ALBUMS OF 2025
1. Benjamin Booker – Lower: Gotham-City-tinged grunge meets soul; identikit beauty.
2. Model/Actriz – Pirouette: Fantabulous — the album Fischerspooner never made; metal-pop for the catwalk.
3. Cass McCombs – Interior Live Oak: Super stupendously made; could’ve been aged in an oak barrel; exquisite instrumentation from a true singer-songwriter.
4. Juana Molina – Doga: Argentinian magical-realism electronica; can’t believe she’s still going — a wonderful surprise.
5. Ichiko Aoba – Luminescent Creatures: One of the most beautiful, timeless albums; could’ve been made in any decade; vital for the environment; all in Japanese.
6. Darkside – Nothing: A hodgepodge of bongos and everything else; this could be anything — a great result from Nicolás Jaar.
7. Geese - Getting Killed - Loose, jammy, awkward indie rock, surging up my charts here.
8. Pulp – More.: A cultural institution — Britpop legends returning with perhaps their best album yet.
9. Gruff Rhys – Dim Probs: Sung entirely in Welsh; a gorgeous accomplishment from Gruff Rhys.
10. Real Lies – We Will Annihilate Our Enemies: An Ibiza throwback to the clubbing days at 17; lad-poetry wrapped around financial-crisis nostalgia (for me as I invested heavily while on a run listening to this)
- Rafael Toral – Travelling Light (Ambient jazz)
- Makaya McCraven – Off the Record (Beat-driven jazz)
- Phil Cook – Appalachia Borealis (Springtime solo piano)
- Just Mustard - We Were Just Here (Thunderous shoegaze)
- Kelly Moran – Don’t Trust Mirrors (Sister album to last years electronic piano)
- Yaya Bey – Do It Afraid (Great R&B sketches)
- Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On (Brilliant basic indie-core)
- Annie and the Caldwells – Can’t Lose My Soul (40 years together; their gospel debut)
- Jason Isbell - Foxes In The Snow (Boutique country)
- Matmos – Metallic Life Review (All made with sampling metal - great electronic)
- ex_libris – 001 / 002 (Expert double house EP offering)
- Purelink – Faith (Ibizan chillout)
- AraabMuzik – Electronic Dream 2 (Banging electro hip-hop samples)
- Ela Minus – Dia (Colombian electronic-pop album)
- Little Simz – Lotus (British hip-hop stalwart)
