Here’s my favourite albums of 2025 (also some EPs and archival releases among them; but mostly long plays):
- Ada Rook ~ UNKILLABLE ANGEL
- Crazy, unhinged, sometimes silly fun on this Canadian rat’s new album. I think this is the album I would have loved Machine Girl to do after going in this more rock-oriented direction. Much catchier, sometimes pretty personal. Definitely compelling.
- Agriculture ~ The Spiritual Sound
- Alex G ~ Headlights
- Anito Patzki ~ From Tetta with Love
- Fka. Ronny Federico with a flower pop album (including two Beatles covers even). Pretty and uplifting.
- Anna von Hausswolff ~ Iconoclasts
- Atol Atol Atol ~ Dron Dron Dron
- bassvictim ~ Basspunk 2
- Billie Eilish ~ Hit Me Hard and Soft
- Brannten Schnüre ~ Landschaft aus Tränen
- Brìghde Chaimbeul ~ Sunwise
- caroline ~ caroline 2
- Chini.png ~ ★ Vía Lo Orozco ★
- Cities Aviv ~ The Revolving Star : Archive & Practice 002
- clipping. ~ Dead Channel Sky Plus
- CMAT ~ Euro-Country
- Cool Arm ~ Cool Arm
- Cynthoni ~ Lamenting Malice
- Danny Brown ~ Stardust
- Deerhoof ~ Noble and Godlike in Ruin
- Deftones ~ Private Music
- Even if this band is probably not gonna reinvent their sound anytime soon, I find this an outstanding release. While I enjoyed most of what they released in their career, the dynamic range of emotions here and the catchiness of the songs, really impressed me.
- dj galen ~ The Death Of Music
- DJ K ~ Radio libertadora!
- Donna Candy ~ Blinking Twice + Warp Bend Twist
- Emma Goldman ~ all you are is we
- Ethel Cain ~ Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You
- feeo ~ Goodness
- FKA twigs ~ EUSEXUA
- Giant Claw ~ Decadent Stress Chamber
- Giulio Erasmus & The End Of The Worm ~ Hard Sell
- Gwenifer Raymond ~ Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark
- 春ねむり ~ ekkolaptómenos
- Heylay Williams ~ Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
- Igorrr ~ Amen
- Imperial Triumphant ~ Goldstar
- Jenny Hval ~ Iris Silver Mist
- Juana Molina ~ DOGA
- Kathryn Joseph ~ We Were Made Prey.
- KAVARI ~ Rumination At The Abattoir
- Kilynn Lunsford ~ Promiscuous Genes
- Kostnatění ~ Přílišnost (Excess)
- Lord Snow ~ Have You Heard of the High Elves
- Los Thuthanaka ~ Los Thuthanaka
- Marja Ahti ~ Touch This Fragrant Surface Of Earth
- Mike ~ Showbiz!
- Milkweed ~ Remscéla
- moreru ~ ぼぼくくととききみみだだけけののせせかかいい (SEKAI YYou && MMe)
- Nazar ~ Demilitarize
- Pretty smooth bass music closer to artists like Oli XL and Burial than to the dark, heavy-hitting kudoru of »Guerrilla«.
- Nina Nastasia ~ Songs for a World of Trouble
- Ninajirachi ~ I Love My Computer
- Oklou ~ choke enough
- Oli XL ~ Lick The Lens Pt.1
- Oneohtrix Point Never ~ Tranquilizer
- Even though I’ve enjoyed almost everything Lopatin was doing I thought that the times when I’m truly thrilled by a release of his were over and that was alright. But now this album hit just the way when I first discovered OPN’s music and was blown away by this cosmos of sounds. Maybe that’s because the album leans somewhat in the direction of the 2010-2015 era of his work. Anyway, truly great.
- Panda Bear ~ Sinister Grift
- Panopticon ~ Songs of Hiraeth
- prettifun ~ FunHouse Deluxe
- psychoangel ~ sounds of future breakbeat
- Gotta have a jab at Machine Girl here once again, sorry: this is what a successor to »WLFGRL« might have sounded like. So if you miss that digital breakbeat hardcore sound on the new Machine Girl releases, you can switch to psychoangel now. (And maybe now that I discovered psychoangel as my new favourite artist in that genre I can try again to appreciate the route that Machine Girl took some more after all, knowing there is a replacement.)
- Rolo Tomassi ~ In the Echoes of All Dreams
- Ship Sket ~ InitiatriX
- Skrillex ~ F_ck U Skrillex You Think Ur Andy Warhol But Ur Not!! <3
- Snõõper ~ Worldwide
- Texas’ Snõõper with their second album on Jack White’s label. For sure their sound is still much more polished than on their classic releases (i.e. the early EPs) and I gotta say I prefer their lo-fi muffledness to the full-blown rave punk sound on songs like “Star 6 9” on this new album. Still, such a fun and energetic band.
- Sophiaaaahjkl;8901 ~ YR 3Y35
- Stara Rzeka ~ Wynoś się z mojego domu
- The Beths ~ Straight Line Was A Lie
- The Callous Daoboys ~ I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
- The Goslings ~ Plexuses, Planes
- The Mars Volta ~ Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos Del Vacío
- Just like the self-titled comeback album, there was not a lot of love for this album in the press and I guess as a Mars volta album this is also isn’t particularly great. However, I found quite a lot of well-composed pop songs on here. »just 2 grown ass men using essential oils and bold new perfumes shooting ideas and scooting their ass across the fucking lawn trying to get rid of these worms.« (Bixler-Zavala)
- Tim Hecker ~ Shards
- Wednesday ~ Bleeds
- wifiskeleton ~ pony
- Wombo ~ Danger in Fives
- Yellow Eyes ~ Confusion Gate
- Yowie ~ Taking Umbrage