for SANAM

Didi B - DIYILEM & BAZARHOFF: GENIUS

Best francophone afrofusion I ever heard. Really impressive stuff.

kwn - with all due respect

If Chris Brown had swag and was a lesbian (and Kehlani's gf). Might be the best slow jam album ever.

Ruger - BlownBoyRU

Very smart and depraved Nigerian dancehall.

Loe Shimmy - Rockstar Junkie

The voice is acquired taste. Like a lowkey and morose Don Tolliver. Consistent crooner trap/rnb mood and quality.

Juana Molina - DOGA

really love loe shimmy

absolutely love fantasma by brazilian producer silvestre. ambient, hip-hop-influenced dance music. really absorbing, with a sense of humor
https://silvestre-music.bandcamp.com/album/fantasma

― harper valley paul thomas anderson (voodoo chili), Wednesday, October 29, 2025 12:27 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

started a thread for this one: silvestre - fantasma (2025)

The start of my end of year compilation looks something like

Mum - I Like to Shake (History of Silence)
David Boulter - The Abbey At Sunset (Whitby)
These New Puritans - Bells (Crooked Wing)
A Far Cry/Arvo Part - Silentium (Silentium)
Francois and the Atlas Mountains with Cassandra Jenkins - Le Fil

but definitely feel like I've missed a load this year (I've been playing a lot of ISAN and Robin Saville's solo albums, from other years).

just wanna say the brighde chaimbeul album mentioned upthread is marvelous - love the long expansive pieces especially

YES

I was hoping someone would give that a listen. the NA leg of her tour starts this week https://www.instagram.com/p/DNBwUEYNLR_/?hl=en

I was pretty skeptical of a 'pipes album being something that I personally wanted to hear, but I just put on "A Chailleach" and wow this is beautiful stuff, reminds me of Warner Bros-era Alice Coltrane in an odd way.

I've bumped the dedicated thread twice already, but the Inflo-produced new Chronixx album Exile is excellent if an immaculately produced update on UK lovers / late 70s Studio One sounds like your bag

Two extremely November-dusk albums released this week, each 30 mins long with a pink cover, both ace:

Hilary Woods - Night CRIú (she's singing again and there is wobbly droning brass and a sickly children's choir; one of her cheerier releases)
Hydroplane - A Place in My Memory is All I Have to Claim (clockwork desolation; just wonderful that this exists at all really)

The full Brighde Chaimbeul is exceptional btw, perfect November album

lol I didn't realize I was echoing technopolis's post like that. The BC album is also 30 mins

Hilary Woods - Night CRIú (she's singing again and there is wobbly droning brass and a sickly children's choir; one of her cheerier releases)

ADORE this

YoSoyValentina's awkwardly titled SWING LIVE PERFORMANCE has been sticking with me for months. Here's an example.

(Or literally-titled, I should say)

My current top 20 be like:

Yasmine Hamdan - I Remember I Forget
Dijon - Baby
Moon Apple - Four Pillars
Lyra Pramuk - Hymnal
Lucy Gooch - Desert Window
Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Oren Ambarchi / Jonas Berthling / Andreas Werliin - Ghosted III
Lucrecia Dalt - A Danger To Ourselves
George Riley - More is More
Nadah el Shazly - Laini Tani
DjRUM- Under Tangled Silence
Amaarae - BLACKSTAR
Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You
Kathryn Joseph - WE WERE MADE PREY
Circuit des Yeux - Halo on the Inside
uh - pleroma
Disiniblud - Disiniblud
Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones
Justin Bieber - SWAG

Alt Top 20:

Anna Von Hauswolff - Iconoclasts
Sudan Archives - The BPM
feeo - Goodness
Ruel - Kicking My Feet
New Chance - A Rock Unsteady
James Krivchenia - Performing Belief
Titanic - HAGEN
Clark - Steep Stims
Annahstasia - Tether
Rosalia - LUX
Bendik HK - Drakedreper
DEBBY FRIDAY - The Starrr of the Queen of Life
Light-Space Modulator - The Rising Wave
Sophia Hansen-Knarhoi - Undertow
Addison Rae - Addison
Water From Your Eyes - It’s A Beautiful Place
Florence Adorno - A.O.E.I.U. (An Ordinary Exercise in Unity)
Amanda Mur - Neu Omm
Rival Consoles - Landscape from Memory
D’Leesa - Ethereal

Adorno? Now there’s a collaboration which should’ve happened.

This has been a spectacular year for music and I really needed it

Tim F impressive range

new call super is insane, instant top five record of the year

― ivy., Tuesday, October 7, 2025 11:25 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Not a fan of Call Super? The promotion on his latest release is kind of confusing…

Call Super has confirmed that their forthcoming 'A Rhythm Protects One' mix CD doubles up as a new artist album of their own.

Initially announced in July, and set for release via Dekmantel's label on 3rd October, the record's tracklist features 12 previously unreleased cuts attributed to different acts, including Call Super and their well-known moniker Ondo Fudd. The artist, real name Joseph Seaton, has now revealed that all of the songs featured are in fact made by them.

https://callsuper.bandcamp.com/album/a-rhythm-protects-one

They them sorry

my corrente top (with no specific order by now):

má estrela
lucy gooch
dijon
lucy railton
venturing
ethel cain
lucretia dalt
heinali & andriana-yaroslava saienko
kali uchis
amanda mur
ferdinand schwarz & arepo ensemble
bad bunny
nikolas gombert & james weeks
rebekka karijord
dj k
keiyaa
no joy
rochelle jordan
xexa
sudan archives

banha da cobra
barker
beatrice dillon
deftones
erika de casier
garoa
iguanas
jürg frey
matmos
mariah carey
menino da mãe
nazar
oklou
osama son
penelope trappes
rafael toral
rashad becker
stefano pillia
the necks
ue

Adorno? Now there’s a collaboration which should’ve happened.

― Dan Worsley, Thursday, 20 November 2025 08:35 (one hour ago)

I hate my phone’s incessant autocorrecting every time except this.

The call super album totally should be on one of my lists - I’ve heard so much good music this year I can’t keep track of it all properly

nourry’s lists are always a huge inspo for me so I’ll probably be back with another alternate list in a fortnight

nourry’s lists are always a huge inspo for me so I’ll probably be back with another alternate list in a fortnight

― Tim F,

such an honour to read these kind words, but I feel the same.

feeo's album will already be on my list, for sure, thank you! and Ruel's record, I forgot that one.
I'm sorry I forgot to write the album s' titles :/

The Call Super album didn’t click for me until I was bumping it while a little stoned. Then I was somehow transported back to 2006 and hearing Villalobos for the first time and losing my shit.

lotta good albums by lucys this year - gooch, railton, liyou. (i was lukewarm on the dacus, personally)

with all of you that there was so much great music that it's nearly overwhelming.

speaking of overwhelming, i gave that anna von hauswolff a couple spins. at first i was disappointed it wasn't 10 love songs, but then when i stopped measuring it next to that impossible bar and took it on its own terms, i was pretty much floored by the ambition and songcraft

wow, the Annahstasia's album... I'm speechless. Thank you, Tim F.

the Cole Pulice album is great

the Cole Pulice album is great

― disco stabbing horror (lukas),

i agree with this statement.
i have to add to my list the addison rae's album (which i forgot earlier) and the new one by 0pn.

Can't remember if I saw it mentioned, but the Ulla Strauss record from this past January is really beautiful.

https://ullastraus.bandcamp.com/album/hometown-girl

https://ullastraus.bandcamp.com/album/hometown-girl

it really is. i forgot to write the album's title, but it's on my list above.
and the Record of more eaze with claire rousay is also really beautiful.

Also this Ruth Parker record
https://ruthparker.bandcamp.com/album/otherwise-occupied-2

all you Necks/Ambarchi-heads should check out this one:

Enter Ear - Visitors

https://debaclerecords.bandcamp.com/album/visitors

(the second track is on streaming, Apple at least)

all you Necks/Ambarchi-heads should check out this one:

Enter Ear - Visitors

greg fox is like the best, so i'm going with high expectations already.

yeah I met Greg at some point in the aughts and he is also a gem of a human too

this is really cool, thanks

High Raymond, and anyone else wondering about 'em, Rolling Reissues should be worth a look.
Really shouldn't list anything I've only listened to once, but as of last night, am totally ready to elope from teen club with:
https://sixfingersatellite.bandcamp.com/album/severe-exposure-deluxe-edition-2
and yes agree with posters who say bonus stuff is great as original (I'm less inclined to list/vote for straight-up reissues, unless they're obscure enough that might as well be first releases for most of us/me)

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1087037688_10.jpg

Will also go out on a limb for Damon Locks,List of Demands. Fave first release so far: Dry, droll, deep doom voice, not overly impressed w anybody's excess, but yes, he's made a list, and hip-hop:
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/list-of-demands

did anyone listen to laura stevenson's late great? i'm quite enjoying it.

I know we have talked about it a bit already but over the past week the Djrum record has made my top 3 list. just an incredible album.

Pretty amazing year for electronic music.

just gonna rep the Biota album again here, I am still listening to it

did anyone listen to laura stevenson's late great? i'm quite enjoying it.

― Nourry, Monday, 24 November 2025 09:34 (two days ago)

Yeah I think it’s great, esp. “not us”

Pretty amazing year for electronic music.

― octobeard, Tuesday, November 25, 2025 8:20 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

what's on your list apart from James K?

new k-lone o m g

great record

Two albums whose polished sound distanced me at first, but I dig them: Miya Folick's Erotica Veronica and Maren Morris's Dreamsicle.

Ten albums from this year that I love

Automatic - Is It Now?
Ava Mendoza, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, Carolina Pérez - Mama Killa
Gloria - III
Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - Corporal
The Mars Volta - Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio
Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
True Primitives - Rise
William Tyler - Time Indefinite
Teri Gender Bender - TGB
Lucrecia Dalt - A Danger To Ourselves

Crash landing into my top ten: Bug Teeth - Micrographia

faves since last report:

Tony Molina - On This Day -- was overdue to fully fall in love with one of his albums. the brevity feels perfect this time, glimpses of "Chimes of Freedom" or "Here There & Everywhere" cut ever more painfully short

Akira Umeda & Metal Preyers - Clube da Mariposa Mórbida -- checked out some of Nyege Nyege's newer releases and found this pretty hypnotic. does take a bit to get going, like you're in the album's lobby, but after that it is stunning til the end

George Riley - More is More -- best project yet, and the longest!

also no surprise that i love the new Patrick Wolf, Flock of Dimes, Danny Brown...

That Tony Molina album is great, agreed. Haven't heard many people talking about it.

only just getting to Jules Reidy's Ghost/Spirit which came out back in february but WOW this is gorgeous

I love the Jules Reidy album too. The arrangements are challenging and fascinating and unique, but the whole thing is just so tuneful and beautiful too. It’s really special.

I don't know if it belongs here ... but the Royksopp "Nebulous Nights" double album is just a very nice place to spend time, especially in winter.

There are so many and I don't have time to compile, but I just want to throw this Nyege Nyege release out there:

Nakibemebe Embaire Group & Naoyuki Uchida - Phantom Keys

Live performance from an incredible African marimba group w/live dub work from a Japanese producer.

I can’t get with Reidy’s voice— just an auto-nope from me after sampling a few tracks. Imho, if you are not a good singer, then you shouldn’t sing on your records, and Reidy isn’t a good singer.

glad to see the Blawan record cracked the top 10 of the Quietus list, which continues to be more Quietussy (aka mostly unlistenable imho) every year lol

Not “quietussy”

i like reidy's voice on that record, i think it complements the unstable musical terrain of the album very well. i've honestly listened to it like five or six times since posting about it here

and lol tim

i did invent the term “Quietussy” for a reason lol.

also i don’t know who first mentioned the Annahstasia record but it is so beautiful, thanking you

co-sign those who put caroline- 2 on their lists, love this record. it's funny, two of my favorite singles of the year have involved Caroline Polachek, and before this year, I had never consciously heard anything by her!!

i always kinda glanced over mark ernestus related releases over the past decade+ but khadim is .. awesome, the best thing i've heard involving him since rhythm & sound.

My favourite is Internal Drone Infinity - Living Hour

an album i really enjoyed this year that I haven't seen mentioned much is Space Ghost & Teddy Bryant's Majestic Fantasies. super influenced by late 80s/early 90s r&b/new jack swing and UK street soul (loose ends, 52nd street, nick martinelli productions). here's the title track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdWilzqT4P4

^^one of those albums i kept making a mental note to check out but for whatever reason haven't yet. that track is wonderful - thanks for the reminder!

that's nice, those vocals are tight, always my litmus test for this sort of thing.

along those lines, mentioned this one upthread already but Teal's Original Watercolour EP drifts through a kinda street soul/trip hop/"fourth world" interzone, listened to it a lot this year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ARCg5NeyA

would love to hang in the chill out room where that is playing

Crash landing into my top ten: Bug Teeth - Micrographia

― Tim F, Tuesday, December 2, 2025 6:36 AM (one week ago)

Between this and Lightning Bug, it's been a great half-decade for bug-inflected dream-pop.

Some random NZ albums to throw out there:

Grecco Romank - Arts Colony
Ex-Partner - Lore-Core
Ron Gallipoli - An Imposter
Eden Burns - And The Make Believers
O/PUS - Out At Sea, The Water Is Deep
Great Barrier - Repetition
Baby Zionov - Raceways Of My Heart
maxine funke - Timeless Town
Varda - Farthest Shore

Have had Brìghde Chaimbeul's Sunwise on heavy repeat - what an album.

the album by auckland’s own the ringlets is one of my favorite indie albums of the year

Top 5:

Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band - New Threats from the Soul
Cardiacs - LSD
clipping. - Dead Channel Sky
Destroyer - Dan's Boogie
Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film

this shinichi atobe album is a nice surprise. i always liked his stuff i guess but not this much.

The Mark Ernestus record is wonderful. Like Basic Channel never went away. Let's get this in the ILM 77!

xp

I had been wondering about the Shinichi Atobe album. It apparently came out in mid-December last year, but I don't recall it hitting our polls. It's really nice, maybe it can sneak in this year.

xp yay hell yeah. it's definitely an evolution too. whoever is singing is amazing, and the drumming is so assured. the reduction and the synth stuff is welcome too ofc, speaking as a basic channel fan. it's a really beautiful synthesis. kind of feels like he's been exploring for the last twenty years with ensembles and this is a boiled-down precis of what he's learned. and also it just sounds really heartfelt and grounded. honestly wish i had lyrics - maybe those are in the physical release.

hell yeah to atobe too! i had no idea it came out. he was always too repetitive for me, i think. dunno if my ears have changed or this is more engaging. but it's just so effortlessly micro beautiful, like it's always existed or something.

Have had Brìghde Chaimbeul's Sunwise on heavy repeat - what an album.

Samesies.

i gave the shinichi atobe album a closer listen on a run and god it's off the hook. sounds like a stone cold classic to me. so elegant and serene with some monster beats too. the track it closes with is almost laugh-out-loud audacious. super funky and playful.

new k-lone o m g

― ivy., Friday, 28 November 2025 20:48 (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

great record

― nxd, Saturday, 29 November 2025 10:04 (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes, this is great

I kinda don't want to find any more albums of the year in December, but:

Hannah Frances - Nestled in Tangles

yes that’s a great one

Well Voices From the Lake decided to drop a sequel 13 years later in December and it's absolutely stunning too. Instantly one of my favorite electronic albums of the year

agreed, it’s wonderful

I liked a song of the Snocaps album that I saw on a few lists, so I listened to the whole thing and realized that I've been intermittently trying and failing to get into Waxahatchee for years when what I really need to do is listen to Allison Crutchfield.

i miss swearin’ every day of my goddamn life

The album I was most impressed with this year has to be Billy Woods - Golliwog
I don't know why I was worried it wouldn't hold up to repeated listening, but it just got better for me.
Love that I can play it all the way through, and I'm pretty sure it will stay with me for the foreseeable.
It's like an after hours spoken word scene, with stage settings and sound production by Marc Chagall and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Listen closely and you'll also hear, intercepted from the ether, snippets of brutal truths being reported from the front lines.

Voices From the Lake II is incredible, yeah.

others

Yazz Ahmed - A Paradise in the Hold https://yazzahmed.bandcamp.com/album/a-paradise-in-the-hold
Acopia - Blush Response https://acopia.bandcamp.com/album/blush-response
Lowli - Window in the Woods https://lowli.bandcamp.com/album/window-in-the-woods
Akasha System - Heliocene https://akashasystem.bandcamp.com/album/heliocene
Akasha System - Sun Archive https://akashasystem.bandcamp.com/album/sun-archive
Rene Najera - Painted Life https://renenajera.bandcamp.com/album/painted-life

This was a completely nutso year for good music, everyone’s list I look at has like 30 cool-sounding things I have never even heard of. Here’s my favorites! No AI nonsense, I promise. Every single one of these releases is on Bandcamp if you want to check any out.

The really really good baker’s dozen top pix:

Biota - Measured Not Found
More of their magical sound alchemy, a funhouse mirror of refracted musical glimpses. My fave of the year by quite some margin, also their first record since 2019.

Legendary Pink Dots - Chemical Playschool Volume 25
The continuing 25-year-old series exploring the band’s weirder side, therefore my favorite - all of these volumes together are really the way to hear the band in my opinion, speaking as a lifelong fan. Now featuring a fully integrated lineup, with Edward Ka-Spel as the sole original member. I saw the band in July and their set was almost entirely new stuff, they never rest or look back.

Daniel Bachman - Moving Through Light
Really lovely sound experimentation that (I think) is largely based on guitar input? As I write this I am thinking Fennesz might be a reference point, although this stuff is much denser in a Vladislav Delay kinda way it still maintains a very organic feel.

Grykë Pyje - Crepuscular Elixirs
A serious witch’s brew of wildly experimental instrumental songs based on some kinda inscrutable magic theme, somehow this band is related to Baldruin and the “Gespensterland scene” of like minded European weirdos.

brm & frank - Plastic Magic Box
Thanks to ILM for this tip, very nice zoned ambient fuzziness from two Tasmanian teenagers who really dig William Basinski. Some of this also recalls Zoviet France at their softest, a real winner and well worth your time.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island
This was the year I drank the Gizzard kool-aid. This is just a great rock album, I swear there’s some track on here that sounds like a prime Beatles/Revolver outtake circa late 1966. The orchestra helps and embellishes, but this is really the band’s deal. One latepass please! For the record it was their recent "Live In Bulgaria" "bootleg" on Bandcamp that finally made them click for me.

The Ex - If Your Mirror Breaks
Mekons - Horror
It’s not that these two records are GREAT, per se, but they are fine and worthy examples of where these bands have landed. Like the Pink Dots, The Ex always move forward and never play old stuff live (although they have been reissuing their old catalog at a rapid rate, which is great). Live, the Mekons prefer a mix of old and new, always varying their setlists considerably between tours (I’ve been lucky enough to see them in 1992, 2019, and this year). Listening to these records is like hanging out with an old friend.

Young Gods - Appear Disappear
I can’t believe this band is still as awesome as they were in 1987. I think the singer is now the only original member? It’s impressive how they are still immediately identifiable. This fucking rocks, if you’ve never heard them it’s as good a place to start as any.

Gina Birch - Trouble
Post punk icon (from The Raincoats) with her second recent solo album, even more rooted in her thoughts about age, mortality, and continuing to raise hell. “Causing Trouble Again” is an instant classic, a “list song” up there with Le Tigre’s “Hot Topic” (actually the sound of this album owes a lot to Le Tigre now that I think about it) and Chumbawamba’s “Misbehave”.

Abi Ooze - Live At Lemp
I don’t always get where she’s coming from with her overall sound/production, but this is her 3rd tape/digital EP in a row with at least two total earworms. I think it’s some of the catchiest pop-punk out there right now, even with it’s angrier DIY/NWI roots (she was briefly in Liquids which is how I discovered her solo work). Again, an artist I was lucky enough to catch live this year. Freed up to do vocals with a band behind her, she acted like a born rock star and mesmerized the crowd of approx 30 Portland folks. It was really something.

Necks - Disquiet
Man, this fucking band. The telepathic interplay here is on such an incredibly high level, like AMM if they decided to be a rock band in the style of Can or electric Miles. This massive triple CD is ironically a perfect entry point for the band, showcasing a few of their varied approaches across four long tracks. All instrumental, all riveting. Keyboard/bass/drums.

Eve Libertine & Eva Leblanc - Live at the Horse Hospital
Eve is and was always my favorite Crass member, and I always have time for anything she does. This awesome live set features several of her finest songs from Penis Envy recast as vocal/electric guitar duo takes, along with contemporary material that fits right in.

Oh and there's more! These are also good records fwiw:

Surface Of The Earth - In Colour - shadowy NZ hums and drone
Snooper - Worldwide - I need more time with this, not as immediate as their debut which is a good thing.
Dwarfs Of East Agouza - Sasquatch Landslide - gnarly improv
Legendary Pink Dots - So Lonely In Heaven - their proper studio album of 2025
Edward Ka-Spel/Twilight Circus - 800 Saints - a really great collab between EKS and an ex-Pink Dot
Edward Ka-Spel - A Monument to Wasted Tears - he just keeps putting out good solo albums
Public Enemy - Black Sky Over The Projects: Apartment 2025 - who woulda thought, etc. it’s good!
Lyra Pramuk - Hymnal - wild voice-centered layer cake
Obscuress - Maltha - C Carter of Charalambides and an accomplice get out there
Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty, Hahn Rowe - Second - this’ll satisfy any adventurous Fugazi fan
Michael Hurley - Broken Homes And Gardens - posthumous release, too patchwork for me but has some luminous high points including (FINALLY) a take of “In A Dress”.
Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film

A bunch of good-to-great young punk kid singles with one exception:

Tee Vee Repairmann - I Wanna Be A Ramone - if you just listen to one of these, this is the one.
Skull Cult - Can You See What I Mean
Busted Head Racket & Billiam - Kidnapped!
Split System - No Cops In Heaven - this is pretty damn great too
Power Pants - a bunch of digital/tape singles, I can’t even keep track
Heather The Jerk - Very Motorcycle
The Gobs - Obsgay Uleray
Billiam - Sylvie S Goes To Hawaii
Media Puzzle - Intermission
Daniel Bachman - Untitled/Dreamweapon - wild angry improv noise w/violin and ranting

reissues:

Bad Brains - Live At The Bayou - Stunning. On first listen I heard possibly the best versions ever of a couple classic tracks, plus this has some previously unreleased covers & originals.

To Live And Shave In LA - The Wigmaker… - One of the greatest noise albums of all time finally gets a well-deserved deluxe reissue, this blithering meticulous nonsense is right up there with Hanatarash 3 or whatever else you want to nominate. Essential for all freaks and mutants.

Test Dept. - Industrial Overture - Reissue of a bunch of early tapes plus Peel Sessions etc, very cool and I’ve barely listened as it came out like a week ago.

Husker Du - 1985: The Miracle Year - absolutely definitive live document of this specific era of the band, if you are even a casual fan you gotta hear this.

Vox Populi - Sucre De Pastèque - one of their best, most out-there tapes finally gets a reissue, this band gets tagged as “ethno-industrial” but they are so much more.

World Of Pooh - Tight & Loose - Barbara Manning fans unite, this compiles a bunch of great singles and misc tracks plus unreleased stuff. Makes a fine bookend to their lone studio LP, also recently reissued.

Paris 1942 -S/T - Did you know that Mo Tucker and the Bishop brothers from Sun City Girls used to be in a band together? I did, you may not have. This features the unmistakable sounds of a proto-SCG unit learning how to play together, each person bringing in ideas. It’s awesome to hear Tucker’s minimal style along with the Bishop bros and their blasted guitar lines.

E.G. Oblique Graph - The Complete Oblique - Newly unearthed recordings reveal the earliest creative impulses of the guy who went on to become Muslimgauze.

Zoviet France - Chasse 34xCD box (plus tape) - I already had this set as three LP boxes (yeah I know) but it was cool to see these sets get reissued again as CDs (they were available as 3 separate CD boxes as well as the absurd all-in-one chunk covering their whole discography (more or less).

cosign the Bachman love, sleeve— that record is mostly heavily processed guitar, yes. it’s gorgeous.

the Lyra Pramuk is terrific

xp he's a great bluesky follow, he's doing this work recording the (literal) sounds of old trees that's gonna be a release soon.

Great list sleeve

^

Thanks, sleeve! I missed the brm & frank discussion so I appreciate you flagging it here. Gorgeous, really.

mine:

steve tibbetts ― close
jenevieve ― crysalis
florence adooni ― aoeiu
william tyler ― time indefinite
eiko ishibashi ― antigone
nourished by time ― the passionate ones
jerkcurb ― night fishing on a calm lake
lightning in a twilight hour ― colours yet to be named

wow I missed this, from the ILM EOY noms list
Holden & Zimpel - The Universe Will Take Care Of You
https://jamesholden.bandcamp.com/album/the-universe-will-take-care-of-you

i wrote up my top 10 a few days ago https://hologramofthesenses.substack.com/p/aoty-2025

Listened mostly to pre-2025 musics this year ( Lô Borges and Dave Ball RIP) but what I did love - i.e played repeatedly at some point or another- gave me hope:

Wet Leg
Peter Murphy (bar the first and last tracks this was my fave from him in eons)
Klein
Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force
Shackleton/Zimpel live versions

*what I did love that’s new

no mentions of memorials is crazy

… no it’s not - came out in 2024. idiot me

Gina Birch - Trouble
Post punk icon (from The Raincoats) with her second recent solo album, even more rooted in her thoughts about age, mortality, and continuing to raise hell. “Causing Trouble Again” is an instant classic, a “list song” up there with Le Tigre’s “Hot Topic” (actually the sound of this album owes a lot to Le Tigre now that I think about it) and Chumbawamba’s “Misbehave”.
sleeve

Good "Five Questions For Gina Birch" on Magnet Magazine site too.

i've missed the latest updates to this thread, gotta review sleeve's list.

just wanted to note something somewhere about this steve hauschildt album, aeropsia. i can't stop listening to it. it's so glassy and smooth, endless gorgeous drift. perfect ambient music but there's a lot of subtle development, movement and use of space. depthless. stars of the lid crossed with fennesz i guess is a rough traingulation. i dipped into some of his back catalogue today but i wasn't nearly as impressed tbh.

also my partner really loves it which is a boon for our shared couch time listening lol

will do-sign aeropsia, magical album

listening now, haven’t really kept up with his stuff in a while but this is beautiful

:)

feel like i’ve added about ten new albums to my yet-to-be-posted EOY list in the past week lol

i find one i like and i listen over and over lol, so my list is small and i'll never catch up with everything.

*cosign, not do-sign, duh

https://exactoriginconfused.substack.com/p/22-subjectively-great-electronic

Necks

top 5 for me definitely

One of those albums that would sound even better if I still smoked weed, but digging it anyway:
Tuxedomoon---Desire (45th Anniversary Edition, lotta bonus tracks)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5037jvDM8c8