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

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)