Hi folks! Since I have now completed my two countdown radio shows for the Top 50 albums of 2025—go to The Big Takeover Show to hear one song from each over both shows!—here is my complete list of the 300 best albums, 150 best archive/retrospective/reissue releases, and 100 best stand-alone singles and EPs of this previous year—my best bets on yet another great year for music, old and new!
And to any and all of you who will scan this humble rundown, I hope this list inspires you to find, or give a second look to, a few great releases you might miss otherwise that you end up truly loving. Otherwise, such lists are just a whole bunch of navel-gazing time wasting—not my thing at all. But as I listened to all of these 550+ selections a great deal this year, perhaps you might like some of them too, or will be glad to see them recognized if you are already enjoying them. And as ever, they form my hopefully helpful suggestions when anyone glumly says, “There’s nothing happening in music anymore.” I’ve heard that every year of my life, and this year was far from an exception. It’s never been remotely true. It’s just harder to find unless you look hard, and try loads of stuff!
(P.S. I’m sorry about the tie for first. I honestly couldn’t pick between the two. I base the below on how many times I played a record, as your heart and brain wants to hear what moves both the most, over and over like Pavlov’s dog But I don’t keep a tally of any kind, it’s just off the top of my head, and I played both these albums to death.)
Cheers to you all and once again—happy new year!
1 (TIE) The Beths – Straight Line Was a Lie (Anti-)
1 (TIE) Sloan – Based On the Best Seller (Yep Roc)
3 Emma Pollock – Begging the Night to Take Hold (Chemikal Undergroud U.K.)
4 Bob Mould – Here We Go Crazy (Granary/BMG)
5 The Salt Collective – A Brief History of Blindness (Propeller Sound Recordings)
6 Tombstones in Their Eyes – Under Dark Skies (Little Cloud)
7 Don McGlashan & Anita Clark – Take It to the Bridge (live) (Don McGlashan NZ)
8 New Model Army – Live SO36 (double, live) (earMUSIC)
9 Miki Berenyi Trio – Tripla (Bella Union)
10 The Flying Vipers – Off World / World Inversion (Easy Star)
11 The Chills – Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs (double) (Fire)
12 The Black Watch – For All the World (double) (ATOM)
13 Ron Sexsmith – Hangover Terrace (Cooking Vinyl)
14 Guided By Voices – Thick Rich and Delicious/Universe Room (GBV)
15 Telephone Numbers – Scarecrow II (Slumberland)
16 Doves – Constellations For the Lonely (EMI North)
17 I Was a King – Until the End (Hype City/Redeye)
18 The Loft – Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same (Tapete GER)
19 Ed Kuepper & Jim White – After the Flood (12XU)
20 The Tubs – Cotton Crown (Trouble In Mind)
21 Bird Streets – The Escape Artist (Plastic Dreams)
22 Jesse Welles – Pilgrim / Devil’s Den (Jesse Welles)
23 Sugar For the Pill – Luv (Shelflife)
24 Welcome Strawberry – Desperate Flower (Cherub Dream/À La Carte)
25 Wet Leg – Moisturizer (Domino)
26 The Saints – Long March Through the Jazz Age (Fire)
27 Robert Forster – Strawberries (Tapete GER)
28 Plush Machine – Plush Machine (Shake It)
29 Allo Darlin’ – Bright Nights (Fika/Slumberland)
30 Dennis Davison – Sirens and Hellbenders (Pretty Plague)
31 Sunday Artist – Dolores (Hyper Dévotion)
32 Lake Ruth – Hawking Radiation (Lake Ruth)
33 Sea Lemon – Diving For a Prize (Luminelle)
34 Jeanines – How Long Can it Last (Slumberland/Skep Wax)
35 Chameleons (U.K.) – Arctic Moon (Metropolis/Strange Times Entertainment)
36 Rocket – R is for Rocket (Transgressive/Canvasback)
37 Roach Squad – Roach Squad (Little Rocket U.K./Rad Girlfriend)
38 Colin Blunstone – One Year and More: Live From Union Chapel (Gonzo Multimedia)
39 Jeffrey Runnings – Piqued (Independent Project)
40 The Bats – Corner Coming Up (Flying Nun NZ)
41 Chatham Rise – Trillium (Infinite Spin)
42 The Stalwart Lovers – Love Songs From a Broken Heart (The Stalwart Lovers)
43 Neko Case – Neon Grey Midnight Green (Anti-)
44 Moving Targets – Red Eyes (Boss Tuneage/Dead Broke)
45 Ex-Void – In Love Again (Tapete GER)
46 Superchunk – Songs in the Key of Yikes (Merge)
47 Dauber – Falling Down (Dromedary)
48 Suede – Antidepressants (BMG)
49 Black Swan Lane – The Messenger (Wanderland/Eden)
50 Dropkick – Primary Colours (Bobo Integral SPAIN)
51 Slow Salvation – Gemini (Velvet Blue)
52 Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On (Matador)
53 Chip Kinman – Chip Kinman (In the Red)
54 Heaven – Dream Aloud (Little Cloud)
55 Pale Blue Eyes – New Place (Broadcast U.K.)
56 Swami John Reis – Time to Let You Down (Swami)
57 Idlewild – Idlewild (V2)
58 Sleepersound – My Own Dead Love (Sleepersound)
59 Hayes Noble – Never Blue (2-2-1 Press)
60 Tetsuians – Ego in Echo (Tetsuians AUS)
61 Greg Antista & the Lonely Streets – Bastards and Broken Hearts (Smelvis)
62 Mt. Misery – Love in Mind (Prefect U.K.)
63 Fotoform – Grief Is a Garden (Forever In Bloom) (Fotoform)
64 Donovan’s Brain – Insect Accessories (double) (Career)
65 David Steinhart – Released (Stonegarden)
66 Echodrone – Music For 6 Musicians (Echodrone)
67 The Lemonheads – Love Chant (Fire)
68 Jetstream Pony – Bowerbirds and Blue Things (Shelflife/Spinout Nuggets)
69 Geese – Getting Killed (Partisan)
70 Tony Molina – On This Day (Slumberland)
71 Turnsole – Reticent (Turnsole)
72 Optdemics – The Atom Complex (Braxeling)
73 Sharp Pins – Balloon Balloon Balloon (K/Perennial)
74 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry – Strange Kind of Paradise (COP International U.K.)
75 The Cords – The Cords (Slumberland/Skep Wax)
76 Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Duophonic UHF Disks /Warp)
77 Triptides – Shapeshifter (Label 51)
78 Highspire – Crushed (Shelflife)
79 Trinary System – The Hard Machine (Cuneiform)
80 Bill Fox – Resonance (Eleventh Hour)
81 The High Frequencies – The High Frequencies (JEM)
82 The Reds, Pinks & Purples – The Past is a Garden I Never Fed (Fire)
83 Willie Nelson – Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle (Sony)
84 Wednesday – Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
85 Alison Clancy – The Valley (Independent Project)
86 The Raging Nathans – Room For One More (Rad Girlfriend)
87 Lifeguard – Ripped And Torn (Matador)
88 Dotsun Moon – Tiger (Dotsun Moon)
89 Los Straitjackets – Somos Los Straitjackets (Yep Roc)
90 Greg Hoy – Hit Music (30 Peak)
91 Smug Brothers – Stuck On Beta (Anyway) / Talkin’ Socrates (Gas Daddy Go)
92 Various – JEM Records Celebrates David Bowie (JEM)
93 Kramies – Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour (Vangerrett)
94 Peter Baldrachi – Nothing’s Promised (Peter Baldrachi)
95 Kestrels – Better Wonder (Darla)
96 Franz Ferdinand – The Human Fear (Domino)
97 The Divine Comedy – Rainy Sunday Afternoon (The Divine Comedy)
98 Blankenberge – Decisions (Blankenberge RUS)
99 Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts – Talkin to the Trees (Warner)
100 Dragon Inn 3 – Full Disclosure (American Laundromat)
101 The Well Wishers – Covered II (The Well Wishers)
102 Cardiacs – LSD (The Alphabet Business Concern)
103 Kicking Bird – 11 Short Fictions (Fort Lowell)
104 Massage – Coaster (Mt. St. Mtn)
105 Peel Dream Magazine – Venis in Nadir (Topshelf)
106 Fruit Bats – Baby Man (Merge)
107 Unwed Sailor – Cruel Entertainment (Current Taste)
108 Airport 77s – Don’t Let Go (JEM)
109 Craig Bell & the Dead Man’s Handle – From a Distance (Third Uncle)
110 Martin Carr – Dirty Windows (Martin Carr U.K.)
111 The Laughing Chimes – Whispers in the Speech Machine (Slumberland)
112 Car Seat Headrest – The Scholars (Matador)
113 The Kyle Sowashes – Start Making Sense (Anyway)
114 True Primitives – Rise (Comet Rock)
115 Luke Haines And Peter Buck – Going Down To The River… To Blow My Mind (Cherry Red U.K.)
116 The Innocence Mission – Midwinter Swimmers (Thérèse/Bella Union/P-Vine)
117 King Ropes – Idaho (Big and Just Little)
118 The Coward Brothers – The Coward Brothers (New West)
119 The Grip Weeds – Soul Bender (JEM)
120 Ringo Starr – Look Up (Lost Highway)
121 Pink Turns Blue – Black Swan (Pink Turns Blue)
122 Star Collector – Everything Must Go! (Clockwise CAN)
123 Deep Sea Diver – Billboard Heart (Sub Pop)
124 The Tisburys – A Still Life Revisited (Sofaburn/Double Helix)
125 The Hives – The Hives Forever Forever The Hives (PIAS)
126 King Husky – King Husky (Hype City/Redeye)
127 Good Flying Birds – Talulah’s Tape (Carpark)
128 Lucy Dacus – Forever is a Feeling (Geffen)
129 Interpol – Live at Third Man Records (live) (Third Man)
130 The Mighty Rootsmen – The Mighty Rootsmen (Bulletproof)
131 Rick Street – Troubled Mind (Dive)
132 The Half Cubes – Found Pearls; Pop Treasures Vol II (JEM)
133 Juliana Hatfield – Lightning Might Strike (American Laundromat)
134 The Minus 5 – Oar On, Penelope! (Yep Roc)
135 Nick Vivid – Volatile (Megaplatinum)
136 The Lil’ Smokies – Break of the Tide (Americana Vibes)
137 Cameron Keiber – Nurser (Midriff)
138 Dez Dare – Cheryl! Your Love Shines Down Like a Supernova’s Death (God Unknown U.K.)
139 The Horrors – Night Life (Fiction)
140 Various – Play On: a Raspberries Tribute (Think Like a Key)
141 Scientist Meets Blanc Du Blanc – Before the Beginning (Soul Selects)
142 Andi Camp – A Life Less Terrified (Grafton)
143 Latchkey – Where We Come From (Latchkey)
144 Pulp – More (Rough Trade)
145 Various – I Helped Edward Ball Escape (tribute) (The Beautiful Music CAN)
146 Grey Causeway – Grey Causeway (Dandy Boy)
147 Trolley – A Carnival Of Grey And White (Easter)
148 Ivy – Traces of You (Bar/None)
149 New Candys – The Uncanny Extravaganza (Fuzz Club)
150 Chris Stamey – Anything’s Possible (Label 51)
151 The Apartments – That’s What the Music is For (Talitres/Riley)
152 Victor V. Gurbo – Outrun the Invisible Man (Victor V. Gurbo)
153 Throwing Muses – Midnight Concessions (Fire)
154 Anton Barbeau – Glitch Wizard / Dig The Light (Think Like a Key)
155 Nutrias – El Alborotado Sonido de las Nutrias (Third Uncle)
156 Japanese Breakfast – For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) (Dead Oceans)
157 Lightheaded – Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming! (Slumberland)
158 Oberon Rose – The Sun Stood Still (Thouart)
159 Alyssandra Nighswonger – Travel + Movement (Alyssandra Nighswonger)
160 Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another (Soundtrack) (Nonesuch)
161 Evil Nature – Quasi-Demonic (Mt. Crushmore)
162 Smoking Popes – Lovely Stuff (Anxious and Angry)
163 Dmitry Wild – Vintage Tales (Cacophone)
164 Dean Wareham – That’s the Price of Loving Me (Carpark)
165 Whimbrels – Whimbrels (Dromedary)
166 Glazyhaze – Sonic (Glazyhaze ITALY)
167 20/20 – Back to California (Spyderpop)
168 Panchiko – Ginkgo (Nettwerk)
169 Twin Foxes – Green It’s All Around You (Best Brother)
170 Andy Bell – Pinball Wanderer (Sonic Cathedral)
171 Just Mustard – We Were Just Here (Partisan)
172 Tullycraft – Shoot The Point (HHBTM)
173 Waves Crashing – Effection (Neon Sigh/Audiomanic)
174 Craig Finn – Always Been (Thirty Tigers)
175 Peter Holsapple – The Face of 68 (Label 51)
176 M(H)Aol – Something Song (Merge)
177 Jason Isbel – Foxes in the Snow (Southeastern)
178 Julian Cope – Friar Tuck (Head Heritage U.K.)
179 James Erik Stark – Down in the Basement (James Erik Stark)
180 Momma – Welcome to My Blue Sky (Polyvinyl)
181 Destroyer – Dan’s Boogie (Merge)
182 The Kingston Lions – The Kingston Lions (Bulletproof/Kartel)
183 The Names – Encore! (Spleen+)
184 Jeffrey Lewis – The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis (Don Giovanni)
185 Lambrini Girls – Who Let the Dogs Out (City Slang)
186 Sean O’Brien and His Dirty Hands – Last Hello (First Cold Press)
187 Flavor Crystals – Gone Six (double) (MPLS Ltd.)
188 James McMurtry – Black Dog and the Wandering Boy (New West)
189 Stella & the Very Messed – Big Familiar (Double Helix)
190 Twen – Fate Euphoric (Twenterprises)
191 Marty Willson-Piper – Archaeological Dig, Vol. 1 (Schoolkids)
192 Aarktica – Ecstatic Lightsongs (Hanaqpacha)
193 They Are Gutting a Body of Water – Lotto (ATO)
194 The Melancholy Kings – Her Favorite Disguise (Magic Door)
195 Panda Bear – Sinister Grift (Domino)
196 St. Divine – You Can’t Go Forward and You Can’t Go Back (Reel To Reel)
197 The Royal Arctic Institute – The Royal Arctic Institute (Centripetal Force))
198 Yndling – Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand) (Spirit-Goth)
199 Wreckless Eric – England Screaming (Tapete GER)
200 Snarskicircuslindyband – What’s Said and What’s Left Unsaid (Teardrop AUS)
201 Dewey Lester & the 6:03 – Summer ’72 (Starboard U.K.)
202 The Raveonettes – PE’AHI II (Beat Dies)
203 The Discussion – All the Pretty Flowers (Artoffact CAN)
204 The Spongetones – 40th Anniversary Concert… and Beyond (Big Stir)
205 This Is Lorelei – Holo Boy (Double Double Whammy)
206 Eric Van Dijsseldonk – Half Time (Zip NETHERLANDS)
207 The Mary Onettes – Sworn (Welfare)
208 The Webstirs – High Up in the Trees (Pressmark)
209 The Moles – Composition Book (Splendid Research)
210 Ten Million Lights – Hit the Floor (Ten Million Lights)
211 Immersion – Wtf?? (Swim~)
212 Greg Amici – Tragicomic (Magic Door)
213 Keep – Almost Static (Honeysuckle Sound)
214 Overly Polite Tomatoes – Leave a Space (Overly Polite Tomatoes)
215 Alison Krauss & Union Station – Arcadia (Down the Road)
216 Bromide – Forest Mountain Forest (Scratchy U.K.)
217 Tennis – Face Down in the Garden (Mutually Detrimental)
218 Luckyandlove – Humaura (Southern Record Distributors)
219 Seasurfer – Dive In (the Weimer Session) (Recordjet GER)
220 Will Stratton – Points of Origin (Bella Union/Ruination)
221 Exploding Flowers – Watermelon/Peacock (Meritorio)
222 Dreamcoaster – Imaginary Reflections (Duck Race)
223 Tortoise – Touch (Nonesuch/International Anthem)
224 Fuzz – Fourth Dream (In the Red)
225 Old Moon – Around Again (Old Moon)
226 No Joy – Bugland (Hand Drawn Dracula)
227 St. John’s Wood Affair – 2 (Think Like a Key)
228 Patterson Hood – Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams (ATO)
229 Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives – Space Junk (Snakefarm)
230 Gina Birch – Trouble (Third Man)
231 Turnstile – Never Enough (Roadrunner)
232 Erie Choir – Golden Reviser (Potluck)
233 Molly Tuttle – So Long Little Miss Sunshine (Nonesuch)
234 Nicholas Payton/Esperanza Spalding/Karriem Riggings – Triune (Smoke Sessions)
235 Jenny Hval – Iris Silver Mist (4AD)
236 Swans – Birthing (Young God/Mute)
237 Steve Gunn — Daylight Daylight (No Quarter)
238 Textbook Maneuver – Adrenaline Slip (Life Science)
239 Kallai – We Are Forever (Little Cloud)
240 Tame Impala – Deadbeat (Columbia)
241 Pale Blue Dot – ((H)Eart(H)) (Pale Blue Dot ITALY)
242 The Ex – If Your Mirror Breaks (E&X)
243 The Third Mind – Right Now (Yep Roc)
244 The Mekons – Horror (Fire)
245 Winterpills – This is How We Dance (Signature Sounds)
246 Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override (Dbpm)
247 Hotline TNT – Raspberry Moon (Third Man)
248 Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill – Long After the Fire (Label 51)
249 Charlie Nieland – Stories From the Borderlands (Athame)
250 Ty Segall – Possession (Drag City)
251 David Byrne – Who Is The Sky? (Matador)
252 Black Country, New Road – Forever Howlong (Ninja Tune)
253 Blue Tone Stompers – Look Up! (Productions Impossible)
254 My Morning Jacket – Is (ATO)
255 Osees – Abomination Revealed at Last (Deathgod Corp.)
256 Rufus Wainwright – I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Wainwright Does Weill (Rock and Roll Credit Card Inc.)
257 Thalia Zedek Band – The Boat Outside Your Window (Thrill Jockey)
258 Nation of Language – Dance Called Memory (Sub Pop)
259 Sorry – COSPLAY (Domino)
260 Eric Choir – Golden Reviser (Potluck)
261 Autocamper – What Do You Do All Day? (Slumberland)
262 Gino & the Goons – Gino & the Goons (Slovenly)
263 Edward Rogers – Astor Place (Think Like a Key)
264 Moviola – Earthbound (Dromedary)
265 Charboneau – Long Across the West (Braxeling)
266 Gulp – Beneath Strawberry Moons (Team Love)
267 Physarum – Selected Songs 1 (From the Keep)
268 Brian Dunne – Clams Casino (Missing Piece)
269 Major Spark – Walk Among the Poppies (High Wave)
270 shearling – Motherfucker, I am Both: “Amen” and “Hallelujah” (Mishap)
271 Fishbone – Stockholm Syndrome (Fishbone)
272 Underlined Passages – The Accelerationists (Mint 400)
273 The Warlocks – The Manic Excessive Sounds of (Cleopatra)
274 Pavement – Pavements Soundtrack (Matador)
275 Bret McKenzie – Freak Out City (Sub Pop)
276 (LA’s) People Talk – About Things (Recess)
277 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Wild God Live in Paris (live) (ARTE Concert)
278 Richard Ashcroft – Lovin’ You (Virgin)
279 Roy Moller – Hindsight (The Beautiful Music CAN)
280 Liam Finn – Hyperverse (Schoolkids)
281 Big Thief – Double Infinity (4AD)
282 The Swell Season – Forward (Masterkey Sounds)
283 Alvilda – C’est Deja L’heure (Static Shock)
284 Dom Mariani – Apple of Life (Alive)
285 Cheater Slicks – Don’t Like You (double) (In the Red)
286 Psychic Pigs – Psychic Pigs (Slovenly)
287 Jonathan Richman – Only Frozen Sky Anyway (Blue Arrow)
288 The Melody Chamber – The Melody Chamber 12” (HHBTM)
289 Suburban Resistance – SRVI: The American Way (IM)
290 The Stayres – Duplex (Flak)
291 Lunchbox – Evolve (Slumberland)
292 Sunflower Bean – Mortal Primetime (Lucky Number)
293 Humdrum – Every Heaven (Slumberland)
294 The Fleshtones – It’s Getting late (and More Songs About Werewolves) (Yep Roc)
295 Starflyer 59 – Déjame Dormir (Velvet Blue Music)
296 Wayne Everett – Kingsqueens 12” (Clerestory AV)
297 Riot for Romance – Learning to Unburden Myself (Fair Vaux/Steadfast)
298 Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory – Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory (Jagjaguwar)
299 Marianne Nowottny – Marzanna (Abaton Book Company)
300 Melody’s Echo Chamber – Unclouded (Domino)
1 The Saints ’73-’78 – Live Nights in Venice EP 12” (In The Red)
2 Swervedriver – The World’s Fair EP (Outer Battery)
3 Royal Blunder – Only More is Enough EP (Royal Blunder)
4 Sugar – “House of Dead Memories” single (Granary/BMG)
5 The Feeders – Out to Rot EP (The Feeders)
6 Healees – “Forest Fire (Demo)” single (Hidden Bay FRANCE)
7 Standing Waves – After a Fashion EP (Standing Waves)
8 Successful Failures – Sun Studio Session EP (FDR)
9 Nord Electric Featuring Mark Gardener – Loneliness For Sale EP (Outer Battery)
10 Corin Ashley – EP 1 EP (Murray Hill)
11 Alison’s Halo – Skywide EP (Nettwerk)
12 Joe Pernice – “Save Me (Substack Tapes Version)” single (New West)
13 The Salt Collective – Last Day We’re Young EP (Propeller Sound Recordings)
14 The Damned – “There’s a Ghost In My House” single (earMUSIC)
15 Cut Worms – “Evil Twin” single (Jagjaguwar)
16 American Darlings – Fly Forward EP (Willie Cry)
17 Heavenly – “Portland Town” single (Skep Wax U.K.)
18 Deadlights – Blue Sides EP (Deadlights)
19 Blueboy – “Deux” single (Precious Recordings of London U.K.)
20 Bevil Web (Tobin Sprout) – Four Song EP (Petrified Fish)
21 Jason Maksymilian – Dear Delusion EP (Jason Maksymilian)
22 The Scenics – “Take Care” single (Dream Tower CAN)
23 The Flying Vipers – “Persistency” single (Easy Star)
24 Cliff and Ivy – “Lockdown” / “The Healer” / “The Raven And The Wolf” singles (House Of Extreme Darkness)
25 Buzzcocks – “Queen of the Scene” single (Cherry Red U.K.)
26 Pale Lights – 8 Songs mini-LP (Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten/Jigsaw)
27 Startographers and Nim – split single (Shifting Sounds)
28 The New Pornographers – “Ballad of the Last Payphone” single (Merge)
29 A.M. Nice – Major Soft Skills EP (Phratry)
30 Rhymies – I Dream Watching EP (Dandy Boy)
31 Skymender – Skymender EP (Steadfast)
32 Doublevee – Periscope at Midnight EP (Double Vee)
33 The Len Price 3 – “Emily’s Shop” / The Luckiest Guy Alive” singles (Wicked Cool)
34 Girl Tones – “Burnout” single (Parallel Vision/Big Loud Rock)
35 Ash (Featuring Graham Coxon) – “Ad Astra” single (Fierce Panda)
36 The Bevis Frond – “Horrorful Heights” single (Fire)
37 Superchunk – “I Don’t Want to Get Over You” single (Merge)
38 The Sentimental Tourists – The Sentimental Tourists EP (Emma’s House U.K.)
39 Voxtrot – “Fighting” single (Voxtrot)
40 Magic Shoppe – Resurrection Machine EP (Little Cloud)
41 The Black Watch – “There Are Solutions to Each and Every Problem” single (Atom)
42 Above Me – Above Me EP (Dandy Boy)
43 Doug Gillard/Bunnygrunt – A Tribute to Game Theory split single (Silly Moo)
44 Danny & The Doorknobs – “Ten Seconds to Tell You” single (Poison Summer)
45 Bantom Woods – “Lotteries and Lightning Strikes” single (Shifting Sounds)
46 Barbara Manning – “Cantor’s Mind Was Rocking” single (Igor)
47 The Special Pillow – “I Saw a Flying Saucer” / “Banana Freak Out” singles (Zofko)
48 The Last Throes – Living In… EP (The Last Throes)
49 Jeff the Brotherhood Featuring Blanc Du Blanc – Magick Songs in Dub EP (Soul Selects)
50 Ratboys – “Anywhere” single (New West)
51 Selector Dub Narcotic – When Boys Cry EP (K)
52 Brian Jonestown Massacre – “Makes Me Great” single (A Recordings)
53 Bloococoon – “You Being You” single (Little Cloud)
54 Bright Eyes – Kids Table EP (Dead Oceans)
55 Black Ferns – “Modern Times” single (Northern Light)
56 Satch Kerans Band – Gotta Be Better EP (Satch Kerans Band)
57 Spoon – “Chateau Blues” single (Matador)
58 St. Divine – New Kind of Kick EP (Reel To Reel)
59 The 1981 – “Soft Goodbye” single (Dandy Boy)
60 My Version Of It – “Life of the Dead” / “Villain in the Middle” / “I Did It Myself” singles / Live at Cart Music EP (My Version Of It)
61 She’s Green – Chrysalis EP (Photo Finish)
62 Sleaford Mods – “Megaton” single (Rough Trade)
63 Austin Stahl – Waste Places mini-LP (Austin Stahl)
64 Shudder To Think – “Thirst Walk” single (Dischord)
65 The Burning Limos – “White Tribal Tantrum” / “Collar Up” singles (Haystack Balloon)
66 The Church – “Sacred Echoes (Part 2)” single (Cooking Vinyl)
67 Dunkirk Riots – “Digging For Gold” single (Dunkirk Riots)
68 Altin Gün – “Neredesin Se” single (Bongo Joe/Glitterbeat)
69 Two-Man Giant Squid – Two-Man Giant Squid mini-LP (Mint 400)
70 The Goods – “Freshly Fallen Snow” single (Dandy Boy)
71 Lovina Falls – Would That it Were EP (Lovina Falls)
72 Hyla – Echo Darling EP (Hyla)
73 Shirley Collins – “Hares On The Mountain (Fast Version)” single (Domino)
74 Penelope Voss – “Henrietta” single (Penelope Voss)
75 Miss Massive Snowflake – Friends EP (North Pole)
76 Cloud Studies – “Last Night I Fell Again” single (Happy Robots)
77 Flowting Clowds – “There Are Rivers” single (Landland Colportage)
78 Larry Beckett – “Song of the Old Lovers” single (Larry Beckett)
79 Onsetter – Smother/Obituary EP (Mishap)
80 Iron and Wine & Ben Bridwell – Making Good Time EP (Black Cricket Recording Co./Brown)
81 Dead Bob – “Some Bodies” single (Alternative Tentacles)
82 The Dandy Warhols – Rock Remaker EP (Sunset Blvd.)
83 Appaloosa – “Get it Together, Kid” single (Appaloosa)
84 Jolie Holland & Max Knouse – Wolf Dispatch EP (Michael Hurley Tribute) (Brooklyn Basement)
85 The Tights – Bad Hearts EP (Hozac)
86 The Fangs – “Vampire Vamp” single (HHBTM)
87 Zabrecky – “Our Magic” single (In the Red)
88 Janus 4-14 – Blue to Infinity EP (Janus 4-14)
89 Crisis Actor – “Nervous Laughter” single (Devour)
90 Shannon & the Clams – “Wax & String” single (Easy Eye Sound)
91 The Lemon Twigs – “I’ve Got a Broken Heart” single (Captured Tracks)
92 Perfect 100 – “Perfect 100” single (Bloody Knuckles)
93 Los Sex Sex Sex – Control EP (Slovenly)
94 Three Quarter Skies (Simon Scott) – On Fire EP (Sonic Cathedral U.K.)
95 Pink Martini – Bella Ciao EP (Heinz)
96 Bubblegum Lemonade – Where the Light Hits the Shade EP (Matinée)
97 Hickoids – “Slither On” single (Saustex)
98 Jim Basnight – “See It In Your Eyes” single (Jim Basnight)
99 The Obliques – “St. Petersburg” single (Hozac)
100 The Strains – “Running The Lines” single (I-94)
(Special Mention: Springhouse – From Now to OK Deluxe Reissue (double) (Independent Project)
1 The Beatles – Anthology IV (Capitol)
2 Glide – Open Up and Croon (Love And Death AUS)
3 Leatherface – The Peel Sessions (Little Rocket U.K.)
4 Compulsion – Comforter / The Future Is Medium (One Little Independent U.K.)
5 Salem 66 – Salt (Don Giovanni)
6 Magnetic Morning – A.M. (Remastered) (Outer Battery)
7 Modernettes – Teen City EP (45th Anniversary Reissue) (Porterhouse)
8 October Days – Do the Right Thing /Great American Music Hall Live (October Days)
9 The Replacements – Let It Be – Deluxe Edition box (Rhino)
10 The Descendents – Milo Goes to College / I Don’t Want to Grow Up (ORG Music)
11 Real Estate – The Wee Small Hours: B-Sides and Other Detritus 2011 – 2025 (Domino)
12 Talking Heads – Talking Heads 77 (Super Deluxe) box (Rhino)
13 Pointed Sticks – Perfect Youth (Porterhouse)
14 Various – The Well (Independent Project)
15 Rozz Rezabek – 1979 Pop Session (Hozac)
16 Chappaquddick Skyline – Chappaquddick Skyline (25th Anniversary Edition) (New West)
17 M.I.A. – We Must Fight! (Modern City)
18 Dennis Davison – The Book Of Strongman (Remixed/Remastered) (Pretty Plague)
19 The Move – Message From the Country Expanded and Remastered (Cherry Red U.K.)
20 The Dickies – What Once Was (live) (Cleopatra)
21 Eater – Wasting Time – The Lost 1978 Sessions EP / Duplication (Cleopatra)
22 TV Smith – Channel Five (double) (Easy Action U.K.)
23 I Was a King – Best Wishes – A Shortcut to I Was a King (Hype City/Redeye)
24 The Zombies – Odessey & Oracle (Mono Remastered) (Beachwood Park)
25 The Rain Parade – Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (Deluxe) / Crashing Dream (Deluxe) (Label 51)
26 The Beckies – Good to Know: The Beckies Story (double) (Omnivore)
27 Penetration – Moving Targets / Coming Up for Air (Cherry Red U.K.)
28 George Harrison – Living In the Material World 50th Anniversary Edition (Dark Horse/BMG)
29 The Clean – Modern Rock (Remastered) (Merge)
30 Ray Charles – Come Live With Me (Tangerine)
31 Hüsker Dü – 1985 :The Miracle Year box (Numero)
32 Ex-Norwegian – Crack (2025 Remaster) / Wasted Lines (2025 Remaster) (Think Like a Key)
33 Lee Hazelwood – Love and Other Crimes (Real Gone)
34 Various – Just Like Heaven – a Tribute to the Cure (double) (American Laundromat)
35 The Bongos – The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985 (JEM)
36 Nourallah Brothers – Nourallah Brothers (25th Anniversary) double (Happiness/PSR Music Group)
37 Primitive Romance – The Spirit’s Still There: 1981-1986 (Primitive Romance)
38 Spool – Pasting the Post Dry (Happening Sounds Recordings CAN)
39 The Huntingtons – ¡Muerto, Cárcel O Rocanrol! (Burnt Toast)
40 Dennis Bovell & Friends – Different – The Singles Collection 1977-1981 (Doctor Bird /Cherry Red U.K.)
41 The Raging Nathans – Bad Timing; Sordid Youth Vol. 3 (Rad Girlfriend)
42 Gladys Knight & the Pips – Nitty Gritty / Neither One of Us (Elemental/Motown)
43 Various – C92 box (Cherry Red U.K.)
44 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Perfect Right Now: A Slumberland Collection 2008 – 2010 (Slumberland)
45 Television Personalities – Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out: Radio Sessions 1980-1993 (double) (Fire)
46 Various – Time! Gentlemen! (Pub Rock Rhythm N Grooves – Classic Cuts and Rarities 1974-1982) (triple) (Cherry Red U.K.)
47 Pale Saints – Slow Buildings (30th Anniversary) (4AD)
48 Gene Clark & Carla Olson – So Rebellious a Lover (Expanded) (Sunset Blvd.)
49 Drop Nineteens – 1991 (Wharf Cat)
50 Go-Betweens – The-G Stands For Go-Betweens: Volume 3 2000-2006 box (Domino)
51 Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill (Kill Rock Stars) / Figure 8 (25th Anniversary) (Interscope)
52 The Feelies – Rewind (Coyote/Bar/None)
53 Wings – Venus and Mars 50th (Ume/MPL)
54 Various – Jingle Jangle Morning (The 1960s U.S. Folk Rock Explosion) (triple) (Cherry Red U.K.)
55 Steve Kilbey – Bespoke Wheels and Winged Heels (Easy Action U.K.)
56 The Blasters – An American Music Story: The Complete Studio Recordings 1979-1985 box (Liberation Hall)
57 Jack Frost – As Seen on TV (triple) (Easy Action UK)
58 Nelson Bragg – Mélodie De Nelson: A Pop Anthology (Big Stir)
59 Iggy Pop – Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 (live) (CD/Blu-Ray) (earMUSIC)
60 The Dogs – Unleashed (Rum Bar) / “Inside Out” single (I-94)
61 Elmore James – Hits & Rarities (double) (Sunset Blvd.)
62 The Smithereens – 2011 (Sunset Blvd.)
63 Doc Pomus – Viva Doc Pomus: Songs For Elvis (The Demos) (Omnivore)
64Great Unwashed – Clean Out of Our Minds EP (Meds/Noise Prints)
65 Little Richard – Try Some of Mine – The Brunswick Recordings (ORG Music)
66 The Dream Syndicate – Medicine Show (Fire)
67 Black Tape For a Blue Girl – As One Aflame Laid Bare by Desire / Live at the Middle East Boston July 21, 1998 / Remnants of a Deeper Purity (Projekt)
68 Julee Cruise – Fall Float Love (Works 1989-1993) (Cherry Red U.K.)
69 Clarence White – Melodies of a Byrd in Flyte: 1963-1973 (Liberation Hall)
70 Pete Astor – Unsent Letters – Home Recordings 1984-2024 (Tapete GER)
71 Various – Middle Earth – Soundtrack of London’s Legendary Psychedelic Club 1967-1969 (triple) (Grapefruit/Strawberry/Cherry Red U.K.)
72 Buck Owens & His Buckaroos – The Exciting Sounds of Buck Owens & His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, VA 1964 / Adios Farewell Goodbye Good Luck So Long: on Stage 1964-1974 box (Omnivore)
73 Swell Maps – The John Peel Sessions (Mute)
74 Motörhead – The Manticore Tapes (BMG)
75 Various – I Wanna Be a Teen Again—American Power Pop 1980-1989 (Cherry Red U.K.)
76 Sly & the Family Stone – The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967 (High Moon)
77 Radiohead – Hail to the Thief Live Recordings 2003-2009 (XL)
78 Francoise Hardy – En Vogue: Best of 1962-1967 (Omnivore)
79 Various – The Magic Forest (More Pastoral Psychedelia & Funky Folk) (triple) (Grapefruit/Strawberry/Cherry Red U.K.)
80 John Lee Hooker – It Serve You Right to Suffer (Verve/UMe)
81 Melanie – Take Me Home: Live at the Troubadour 1969 / Ace O’Diamonds – The Lost Broadway Musical (double) (Cleopatra)
82 Pulsars – Pulsars (Damaged Disco)
83 Sonic Youth – Hold That Tiger (double) (Superior Viaduct)
84 Ella Fitzgerald – The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (Verve)
85 Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)(Big Brother)
86 Sorrows – Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow (Big Stir)
87 Dwight Twilley – Twilley / Scuba Divers (Blueprint Edition) (Iconoclastic)
88 Nick Drake – The Making of Five Leaves Left box (Island/Ume)
89 Mercyland – Mercyland (Propeller Sound Recordings)
90 The Skids – The Singles (double) (Captain Oi/Cherry Red U.K.)
91 Joe Gibbs & The Professionals – Disco Love Dub / Jam Down Rock (Doctor Bird/Cherry Red U.K.)
92 Cloud Nothings – The Black Hole Understands / Life is Only One Event (Pure Noise)
93 Woody Guthrie – Woody at Home, Vol. 1 & 2, 1951-52 Home Recordings (Shamus/TRO Essex Music Group)
94 The Rousers – 1979 Sire Session (double) (Left For Dead)
95 Pentangle – Solomon’s Seal Deluxe Edition (Cherry Red U.K.)
96 Testors – Prime Primitive: 1976-1977 (Green Noise)
97 Big Joe Williams – If You Ever Had The Blues (Sunset Blvd.)
98 The Fall – Hex-Education Hour (Cherry Red U.K.)
99 Vivabeat – Party in the Warzone / The House is Burning: the Best of Vivabeat 1979-1986 (Liberation Hall)
100 The Bablers – Like the First Time (Big Stir)
101 The Final Solution – Just Like Gold! Live at The Matrix 1966 (High Moon)
102 Unrest – Perfect Teeth (double) (4AD)
103 Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid box (Touch And Go)
104 Pearl Harbor & the Explosions – Pearl Harbor & the Explosions (Liberation Hall)
105 Zero Boys – Playback is Hell (Secretly Canadian)
106 Neal Casal – No One Above You (The Early Years 1991-1998) (Royal Potato Family)
107 Low Sunday – Ghost Machine (Projekt)
108 Sea Hags – Dead & Gone (Liberation Hall)
109 Various – We Were Living In Cincinnati Vol 2: Punk and Underground Sounds From Ohio’s Queen City (double) (Hozac)
110 Hagfish – Rocks Your Lame Ass (Porterhouse)
111 Lard – Pure Chewing Satisfaction (Alternative Tentacles)
112 The Gits – Live at The X-Ray (live) (Sub Pop)
113 The Pale Fountains – The Complete Virgin Years box (Cherry Red U.K.)
114 Various – A Smaller Circle of Friends—Germs (Bill Bartell Rides Again) single (Artifix)
115 Yusuf/Cat Stevens – Cat on the Road to Findout: Greatest Hits (Universal)
116 The Bangles – Watching the Sky – The Bangles box (Cherry Red U.K.)
117 Vashti Bunyon – Lookaftering (Expanded Edition) (FatCat / Dichristina)
118 Camper Van Beethoven – Telephone Free Landslide Victory (Cooking Vinyl)
119 Kilkenny Cats – Hammer + Echo (Propellor Sound Recordings)
120 Via – Via (Dromedary)
121 Silkworm – Developer (Comedy Minus One)
122 Frank Sinatra & Duke Ellington (& Count Basie) – The Giants of Jazz (It Might as Well Be Swing) (double) (UMe)
123 Heatmiser – Mic City Sons (30th Anniversary Edition) (Third Man)
124 Funkadelic – Funkadelic (ORG Music)
125 The Romans – Last Days at the Ranch (Happy Squid)
126 The Rolling Stones – Black and Blue box (UMR)
127 Stellan Wahlström Drift Band – The Sleeper – a Live Collection (live) (Belpid SWE)
128 Xmal Deutschland – Gift: The 4AD Years box (4AD)
128 Bill Evans Trio – Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings box (Craft/Riverside/Universal)
129 Hyperbubble – The Singles (Kaniption/Socket Sounds)
130 Skin Yard – Skin Yard Select (7” box) (C/Z)
131 Monks – Black Monk Time (Munster SPAIN)
132 – New Math – Gardens (Remastered + Expanded) (Propeller Sound Recordings)
133 Six Finger Satellite – Severe Exposure: Deluxe Edition (Sub Pop)
134 The Clientele – The Violet Hour (Merge)
135 Chrome – Half Machine Lip Moves (Deluxe Edition) (Cleopatra)
136 Too Much Joy – Son of Sam I Am (Tommy’s Version) (People Suck)
137 William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops (Arcadia Archive Edition) (Temporary Residence)
138 Morricone, Berio, Maderna, Nono – Sound and Silence: Four {ioneering Modernist Italian Composers (El/Cherry Red U.K.)
139 The Outer Limits – Just One More Chance: Anthology 1965-68 (double) (Strawberry/Cherry Red U.K.)
140 Don Gibson—The Kin of Country Soul / More Country Soul / Dottie & Don/ Sings All-time Country Gold (Cherry Red U.K.)
141 Dianogah – 1995-2008 box (Landland Colportage)
142 The Limps – 1979 (Mad Butcher GER)
143 Translator – Beyond Today: Live at the Farm, San Francisco 1986 (Liberation Hall)
144 Various – Various, Motor City is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972 (triple) (Cherry Red U.K.)
145 China Crisis – The Complete Sessions 1982-1983 (Last Night From Glasgow U.K.)
146 Various – C92 box (Cherry Red U.K.)
147 Jack Frost – As Seen on TV (triple) (Easy Action UK)
148 Diana Ross & the Supremes – Reflections (Elemental/Motown)
149 Lee Hazelwood – Love and Other Crimes (Real Gone)
150 Ida – Will You Find Me (25th Anniversary Edition) box (Tiger Style/Numero Group)
(And a Handful of 2025 Music Books I Enjoyed Perusing, In No Order:)
Billy Bragg, Author, Etc. – A People’s History (Spenwood)
Eric N. Danielson – Straight Ahead: The Story of Greg Sage & the Wipers (STFU Press)
Glen E. Friedman – Fearless Vampire Killers: The Bad Brains Photographs (Akashic)
Bill Janovitz – The Cars; Let the Stories Be Told (Da Capo)
Sahan Jayasuriya – Oral History of Die Kreuzen (Feral House)
Jon King – To Hell With Poverty! (Akashic)
Fiona Mcquarrie – Fountains of Wayne (Jcard Press)
Steve Miller – Laughing Hyenas (J-Card Press)
Malcolm Wyatt – Solid Bond in Your Heart: A People’s History of the Jam (Spenwood)
And that’s it! Here’s to 2026…—at least for music!
