Front Burner 2025

 My 25 Favorite Albums of 2025 

Now a very changed person from just two years ago, but still listening to music and exploring musical horizons. In fact, I would argue that music is more important to me now than it ever was. Here's a list of my most-played music in 2025. First, a random-order collage of album art...

Another, more temporary note: I haven't much description or review here yet. I'm so far behind in getting this list out that I want to share the list itself. I'll eventually add comments. In the meantime, if you're curious about any of these releases, feel free to ask!

 

Favorite Live Albums (not ranked):

Nils Petter Molvaer • Khmer - Live in Bergen 

• Norwegian, processed trumpet-based future jazz. Plenty of electric and/or electronic elements. So good. You forget it's live until the applause between songs.

 

Beat • Live in Los Angeles 

• 80s King Crimson revival with Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin, and Danny Carey. My favorite King Crimson era comes alive again, quite literally. I don't go to concerts any more but this is one I wish I would have attended.

 

Favorite World Music (not ranked): 

Meral Polat • Meydan 

• A powerful Kurdish call to arms! I loved her debut album, Ez Ki Me, from 2022. This one's even better! If you don't require English lyrics to move you, this is powerful stuff.

 

Mdou Moctar • Tears of Injustice  

• Mostly acoustic, Tuareg music from Nigeria. This is the "unplugged" version of 2024's much more electric Funeral for Justice. I like this one a lot better.

 

Favorite Jazz/Electronic/Mostly Wordless:

These are ranked but that wasn't easy to do. They're all great albums!

1)  DjRUM • Under Tangled Silence 

• Multi-genre, out there electronic music. It's all over the place but in the best ways. Every time I listen to it, I'm blown away that the guy behind it is a classically trained musician.

2)  Pitch Black • Freqs In Flux  

• Electronic and very dubby. This is the remixed and remade version of their Rude Mechanicals album from 2007. Unlike many other remix albums, this truly takes a great recording to the next level.

3)  Tortoise • Touch  

• Another great album from these post-rock veterans. It doesn't break a lot of new ground, but it does what they do so well. Great cover art, too.

 

4)  Billy Mohler • The Eternal 

• I was probably drawn to this from the inclusion of Chicago guitarist extraordinaire Jeff Parker, a regular member of the band Tortoise. This is much more traditional, bass-centric jazz that I kept coming back to, over and over, throughout the year.

 

5)  Big Hands • Bacchanalia* (also Thauma) 

• Two distinct, organic electronic releases from Big Hands this year, and both are worth a listen if that sort of thing floats your boat. I liked Bacchanalia more than Thauma, but they both spent a lot of time in my ears this year.

 

6)  Greg Spero • Journeys* (also Ego or Soul?) -- jazz

7)  Muadeep • LOST* (also Formido Linguae) -- bass-centric electronic

8)  Rival Consoles • MindsEye* (also Landscape from Memory) -- electronic

 

* These artists released two albums each this year and, in each case, both were good! I had my favorites but listed the others in parentheses.

 

Favorite Pop/Rock/Country/Soul/etc.:

1)  Jason Isbell • Foxes in the Snow -- solo acoustic country

2)  Art d'Ecco • Serene Demon -- pop? glam? disco? Who cares?!

3)  Wet Leg • Moisturizer -- irreverent pop

4)  Saya Gray • SAYA -- esoteric pop (Thanks again, Jason!)

5)  Sam Fender • People Watching -- Springsteen-influenced pop/rock

6)  Toy Weather • Feathers in a Strange Wind -- progressive rock

7)  The Delines • Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom -- west coast Americana

8)  Ian Clement • Skeleton Games -- deep-voiced rock with interesting lyrics

9)  Ezra Furman • Goodbye Small Head -- pop/rock from Chicago

10)  Steven Wilson • The Overview -- spacey progressive rock

11)  Model/Actriz • Pirouette -- post-punk (Thanks again, Wade!)

12)  The Beths • Straight Line Was A Lie -- Kiwi (New Zealand) pop/rock

13)  Velvet Bloom • Velvet Bloom -- "honey-soaked soul-pop"

 

I listened to much more music than this, and some releases were tough to cull from my longer list, but what's the point of listing year-end favorites if you just list everything you heard and liked?