The 2025 End of Year music lists thread

So it has started:

Rough Trade - Albums of the Year 2025
https://blog.roughtrade.com/gb/albums-of-the-year-2025/

Also

The Uncut and Mojo Albums of the Year Lists have been published. Both magazines have selected Pulp - More - as the their album of the year

Rough Trade -

Browse the top 100

https://www.roughtrade.com/collection/albums-of-the-year-2025

Uncut’s Top 80 Albums of 2025
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/uncuts-top-80-albums-of-2025/

only the Top 20 listed

UNCUT MAGAZINE – TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2025
20) Foxes in the Snow – Jason Isbell
19) Allbarone – Baxter Dury
18) Strawberries – Robert Forster
17) Double Infinity – Big Thief
16) Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles – Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles
15) The Heat Warps – Modern Nature
14) Caroline 2 – caroline
13) Time Indefinite – William Tyler
12) Planting by the Signs – S.G. Goodman
11) Lotus – Little Simz
10) Saving Grace – Robert Plant with Suzi Dian
9) Sable, Fable – Bon Iver
8) Twilight Override – Jeff Tweedy
7) Interior Live Oak – Cass McCombs
6) New Threats from the Soul – Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band
5) End of the Middle – Richard Dawson
4) Bleeds – Wednesday
3) Antidepressants – Suede
2) Instant Holograms on Metal Film – Stereolab
1) More – Pulp

DJ Mag Best of British awards 2025: voting is now open
https://djmag.com/news/dj-mag-best-of-british-awards-2025-voting-now-open

Best DJ
Interplanetary Criminal
LTJ Bukem
Mandidextrous
Neffa-T
Shanti Celeste

Breakthrough DJ
ALISHA
Amaliah
Paige Tomlinson
Silva Bumpa
sim0ne

Best Producer
Champion
Flava D
Hannah Holland
Prospa
Sammy Virji

Breakthrough Producer
Anish Kumar
La La
MPH
SHERELLE
The Trip

Best MC/Vocalist
George Riley
James Massiah
Micofcourse
Sox
Window Kid

Breakthrough MC/Vocalist
JayaHadADream
Kasst 8
Kibo
Nicole Blakk
Pozzy

Best Label
Pineapple Records
Semi Delicious
Tempa
Timedance
White Peach Records

Breakthrough Label
Basics Records
Dimeshift
Method 808
MINDHELMET
ROSSI.HOME//GRXWN.

Best Album
aya ‘hexed!’ [Hyperdub]
Blawan ‘SickElixir’ [XL Recordings]
Djrum ‘Under Tangled Silence’ [Houndstooth]
Goldie Presents Rufige Kru ‘Alpha Omega’ [London Records]
Maribou State ‘Hallucinating Love’ [Ninja Tune]

Best Compilation
Moxie ‘The Sound of Love International #007’ [Love International Recordings]
V/A ‘Annotations’ [footnotes]
V/A ‘Ping Volume One’ [Different Circles]
V/A ‘Synergy Vol. 3’ [Black Artist Database]
V/A ‘Tectonic Sound’ [Tectonic Recordings]

Best Track
CHRYSTAL ‘The Days (NOTION Remix)’ [Chaos]
Max Dean, Locky & Luke Dean ‘Can't Decide’ [NeXup Recz / Warner]
PinkPantheress ‘Illegal’ [Warner]
Sir Spyro & Killa P ‘Start & Stop’ [Neighbourhood Recordings]
Sub Focus & bbyclose ‘On & On’ [Positiva]

Best Rap Album/Mixtape
Asco ‘Perfect Timing’ [Mulli Music Group]
EsDeeKid ‘Rebel’ [XV Records / Lizzy Records]
Jim Legxacy ‘black british music’ [XL Recordings]
John Glacier ‘Like A Ribbon’ [Young]
Kamakaze & WIZE ‘It’s About Time’ [AHEAR Records]

Best Rap Track
Chaos & Scorcher ‘Champion’s League’ [Self-released]
Crafty 893 ‘Step 1’ [Tru Thoughts]
Joy Orbison & Joe James ‘bastard’ [XL Recordings]
namesbliss x BexBlu ‘premium wear’ [Self-released]
Wohdee ‘My Shayla’ [Self-released]

Best Club
Amber’s, Manchester
District, Cardiff
The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow
The Cause, London
The Loft, Manchester

Best Club Event
Cartulis
Dankie Sounds
FUSE
SHINE
Teletech

Best Festival
Body Movements Festival
Doof In The Park
Hide & Seek Festival
Hospitality Weekender
Watching Trees

MOJO's Top 75 Albums of 2025
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/mojos-top-75-albums-of-2025/

the top 25:

25. Van Morrison – Remembering Now
24. Mogwai – The Bad Fire
23. Midlake – A Bridge to Far
22. Eddie Chacon – Lay Low
21. Baxter Dury – Albarone
20. Cass McCombs -Interior Live Oak
18. Mark Pritchard / Thom Yorke – Tall Tales
17. Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override
16. Robert Plant w/ Suzi Dian – Saving Grace
15. Mavis Staples – Sad and Beautiful World
14. Richard Dawson – End of the Middle
13. Little Simz – Lotus
12. Alan Sparhawk w/ Trampled by Turtles – S/T
11. Paul Weller – Find El Dorado
10. Wet Leg – Moisturizer
9. Adrian Sherwood – The Collapse of Everything
8. The Tubs – Cotton Crown
7. Robert Forster – Strawberries
6. Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film
5. Annie & the Caldwells – Can’t Lose My (Soul)
4. Big Thief – Double Infinity
3. CMAT – Euro – Country
2. Suede – Antidepressants
1. Pulp – More

Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2025
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/decibels-top-40-albums-of-2025/

Decibel‘s Top 40 Albums of 2025
40. Sodom – The Arsonist
39. Ossuary – Abhorrent Worship
38. Nyredolk – Barndommens Hjem
37. Dead Heat – Process of Elimination
36. Biohazard – Divided We Fall
35. Sanguisugabogg – Hideous Aftermath
34. In The Company Of Serpents – A Crack In Everything
33. Morbikon – Lost Within Astral Crypts
32. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
31. Wode – Uncrossing The Keys
30. Havukruunu – Tavastland
29. Shearling – Motherfucker, I Am Both: Amen and Hallelujah
28. Testament – Para Bellum
27. Hooded Menace – Lachrymose Monuments Of Obscuration
26. Nite – Cult Of The Serpent Sun
25. Blut Aus Nord – Ethereal Horizons
24. Terror Corpse – Ash Eclipses Flesh
23. Coroner – Dissonance Theory
22. (16) – Guides For The Misguided
21. Species – Changelings
20. Blackbraid – Blackbraid III
19. Castle Rat – The Bestiary
18. Haggus – Destination Extinction
17. Volahn – Popol Vuh
16. Decrepisy – Deific Mourning
15. Eternal Darkness – Eternal Darkness
14. Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss
13. Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar
12. One Of Nine – Dawn Of The Iron Shadow
11. Tribunal – In Penitence And Ruin
10. Lamp Of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy
09. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
08. Tower – Let There Be Dark
07. Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence
06. Evoken – Mendacium
05. Rwake – The Return Of Magik
04. Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution
03. Paradise Lost – Ascension
02. Messa – The Spin
01. Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services

Ancient Death! Messa! Ossuary! Coroner! Species!

That's a good list.

Has anything been in the rough trade top ten in the last 5 years where they don't have an exclusive variant to sell...

Nothing says 2025 like a new Pulp album! I imagine that it won't necessarily have been many people's number one, but won out due to appearing on plenty of ballots. Ok, it's Mojo and Uncut so go figure, but it is quite depressing that with so much interesting stuff out there, a substantial number of writers chose an "it's fine I suppose" comeback album from a 90s indie band.

it's a lot better than "it's fine I suppose"

Each to their own, but everything I've heard from it went in one ear, out the other. Just a bland retread of past glories. It offers nothing new, which should surely be a consideration in AOTY polls.

Uncut Magazine: 80 Best Albums of 2025
https://www.yearendlists.com/2025/uncut-80-best-albums-of-2025

Full list provided.

xp disagree, Slow Jam is absolutely something new

Maybe for Pulp, but not for music.

Jarvis singing about threesomes over slap bass is giving me the boak.

Note: with Acclaimed Music you may need to sign up to view content, (probably to keep those AI search engine scrapers out)

EOY 2025 - MOJO (UK)
http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=214376&sid=b482b0ae151b819748cd921efbceb716#p214376

75. James Brandon & Lewis Quartet - Abstraction is Deliverance
74. MF Tomlinson - Die to Wake Up from a Dream
73. Sharp Pins - Radio DDR
72. Billy Woods - Golliwog
71. Brad Mehldau - Ride Into the Sun
70. Heartworms - Glutton for Punishment
69. Suzanne Vega - Flying with Angels
68. John Fogerty - Legacy
67. Lael Neale Altogether Stranger
66. William Tyler - Time Indefinite
65. Gruff Rhys - Dim Probs
64. Cymande - Renascence
63. Annahstasia - Tether
62. Brian D'Addario - Till the Morning
61. Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong
60. Tortoise - Touch
59. Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts - Talkin To The Trees
58. Hannah Cohen - Earthstar Mountain
57. Holden & Zimpel - The Universe Will Take Care of You
56. Haim - I Quit
55. Tav Falco - Desire on Ice
54. The Weather Station - Humanhood
53. Ty Segall - Possession
52. Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe - Luminal
51. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island
50. Margo Price - Hard Headed Woman
49. Salif Keita - So Kono
48. The Lemonheads - Love Chant
47. Greentea Peng - Tell Dem It's Sunny
46. Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal
45. Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
44. Sven Wunder - Daybreak
43. BC Camplight - A Sober Conversation
42. Steven Wilson - The Overview
41. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
40. Panda Bear - Sinister Grift
39. Jonathan Richman - Only Frozen Sky Anyway
38. Loaded Honey - Love Made Trees
37. Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas - Totality
36. Emma Pollock - Begging The Night To Take Hold
35. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Purple Bird
34. Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE
33. Jason Isbell - Foxes in the Snow
32. Geese - Getting Killed
31. Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking
30. Jacob Alon - In Limerence
29. Saint Etienne - International
28. Cate Le Bon - Michelangelo Dying
27. David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra - Who Is The Sky?
26. Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
25. Van Morrison - Remembering Now
24. Mogwai - The Bad Fire
23. Midlake - A Bridge to Far
22. Eddie Chacon - Lay Low
21. Baxter Dury - Allbarone
20. Cass McCombs - Interior Live Oak
19. Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke - Tall Tales
18. Emma-Jean Thackray - Weirdo
17. Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override
16. Robert Plant - Saving Grace
15. Mavis Staples - Sad and Beautiful World
14. Richard Dawson - End of the Middle
13. Little Simz - Lotus
12. Alan Sparhawk & Trampled By Turtles - Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles
11. Paul Weller - Find El Dorado
10. Wet Leg - moisturizer
09. Adrian Sherwood - The Collapse of Everything
08. The Tubs - Cotton Crown
07. Robert Forster - Strawberries
06. Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
05. Annie & the Caldwells - Can't Lose My (Soul)
04. Big Thief - Double Infinity
03. CMAT- EURO-COUNTRY
02. Suede - Antidepressants
01. Pulp - More

The amount of publications that focus on guitar and bands that are condemned to live off festivals blows my mind. I guess that's where the real market is.

how else is baxter dury going to pay his rent?

I don't think any of the albums are bad, but if your three favourite new albums of a year is Pulp, Suede and Stereolab, wouldn't it be depressing? Like, why even do that, just stay with old music, nothing wrong with that.

not sure we should be looking to dying print media for cutting-edge music takes. they know who their market is.

these Euro mags that haven't put The Tubs at #1 should be shuttered

Love the Tubs. But I prefer his other band, the now broken-up Ex-Void. Either way, Owen Williams is writing more great rock songs than anyone on the planet right now.

Multixp been a long term Baxter Dury sceptic but new album is great.

40 Best New Artists of 2025
https://stereogum.com/2476155/the-40-best-new-artists-of-2025/lists/best-new-artists

Summary provided by Perplexity:
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/https-stereogum-com-2476155-th-lv.DF9odR1CSmN.geJWuUA#0

Ami Taf Ra
Asher White
Audrey Hobert
BabyChiefDoIt
Bedridden
bloodsports
Brògeal
Cootie Catcher
Cardinals
crushed
Die Spitz
Dove Ellis
fakemink
Febuary
Fib
Fine
Glixen
Golomb
Hemlocke Springs
High.
Humour
Intermission
james k
Jawnino
JJ & The A’s
Junior Varsity
Legss
Los Thuthanaka
Macie Stewart
Nick León
ninajirachi
Prewn
Prostitute
Racing Mount Pleasant
Ribbon Skirt
TTSSFU
Um, Jennifer?
Upchuck
Vacuous
Westside Cowboy

I thought I was pretty good at keeping up with new stuff, but looking at that list, nah.

I didn’t write any of the blurbs for that list, but Ami Taf Ra and Macie Stewart were my suggestions.

Had never heard of Dove Ellis, but saw them open for someone last night. They sounded like an indie-folky all male Big Thief meets the National with a bit of Radiohead's Thom Yorke on vocals. Some people were impressed, but they weren't exactly my thing.

Huh, I have not knowingly heard one note of any of these hot new artists

Oh no wait I have heard (and really dig Upchuck)

Cootie Catcher and JJ and the A's are great. That's ... all I got.

I recognize James K and Macie Stewart. Both did great records in 2025. Drawing blank stares with the other names

february is an excellent post-hardcore band from las vegas

los thuthanaka are not technically new (elysia crampton/e+e/chuquimamani-condori project)

I will probably vote for the ninajirachi album in the ilx poll. the nick león album is good too although "bikini" kinda towers over the rest of it for me

You've all heard Fine. She's a Danish singer in the bliss/RMC mold, but she co-wrote several NewJeans songs with Erika de Casier, and she was sampled by Two Shell on Home.

weird that Upchuck are on there given they've been around 5 years and just released third album; but whatever its cool to include them.
Vacuous are an excellent grimy UK death metal band with same superb drummer as Hellripper.

when i saw grimy i mean filthy, not Grime-y

Fine are not 2025 though, they released a great 2024 album that was featured on several eoy lists iirc.

yeah that is mentioned in the article but not in the ai-generated (??) list

Asher White is pretty great, have seen them a couple times. Don't want to embed a video, but check out Why I Bought the House

(playing a free show at Rough Trade on the 18th for anyone in NY)

had the privilege of seeing Prostitute twice this year - incredible band, incredible live band

if you have the opportunity to see them, go

the ai-generated (??) list

The list wasn't AI-generated; it was proposed and compiled by people (like me!) who write for the website. DJmartian's summary of it was AI-generated.

are fans of Prostitute known as Johns?

xp
yes sorry that is what I meant. imho people should visit websites whose EOY lists they think are worth commenting on

BBC Radio 6 Music reveals its Albums of the Year 2025
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/bbc-radio-6-music-albums-of-the-year-2025

Today, BBC Radio 6 Music, the UK’s biggest digital-only radio station with 2.7 million listeners (RAJAR, Q3 2025), revealed its Albums of the Year 2025.

The albums will all be celebrated over the coming five weeks, within Albums of the Year special editions of Matt Everitt’s weekly New Album Fix show (which drops on BBC Sounds every Friday morning). Each of the albums will be explored across the five episodes, which will feature words from 6 Music presenters about why they’ve chosen their particular album.

Cam Pia, 6 Music’s Music Editor says: “I love hearing what our presenters have picked for 6 Music's annual Albums of the Year celebration - and 2025's list yet again showcases the incredible depth and breadth of music we play across the network as well as championing some truly outstanding bodies of work from some of our favourite artists. Over the next five weeks, we'll be digging into these picks via special programming as well as adding tracks from each album to our weekly new music playlist."

New Music Fix: Albums of the Year – Episode 1
On BBC Sounds from Friday 21 November

• EURO-COUNTRY by CMAT (selected by Chris Hawkins)

• Glory by Perfume Genius (selected by Huw Stephens)

• Lifetime by Erika de Casier (selected by SHERELLE)

• LSD by Cardiacs (selected by Marc Riley)

• Warsaw 480km by pôt-pot (selected by Deb Grant)

New Music Fix: Albums of the Year – Episode 2
On BBC Sounds from Friday 28 November

• Canticle Hardposte by Proc Fiskal (selected by AFRODEUTSCHE)

• Devotion & The Black Divine by anaiis (selected by Zakia)

• In Limerence by Jacob Alon (selected by Guy Garvey)

• Private Music by Deftones (selected by Huey Morgan)

• viagr aboys by Viagra Boys (selected by Nathan Shepherd)

New Music Fix: Albums of the Year – Episode 3
On BBC Sounds from Friday 5 December

• Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark by Gwenifer Raymond (selected by Gideon Coe)

• Joseph, What Have You Done? by Rainy Miller (selected by Mary Anne Hobbs)

• People Watching by Sam Fender (selected by Stuart Maconie)

• Teeth of Time by Joshua Burnside (selected by Emily Pilbeam)

• The Bad Fire by Mogwai (selected by Iggy Pop)

New Music Fix: Albums of the Year – Episode 4
On BBC Sounds from Friday 12 December:

• Crooked Wing by These New Puritans (selected by Mark Radcliffe)

• LUX by Rosalía (selected by Nick Grimshaw)

• Map of a Blue City by Marc Ribot (selected by Cerys Matthews)

• Tether by Annahstasia (selected by Jamz Supernova)

• we’re having a barn dance by lavender (selected by Don Letts)

New Music Fix: Albums of the Year – Episode 5
On BBC Sounds from Friday 19 December

• A Complicated Woman by Self Esteem (selected by Steve Lamacq)

• A.O.E.I.U. by Florence Adooni (selected by Gilles Peterson)

• Getting Killed by Geese (selected by Lauren Laverne)

• Sad and Beautiful World by Mavis Staples (selected by Beth Ditto)

• Teal Dreams by Yazmin Lacey (selected by Craig Charles)

• Who Let the Dogs Out by Lambrini Girls (selected by Amy Lamé)

One track from each of these albums will be added to the 6 Music playlist for one week between Monday 17 November – Sunday 21 December.

high five gilles peterson

Canticle Hardposte by Proc Fiskal (selected by AFRODEUTSCHE)

This one is v cool.

i definitely need to hear that, have loved various things by them in the past

Resident (Brighton Based Music Retailer) - The Resident Annual 2025 Booklet

has been published, can be viewed online: (with reviews)
https://www.resident-music.com/mid-year-picks-booklet

1: CMAT - Euro-Country

the pulping of the lists

I gave a cursory listen to CMAT and it sounds very efficient but also gives me strong Chappel Roan vibes and I'm not sure I need a whole generation of this kind of country pop

Jazzwise (UK jazz magazine) has put out their Reissues & Archive list, and a record I put out made it!

1. Pharoah Sanders, Love Is Here: The Complete Paris 1975 ORTF Recordings
2. Freddie Hubbard, On Fire: Live At The Blue Morocco
3. John Taylor, Tramonto
4. Anthony Braxton, Quartet (England) 1985
5. Larry Stabins/Keith Tippett/Louis Moholo-Moholo, Live In Foggia
6. John Surman, Flashpoints And Undercurrents/Mike Taylor Quartet, Pendulum (tie)
8. Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Himself
9. Miles Davis, Walkin'/Charles Tolliver Music Inc., Live At Slugs Vols. 1 & 2 (tie)
11. Stanley Cowell, Musa: Ancestral Streams/Sun Ra & His Inter-Galactic Research Orchestra, Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (tie)
13. Charles Rouse, Two Is One/Polar Bear, Dim Lit (tie)
15. Mike Osborne/Stan Tracey, Original/Charles Mingus, In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts/Various Artists, A New Awakening: Adventures In British Jazz 1966-1971/Joe Henderson & Woody Shaw, Jazz Patterns (4-way tie)
19. Bill Evans, Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings/Horace Silver, Silver In Seattle: Live At The Penthouse (tie)

congrats!