Favorite Albums of 2025

I didn't get around to doing one of these lists last year. In fairness, the 2023 edition ballooned to 3000+ words and was a bit of an undertaking. I'm still listening to lots of electronic music with some jazz, rap, and indie rock sprinkled in for flavor. I didn't manage to discover much "guitar music" this year but hopefully I'll catch up next time. It was still a great year with album drops from many artists and labels I'm a fan of.

As always, I advocate for buying music physically or digitally whenever possible. Bandcamp and Discogs have remained my preferred methods of purchase though I'm grabbing more albums direct from record stores that traffic in my esoteric wares like Diskono and Absorb. As far as lists go, I'm following David James and Philip Sherburne among others to help with discovery.

I also still want more time with all the records on this list and more that I'm only now finding. I've listened to a lot of music this year but I don't feel like I've managed as much "deep listening" as I did in 2023. I'm not sure if there's actually any justification behind that or it's just intuition. Sections this year are "Rap & Trip-Hop", "International Anthem", "Dub Echoes", "Techno", and "The Rest".

I'll flag albums that were particularly noteworthy for me with a 🌟. Maybe I saw them in concert or maybe the album really gave me something I needed. Whatever the case, it was in heavy rotation for me this year. It doesn't mean they are the best, only that they stood out for me just a little bit extra.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't call out the new Radio section of my site, operating as a bit of a music journal. It was only started in late October and I'm not diligent about posting there but it's been fun to get into a habit of sharing smaller updates more often.

Continuing Influence

• Amos Roddy - Citizen Sleeper (2022)
• Haroumi Hosono, Mixmaster Morris, Jonah Sharp - Quiet Logic
• Xenia Reaper - Luvaphy

As always, there was some carryover from last year though it was less pronounced for me than in 2023. I discovered Citizen Sleeper in October of last year and its soundtrack (and overall aesthetic) has kept a hold on me. The Quiet Logic album was a brilliant slice of 90s ambient techno and despite poking through the back catalogs of Morris and Sharp, I haven't found anything that feels quite like it. Xenia Reaper's debut really turned my head at the end of 2024 and set me up to properly listen their follow-up when it released on Delsin this year.

Now, without further do, 25 great albums from 2025:

Rap & Trip-hop

What stands out from 2025 most is what a great Unc Rap year it was for me. I've been a huge JID fan ever since he dropped The Forever Story, still my favorite rap album of the 2020s. Between new albums from JID, Clipse, Freddie Gibbs, and Aesop Rock, along with a sorely needed Supreme Clientele repress, I was a very happy camper. The long-awaited follow-ups like Supreme Clientele 2 and Light-Years didn't land quite as well for me but were welcome additions to a heavier rap year than I've had in some time.

🌟 JID - God Does Like Ugly (Dreamville)

Youtube playlist

Standout tracks: Community, Gz, VCRs, Sk8

JID has always been technically proficient, able to deploy killer alliteration, a nasty double time, internal rhyme schemes and more. What was refreshing about the new album is seeing where he steps back to let the song as a whole breathe rather than trying to prove anything or pack it more densely with wordplay.

This album dropped right around my birthday in August and I spent a ton of my autumn listening to it. It doesn't eclipse The Forever Story for me because I find it harder to listen to front to back, jumping in tone a bit more. That said, the quality is uniformly great and there's a lot of range. It is probably my most played album of 2025.

Freddie Gibbs & the Alchemist - Alfredo 2 (ALC Records)

Youtube playlist

Standout tracks: 1995, Skinny Suge II, Gas Station Sushi, Gold Feet

Freddie and Alchemist really do feel like they're made for each other. The sumptuous beats from Alchemist match with Freddie's smooth flow in a way that just feels like a leather chair to sink into. The vibes are immaculate and for my money Alfredo 2 is actually more consistent front to back than the original Alfredo even if the highs on the first album are a little bit higher. Plus, JID's guest verse on Gold Feet is absolute dynamite.

Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out (Roc Nation)

Youtube playlist

Standout tracks: Chains & Whips, So Be It, Ace Trumpets, M.T.B.T.T.F.

I don't have much to say about Clipse's album that hasn't been said better elsewhere. I will say it was a great surprise to have a new Clipse album drop at all and I didn't have any complaints about Pharrell's production either. Pusha and Malice have proven that great rap albums can be dropped at any age.

Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette (Rhymesayers)

Standout tracks: Checkers, So Be It, Send Help, Black Plums

I stopped paying attention to Aesop after 2007's None Shall Pass. It wasn't intentional but when @alexr started raving about the new album that got me to sit up and figure out what I'd missed in the last 15 years. I was fortunate to discover that he's still dropping killer albums from 2016's The Impossible Kid to this year's Black Hole Superette. And he's still dropping couplets that stay stuck in my head for days.

    I can hit a moving target from a moving target,
    It's a rabbit from an equine, it's an ET from a starship.

🌟 Erika de Casier - Lifetime (Independent Jeep)

Standout tracks: Miss, December, Delusional, The Garden

I hadn't listened to Erika de Casier before this year and I didn't know how badly I needed her to drop a trip-hop album. I was hypnotically soothed by the lilting tunes on this record for most of the summer, spinning it repeatedly. I had tickets to see her in Atlanta and missed it due to an impromptu trip west for Town Con 2025. I'll catch her next time around and maybe I'll have caught up on the back catalog by then.

International Anthem

It feels like International Anthem has become sort of inescapable in the music circles I monitor and travel in. While they nominally release jazz records, it certainly feels like their work wanders into areas like fourth world ambient, strange krautrock / funk experiments, and post-rock. Most of the jazz-adjacent things I listened to this year came from them.

🌟 Uhlmann, Johnson, Wilkes - Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes

Standout tracks: Marvis, Unsure, Fields, The Fool on the Hill

I got to see Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes play Public Records in NYC as part of a birthday trip. I've long been a fan of Sam Wilkes since his eponymous album back in 2018 and while this ambient-ish trio album feels quite different to that, particularly due to the lack of drums, it really worked for me and put a smile on my face a lot throughout the year. This music isn't bombastic, it's soothing and relaxed but that has suited me just fine in the chaotic times of 2025.

Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Hofner - Different Rooms

Standout tracks: Mean Solar Time, Before and After Signs, Mean Solar Time (reflected)

I don't have a ton to say about Different Rooms. I still think my favorite album from this duo is their initial effort, Recordings from the Aland Islands. But their records always create a real sense of place betweens Jeremiah's synth manipulations and Marta's viola and violin playing. That transportive effect is always welcome.

Resavoir & Matt Gold - Horizon

Standout tracks: Canopy, Diversey Beach, Hazel Canyon

I remember being almost shocked when the slide guitar comes in on Hazel Canyon. Matt Gold's influence brought subtle pop and folk influences to this album that really made it sit beautifully with Erika de Casier as an early Summer mood. Perfect for a road trip or just enjoying a beautiful day with your dog. It feels like the cover art looks.

SML - How You Been

Standout tracks: Chicago Three, Stepping In / The Loop, Mouth Words

I need to spend more time processing this album. SML is a quintet of bass, drums, guitar, saxophone, and modular synthesizer. Their debut album was a restless and fascinating excursion that I struggled with on first listen but really enjoyed by the second or third. I pre-ordered the new album on sight and am confident it will grow on me similarly.

Tortoise - Touch

Standout tracks: Layered Presence, Elka, Oganesson

Strangely, I can't think of Tortoise without thinking of my childhood. Tortoise reminds me of the Sea and Cake due to band member overlap, which reminds me of dad because he really dug the Sea and Cake. Plus the first track off TNT was the credits song of my all-time favorite skateboarding video, Photosynthesis, which I watched religiously in early high school. This might be their most approachable album yet. It's propulsive but relentlessly pretty and after 9 years with no releases it sounds like they're just enjoying playing again.

Dub Echoes

Carrier - Rhythm Immortal (Modern Love)

Standout tracks: Outer Shell, Carbon Works, Amber Circle

Carrier was a big discovery for me this year but I still need to spend more time with this debut album. I stumbled on their releases for FELT and their own label while record shopping in NYC. The early stuff is much higher tempo, carving out a unique space between dub and experimental IDM. The debut slows the tempo down considerably while still playing with negative space and low-end spectra, sketching impossible spaces.

🌟 ex_libris - 001 / 002 (ex_libris)

Standout tracks: #25 (below surface), #3 (running out), #32 (walrus)

ex_libris is maybe the big discovery of winter for me and I want more people to know about it. I find these records completely entrancing. They serve equally well as background music for a focused activity or as active listening. Dave Huismans constructs beds of organic samples, perfectly situated in acoustic space, and just as your attention begins to relax he starts adjusting the mix and swapping samples to draw you back in. The pacing is absolutely marvelous. The first and last tracks on the EPs wind up feeling like miniature suites. Highly, highly recommended. I would love to hear about his process coming up with these EPs and I'm hungry for more.

I should note there is also a more ambient In Transit LP that he released this year. My copy just arrived and I'm eager to spend some time with it.

Mammo - General Patterns (Short Span)

Standout tracks: Gost, Traversing a Raincloud, Azahar

Short Span is a new label that was brought to my attention this year and while both Mammo's album and Sa Pa's album were candidates for this list, it was Mammo that made me sit up and decide to start following the label in the first place. There are ample gorgeous sonics on hand from ambient textural washes on the opener Gost, to hypnotic dub on Traversing a Raincloud and beyond. Definitely check it out if you've enjoyed work from Echospace/Rod Modell or more minimal excursions on Incienso like Marco Shuttle. I still need to check out Mammo's more techno-oriented record as 2501 as well.

Vehicular - Vehicular (False Aralia)

False Aralia is a relatively young imprint of Peak Oil records that has been devoted exclusively to releases from Izaak Schlossman. I harbor suspicions that Schlossman is in fact the man behind Topdown Dialectic, a secretive techno project of the 2010s and origin of some absolutely stunning machine/process-oriented compositions.

The False Aralia releases arrive in sets of 2 and thus far there have been 6 EPs. They are vaporous and beautiful, striking me occasionally as a dub-world ghostly reduction of R&B. All 6 releases are worth checking out, but Vehicular has been a recent favorite. It is a 3-track EP so I haven't bothered with standout tracks. Just let it play.

Voices from the Lake - II (Spazio Disponsible)

Standout tracks: Eos, Bespin, Manuark

Voices from the Lake released a landmark ambient techno record in 2012 that was minimal, hypnotic, and simply without flaw. If you have the patience and time for it, it will take you places. This follow-up is the band's first release since and one I pre-ordered on sight. I still want to spend more time with it and I doubt it will eclipse the monumental reputation of its predecessor, but Neel and Donato haven't lost their touch at all.

Techno

Andrea - Living Room (Ilian Tape)

Standout tracks: Timeline, Streamline, Impress

I might just like Andrea better than Skee Mask. Compro is still the best album that Ilian Tape has released for my money and I like Pool and Resort too. But I find myself more at home with Andrea. There is a comfort to his albums, especially Due in Color, that makes them work a little better for me as long-players usually. Living Room doesn't reach the heights of Due in Color, which I still think is his best, but it's another beautiful album from Andrea and a killer way to start the day.

Barker - Stochastic Drift (Smalltown Supersound)

Standout tracks: Force of Habit, Reframing, Fluid Mechanics

I was a big fan of Barker's 2019 album Utility but I think this tops it. The music is highly evocative, playing with rhythm and timbre in a way that just begs you to close your eyes, listen, and let your mind's eye conjure what it will. Philip claimed in his list that it "feels as much like sculpture as music" and I really hear where he's coming from.

Djrum - Under Tangled Silence (Houndstooth)

Standout tracks: A Tune for Us, Galaxy in Silence, Three Foxes Chasing Each Other

I really, really loved Portrait with Firewood. It got some good press but I still think it is one of the most underrated electronic albums of the 2010s. Under Tangled Silence feels like a fuller realization of that same vision. Djrum still balances acoustic instruments paired with rapid-fire breakbeats. But as much as I love his piano playing, the highlight for me has to be Three Foxes Chasing Each Other with its lighthearted endless staircase of ascending polyrhythms.

🌟 K-Lone - Sorry I Thought You Were Someone Else (Incienso)

Standout tracks: Someone Else, Fauna, Slk

I was pretty confident that either Barker or Djrum would make my techno album of 2025. Over time, they may win out, but there is a tenderness to K-Lone's album that had me coming back to it more often. I sometimes needed something gentler than Under Tangled Silence or less arresting than Stochastic Drift. Without any obvious tricks, this album managed to evoke an escape to a secluded beach with chosen family and that was an escape I needed.

Xenia Reaper - Nept Polarisation (Delsin)

Standout tracks: ( ' ∀ ')ノ～ ♡, Pulsing, Static Kiss

Xenia Reaper just tickles a certain part of my brain that wants to hear huge artificial spaces filled with fractured rhythms, like a dance party taking place in the impossibly cavernous hanger of a massive spacecraft. Pulsing especially found a sweetspot for me, a completely overwhelming torrent of sound shot through a dense fog of spectral pads.

The rest...

Anthony Naples - In Studio Magic (ANS)

Standout tracks: Harmonie, Whisper, On Your Own Again

In Studio Magic is the second Anthony Naples release to arrive this year. Most folks are more preoccupied with his more club-ready effort Scanners. Scanners is a wonderful album but I'm most enchanted by Anthony Naples when he does more downtempo, trip-hop leaning work like his 2023 album orbs. His guitar-led tracks like Whisper and On Your Own Again are simply wonderful.

Jonny Nash - Once Was Ours Forever (Melody as Truth)

Standout tracks: Walk the Eighth Path, The Way Things Looked, Green Lane

Not quite folk and not quite ambient, I discovered Jonny Nash's dulcet guitar tones through 2023's "Point of Entry". Once Was Ours Forever is an album that feels like a natural continuation of that effort and putting the vinyl on first thing in the morning is a gentle way to ease into your workweek. An album that sounds like the cover art looks.

🌟 james K - Friend (AD 93)

Standout tracks: Doom Bikini, N'balmed, Hypersoft Lovejinx Junkdream

james K landed in a sweetspot between trip-hop, shoegaze, and pop. It had "add to cart" energy. The sort of thing where you push play as you're idling checking out some new records on a Saturday morning and then spend the rest of the day trying to figure out where the hell it came from. If the 90s revivalism we're living through gives us more stuff like this, I'm onboard with it.

Oneohtrix Point Never - Tranquilizer (Warp)

Standout tracks: Bumpy, Cherry Blue, Tranquilizer

I've been waiting for Oneohtrix Point Never to put out an album like this for a while. Tranquilizer is a consciousness-altering trip through warped samples and lost memories. While I had hoped from an early sample of the title track that it might be more dub-inflected than it wound up being, the shifting soundscapes are captivating and lovely. This is another great OPN album to get lost in.

Youth Lagoon - Rarely Do I Dream (Fat Possum)

Standout tracks: Football, Gumshoe, Seersucker

Another band I saw in concert with Norma this year. I really liked the first Youth Lagoon album I heard, 2023's Heaven is a Junkyard. Rarely Do I Dream has more diverse moods, interspersed with samples from a recovered family VHS tape. But it's strongest for me when Trevor Powers worn vocals are applied to somber piano-led stories as on Football. Heaven is the more consistent album for me, but Rarely Do I Dream is an evolution worth keeping an eye on.

Discovered, not from 2025 (reissues, etc)

• ERP - Afterimage (late, electro)
• Hank Mobley - Soul Station (late, jazz)
• Intrusion - The Seduction of Silence (reissue, dub techno)
• Move D & Benjamin Brunn - Songs from the Beehive (late, house)
• Wanderwelle - Lost in a Sea of Trees (late, dub techno)

ERP was a particularly notable discovery from this year. I found my way over from his work as Convextion and am super taken with Afterimage. I had struggled with electro previously, often finding it too cheesy aside from the brilliant but sometimes too abrasive flavors of Drexciya.

Hank Mobley wound up being one of my most played albums of Georgia's brief 6-week Autumn in October and early November. I was aware of it as yet another killer Blue Note record but it really cemented in my mind this year.

I'd heard good things about Songs from the Beehive for a while and it clicked for me this year. Originally released in 2008 during the heyday of microhouse + minimal, it slowly wormed its way into my head, groovy, delicate and restless.

Finally, Intrusion and Wanderwelle are more excursions into dub techno from labels I'm already familiar with, Echospace and Silent Season respectively. The Intrusion stuff was fun because it was a first-time vinyl edition of a classic 2009 album though I think I spent more time listening to Wanderwelle in the end. And I still need to listen to the repress of cv313's Dimensional Space that echospace put out. There's always more great music to discover.

Thanks for Reading

TADA! 🎉

Once again, I've completed a giant end of year music post. Check out a few records and feel free to let me know if anything strikes your fancy!