Best Ever Albums

Re: 2025 music

Streams — Fri, 6 Feb 2026 00:09:51 GMT

Author: Streams

Posted: 02/06/2026 05:09

a lot of people I'm interested in released a lot of interesting things this year but this was the stuff from this year to which I returned the most this year.

lucio capece / takako suzuki / masahide tokunaga - ただずまい tatazumai
kai fagaschinski - aerodynamics
zachary good - lake heritage
ryan packard - garden variety
michael pisaro-liu - within (2) / appearance (2)
lucy railton - blue veil
ned rothenberg - looms & legends
chiyoko szlavnics - memory spaces

Re: 2025 music

CA Dreamin — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 14:59:09 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 01/24/2026 19:59

My favorite music of 2025 was the Sinners soundtrack.

Re: 2025 music

EyeKanFly — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 21:12:17 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 12/15/2025 02:12

Hayden wrote:

Reich / Hisaishi: Joe Hisaishi Conducts...a Classics
(More post-minimalist totalism)

This was great!

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 02:34:22 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/11/2025 07:34

Norman Bates wrote:

Hayden wrote:

Disquiet (2025) by The Necks
(Post-minimalist totalism)

Quite liked this, even if I had the feeling that I always knew what was coming next.

I thought it was a very mature record. For near 40 years now The Necks have continuously shifted their sound from a more punk-jazz to today's more minimalist-jazz, and their discography almost mimics... age? It's a very interesting progression of taste, yet they've always put out quality. Longevity wise, I'd say they're one of the better bands from the 80s still kicking (along with The Bad Seeds & possibly The Cure), making consistently intriguing releases— yet, over the course of that 40-ish years, they've always rooted their music in this base hypnotic groove, and worked every other aspect around that. Now, course, their latest has a runtime to scare off... anyone... I mean, every track is long enough to be an album by itself— but over the course of a quiet evening? Lovely record. Baffling you somehow don't tire of it. It works. Very much like waves crashing ashore—

And as much as it's 'jazz' in theory, this is very far from post-bop or modal— it leans more post-rock/ambient—

Hope BEA gives it a chance—
(Along with the other records up there)

Re: 2025 music

Norman Bates — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:02:52 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 12/10/2025 22:02

Hayden wrote:

Disquiet (2025) by The Necks
(Post-minimalist totalism)

Quite liked this, even if I had the feeling that I always knew what was coming next.

Re: 2025 music

Norman Bates — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:01:03 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 12/10/2025 22:01

Hayden wrote:

Pulp (is this one actually good?

Nope.

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 22:14:40 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/03/2025 03:14

I liked 2025 for music! I think it was a decent year, especially for classical, jazz, hip-hop and Latam folk. Not the best of the decade, not the worst. I was just lost as to what's been going on in the pop-culture zeitgeist this year. Mainstream felt oddly under the radar...

Based on year-end lists so far, the major releases I've skipped are by Wednesday, Panda Bear, Hayley Williams, Ryan Davis, Wet Leg & Pulp (is this one actually good? Always skeptical with Brit-rock comebacks)— all of which fall under that pop/rock umbrella— I also completely missed that new Big Thief record, heard very little about it upon release— and the new Quadeca keeps eluding me, but I'll get to it eventually—

But yeah, this P4k songs of the year list is baffling me. I've heard less than half of it, and what's actually there makes 2025 come across a little light. No qualms with the #1, but I wasn't expecting it at all (especially considering it's a '24 track, etc)— figured they'd go Nettles, Stateside, DTMF, Taxes, Dopamine or possibly even Miller's Funny Papers (some of which weren't even present)— I don't envy the team that had to whip up 100 tracks for '25 though... I felt the year was far more geared towards albums than singles—

Being said, '25's had some solid recent releases— these all landed my chart with ease—

The Wringing Cloth (2025) by Old Saw
(Ghost-Americana)

Trio (2025) by Simon Popp
(Improvised instrument instrumental improvisation)

Minimal (2025) by Les Percussions De Strasbourg
(An exercise of restraint)

Disquiet (2025) by The Necks
(Post-minimalist totalism)

Reich / Hisaishi: Joe Hisaishi Conducts...a Classics
(More post-minimalist totalism)

Phantom Keys (2025) by Nakibembe Embaire Group & �...田直之 [Naoyuki Uchida]
(Embaíre dub, live. Yes. Live. Somehow.)

Re: 2025 music

Repo — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 14:56:22 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 12/02/2025 19:56

craola wrote:

i've struggled this year as well. not sure if this is the year i finally "turned old" or what, but i feel like i've come across a lot less dynamite this year than usual.

Ha! This is EXACTLY what I said to my friends a couple of weeks ago before one our vinyl nights. We were going to cover 2025, BUT we switched it up to 1993 because I had the exact same problem this year.

Since that "vinyl night", I've actually found a few cool releases from this year I like. 🤓

Re: 2025 music

craola — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 12:35:33 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 12/02/2025 17:35

i've struggled this year as well. not sure if this is the year i finally "turned old" or what, but i feel like i've come across a lot less dynamite this year than usual.

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 10:18:11 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/02/2025 15:18

Pitchfork's Albums of The Year

Pitchfork's Songs of The Year

Re: 2025 music

II — Sun, 2 Nov 2025 14:35:58 GMT

Author: II

Posted: 11/02/2025 19:35

.

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:48:15 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 10/29/2025 15:48

I Heard It's A Mess There Too (2025) by Aesop Rock
Man done it again. He done it. He rapped an album. Using all the words—

Orbweaver (2025) by Zosha Warpeha & Mariel Terán
Bolivian/NYC hipsters collab. Sounds like a cherimoya—

Of The Near And Far (2025) by Patricia Brennan
Somewhere between classical and jazz and that drawer in science class with the prisms—

Modern Romance (2025) by Chloe Qisha
Punchy pop from someone who may or may not become the next big UK pop star, dunno, but she's got hooks—

Algo Para Regresar (2025) by Julia Amor
Best New Music: Andorra—

Everyday (2025) by Takuya Kuroda
Kuroda drops another album reminding us jazz is cool and so is he—

Blank In Our Spirits (2025) by Hikaru Yamada & The Librarians
Probably my favourite '25 listen of the month. Throwback to early 00s folktronica, with paint—

In The Wind Of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper (2025) by Širom
A reminder musicianship is great thing to have if you're making music—

Clavis Metrica (2025) by Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson
The fact this minimalist composition works is mesmerizing. I don't even think it's in key—

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Mon, 6 Oct 2025 04:04:54 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 10/06/2025 08:04

CassidyInc wrote:

Ikr, the vibes are pretty down this year what with the . . . Well you know. The world?

Yeah, I'm feeling that—

Bizarre though— and I'm not familiar with the Kpop Demon Hunter tracks— but I feel SOTY (and top 5, etc all, blah blah) come year-end lists is going to be sporadic. Which, is fun, of course, but I'd just like to know what they are when they're fresh n stuff—

I haven't fallen for Cain's Nettles as so many others seem to have, but maybe that?

Re: 2025 music

Anonymous — Fri, 3 Oct 2025 07:05:56 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/03/2025 11:05

Edit: I changed my mind: Father Figure is the stone cold banger on The Life of a Showgirl. It’s also the one song to resonate with the album title lyrically and musically (at least in the bridge).

Re: 2025 music

Anonymous — Fri, 3 Oct 2025 06:47:47 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/03/2025 10:47

Yeah, I’ve not been paying attention so will have missed some bangers, but in 2024 pop made us pay attention.

Nothing stone cold on the new Taylor album, but Opalite comes pretty close and Father Figure is a very good song. Quite a middling album overall, though I’m not too disappointed. After 12 albums, some artistic decline is inevitable and this is still okay.

Re: 2025 music

CassidyInc — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 05:59:00 GMT

Author: CassidyInc

Posted: 09/26/2025 09:59

Ikr, the vibes are pretty down this year what with the . . . Well you know. The world?

I guess its Golden from Kpop Demon Hunters? I'm pretty partial to Doechii but her last album was 2024 anyway.

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 23:46:27 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 09/24/2025 03:46

Side—

this is the first time in a number of years (maybe since... 2018?) where I'm completely lost or out-of-the-loop on what the pillar bangers for the year are—

What's... like... the prediction for SOTY on year-end lists n stuff? Where are those tracks at? What are they?—

Help

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 23:43:09 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 09/24/2025 03:43

Today's edition of not too shabby for a slab of wax—

Cream (2025) by Kassa Overall
Jazz covers of hip-hop classics— I don't usually go for gimmicky cover albums, but this is pretty cool— Kassa's renditions of Spottieottiedopaliscious and the title track are phenomenal— hoping he does a sequel—

La Linea Del Rubicón (2025) by Architectural
Also not usually my thing, but this short tribal/dubtechno-y release has some pristine production. Worth listening just for the mix. It's like a really good beer—

Áshira (2025) by Gamelan Salukat & Jan Kadereit
Danish-Indonesian gamalan collab— makes for a nice, chill vibe— not as rough or textural as I usually prefer my gamalan, but it's a lovely release that's flown completely under the radar—

Selva Selva (2025) by Wayku
Peruvian Inca-inspired pysch-rock— gets a little sloppy here and there, but I like his style, solid work—

Songs For Other People’s Weddings (2025) by Jens Lekman
Jens! It's Jens! He's back! Accidentally performing at somebody's wedding! Oh, Jens—

Peki Momés (2025) by Peki Momés
(For people who wear sunglasses while riding on the back of a moped through Cihangir at golden hour)—

Strange Heavens (2025) by Linda May Han Oh / Ambrose Akinmusire / Tyshawn Sorey
Linda teams with Akinmusire for an unexpected collab that hits its weight— they tame and focus each other shockingly well— I was having a hard time imagining this being anything but sloppy, with two very prominent bandleaders in different genres trying to weave, but it's really solid— should probably be on my chart—

Music For Babies To Rave And Sleep To (2025) by Graham Smyth
As advertised—

Agg Punk! (2025) by Mal Trip
Do you know egg punk? I didn't know egg punk. No idea. What is egg. What is punk. Egg punk was laid out of the chicken that is Chile-Peru-Colombia-Argentina, like a top-notch football team. I listened to at least a dozen egg punk 'albums' this month. I hope it continues—

Re: 2025 music

Hayden — Fri, 5 Sep 2025 09:37:56 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 09/05/2025 13:37

This month's edition of 5 albums you should listen to this weekend—

Plunge (2025) by Flur
Vibing like Nala Sinephro/Portico Quartet/Jaubi/Maisha/Jasmine Myra— lead's harp—

Hagen (2025) by Titanic (UN)
Bjorky espanol. Fratti pushes pop.

Alterations Volume One (2025) by Jo Johnson
For floating in sensory deprivation.

Barĩy (Fera) برٌِي (2025) by Maurice Louca
Louca's always quality. Consistently one of the best MENA musicians making modern MENA music—

Gnäw II (2025) by Gnäw
Finnish-Iranian post-ish-rock—

Laini Tani (2025) by ندى الشاذلي [Nadah El Shazly]
Back to Egypt. In Montreal, but. Egypt's having quite the month. I wasn't sure when El Shazly's follow-up to her excellent 2017 would come, but here it is. She's in her own bubble doing her own thing, and we get to watch. It's nice—

Hard Top (2025) by Kippie Moeketsi
Post-bop dug up from the depths of some crate in Joburg— top-shelf material— Kippie was in the same circle as Masekela, Ibrahim and Makeba, but never got his flowers— man just played, drank and died— but he could play— (archival)—

Orchestrations (2025) by Guy Buttery
What a name. Guy Buttery—

Ti Galé (2025) by René Lacaille
French man with accordion. Neo-traditionalist sega—

Grasping For The Moon (2025) by Untethered
Super punchy, lively, creative jazz out of Philly. An easy rec, any time of day—

Mornings Of Bishnupur (2025) by Madhuvanti Pal
She good. Like, sparring with the best. One of the three mammoth albums she released this June, all of which have been instantly underappreciated. Best new Hindustani classical in years—

New Blood Orange, Laufey, Kaytranada, Earl, DJ Haram, Dijon & Mario Lucio all ace too—

And look at them little flags we got. 2025. What a year—

Re: 2025 music

Johnnyo — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:51:46 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/22/2025 17:51

The best thing that I have heard so far this year is

A Paradise In The Hold by Yazz Ahmed

Best described as Psychedelic Arabic jazz, by this Anglo Bahrainian artist.

Very accomplished piece of work. Will be hard to beat as my Album of the year.