Home / Self-Published Work / Sonemic / Listencorp / Not Just a Phase / Niner Times / About
The Best Albums of 2025
By Nick Caceres
Published 12/31/2025
Original Press photo of Candelabro
Photo courtesy of Sonido Muchacho
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
*Some EPs and DJ Mixes made the cut.
*Just my opinion
30. Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love
Released: 08/22/2025
Label: Tan Cressida, Warner
Genre: West Coast Hip Hop, Abstract Hip Hop, Drumless
Image Courtesy of Rate Your Music
To Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, his relationship with the term “Live Laugh Love” has drastically evolved over the last 15 years from outright rebellion to its perceived mundanity as a 16-year-old member of Odd Future, to a full-embrace as a 31-year-old father of two. Earl Sweatshirt had experienced his lowest of lows in “Solace” and “Some Rap Songs.” Intriguingly, while “Live Laugh Love” doesn’t stray away from acknowledging the past, unlike earlier albums, it has an optimistic outlook in fatherhood that propels the listener forward. With production from Black Noise, Navy Blue, and Child Actor, “Live Laugh Love” somehow has an even more disjointed approach to all other Earl projects, yet just like the bars, there’s something genuinely hopeful and fulfilled with their intention.
29. YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds
Released: 03/21/2025
Label: AD 93, Many Hats Endeavors
Genre: Experimental Rock, Post-Punk, Industrial Rock, Math Rock, Art Punk, Dance-Punk
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
A visceral molding of unrestrained time signatures, YHWH Nialgun are a puzzling four-piece originally from Philadelphia, now in Brooklyn, who’ve been building their own distinct brand of groovy yet off putting Experimental Rock for the past five years. Their talent is on full display with their debut, “45 Pounds,” with a zesty growl delivery from Zach Borzone that almost sounds like a whisper a thick synthesizer from Jack Tobias, harsh abstract guitar work from Saguiv Rosenstock, and mathematical primitive rhythm from Sam Pickard.
28. Pink Siifu - Black'!Antique
Released: 01/27/2025
Label: Self-Released, FXCK RXP
Genre: Experimental Hip Hop, Southern Hip Hop, Industrial Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Jazz Rap, Trap
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
There must have been a spark lit in the mind of Southern-Midwestern theater dropout rapper, Livingston Lemorie Matthews, who already had a legacy of Underground classics stretching back to 2013. Sometime around 2024, Pink Siifu would begin diving into denser and more Avant-Garde production that, while still the semblance of the anger and partying spirit of Southern Trap, had a truly Industrial edge unlike anything before, not even “Veteran.” “Black'!Antique” is unafraid to throw the listener through a wall in the first half while at the same time laying off the gas pedal on the B side. Even that calming downdraft is still teeming with so many sick as fuck ideas.
27. Ninajirachi - I Love My Computer
Released: 08/08/2025
Genre: Electropop, Electro House, Bubblegum Bass, Complextro
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“Australian DJ and electronic music producer, Ms. Nina Wilson or Ninajirachi. She has been releasing a slew of EPs and singles for years now, really since about 2019, and she has gradually been building up to her full-length official debut album here. And her influences tend to range, whether you're talking about ground-breaking producers such as SOPHIE, dubstep kingpins Skrillex, also the epic electro-pop and synthpop stylings of Empire of the Sun, and of course, pop icons like Lady Gaga, too. With this new LP here, she covers all of those bases and beyond, and also tried to go the extra mile here and give us a record that tells us a bit of a story, is autobiographical. And rumor has it that she's been crafting a lot of the songs on this record for years, waiting for the right moment and tracklist to put them all together onto a cohesive album. And being cohesive, I would say, is one of this record's biggest selling points because it's not just Nina giving us a self-portrait of sorts, but also a commentary on what it is to grow up as a person in an age of technology.”
26. Chuquimamani-Condori - Edits
Released: 07/18/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Latin Electronic, Mashup, Epic Collage, Neo-Psychedelia, Contemporary Country, Caporal, Bolivian Huayño, Indigenous Andean Music
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“Serving as a victory lap to the cataclysmic sibling collab that was “Los Thuthanaka,” Chuquimamani-Condori, known in previous iteration as Elysia Crampton, would officially release an abundant collection of tracks throughout the past six years of DJ sets. “Edits” is exactly what it implies, molding pre-existing Folk and Contemporary jams ranging from America to Bolivia, laced with the Crampton approach of new-era latin electronic with mashups of dizzying rhythmic arrangements. Even in this state, Crampton manages to tell a heartfelt story of identity through some of their catchiest cocktails since the days of ‘Smile.”
25. Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You
Released: 08/08/2025
Label: Daughters of Cain
Genre: Slowcore, Singer-Songwriter, Dream Pop, Ambient, Ethereal Wave
Image Courtesy of Discogs
Narratively a prequel to her 2022 debut, “Preachers Daughter,” Hayden Anhedönia would rewind the ongoing story to 1986 in the midst of a teenage love triangle involving Willoughby Tucker. Pop-oriented and dreamy Americana-flaired Slowcore expressions expand on concepts of longing, angst, and the punch of reality in avenues that are drastically beyond the standard. In time, the possibility of “Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You” morphing into an American classic feels like a determined outcome.
24. Cities Aviv - The Revolving Star: Archive & Practice 002
Released: 10/31/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Abstract Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop, Southern Hip Hop, Drumless, Hypnagogic Pop, Ambient
Image Courtesy of Rate Your Music
Somehow a collection of outtakes can hold its own in the discography of Memphis peacemaker, Wilbert Gavin Mays. “Revolving Star” showcases an archival kaleidoscope of ideas from the last decade that, on paper, feel disengaged from each other, coalesce together into a hazy lo-fi dreamscape of emotional ecstasy. As always, the Cities Aviv sound finds itself in a singular balance of Punk-esq ballads that bleed into the universal consciousness.
23. Life - Demo Eleven
Released: 09/04/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Screamo, Metalcore, Midwest Emo
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Out of the 15 plus releases that Mexican born Damián Antón Ojeda has pumped out across three aliases, one stands above. His band, Life, is perhaps the most stripped back and straightforward name to give to his outlet of creating Screamo. The series of albums coming out of Life are equally straightforward, each release is simply a numbered batch of demos. So what’s the big deal about the eleventh installment? To answer, it takes modern Screamo, strips it of any clean production, and builds back from limitation that settles into its roots yet remains fresh. “Demo Eleven” is a substantially genuine expression of Emo that’s unfortunately rare to come by nowadays in a sea of duplications and corporate cleanliness. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the studio was a moldy basement, as it should be.
22. Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz
Released: 04/04/2025
Label: Deadair
Genre: Digicore, Electronic Dance Music, Hard Dance, Hyperpop, Rage, Experimental Hip Hop
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“2025 will likely go down as the year that the stars aligned for Jane Remover to bring the best of both worlds from her chaotic “Dariacore” sound she developed in that Leroy side project alongside the progressive Emo Hyperpop in the mainline hustle as Jane Remover. “Revengegeezers” is a heavy rager full of melodies decked out under layers of trap ragers. Hilariously the album would be conceptualized by a certain absence while touring with JPEGMAFIA in 2024. You see…Jane forgot to pay her electric bill, resulting in a full-blown maggot infestation in their fridge causing her to couch surf post-tour. The album would be recorded alongside “Ghostholding” in debt to this period of her life with diary-entry confessionals and full-blown baked-out production designed to fly off your handle with.”
21. miffle - Goodbye, World!
Released: 09/05/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Tape Music, Hauntology, Ambient, Sound Collage, Avant-Folk, Folktronica, Electroacoustic, Drone
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“Memories are lined with a bittersweet erosion. Time tarnishes them, but we cherish them all the same. If we carry them with us, we must accept and appreciate them, even as they change. Everything about the folktronica ornament goodbye, world!, makes clear the emotions it holds. The picture of a stuffed elephant toy, a memento from someone’s childhood; song titles that remind one of moments and places; the dedication to a dear friend. Everything interacts with that melancholy that gradually coats our faded memories. Through crumpled ambience, miffle observes life’s layered radiance in the rearview. The spirit of each memory she processes is contained in frozen white static. There is the ghost of a heartbeat, but it has slowed, and now plays corroded and jittery. the city is calm at this hour, across its chimes and plucks, is a collage of diluted tape loops and fractured recordings. An ever-growing pang that is cushioned by swells of violins. These artefacts are in varying states of disrepair. cold concrete glows under the moonlight and the invisible girl breeze through, letting shimmery ambience and brittle acoustics glow. Cleaner and closer memories. The woody timbre of acoustic guitar that emanates from digital blizzard and remnants of a dream weighs heavier, though. Frigid field recordings snowball over lilting folktronica, but the melodies persist like a stubborn face or memorable image in the mind’s eye. Long walk home (you exist in my frozen memories forever) is apt in length and tone. The eight-minute sound collage track emerges with rich organic instrumentation and the crunching of frost underfoot, before the snow crashes in, distorting and chilling this memory of a homeward journey. This crescendo lasts for four minutes, with prideful violins seeping through towards the end, before the titular closer. The ghostly hurrah of how these memories linger on their last figments. The last few notes of a guitar are left hanging on haunting ambience, surrendering eventually as reality now enters the final parts of the song. The opening of a door, the purring of a cat, and a tape loop being stopped. Banal existence in the present, the orchestra of memories brought to a close. Memories never exactly die on goodbye, world!, but lie frosted in the snowy paths of miffle’s tape recordings. They constantly flicker. This should be devastating, but in fact, it is life-affirming. The artist has shared with us a frail object of immense sentimental value. In the end, we never say goodbye; we leave traces for everyone to hold onto.”
20. EsDeeKid - Rebel
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
One of the strongest starts in rappers career in recent memory, mysterious Liverpool rapper, EsDeeKid, would come out swinging with his debut album “Rebel” quite possibly causing another British invasion into underground Rap across the web. His thick Scouse accent flexing over you after a knife fight (he won obviously) contrasted with borderline Industrial infused Trap beats. This is UK rap at its most cut-throat, representing a new frontier for the scene.
19. Naked Flames - Wall I Was
Released: 03/13/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Outsider House, Progressive House, Deep House, Ambient House, Lo-Fi House, Ambient Techno, Dub Techno
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Times of absence calls for droves of fresh material, tucked away for the right time. At the beginning of spring, Naked Flames would return with over six hours of effortlessly cohesive House Music, stylistically diverse on all fronts. “Wall I Was” showcases a lost future, full of minimalistic bubbly frutiger aero cityscapes and blurry reminiscence of nature. It’s hard to pinpoint what Anton felt during this time, but there’s a sense of reflection with the selection of samples. Regardless of your opinion of the potential context, “Wall I Was” is an endless escapade of nourishment and atmospheric comfort.
18. Candelabro - Deseo, Carne y Voluntad
Released: 10/03/2025
Label: Registro Móvil
Genre: Post-Rock, Christian Rock, Art Rock, Indie Rock, Progressive Rock, Jazz-Rock
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“The prophecy of another Christian Post-Rock album being instilled into the indie subconscious has been fulfilled in the Andean valley of Santiago, Chile. As proven by Phuyu Y La Fantasma last year, the youth of the nation are in the midst of a golden age of transformative Latin Rock, with Candelabro stepping up to the pedestal with their sophomore effort, “Deseo, Carne y Voluntad.” The faith in God through Catholicism was heavy in the hearts of the band, further emphasized by their Post-Rock and Jazz Fusion of drop-tuned guitars and dreamlike saxophones with fluttering piano that never overstays. Every ounce feels courageously sincere. Let’s be honest, if this was the music played in church, world peace would be possible. It’s an album that should be appreciated outside of the blatant Black Country, New Road comparisons that distract from the originality hidden within. Viva Chile!”
17. billy woods - Golliwog
Released: 05/09/2025
Label: Backwoodz Studioz
Genre: Horrorcore, East Coast Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop, Political Hip Hop, Conscious Hip Hop, Jazz Rap, Drumless
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“GOLLIWOG is billy woods’ first album in two years, preceded by 2023’s Maps, his second collaboration with producer Kenny Segal. That nimble travelogue has little in common with woods’ newest work, despite the fact that Segal shows up a couple times in the credits. GOLLIWOG is a haunting collection that weaves horror, humor, surrealism and Afropessimism into a cinematic tapestry, aided and abetted by a murderer’s row of producers. African zombies, time traveling trap cars, malevolent ragdolls and a dying Frantz Fanon are just a few of the revelers in woods’ danse macabre. GOLLIWOG features production from The Alchemist, Kenny Segal, EL-P, Conductor Williams, Preservation, Messiah Musik, Sadhugold, Ant (Atmosphere), Shabaka Hutchings, Steel Tipped Dove, DJ Haram, Willie Green, Jeff Markey, Saint Abdullah, and LA-based experimental jazz trio Human Error Club. Meanwhile, woods is joined on the mic by Backwoodz labelmates ELUCID and Cavalier, along with rappers Bruiser Wolf, Despot, Al.Divino, and singer-songwriter Yolanda Watson. GOLLIWOG is another triumph in the woods oeuvre, as layered and compelling as anything he has ever done. A black carnival pitched in a muddy field overnight, empty rides whirring and clattering in the dark.”
16. Oneohtrix Point Never - Tranquilizer
Released: 11/21/2025
Genre: Progressive Electronic, Utopian Virtual, Sound Collage, Vapor, Glitch
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“Conceived from the remnants of a lost archive of sample CDs, Daniel Lopatin as Oneohtrix Point Never builds on the unspoken beauty of aged data through a mosaic of densely packed yet perfectly uniform snippets of pre-fab beats, ROMplers, and breathtaking synthwork. It’s the final bittersweet dance of the digital tools of yesterday before the looming power grab of machine learning takes full effect. This weighted thematic representation makes “Tranqilizer” one of the more poignant of the Daniel Lopatin repertoire, one that will serve as a time capsule documenting an erasure of history.”
15. Jane Remover - ♡
Released: 12/05/2025
Label: Deadair
Genre: Alternative R&B, Glitch Pop, Alternative Rock, Jersey Club, Emo Rap
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Somehow, Jane managed to break past the ceiling that was “Revengeseekerz” with a small holiday package of reworked singles and a fresh Alternative Rock track that builds upon what she had started with Venturing. The EP explores much gentler striations of Alternative R&B with effects and motifs glittering throughout. All in all, a more tender side of Jane Remover and a trait that will hopefully re-surface in the future…
14. t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 - 来たれあなたは私をすべてのものから遠ざけこの世界で一人にした [Come, You Have Separated Me From All Things and Left Me Alone in This World]
Released: 12/05/2025
Label: Geometric Lullaby
Genre: Slushwave, Vaporwave, Ambient, Downtempo, Mallsoft
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
An artist of little explanation, fans of Vaporwave veteran and Ambient composer extraordinaire, Luke Laurila, were left in bewilderment upon one of the biggest returns of 2025, the great t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 renaissance. However, his true return occurred four albums in with release of 来たれあなたは私をすべてのものから遠ざけこの世界で一人にした [Come, You Have Separated Me From All Things and Left Me Alone in This World]. This is a surreal perfection of the revival era with its long cavernous corridors of rare samples allegedly collected from a scraggly warehouse in Kowloon. The instrumentals feel busy at work, with slowly evolving repetitive soundscapes of that signature primal nostalgia that inhabits all works under t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者, feeling the most lively on this milestone of an album.
13. Huremic - Seeking Darkness
Released: 03/13/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Post-Rock, Experimental Rock, Noise Rock, Fusion Gugak, Krautrock
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Created in just 20 days after getting a hit of inspiration from Tezuka Omasu’s “Buddha,” Parannoul pulled off the biggest surprises in his entire career, fresh off the heels of “Sky Hundred.” “Seeking Darkness” is a five-part spiritual exploration of entering the darkness in order to grasp the light. The Korean artist’s skills, forged from Shoegaze and Noise Pop, transitioned swiftly into Avant-Garde Post-Rock derived from Dif Juz, Ground Zero, Boris and other artists in more discrete ways. Many fans have praised the album as an important shift in Parannoul’s legacy, even rivaling earlier Shoegaze-heavy albums like “To See The Next Part of The Dream,” with its cold yet soothing delivery in transitional instrumentation and repetitious lyricism from Parannoul. Additionally, “Seeking Darkness” would be Parannoul’s first attempt at tapping into a more localized genre, Fusion Gugak, combining his recent interest in traditional Korean Folk Music with sleek contemporary styles.
12. MIKE - Showbiz!
Released: 01/30/2025
Label: 10K
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Abstract Hip Hop, Conscious Hip Hop, Jazz Rap, Drumless, Cloud Rap
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Somehow MIKE has once again topped his best work with the spiritual gratification of his seventh studio full-length, “Showbiz!” Compared to earlier releases, this album finds MIKE in a much more confident state of being, with many tracks having minimal verses and more so mantras surrounding a spiritual homecoming of sorts. As a plus, “Showbiz!” is one of MIKE’s most diverse records, weaving through abstracted instrumentals, trap, and even the interchange of ambience in some passages, all produced by the man himself as DJ Blackpower. This sets up an incredible future for the Brooklyn rapper, no longer a bandcamp underdog, but now one of the most innovative forces in Conscious Rap.
11. Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
Released: 03/28/2025
Label: Roadrunner
Genre: Blackgaze, Post-Metal, Black Metal, Screamo, Post-Rock
Image Courtesy of Rate Your Music
A lift-off into the stratosphere front-to-back, the legendary San Francisco Metal outfit managed to top their entire discography with the arrival of “Lonely People With Power.” The album sees the band explore the corruption of power and the facets that allow such grabs with heavenly build-ups, blasts of cold riffs, shrieking vocals, and a heartbreaking cinematic feel that never subsides for anything.
10. Weed420 - Miren Miren Guayo…
Released: 09/04/2025
Label: NTS Radio, Self-Released
Genre: Sound Collage, Epic Collage, Latin Electronic, Reggaetón, Hypnagogic Pop, Tamborera, Latin Rap, Chopped and Screwed, Electroacoustic, Experimental Rock, Post-Rock, Mashup, Noise
Image Courtesy of Rate Your Music
It may be a strange choice to include a DJ Mix that was originally performed on NTS, in the upper excellence of great music in 2025, but exemptions had to be made, trust. After their initial success with “Amor De Encava,” the Venezuelan collective were in full-thrust in their signature style of Latin Electronic since initially forming back in 2021. However, no one was prepared for their next major success that would happen later this year with a surprise appearance on NTS Radio, resulting in a DJ Mix that defies all expectations. “Miren Miren Guayo…” is a surreally perfect blend of counter-genres of Rock, Reggaetón, Latin Rap, and Latin Electronic that morphs in seamless transitions of Chopped and Screwed, Mashup, and Sound Collage. Everything feels so tight yet expansive in a seemingly unattainable fashion. It’s assured that this DJ mix will go down as one of the greatest of the decade, nothing comes close.
9. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - Mercy
Released: 11/07/2025
Label: Backwoodz Studioz, Rhymesayers Entertainment
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Conscious Hip Hop, Abstract Hip Hop, Jazz Rap
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Believe it or not, “Haram” was merely an introduction to what the legendary producer, The Alchemist, could offer to the thought provoking Abstract Hip Hop duo, Armand Hammer. In fact, this pairing has yielded some of the grandest execution of both parties. “Mercy” showcases rapping skills like the rent is due, with billy woods and ELUCID staring into the lacerations of this current era we find ourselves in, refusing to look away with dense storytelling that even the guests managed to meet at their level. Even the beats on here nearly top everything that The Alchemist has ever done, with glittering pianos, backdrops of cool air, and freakishly precise mixing. Lord have mercy on us, at least Armand Hammer keeps defining this decade of transformative Hip Hop.
8. Ethel Cain - Perverts
Released: 01/08/2025
Label: Daughters of Cain
Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone, Spoken Word, Slowcore, Field Recordings, Electroacoustic, Ethereal Wave, Post-Rock
Image Courtesy of Rate Your Music
When in doubt, make your fans uncomfortable. That seems to be the case with the long-form EP from Florida artist, Hayden Anhedönia. Drenched in the short stories of Donald Ray Pollock, Anhedönia would begin recording a collection of tracks in late 2024, exploring an American Gothic exploration of shame and perversion. Aspects of this album slowly bend from the most hopeful Slowcore and Ethereal to the lowest of low Drone and Dark Ambient. “Perverts” sits outside of the planned trilogy, hence the EP classification, and achieves the most extreme side of the Ethel Cain atmosphere.
7. billy woods & August Fanon - Gowillog
Released: 10/31/2025
Label: Backwoodz Studioz
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Abstract Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop, Horrorcore, Jazz Rap, Drumless
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
One of the few cases where the remix version completely transforms and bridges all gaps in the original album, Brookly-based producer, August Fanon, succeeded with billy wood’s latest album ten-fold, even down to its surprise release date. “Gowillog,” wraps the thematic units of surrealism, humor, and pessimistic views on identity into unfiltered horror, even tossing in reworkings from the equally tragic, “Aethiopes.” On par with his best work, Fanon’s beats feel truly organic, under an aura of Low-Fidelity, a balance only a few can master.
6. Shearling - Motherfucker, I Am Both: "Amen" and "Hallelujah"...
Released: 05/01/2025
Label: Mishap
Genre: Experimental Rock, Post-Rock, Noise Rock, Spoken Word, Totalism, Sludge Metal, Avant-Folk, Glitch, Drone
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
How do they do it? After the abrupt dissolution of Sprain coming off their decade-defining Post-Rock catharsis, “The Lamb as Effigy,” Alex Kent and Sylvie Simmons would return to the drawing board and begin crafting an album under a new band, Shearling. A slew of live performances throughout 2024 to early 2025 would be backdoor into mere sketches of the debut in the form of bare-nuckled, strained out instrumental breakdowns that were considerably less structured than even the most offputting of Sprain tracks. Even then, not a single soul was ready for “Motherfucker, I Am Both: ‘Amen’ and ‘Hallelujah’...” The single-track album is a distended arrangement of Noise Rock, Neoclassical, Chiptune, and metallic Sludge riffs that feel like a psychological trapdoor constantly opening beneath the listener's feet. No longer was Alex Kent pleading for his release in “Lamb as Effigy,” he has given in and is now a truly demented entity in “Motherfucker” delivering what might be one of the greatest crashouts in music history.
5. Chuquimamani-Condori & Joshua Chuquimia Crampton - Los Thuthanaka
Released: 03/22/2025
Label: Self-Released
Genre: Latin Electronic, Indigenous Andean Music, Epic Collage, Bolivian Huayño, Neo-Psychedelia, Experimental Rock, Post-Rock, Caporal
Image Courtesy of Rate Your Music
Being their first full-fledged collaboration since Luna Is Honey’s last album a decade ago, “Los Thuthanaka” could be interpreted as the next chapter for the most respected siblings in the Latin underground, Joshua and Elysia Crampton. The self-titled debut for the new duo showcases some of the best work in each 20-year career, with barraged attacks of DJ tags (OCELOTE!), dual guitars and thick Caporal drums of rhythmic unity. The album forces the listener to confront their identity and spirituality, only to celebrate it with all of their heart, soul and mind through psychedelic contortion in how these production and instrumental units interact with each other. To be more specific as to what that is in context to,“Los Thuthanaka,” brings the melodies from the Crampton’s Bolivian ancestral lands into the modern era of internet centric Avant-Garde Electronica of Latin variety and will be marked as an important expression in the universe that both musicians have been consistently developing for decades.
4. The Necks - Disquiet
Released: 10/10/2025
Label: Northern Spy, Fish Of Milk
Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz, Chamber Jazz, ECM Style Jazz, Free Improvization, Totalism, Post-Minimalism, Ambient
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
“On Disquiet, The Necks stretch their immersive, shape-shifting sound across three discs and more than three hours of labyrinthine, patient intensity. This is their twentieth studio recording and it marks the 39th year of the band’s existence. Meticulously recorded and sculpted, the four extended pieces on Disquiet see Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, and Lloyd Swanton pushing at the outer edges of their collective intuition, building and unraveling hypnotic structures with microscopic focus. Present is the usual arsenal of piano, double bass, and drums, and all the in-between of sounds undefined and sources obscured. The music of The Necks has always carried a profound sense of shared responsibility –– between the players, of course, in their utter commitment to the improvisational –– but also between the work and its audience. With music so open, there are profound opportunities to choose: what to focus on, whether to focus at all, etc. Disquiet takes this further: there is no particular listening order prescribed. There is no “Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3.” The music itself seems to stretch time, and this presentation challenges ideas of sequencing. The Necks, one may argue, are a mode of discovery as much as they are a band. Regarding the sound itself, The Necks’ signature restraint and textural depth remain, with subtle tonal shifts, evolving motifs, and roiling phases of keen and propulsive clatter, strains of subdued surprise and unmatched intentionality –– as ever, expansive and absorbing.”
3. Geese - Getting Killed
Released: 09/26/2025
Label: Partisan, Play It Again Sam
Genre: Indie Rock, Art Rock, Krautrock, Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Funk Rock, Art Punk
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
After the widespread success of Cameron Winter’s solo album, “Heavy Metal,” all eyes were set on what his band, Geese, would pull next, if that was the plan. Thankfully it was! Sometime in January for 10 days straight in Los Angeles, they would record their fifth studio album, self-produced with production shared with none other than Kenny Beats. “Getting Killed” took the strange spurring songwriting found in “Heavy Metal,” and infused it with humorous reflections that are truly fascinating when stringed with intricate guitar and rhythm work in a duel combo of Krautrock and Indie Rock. This album is both a peculiar mess and a ray of sunshine.
2. McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
Released: 06/06/2025
Label: City Slang
Genre: Jazz Rap, Conscious Hip Hop, Southern Hip Hop, Neo-Soul
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
A truly grandiose mediation of lazarism, “Magic, Alive!” shines intensely bright as a truly motivational piece of concept art, retelling a tale of three friends attempting to resurrect a deceased fourth member, dealing with the concept of loss in a child-like and socially relevant manner. In just a tight 35 minutes, Dixon creates dense and colorful instrumental landscapes of some of the greatest Conscious Rap in recent memory, pushing his sound into something truly gratifying in almost every facet. You can feel his love and emotions throughout this entire thing, indirectly detailing death, but also managing to create something that can be enjoyed at any outdoor setting with friends.
Honorable Mentions
African-American Sound Recordings - Be Somewhere Twice
Dean Blunt & Elias Rønnenfelt - Lucre
Rochelle Jordan - Through the Wall
Racing Mount Pleasant - Racing Mount Pleasant
Quadeca - Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
BRUIT ≤ - The Age of Ephemerality
Rafael Toral - Traveling Light
Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo 2
Todos Mis Amigos Están Tristes - Carne
Mydreamfever - 3. How I See Nothing But You
1. Swans - Birthing
Image Courtesy of Bandcamp
Released: 05/30/2025
Genre: Post-Rock, Experimental Rock, Noise Rock, Gothic Rock, Krautrock, Totalism, Drone
Being the finale of “all consuming sounds” there is a certain type of emphasis placed on the seventeenth studio full-length from the New York Post-Rock pioneers, Swans. “Birthing” is an immersive voyage, pushing on all fronts stylistically in later Swans, with a much more uneasy atmosphere compared to previous installments. Everything feels so significant and emotional, meaning it’s the end of one of the greatest chapters, not just in Swan’s discography, but modern music in general. Long live Michael Gira and his gang of tenured musicians.