Best of 2025 Lists

DJ Aahh

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Top 10 trax of 2025 Z-A

Elisapie – “Uumati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass) (Remix)” (Bonsound)
Valentino Khan – “Sound” (VK Music)
Sally Shapiro – “Rent” (Italians Do It Better)
The SyntheTigers – “Remedy (Unreleased David Harness 25 Remix)” (Moulton Music)
Shit Robot – “No Cigar (Adrian Sherwood Dub)” (DFA)
Bipolar Sunshine – “Love Inside” (Hallwood Distribution)
Rosie Charles – “Lonely (Yves Jones Remix)” (Yves Jones)
Laibach – “I Want to Know What Love Is (Extended)” (Mute)
Kelly Lee Owens – “Higher (George Daniel Remix)” (dh2)
The Cure – “Endsong (Orbital Remix)” (Polydor)

Beast Monster Thing

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Favorite New Releases (Alphabetical)

Addison Rae – ADDISON (Columbia)
Car Seat Headrest – The Scholars (Matador)
clipping. – Dead Channel Sky (Sub Pop)
Cootie Catcher – Shy at first (Cooked Raw)
Debby Friday – The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life (Sub Pop)
Die Spitz – Something to Consume (Third Man)
Geese – Getting Killed (Partisan)
good flying birds – talulah’s tape (Carpark)
James K – Friend (AD93)
jasmine.4.t – You Are The Morning (Saddest Factory)
Jay Som – Belong (Polyvinyl)
Juanita & Juan – Jungle Cruise (The Red)
Katsy Pline – Live at the Three Teardrops (Paisley Shirt)
Lady Gaga – MAYHEM (Interscope)
Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out (City Slang)
Mal Blum – The Villain (Get Better)
Meat Cube – Meat Cube (S/R)
Mereba – The Breeze Grew a Fire (Secretly Canadian)
Model/Actriz – Pirouette (True Panther)
Momma – Welcome to My Blue Sky (Polyvinyl)
The New Eves – The New Eve Is Rising (Transgressive)
Oklou – choke enough (True Panther)
Open Mike Eagle – Neighborhood Gods Unlimited (Auto Reverse)
Perfume Genius – Glory (Matador)
Population II – Maintenant Jamais (Bonsound)
Saapato – Decomposition: Fox On A Highway (Constellation Testu)
Sextile – yes, please. (Sacred Bones)
Shanti Celeste – Romance (METHOD 808)
Snooper – Worldwide (Third Man)
Teethe – Magic Of The Sale (Winspear)
They Are Gutting a Body of Water – LOTTO (ATO)
Turnstile – Never Enough (Roadrunner)
Um Jennifer? – Um Comma Jennifer Question Mark (Final Girl)
Water From Your Eyes – It’s A Beautiful Place (Matador)
Wednesday – Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
Wombo – Danger in Fives (Fire Talk)
Yetsuby – 4EVA (Pink Oyster)

Favorite Shows in Order

A. G. Cook – Regency Ballroom, 4/25
Rilo Kiley – Fremont Theater, 5/5
Pardoner and The She’s – The Chapel, 6/5
Kreayshawn – Mosswood Meltdown, 7/20
CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – Outside Lands, 8/10
Cursive – Bottom of the Hill, 9/9
Jeff Rosenstock and PUP – Fox Theater, 10/4
Texas Is The Reason – Cornerstone, 10/7
Rilo Kiley (again) – Greek Theater, 10/16
Car Seat Headrest (for the 11th time) – Fox Theater, 11/1
Rainer Maria and Cap’N Jazz – Great American Music Hall, 11/19

Berkestir

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New Stuff

Above Me-”Above Me” (Dandy Boy)
Anika-” Abyss” (Sacred Bones)
The Beths -”Straight Line Was A Lie” (ANTI-)
Lucrecia Dalt- “A Danger To Ourselves” (rvng)
Deradoorian- “Ready for Heaven” (Fire)
Catu Diosis- “ Anyim” (Hakunaku Lala)
Goat-”The Human Language “Goat’ Tape” (Rocket)
Goat & MC Yallah- “Nimeruui” (Rocket)
Gnod & White Hills-” Drop Out III” ( Rocket)
Chester Hawkins-” Apsis” (Intangible Arts)
Hawkwind- “ There Is No Space For Us” (Cherry Red)
Hemlock & Hyrde “ Feohland” ( House of Inkantation)
Jim Jarmusch And Anika- “Father Mother Sister Brother (Sacred Bones)
Latest Fad-”Emotional Activity Room” (S/R)
Lung-”The Swankeeper” (Feel It )
Juana Molina-” DOGA” ( RGS)
The Mommyheads-”No Quietus” ( Fanfar!)
Moundabout-”Goat Skull Table” (Rocket)
Marissa Nadler-”New Radiations” (Sacred Bones)
Lael Neale-” Altogether Stranger” (Sub Pop)
The Ophelias- “Spring Grove” (Get Better)
Onyon “-Pale Horses” (Swish Swash)
Ora the Molecule- “Dance Therapy” (Mute)
Posthuman- “The Mind is a Heavy Burden” (Flatlife)
Pye Corner Audio – “Lake Deep Memory” (Quiet Details)
Ryli- “ Come And Get Me” (Dandy Boy)
Space Waves-”On & On” Mindwave)
Sanam- “ Sametou Sawtan” (Constellations)
The Sparks-”MAD” (Transgressive)
Emma Swift “ The Resurrection Game” (Tiny Ghost)
Veryan “Brocken Mirrors EP” (S/R)
Maura Weaver-”Strange Devotion” (Feel It)
White Hills-”The Lost Oddity” (Heads on Fire)
White Hills -”Tone Spores: In Dialogue” (Heads on Fire)

Old Stuff

Hawkwind-”Hall of the Mountain Grill” (Atomhenge)
Robyn Hitchcook-” Invisible Hitchcook ( Outtakes and Demos” ( Tiny Ghosts)
VA – “Brown Acid Twentieth Trip” (Riding Easy)

(boy)wife

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Albums I had on repeat (Alphabetical)

Arca – KiCk i
Ayegy – BLACKTHORN
Burial – Untrue
Chanel Beads – Your Day Will Come
Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II)
Daft Punk – Alive 2007
Elias Ronnenfelt & Dean Blunt – Lucre
Emma DJ – Lay2g
Erika de Casier – Lifetime
EsDeeKid – Rebel
FKA Twigs – Eusexua
Frost Children – Sister
Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
Majesty Crush – Love 15
Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine
Portishead – Third
The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land
Sextile – yes, please.
Smerz – Big City Life
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Various Artists – Boyz Noize presents ONES and ZEROS (Compilation)
Vegyn & Air – Blue Moon Safari
Tricky – Maxinquaye
Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place

Carnacki

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25 Favourite Albums (Alphabetical)

Alchemist Quintet — Ghost Radio (S/R)
Circuit Des Yeux – Halo On The Inside (Matador)
Domenica Diavoleria — A City of Ladies (S/R)
Avi C Engel – Mote (Fenny Compton) and Nocturne (Somewherecold)
ESSES – Pain at the Altar of Jest (Seeing Red)
Faun Fables – Counterclockwise (Drag City)
Ekin Fil — Bora Boreas (DRONARIVM)
Rebecca Foon — Reverie (Constellation)
Ellen Fullman and The Living Earth Show — Elemental View (Room40)
Hildur Gu∂nadóttir – Where To From (Deutsche Grammophon)
Carla Kihlstedt – 26 Little Deaths (Cantaloupe)
Kitka – Kolo (Diaphonica)
Lia Kohl and Whitney Johnson – For Translucence (Drag City)
Euphotic – Clastic (Confront)
Golem Mecanique – Siamo tutti in pericolo (Ideologic Organ)
Cheryl E. Leonard – near the bear (forms of minutiae)
Lonely Coast – Faraway (S/R)
Kali Malone and Drew McDowall – Magnetism (Ideologic Organ)
Matmos – Metallic Life Review (Thrill Jockey)
Jessica Moss – Unfolding (Constellation)
Murder By Death – Egg & Dart. And. The End (Tent Show Records)
Marissa Nadler – New Radiations (Sacred Bones)
Nurse With Wound and Scanner – Contrary Motion (United Dairies)
Throwing Muses — Moonlight Concessions (Fire RecordS)
Theresa Wong – Journey to the Cave of Guanine (Room40)

Some Favourite Cassettes (Alphabetical)

Alula Down – leafing through (S/R)
eleanor – Lamentations of An Bean Sí (S/R)
Avi C Engel – A Little Light (Cruel Nature)
Loose Diamonds – Pacifico Suns (S/R)
Pacific Walker – Lost In The Valley Of The Sun (Blue Sanct)
Trio del Mango – Cómelo (S/R)

Some Favourite Downloads (Alphabetical)

Cosmeana – Common Smooth False Blue (S/R)
DakhaBrakha – Ptakh (S/R)
Lankum – Ghost Town (S/R)
Dina Maccabee – The LeRoy Variations (S/R)
Marissa Nadler and Milky Burgess — The Bloody Gardener (S/R)
somesurprises – Year Without Spring (S/R)
Surplus 1980 – (There Is) Too Much Music (S/R)
THOABATH – Asc. Dere. (S/R)
Emily Wells – The Fires (Original Score) (S/R)

Some Favourite Small Things (Alphabetical)

Alula Down – High Germany / Summer Song (Tepid Toad)
The Owl Service – The Flypaper EP (Hobby-Horse)
The Owl Service – Dead Hour of the Night (Hobby -Horse)
Kathleen Yearwood – Wormwood / Voices and Lightenings (Future Grave)

Some Favourite Series

irr. app. (ext.) – Wergom digital single series (errata in excelsis)
Laura Cannell – A Compendium of Beasts series (Brawl)
W A Davison – The Long Play (S/R)

Some Favourite Live Performances (Chronological)

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – UC Theatre, 25 January
Carla Kihlstedt – 26 Little Deaths, Herbst Theatre, 29 January
Lia Kohl – CNMAT, 21 February
Bevis Frond – GAMH, 11 March
Sholeh Asgary & Leila Abdul-Rauf – The Lab, 22 March
Holy Locust – Vanguard Lab, 3 April
DakhaBrakha – The Freight, 4 April
Subhumans, Scene Killers – Gilman Street, 18 April
Circuit Des Yeux – The Chapel, 27 April
Zoë Keating – Bimbo’s, 16 May
Tele Novella – Knockout, 27 May
Kristine Barrett, Iavnana Georgian Ensemble – Spaulding Marine Center, 1 June
Moekestra – Death Of A Piano, First Church Of The Buzzard, 5 July
Matmos – GAMH, 8 July
Return The Gift series – Temescal Art Center, August
Euphotic – CNMAT 15 August
Faun Fables – Bottom Of The Hill, 6 September
Murder By Death – UC Theatre, 28 October
Red Room Orchestra, Conspiracy of Beards – Leonard Cohen Tribute GAMH, 3 November
Leyya Mona Tawil, Freida Abtan, DADABOTS, etc. — SFEMF, Gray Area, 7-9 November
Kitka – Meyer Sound, 12 November
Melt Banana – Cornerstone, 12 November
Odessa Chen, Emily Jane White – Studio 4th Street, 6 December
Alchemist Quintet – The Back Room, 14 December

Carolyn

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My Favorite LPs of 2025

Sklitakling – Normal Drift LP (Back To Beat Records)
Normal Weirds – No Lease On Life CD (S/R)
Panic Shack – Panic Shack LP (Brace Yourself Records)
Public Enemy – Black Sky Over The Projects: Apartment 2025 LP (Enemy Records/ Flavor Flav Records)
Sprints – All That Is Over LP (Sub Pop Records)
Civic – Chrome Dipped LP (ATO Records)
Angel Face – Out In The Street LP (Slovenly Recordings)
Laundry Bats – Hangin On A String LP (Hozac Records)
Jim E Brown – Shame LP (Didsbury Parsonage)
Wesley & The Boys – Rock & Roll Ruined My Life LP (Sweet Time Records)
TY – We R TY cassette (Painters Tapes)
Sick Fizz – Takin’ Care Of Fizzness LP (Speek Evil Records)
Perverts Again – The New Man LP (Saale 2 Power Records)
Jacket Burner – Eat Shit + Die LP (Goodbye Boozy Records)
Ghoulies – Shafted By The Algorithm LP (Erste Theke Tontraeger)
Thee Eliam – Breathe The Dawn LP (Solo Txiki Music)
Dick Move – Dream, Believe, Achieve LP (Flying Nun Records)
Last Quokka – Take The Fight To The Bastards LP (S/R)
Brody & The Grodies – Mistakes Were Mad (S/R)

My Favorite EPs of 2025

The Smog – Speed Of Life/ New Game 7” (Going Underground Records)
Cheap Fix – Re-Animator Blues/ French Song 7” (Goodbye Boozy Records)
Soft Palms – Radio (Everloving Records)
Tee Vee Repairmann – Only A Memory / Bad News 7” (Goner Records)
The Vovos – Cock Rock (Blossom Rot Records)
Bratakus – Final Girls/ Hypocritical (S/R)
Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice – No Pigs/Desksitter 7” (Marthouse Records)
Big Bill – Songs For The Internet digital (S/R)
Baby Seals – Tamoo Trance/ I Will Panic If I Want To Shirley 7” (Trapped Animal Records)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Shapes And Forms 7” (Cool Death)
deBasement – deBasement EP (S/R)
Busted Head Racket & Billiam – Kidnapped! 7” (Goodbye Boozy Records)
Vacant Lot – Creatures Of The Night 7” (Iron Lung Records)
Spilt System – No Cops In Heaven / Pull The Trigger 7” (Legless Records)

My Favorite Live Shows of 2025 (Chronological)

Jim E Brown – February 11 at 924 Gilman, February 12 at Oakland Secret
Black Plate/ Bag Of Sad – March 19 at the Knockout
Normal Weirds – March 21 at Music City
Anglo Girls – April 4 at Bottom Of The Hill
Flamin’ Groovies (Boomer Bob’s Birthday party) – April 25 at Light Rail Studios
The Geros/ Replica Watch – May 18 at Stay Gold
Nobro – May 29 at 924 Gilman
The Sleevens – May 29 at Thee Stork Club
The Damned/ TV Smith – May 30 at UC Theatre
Civic – June 3 at Bottom of The Hill
Lol Tolhurst – June 15 at The Chapel
Mosswood Meltdown – July 19 & 20 at Mosswood Park
Paul Simon – July 22 at Davies Symphony Hall
Janky Band – August 28 at Bottom of The Hill
Greg Norton – September 15 at Ivy Room
Skate Witches – October 5 at 4 Star Theatre
Michael Beach/ Replica Watch – October 11 at the Kilowatt
The Saints ’73-’78 – November 6 & 7 at Great American Music Hall
8th Annual Flamin’ Snowball Festival – December 6 at the Abbey Tavern

Cuppa Joe

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25 Favorite Records (Alphabetical)

Alchemist Quintet – Ghost Radio (S/R)
AVTT/PTTN – AVTT/PTTN (Ipecac/Ramseur/Thirty Tigers)
Tom Conneely & Birds Of Paradise – New Kind Place (Kestrel)
Galactic And Irma Thomas – Audience With The Queen (Tchuop-Zilla)
GoGo Penguin – Necessary Fictions (XXIM)
S.G. Goodman – Planting By The Signs (Slough Water/Thirty Tigers)
Grooblen – Friendo (War Chant)
Gumby’s Junk – Business & Pleasure (Joyful Service)
Horsegirl – Phenetics On and On (Matador)
Jason Isbell – Foxes In The Snow (Southeastern)
Lung – The Swankeeper (Feel It)
Mekons – Horror (Fire)
Milk For The Angry – Powder Trails On Fire (King Pizza)
Pancho And The Wizards – Sun In Splendor (S/R)
Margo Price – Hard Headed Woman (Loma Vista)
Skullcrusher – And Your Song Is Like A Circle (Dirty Hit)
Snocaps – Snocaps (Anti-)
Mavis Staples – Sad And Beautiful World (Anti-)
Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film (Warp)
St. Paul and the Broken Bones – St. Paul & the Broken Bones (Oasis Pizza)
This Is Lorelei – Holo Boy (Double Double Whammy)
Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override (dBpm)
Water From Your Eyes – It’s A Beautiful Place (Matador)
Wednesday – Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
Wet Leg – moisturizer (Domino)

21 Best shows I saw (Chronological)

Gumby’s Junk, Sleepy Time Guerilla Museum – UC Theater, 1/25
Please Don’t Eat Me, Michael Michael Motorcycle – Travis Marina Bar, 2/7
MJ Lenderman – The Independent, 2/17-2/18
Lankum – Great American Music Hall, 2/27
Jason Isbell – Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 3/13
This is Lorelei – Cafe du Nord, 4/3
Sturgill Simpson – Greek Theatre, 4/24
Jesus Lizard – The Fillmore, 5/5
Rain Parade – Sweetwater Music Hall, 5/9
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Bill Graham Civic, 5/14
Bill Orcutt’s “The Four Louies”, Gumby’s Junk – The Lab, 5/31
Mikaela Davis and Southern Star, Lily Seabird – Cafe du Nord, 7/8
Tedeschi Trucks Band – Greek Theatre, 8/12
MJ Lenderman – Fox Theater, 9/12
MJ Lenderman – Gundlach Bundschu Winery, 9/13
Courtney Barnett – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, 10/4
Stereolab – The Regency Ballroom, 10/21
Water From Your Eyes – The Independent, 10,29
GoGo Penguin – The Fillmore, 11/21
The Alchemist Quintet – The Back Room, 12/14

Da Flower Punk

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Favorite Albums

Greensky Bluegrass, XXV (Big Blue Zoo)
The Wood Brothers, Puff of Smoke (Honey Jam)
Sierra Hull, A Tip Toe High Wire (Sierra Hull)
Brothers Comatose, Golden Grass (Swamp Jam)
Margo Price, Hard Headed Woman (Loma Vista)
Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
Mavis Staples, Sad and Beautiful World (Anti-)
Galactic & Irma Thomas, Audience With The Queen (Tchoup-Zilla)
Skip The Needle, Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up (soulectric)
Nicki Bluhm, Rancho Deluxe (Little Sur)
Peter Rowan, Tales of The Free Mexican Air Force (There)
Robert Plant w/ Suzi Dyan, Saving Grace (Nonesuch)
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Space Junk (Snakefarm)

dahlia

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25 Of My Favorite Songs Released in 2025 (Alphabetical)

Andy Bell, Dot Allison, Michael Rother – “i’m in love…” (Sonic Cathedral)
Artemas, Mareux – “baby give me more” (S/R)
Big Thief – “Grandmother” (feat. Laraaji) (4AD)
Kai Bosch – “Angel” (Cartoon)
Car Seat Headrest – “Devereaux” (Matador)
clipping. – “Run It” (Sub Pop)
Dubinski – “What’s Even Normal” (Gnu Roam)
Ethel Cain – “Pulldrone” (Daughters of Cain)
FKA twigs, Koreless – “Drums of Death” (Atlantic)
Halsey – “safeword” (Columbia)
Anna von Hausswolf – “Consensual Neglect” YEAR0001)
Jenny Hval – “Lay down” (4AD)
The Last Dinner Party – “Second Best” (UMG)
Jayme Lawson – “Pale, Pale Moon” (Proximity Media)
Mhaol – “Coda” (Merge)
Nuovo Testamento – “Dream On” (Discoteca Italia)
Gigi Perez – “Chemistry” (Outtahere)
Pure Hex – “Silence” (Neon Bloodbath)
SASAMI – “I’ll Be Gone” (Domino)
Sextile – “Women Respond to Bass” (Sacred Bones)
Sir Chloe – “Forgiving” (ONErpm)
Turnstile – “SLOWDIVE” (Roadrunner)
Suki Waterhouse – “Dream Woman” (Sub Pop)
Wet Leg – “catch these fists” (Domino)
Hayley Williams – “Parachute” (Post Atlantic)

DangerVenture

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10 Most Listened to New Releases

Petey – The Yips (Capitol)
Anamanaguchi – Anyway (Polyvinyl)
Bartees Strange – Horror (4AD)
Nation of Language – Dance Called Memory (Sub Pop)
Frost Children – SISTER (True Panther)
Turnstile – NEVERENOUGH (Roadrunner)
Madi Diaz – Fatal Optimist (Anti)
Say Anything – The Noise of Say Anything’s Room Without… (Rory)
Purity Ring – S/T (The Fellowship)
Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)

5 Most Listened to Local Releases

gloomy june – S/T (Left Ghost)
Present – Letters to the Lost (S/R)
The Queen & I – At Peace (S/R)
Ryli – Come and Get Me (Dandy Boy)
Star 99 – Gaman (Lauren)

Top 10 Local Shows

Russian Circles – The Fillmore, 3/12
Friko – Rickshaw Stop, 5/7
Bartees Strange – The Independent, 5/11
Blondshell – August Hall, 5/31
Anamanaguchi – August Hall, 9/10
Coheed & Cambria – Greek Theatre, 9/18
Turnstile – Bill Graham Civic, 10/5
Ludovico Einaudi – Bill Graham Civic, 10/22
Petey – The Fillmore, 11/1
Laura Stevenson – Swedish American Hall, 11/22

Desolation Girl & Ness

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 Favorite Album Releases

Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)
Wednesday – Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
Say Anything – The Noise of Say Anything’s Room Without… (Rory)
Alex G – Headlights (RCA)
They Are Gutting A Body of Water – LOTTO (ATO)
Holidays in United States – This Is My Second Rodeo (self-released)
Texas 3000 – Weird Dreams (Skin Slicing Horse)
Bb trickz – 80’z (Sony)
Some Images of Paradise – i expect the same of u (Everything is Perfect)
ZAZEN BOYS – MATSURI SESSION AT BUDOKAN (MATSURI STUDIO)
AFI – Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (Run for Cover)
(T–T)b – Beautiful Extension Cord (Disposable America)
Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH (Roadrunner)

Favorite Song Releases

inutech – “our dog inu*” (ORCA/inu[online])
Hayley Williams – “Mirtazapine” (Post Atlantic)
Ben Kweller – “Dollar Store (feat. Waxahatchee)” (Noise Company)
Star 99 – “Emails” (Lauren Records)
Kevin Abstract / DERBY – “I Wasn’t There” (Juno / X8)
Motion City Soundtrack – “Things Like This” (Epitaph)
Andi Camp – “the story after” (Grafton Records)
The Starting Line – “Defeating the Purpose + Pivot” (Lineage)
Pacing – “Nothing! (I wanna do)” (Asian Man)
Sleigh Bells – “Bunky Pop” (Mom + Pop)
withyouallday – “Seventy Thre3” (self-released)
Turnstile – “BIRDS” (Roadrunner)
They Are Gutting A Body of Water – “baeside k” (ATO)
Wednesday – “Wound Up Here (By Holding On)” (Dead Oceans)
人畜乱弾 / Zinchikurandan – “くさい女 / Kusai on’na” (self-released)
Holidays in United States – “RIP J. Mascis” (self-released)
Momma – “Ohio All the Time” (Polyvinyl)
Valentina Bludgeoned – “glass sparklezz” (self-released)

Most Listened To

ribbon fix – some Saturday this has been (Grafton)
The Sidekicks – Runners In The Nerved World (Epitaph)
Clique – Burden Piece (Topshelf Records)
Two Inch Astronaut – “Snitch Jacket” (Exploding in Sound)
Cibo Matto – “Moonchild” (Warner Bros.)
Hank Williams III – “White Trash” (Bruc)
Perilisium Cantos – “Relic/Sick” (Insect Records)
Amyl and The Sniffers – “Me and The Girls” (Virgin)
syrup16g – “Ordinary” (UK.PROJECT)
Foxy Shazam – “NO Don’t Shoot” (eeeoooah)

Reissues We’re Thankful For

Reggie and the Full Effect – Songs Not to Get Married To (Vagrant)
My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge Deluxe Edition (Reprise)
Portraits of Past – Portraits of Past (Ebullition)
GING NANG BOYZ – Blew Blue (Lauren Records)
Ink and Dagger – The Fine Art of Original Sin (Trust Records)
Heatmiser – Mic City Sons 30th Anniversary (Third Man)
Paramore – All We Know Is Falling Deluxe Edition (Fueled by Ramen)

Favorite Bay Area Releases

First Day Back – Forward (self-released)
Friendship Games – 2025 demo (self-released)
Present – Letters to the Lost (self-released)
Ground Cover – EP (self-released)
awakebutstillinbed., California Cousins, Your Arms Are My Cocoon, Aren’t We Amphibians – fourwaysplit (self-released)
Star 99 – Gaman (Lauren Records)
With Open Arms – EP (self-released)
Grad Nite – Suplex (Messenger Bag)
Thanks! I Hate It – Scatterbrain (Take This to Heart)
Meat Cube – Meat Cube (self-released)

Dog Gamut

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2025 Treats – Favorite Album Releases

Big Freedia – Pressing Onward (Queen Diva Music)
FKA twigs – EUSEXUA (Atlantic Records)
Clarice Jensen – In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness (130701)
Alex G – Headlights (SME)
Second Psalms – Tender Mercy ( Second Psalms Music Fellowship)
Birds on a Wire – Nuées ardentes ([PIAS] Recordings France)
james K – Friend (AD 93)
Destin Conrad – LOVE ON DIGITAL (Destin Conrad / EMPIRE)

2025 Treats – Favorite Song Releases

FKA twigs – “Sushi” (Atlantic Records)
Alex G – “June Guitar” (SME)
james K – “Doom Bikini” (AD 93)
DESTIN CONRAD, Teezo Touchdown – “THE LAST TIME” (Destin Conrad / EMPIRE)
Clarice Jensen – “In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness – Part 1” (130701)
Mereba – “Heart of a Child” (Secretly Canadian)
Birds on a Wire – “Gia tài của mẹ” ([PIAS] Recordings France)
Second Psalms – “The Word (feat. Daniel Tomei, Joe Brackbill & Drew Thomas)” (Second Psalms Music Fellowship)
Ora the Molecule – “Løveskatt” (Mute (Artist Intelligence))

Ears of Maize

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S.G. Goodman – Planting by the Signs (Slough Water Records)

((echoplex))

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2025 Brain Benders

Anadol & Marie Klock – La grande accumulation (Pingipung)
Andrew Pekler – New Environments & Rhythm Studies (Faitiche)
Another Body Found – Scooterboys From The Pool (Minimal Wave)
Artificial Go – Musical Chairs (Feel It)
Automatic – Is It Now? (Stones Throw)
aya – hexed! (Hyperdub)
Blawan – SickElixir (XL)
Carrier – Rhythm Immortal (Modern Love)
Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying (Mexican Summer)
Cube – Lucky Numbers & True Weight (Digital Regress)
Cuneiform Tabs – Age (Superior Viaduct)
Dean Wareham – That’s the Price of Loving Me (Carpark)
Deradoorian – Ready For Heaven (Fire)
Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On (Matador)
IE – Reverse Earth (Quindi)
In Trance 95 – The Move (Minimal Wave)
Juana Molina – DOGA (Sonamos)
Kilynn Lunsford – Promiscuous Genes (Feel It)
L.F.T. – Hell Was Boring (Mannequin)
Manslaughter 777 – God’s World (Thrill Jockey)
MC Yallah & Debmaster – Gaudencia (Hakuna Kulala)
Rrose – 2 or 3 Drops of Height Have Nothing to do With Savagery (T4T LUV NRG)
Saapato – Decomposition: Fox on a Highway (Constellation Tatsu)
Salami Rose Joe Louis – Lorings (Brainfeeder)
Self Improvement – Syndrome (Feel It)
Smerz – Big City Life (Escho)
Smoke Bellow – Structurally Sound (Moon Glyph)
Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing (Leaf)
Sophia Chablau e Felipe Vaqueiro – Nova Era/Ohayo Saravá (Risco)
Soyuz – Krok (Mr. Bongo)
YHWH Nailgun – 45 Pounds (AD 93)

Reissues & Compilations

Evelyne / Masao – Testpattern (Dark Entries)
Gina X Performance – Greatest Fits (Dark Entries)
Hardware – Untitled LP, 1979 (Dirty Knobby)
Meiko Kaji – Yadokari (Wewantsounds)
Parade Ground – The Golden Years (Dark Entries)
Various Artists – Lost Coast: Some Visionary Music from California, 1980–1992 (Goaty Tapes)

Film Close-Ups

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2000 Meters to Andriivka
28 Years Later
All the Empty Rooms (short)
Becoming Led Zeppelin
Black Bag
Bugonia
Careless Passage (short)
Caught by the Tides
Come See Me In The Good Light
F1
Fairyland
Frankenstein
Hamnet
I Am Ready, Warden (short)
I’m Still Here
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
It Was Just An Accident
Jean Cocteau
KPop Demon Hunters
Lurker
Mistress Dispeller
No Other Choice
No Other Land
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After Another
Orwell 2+2=5
Pavements
Perfectly a Strangeness (short)
Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs
Resurrection
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Sirat
Steal This Story, Please!
Superman
The Alabama Solution
The Day The Earth Blew Up
The Mastermind
The Roses
The Secret Agent
The Secret of Me
The Shrouds
Warfare
We Were the Scenery (short)
Weapons
Where To Land

g. extrasauce

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16 albums I dug in 2025 (Alphabetical)

Actual/Actual (w/ Rent Romus) – Dimensionality (Edgetone)
Artificial Go – Musical Chairs (Feel It)
Black Lips – Season of the Peach (Fire)
The Cords – The Cords (Slumberland)
Deradoorian – Ready for Heaven (Fire)
Florry – Sounds Like… (Dear Life) <-Top Pick
Foxwarren – 2 (Anti)
Magic Fig – Valerian Tea (Exploding in Sound)
Mary Halvorson – About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
Pateka – Pateka (self-released)
Ryli – Come and Get Me (Dandy Boy)
Spinnen – Warmes Licht (Alien Transistor)
Sutros – Acrid Tongue (self-released)
Kamasi Washington – Lazarus (Adult Swim Original Series Soundtrack) (Milan)
Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)
Brandee Younger – Gadabout Season (Impulse!)

14 fantastic live shows by great local bands (Chronological)

Elihu Knowles & Rent Romus – Little Hill Lounge, too many Jazz on Tuesday dates to recall
Monster Treasure – Little Hill Lounge, 5/3
El Cerrito High School Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Workshop – Yoshi’s, 6/9
Neutrals – The New Farm, 7/5
Sutros – Vesuvio Cafe’s Wacky Wednesdays in Kerouac Alley, 7/9
Blue Zero – Kilowatt, 7/14
Ansible – Stay Gold Deli, 7/18
Spacemoth – The Chapel, 7/24
Ryli, Whitney’s Playland, Tony Jay – Little Hill Lounge, 8/2
Evening of Sun Ra (with Rent Romus, David Slusser, Elihu Knowles and others) – Little Hill Lounge, 8/20
Fake Fruit – SF MoMA, 9/18
Penelope Houston – Vesuvio Cafe’s Wacky Wednedays in Kerouac Alley, 10/8
Pateka, Vetiver – Down Home Music, 10/18
Dave Slusser Trio – The Makeout Room, 10/29

Joey Miscue

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Joey Miscue’s Freshest Hell in 2025

1. Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
2. Turnstile – Never Enough
3. Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
4. Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
5. Dijon – Baby
6. Jay Som – Belong

The 6 albums I listened to the most this year

1. Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
2. Turnstile – Never Enough
3. Slant – 1집 (2021)
4. Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
5. Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a Man (1971)
6. Angel Du$t – Rock The Fuck On Forever (2016)

6 more albums I enjoyed this year

Kelela – In The Blue Light (live)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Perimenopop
Mindz Eye – The Vision (2024)
Turnstile – Nonstop Feeling (2015)
D’Angelo – Black Messiah (2014)
TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2008)

Lance d’Amour

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7″

Chronophage – Musical Attack: Communist + Anarchist Friendship (Post Present Medium)
Clickbait – Fish Fillet (S/R)
Nights Templar – Hey Jealousy (Reapo)
No Peeling – No Peeling (Feel It)
The Number Ones – Sorry (Static Shock)
Tee Vee Repairman – Only a Memory (Goner)

12″

Added Dimensions – Jane From Preoccupied America (Domestic Departure)
Artificial Go – Musical Chairs (Feel It)
Chime Oblivion – Chime Oblivion (Deathgod)
The Cords – The Cords (Slumberland)
Eraser – Hideout (Siltbreeze)
Lavender Flu – Tracing The Sand By The Pool (In the Red)
Nape Neck – The Shallowest End (Dot Dash Sounds)
Puppet Wipes – Live Inside (Siltbreeze)
Self Improvement – Syndrome (Feel It)
Snooper – Worldwide (Third Man)

Tapes, Downloads, etc.

Dorothy Fuzz – Run Devil Run (S/R)
La Llamarada – Deep Dark Vast (C/Site)
PAL – Under Your Radar (S/R)
Panel – A Great Time to Be an Empath (S/R)

Last Will

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Top 5 songs of the year

1. Matmos – “Healed By The Flame (for Dax Pierson)” (self release)
2. Gina Birch – “Causing Trouble Again” – Trouble (Third Man)
3. The New Eves – “The New Eve Is Rising” (Transgressive)
4. Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase – “Ghast Alarm” – Biotic Digest Vol. I, Issue I (self release)
5. Alchemist Quintet – “Ghost Radio” – Ghost Radio (Alchemist Quintet)

Top 5 favorite live shows

1. Caroliner Rainbow Unruly Twists In Odible Brews – Pretty Gritty in SF, 14 November, and Caroliner Rainbow When Lamp Took Life – Pretty Gritty in SF, 15 November
2. Moe Staiano Ensemble performing Death Of A Piano – First Church Of The Buzzard in SF, 6 July
3. Matmos – Great American Music Hall in SF, 8 July
4. Seymour Glass – “Tribute To Mike Rizzi” (along with Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase and Shin Chida) at the Oakland venue formerly known as the Land And Sea Gallery, 1 July
5. Melt-Banana – Cornerstone in Berkeley, 12 November (my 65th birthday)

Top 5 Favorite Petra Core and/or Last Will Interviews

1. Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers (Petra Core and Last Will) 12 April
2. Matmos (Last Will with Carnacki) 7 July
3. David Gedge (Petra Core and Last Will) 6 June
4. Melt-Banana (Petra Core and Last Will) 12 November
5. Furious Tits (Petra Core and Last Will) 24 June

My favorite singular musical moment

Kai Keya’s solo flute elegy during the tribute to Michael Henning at the Cornerstone in Berkeley, 6 January

My favorite thing about KALX

Doing a radio show every other Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm with my wife, DJ Petra Core.

Maltodextrin

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Favorite Albums, in no particular order

Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On (Matador)
Mary Halvorson – About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying (Mexican Summer)
Tortoise – Touch (International Anthem/Nonesuch)
Ichiko Aoba – Luminescent Creatures (Hermine)
WITCH – SOGOLO (Partisan Records)
Juana Molina – DOGA (Sonamos)
Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner – The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings)
Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer – Defiant Life (ECM)
Horse Lords and Arnold Dreyblatt – FRKWYS Vol. 18: Extended Field (RVNG)
Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing (Leaf)
Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson – Bone Bells (Pyroclastic)
Shoko Nagai – Forbidden Flowers (Infrequent Seams)
Daily Toll – A Profound Non-Event (Tough Love)
Ches Smith – Clone Row (Otherly Love)
Anadol and Marie Klock – La Grande Accumulation (Pingipung)
Artificial Go – Hopscotch Fever (Feel It)
James Brandon Lewis Quartet – Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt Records)
Orcutt Shelley Miller – Orcutt Shelley Miller (Silver Current Records)
Wadada Leo Smith and Sylvie Courvoisier – Angel Falls (Intakt Records)
Kalia Vandever – Another View (Northern Spy)
Modern Nature – The Heat Warps (Bella Union)
Foxwarren – 2 (Anti-)
Jeanines – How Long Can It Last (Slumberland)
Wombo – Danger In Fives (Fire Talk)
Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes – Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes (International Anthem)
Nicolas Gombert & James Weeks – GOMBERT (Another Timbre)
Apartment House – John Cage Chamber Works 1943-1951 (Another Timbre)
Thomas Morgan – Around You Is a Forest (Loveland Music)
The Ex – If Your Mirror Breaks (S/R)

A Few Songs

Stereolab – “Constant and Uniform Movement Unknown” (Duophonic/Warp)
R.M.F.C. – “Ecstatic Strife” (Anti Fade Records)
Golomb – “Real Power” (No Quarter)
Celine Dessberg – “Chintamani” (That’s Love Records)
Hamish Hawk – “Burning Up” (So Recordings)
Water From Your Eyes – “Life Signs” (Matador)
Tennis – “Face Down In the Garden” (Mutually Detrimental)

Majority Whip

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Favorite Albums of 2025

Activity – A Thousand Years in Another Way (Western Vinyl)
Ammar 808 – Live at Another Sky Festival (Glitterbeat)
Anika – Abyss (Sacred Bones)
Automatic – Is It Now? (Stones Throw)
Big Thief – Double Infinity (4AD)
C.A.D. & The Peacetime Consumers – Play Atlantis (Dot Dash Sounds)
Case Oats – Last Missouri Exit (Merge)
Chicago Underground Duo – Hyperglyph (International Anthem)
Citron Citron – Maréeternelle (Bongo Joe)
Cootie Catcher – Shy at First (Cooked Raw)
Lucrecia Dalt – A Danger to Ourselves (RVNG)
Daughter Of Swords – Alex (Psychic Hotline)
Deradoorian – Ready for Heaven (Fire)
Essvus – What Ails You (New Amsterdam)
Etceteral – Kimatika (Glitterbeat)
Filhos – Vol.1 (Discrepant)
Foxwarren – 2 (Anti)
Maia Friedman – Goodbye Long Winter Shadow (Last Gang)
Ganser – Animal Hospital (Felte)
Good Sad Happy Bad – All Kinds of Days (Textile)
Guedra Guedra – Mutant (Smugglers Way)
Yasmine Hamdan – I Remember I Forget (Crammed Discs)
Herbert And Momoko – Clay (Strut)
Flora Hibberd – Swirl (22twenty)
Andreas O. Hirsch – The Salamander Treaty (Makiphon)
Ikonika – Sad (Hyperdub)
I’m With Her – Wild and Clear and Blue (Rounder)
Rani Jambak – Vibra Genetika (Yes No Wave)
Farah Kaddour & Marwan Tohme – Ghazel (Al)
Madeline Kenney – Kiss from the Balcony (Carpark)
Katie McBride – Rhodo (Blue Water)
Melody’s Echo Chamber – Unclouded (Domino)
M(H)Aol – Something Soft (Merge)
Mira – Erica (Maple Death)
Juana Molina – Doga (S/R)
Mo’ong & Bilawa – Mo’ong & Bilawa (Bloxham Tapes)
Mytron & Zongamin – Congregate (Multi Culti)
Ollella – Antifragile (S/R)
Real Bad Man and Boldy James – Conversational Pieces (Real Bad Man)
Ringdown – Lady on the Bike (Nonesuch)
Sault – 10 (Forever Living Originals)
Sextile – Yes, Please. (Sacred Bones)
Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing (Leaf)
Soyuz – Krok (Mr. Bongo)
Terra Mestiza – Tu Llegada (S/R)
Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes – Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes (International Anthem)
Joni Void – Every Life Is a Light (Constellation)
Water from your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)
Wombo – Danger in Fives (Fire Talk)
Billy Woods – Golliwog (Backwoodz Studioz)

Microtone

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25 Musical Performances That Gave Me Life

1. Soft Landing – the Alembic (Berkeley, 12/21)
2. Alchemist Quintet – the Backroom (Berkeley, 12/14)
3. Flock of Dimes – Rickshaw Stop (San Francisco, 12/4)
4. David Golightly, Phipps Pt., Agnes Martian – First Presbyterian Church (Oakland, 11/4)
5. Ten Drum Art Percussion Group 十鼓擊樂團 – Rende Creative Park (Tainan, Taiwan, 10/4)
6. The Rapture – Portola Music Fest (San Francisco, 9/21)
7. Pacific Walker – KALX (Berkeley, 9/16)
8. SF Guzheng Music Society Annual Concert – SF Conservatory of Music (San Francisco, 8/24)
9. Return the Gift Series – Temescal Art Center, especially Marielle V Jakobsons & David Golightly, Kevin Corcoran, Carnacki (Oakland, 8/7 and 8/14)
10. Headbleedsultraviolet, Gaseous Corpsewater, Zachary James Watkins – Little Hill Lounge (El Cerrito, 7/13)
11. Ocean of Rainbow Static – Dissonant Works, especially Janet Xmas, Gabe Raines Ensemble, Jeffrey Kimmich, Stefanie Kalem, Lumer (St. Louis, Missouri, 7/6)
12. Sound & Form Festival – Dissonant Works’ Grand Opening weekend, especially K. Curtis Lyle, Double Trio, Cords of Expectation Ensemble (St. Louis, 7/5)
13. Gamelan Sekar Jaya + Guest Taiko artists – Rhythmix Rising Seas 2 (Alameda, 6/21)
14. Rice Rockettes – We Are Immortal: Chinatown Pride 2025 (San Francisco, 5/24)
15. Free Key Choir: Reservoir – First Congregational Church (Oakland, 5/18)
16. Suver & The Pollyannas – Chard Rock, Berkeley Farmer’s Market (Berkeley, 5/3)
17. Javanese Shadow Play by Gamelan Sari Raras w/ Ki Hanggoro Murti – Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley (Berkeley, 4/13)
18. Orquesta Akokan – Presidio Theater (San Francisco, 4/2)
19. Yasuaki Shimizu, Nico Georis – Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, 3/31)
20. Zero Charisma – Little Hill Lounge (El Cerrito, 3/19)
21. Iain Matthews – Hillside Club (Berkeley, 3/8)
22. Gamelan Sekar Jaya open house – GSJ Banjar (Berkeley, 2/9)
23. Suver, Little Teeth, Eli Utne – 2727 California (Berkeley, 1/24)
24. Phipps Pt. – Cone Shape Top (Oakland, 1/17)
25. Celebration of Life for Michael C. Henning [DJ Megasoup 💙, Selaroda] – Cornerstone (Berkeley, 1/6)

Albums That Got Me Through 2025 (by release date)

Gossimer – Darling (S/R)
Park Jiha – All Living Things (Glitterbeat)
Pacific Walker – Lost in the Valley of the Sun (Bluesanct)
Le Motel – Odd Numbers / Số Lẻ (Balmat)
Mytron & Zongamin – Congregate (Multi Culti)
Darkside – Nothing (Matador)
Aux Meadows – Draw Near (Eiderdown)
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Gift Songs (Mexican Summer)
Saapato – Decomposition: Fox on a Highway (Constellation Tatsu)
Yetsuby – 4EVA (Pink Oyster)
DaYe 大叶 – Road to Spring 甘泉路 (bié)
Zachary James Watkins – Affirmative Action (SIGE)
Beaunoise – Perelom Soznaniya (S/R)
Stella Z – Fig (Ransom Note/Music to Watch Seeds Grow By)
Thanya Iyer – Tide/Tied (Topshelf)
Deradoorian – Ready for Heaven (Fire)
Cole Pulice – Land’s End Eternal (Leaving)
Ganavya – Nilam (Leiter)
Bella Wakame – Bella Wakame (Umor Rex)
Zé Ibarra – AFIM (Mr. Bongo)
Brandee Younger – Gadabout Season (Impulse!)
Minyo Crusaders – Tour of Japan (180g)
Ensemble Nist-Nah – Spilla (Black Truffle)
Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Different Rooms (International Anthem)
Matmos – Metallic Life Review (Thrill Jockey)
Adrian Quesada – Boleros Psicodélicos ii II (Jaguar Sound)
Kiln – Lemon Borealis (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Peter Lin & the AAPI Jazz Collective – Identity (Origin)
Ola Budzyńska – Lanquidities (Left Eye Blind)
Chicago Underground Duo – Hyperglyph (International Anthem)
Forest Floor – Hungers Haunt the All-Consuming (Anxiety Blanket)
Lucretia Dalt – A Danger to Ourselves (RVNG Intl)
Jakob Bro & Midori Takada – Until I Met You あなたに出会うまで (Loveland)
Cochemea – Vol III: Ancestros Futuros (Daptone)
Širom – V Vetru Noči Šepetajo Trdopadla Zaklinjanja [In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper] (tak:til)
Flock of Dimes – The Life You Save (Sub Pop)
Jan Bang & Arve Henriksen – After the Wildfire (Punkt Editions)
Golden Brown – Patterner (Inner Islands)
Tortoise – Touch (International Anthem)
Guzz – Manyo 万叶 (S/R)
Phipps Pt. – Songs We No Longer Sing (Seeland)
Claire Rousay – A Little Death (Thrill Jockey)
Juana Molina – DOGA (Sonamos)
Agnes Martian – Elsewhere (Centripetal Force)
Mong Tong 夢東 – Sun Moon Darkness 明日音 (Open Culture Foundation)
Alchemist Quintet – Ghost Radio (S/R)

A handful of notable compilation albums

Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by Los Angeles Wildfires (Leaving Records)
Akasaka Soul Funk 1969-1977 (180g)
Gilles Peterson Presents International Anthem (International Anthem)
The Alien Territory Archives: A Collection of Radical, Experimental, & Irrelevant Music from 1970s San Diego (Nyahh)
Lim Giong & Various Artists – Sounds of Taiwan (Pure Person Press)

And a second handful of EPs

Al Wootton – Calvinist Hospitality (Trule)
Sachi’s Mirror – Room to Receive (Cone Shape Top)
VVD WNDWS – Whirling (Glowing Dagger)
Nuxia – Cute Dreams, Sad Eyes (S/R)
Cola Ren – Mekong Ballad (Human Pitch)

The Parasitic Twin

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Favorite Releases

DuChamp – The Wild Joy (Kitchen Leg)
Bryan Eubanks, Gert-Jan Prins, Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura – Spring
Keiji Haino & Reinhold Fried – truly, slightly, overflowing, whereabout of good will
Francisco López Conveyor Belts [USA] – [sr]
Jim Nollman – Playing Music with Animals
Andrea Parkins & Eliad Wagner – Drag Drop Spin & Crawl (Superpang)
Phipps Pt. – Songs We No Longer Sing (Seeland)
Michael Pisaro-Liu – Tombstones II (Atypeek Diffusion / Circum-Disc)
Sadie Powers – Souvenir (Room40)
S*Glass – Benign Neglect
Alexandra Spence – Your Whistle Tells Of Landscape (Students of Decay)

Poindexter

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25 Very Good Albums

Artificial Go – Musical Chairs (Feel It)
Autocamper – What Do You Do All Day? (Slumberland)
BRNDA – Total Pain (Crafted Sounds)
Chime Oblivion – Chime Oblivion (Deathgod)
Cootie Catcher – Shy at First (Cooked Raw)
The Cords – The Cords (Slumberland/Skep Wax)
Maia Friedman – Goodbye Long Winter Shadow (Last Gang)
Galore – Dirt (Speakeasy Studios)
Good Flying birds – Talulah’s Tape (Carpark)
Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On (Matador)
Jeanines – How Long Can It Last (Slumberland)
Josie – A Life on Sweets Alone (K/Perennial)
Las Pirañas – Una Oportunidad Más de Triunfar en la Vida (Glitterbeat)
Le Pain – Dirge Technique (Slouch)
Lightheaded – Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming! (Slumberland/Skep Wax)
Juana Molina – DOGA (Sonamos)
Tony Molina – On This Day (Slumberland/Speakeasy Studios)
The New Eves – The New Eve is Rising (Transgressive)
Paper Jam – This and That (S/R)
Ryli – Come and Get Me (Dandy Boy)
Sharp Pins – Balloon Balloon Balloon (K/Perennial)
Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film (Warp)
The Telephone Numbers – Scarecrow II (Slumberland)
Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)
The Wind-Ups – Confection (Dandy Boy)

10 Very Good Singles & EPs

1-800 Mikey – 2 Kaiju / Lost in Translation (Ragnar)
Betty Brite – Quikwash (Laundorama)
Cut Worms – Evil Twin (Jagjaguwar)
Anna Hillburg – Dangerously Impressionable (Tootin’ Tuesdays)
No Peeling – No Peeling (Feel It)
The Number Ones – Sorry (Static Shock)
R.M.F.C. – Ecstatic Strife (Anti Fade)
Rhymies – I Dream Watching (Dandy Boy)
Slippers – Guess I Started a Band (Lame-O)
Whitney’s Playland – Long Rehearsal (Dandy Boy/Meritorio)

Polly Vinyl

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Top 30 Albums

Andy Bell – Pinball Wanderer (Sonic Cathedral)
Beths, The – Straight Line Was A Lie (Anti-)
Blawan – SickElixir (XL Recordings)
Cochemea – Vol 3: Ancestros Futuros (Daptone)
Dacus, Lucy – Forever Is A Feeling (Geffen)
Dienner, Jesse C. – I Forgot It, I Got It (S/R)
Everything But The Everything – A&B Sides Volume 3 (S/R)
Florist – Jellyfish (Double Double Whammy)
Frankie Cosmos – Different Talking (Sub Pop)
Geese – Getting Killed (Partisan)
Greg Hoy & The Boys – Hit Music (S/R)
Guerilla Toss – You’re Weird Now (Sub Pop)
Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On (Matador)
James K – Friend (AD93)
L.A. Witch – DOGGOD (Suicide Squeeze)
Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out (City Slang)
Los Piranas – Una Oportunidad mas de triunfar en la Vida (Glitterbeat)
Lucrecia Dalt – A Danger to Ourselves (Rvng Intl.)
Pachyman – Another Place (ATO)
Peel Dream Magazine – Taurus (Topshelf)
Smerz – Big City Life (escho)
Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Warp)
Surprise Chef – Superb (Big Crown)
Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz (Sub Pop)
Tweedy, Jeff – Twilight Overide
Tune-yards – Better Dreaming (4AD)
Vegyn & Air – Blue Moon Safari (Parlophone)
Water From Your Eyes – It’s A Beautiful Place (Matador)
Wednesday – Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
Wet Leg – Moisturizer (Domino)

Shrimp Mocktail

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Shrimply the Best of 2025

Agnes Martian – Elsewhere Centripetal Force
AMMAR 808 – Live at Another Sky Festival (Glitterbeat)
Anika – Abyss (Sacred Bones)
Big Freedia – Pressing Onward (Queen Diva Music)
Blanco Teta – La Debacle de las Divas (Les Disques Bongo Joe)
Blawan – SickElixir (XL Recordings)
Shanti Celeste – Romance Method (808 x Peach Discs)
Dub Syndicate – Obscured By Version (On-U Sound)
Thea Farhadian – Tattoos and Other Markings (Other Minds)
FKA Twigs – EUSEXUA (Young UK)
Hot Chip – Joy in Repetition (Domino)
Karen Y Los Remedios – Silencio Remixes (ZZK)
Matmos – Metallic Life Review (Thrill Jockey)
Nazar – Demilitarize (Hyperdub)
Sister Irene O’Connor – Fire of God’s Love (Freedom to Spend)
Ora the Molecule – Dance Therapy (Mute)
Pacific Walker – Lost In the Valley of the Sun (Bluesanct)
Katsy Pline – Live at the Three Teardrops (S/R)
Q Lazzarus – Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus (Sacred Bones)
Sextile – yes, please (Sacred Bones)
Adrian Sherwood – The Grand Designer (On-U Sound)
V/A – Tokyo Riddim Vol. 2 1979-1986 (Time Capsule)
Traxman – Da Mind of Traxman Vol. 3 (Planet Mu)
V/A – Trax Records 40th Anniversary Collection (Trax)
Vegyn & Air – Blue Moon Safari (Parlophone)

Sparkle Motion

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Sparkle Motion’s too much music

1. Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film (Duophonic/Warp)
2. Tortoise – Touch (International Anthem/Nonesuch)
3. Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werliin – Ghosted III (Drag City)
4. Hania Rani: Non Fiction – Piano Concerto in 4 Movements (Deutsche Grammophon)
5. Adam Tendler – Inheritances (New Amsterdam)
6. Birds on a Wire – Nuées Ardentes (PIAS)
7. Avi Avital – Song of the Birds (Deutsche Grammophon)
8. Matmos – Metallic Life Review (Thrill Jockey)
9. Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Different Rooms (International Anthem)
10. Sam Amidon – Salt River (River Lea)
11. Deradoorian – Ready for Heaven (Fire Records)
12. Juana Molina – Doga (Sonamos)
13. Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)
14. Anika – Abyss (Sacred Bones)
15. Spike Wilner Trio – The Children & The Warlock (Cellar Live)
16. Mary Halvorson – About Ghosts (Pyroclastic)
17. Patricia Brennan – Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic)
18. Jeff Parker – The Way Out of Easy (International Anthem)
19. James Brandon Lewis Trio – Apple Cores (Anti-)
20. Brandee Younger – Gadabout Season (Impulse!)
21. Richard Dawson – End of the Middle (Domino)
22. S.G. Goodman – Planting By The Signs (Slough Water)
23. Alan Sparhawk – With Trampled by Turtles (Sub Pop)
24. Emma Swift – The Resurrection Game (Tiny Ghosts)
25. Big Thief – Double Infinity (4AD)
26. Pamela Z – Simultaneous (Other Minds)
27. Meredith Monk – Cellular Songs (ECM)
28. Cerys Hafana – Angel (tak:til)

Suhnharini Vasahn Suundelehguntah

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Ten Alluring Albums

Ami Taf Ra – The Prophet and the Madman (Brainfeeder)
Marshall Allen – A New Dawn (Mexican Summer)
Calcutta Kid – Anjali (self-released)
Clarice Jensen – In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness (130701)
Katsy Pline – Live At The Three Teardrops (Paisley Shirt)
Mary Lattimore & Walt McClements – Rain On The Road (Thrill Jockey)
Muskeg Mudsuck – Dirges Of The Eneolithic (self-released)
Pacific Walker – Lost In The Valley Of The Sun (BlueSanct)
Sadie Powers – Souvenir (Room 40)
Anoushka Shankar – Chapter III: We Return To Light (Leiter)

DJ Twinkle

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An incomplete list of some favorite releases (in no particular order)

Circuit des Yeux – Truth (Matador)
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Live Like the Sky (You’ve Changed Records)
Sofia Kourtesis – Volver (Ninja Tune)
Juana Molina – Doga (Sonamos)
Big Freedia – Pressing Onward (Queen Diva)
Ringdown (Caroline Shaw, Danni Lee) – Lady on the Bike (Nonesuch)
Sunny War – Armageddon in a Summer Dress (New West)
Piqsiq – Legends (S/R)
Ora the Molecule – Dance Therapy (Mute)
Olella – Antifragile (S/R)
Foxtails Brigade – Red Album (Golden Hour)
Sampa the Great – Can’t Hold Us [single] (PIAS)
Angelica Garcia – Butterfly [single] (S/R)
sachi’s mirror – room to receive (Cone Shape Top Imprint)
Swell Foop – Don’t Spare Me (S/R)
Grooblen – FRIENDO (War Chant)
Skip the Needle – Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up (soulectric)
Evan Nicole Bell – Shades of Blue (Hummingbird Records)
Beths- Straight Line Was a Lie (Anti-)
Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be a Good Time (Jagjaguwar)
Birds on a Wire – Nuées Ardentes (PIAS)
Anika – Abyss (Sacred Bones)
The Bug Club – Very Human Features (Sub Pop)
Valerie June – Owls, Omens, and Oracles (Fantasy)
Snapped Ankles – Hard Times Furious Dancing (Leaf)
L.A. Witch – DOGGOD (Suicide Squeeze)
OWLS – Rare Birds (New Amsterdam)
Dakh Daughters – Pandora’s Box (S/R)
Elisapie – Inuktiut (remixes) (Bonsound)

Vic Vocab

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Favorite Songs of 2025

Daughter of Swords – “Strange” Alex (Psychic Hotline)
Deradoorian – “Hollow House” Ready For Heaven (Fire)
Florry – “First It Was a Movie, Then It Was a Book” Sounds Like (Dear Life)
Foxtails Brigade – “My Favorite Things” My Favorite Things EP. (S/R)
Gelbart – “I.M.” Liquids and Flesh (Egglike)
Hyldon – “Jenipapo Robo” Hyldon JID023 (Jazz Is Dead)
Jeanines – “What’s Done Is Done” How Long Can It Last (Slumberland)
L.A. Witch – “Eyes of Love” DOGGOD (Suicide Squeeze)
Lightheaded – “Patti Girl” Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming! (Slumberland)
Sault – I.T.L.S. 10 (Forever Living Originals)
Ty Segall – “Shining” Possession (Drag City)