Only a handful of selections this year; many favorites already appeared on the cassettes list, and even then there just wasn’t a lot that blew me away. But based on the other impressive lists I’ve been seeing, I missed a hell of a lot. I want to spotlight some of those (I’ll continue adding more as I find them), and also humbly ask for recommendations from all of you, my lovely readers, for whom I’m so thankful every single day.
Thomas Carroll, “2025 in Review” | Beehype, “Best Albums of 2025” | Burning Ambulance, “Year-End Roundup” | Thurston Moore, “350 Best Records of 2025” | Chris Monsen, “Year End Picks” | Free Jazz Collective, “Top Albums of 2025” | Sun 13, “Top 50 Albums of 2025” | Treble Zine, “25 Best Experimental Albums of 2025”
OsamaSon – Psykotic (Atlantic, Oct 10)
The hype level could not have been higher when OsamaSon’s long-awaited follow-up to Flex Musix, Jumpout, finally dropped in January of this year—and the disappointment level also could not have been higher. So I spent the year looping his past releases once again, latching onto the few underground collaborations he put out (which had some gems; “Shitshow” off his short tape with xaviersobased might be the song of the year) and hoping that the major label curse hadn’t claimed his creativity. And the hope was worth it, because Psykotic is the breakthrough full-length its predecessor purported to be. It delivers a hammer blow in the rage distortion war with opener “Habits,” the thumping beat cranked and compressed to buzzsaw register. Despite some minor pacing issues, the tracklist offers pretty much everything, from bangers to ballads and everything in between. Hoping for a CD release soon.
Sachiko M – Sounds from M (Party Perfect!!!, Oct 17)
Looking back to Sine Wave Solo at Ftarri 2022, that material foreshadowed the direction Matsubara would take for her first studio album in nearly two decades. After so many years of honing her craft on one of the most stripped-down musical setups possible, she’s arrived at a mode of free improvisation that subverts the practice’s already nebulous idioms—or, more accurately, doesn’t care to acknowledge them at all. The single session that comprises Sounds from M is more analogous to sketches, or even breaths. She plays a sustained tone here, lets it fall back into silence, works up a crystalline flurry of clicks and bleeps, harps on a stutter, more silence before a fade-in… nothing seems to lead anywhere, and yet everything leads to something.
Jae Stephens – Total Sellout (Def Jam, Nov 14)
If the 2010s was the era of soulful 90s R&B diva revival, then naturally the 2020s is all about dance-pop girl group nostalgia. Last year FLO’s hit-heavy ACCESS ALL AREAS made it onto the list, so it’s appropriate that the trend continues with Jae Stephens and Total Sellout. I debated including it with the compilations since it’s more of a collection of EPs than a proper debut album, but more than half of the songs were released in 2025, so here it is. Even working with the team of songwriters typical for a major label release, Stephens still manages to define her voice. The tunes are tight and impossibly catchy, the slinky “Precious” especially (it’s still stuck in my head as I write this). True to the aforementioned roots, the choreography doesn’t disappoint either—check out the music video for “Afterbody.”
Robert Fuchs – C.O.T.H. (Usagi, Apr 15)
Even though I didn’t put it on the midyear list, C.O.T.H. has stuck with me the way few other recent noise releases have. It feels like the logical conclusion that all the Robert Fuchs material thus far has been leading toward. Here Dean Fazzino’s minimal toolkit achieves its most maximal results, each part of the suite its own world of constrained tension. The logic at work is both singular and familiar: feedback teeters over a shallow abyss in drones and loops, threatening to boil over but remaining enclosed in its sketchy shapes. The elusive, intimate “09/23/1999” is a sleeper that took time to show its hand, but now it’s my favorite track. Original review
Jackzebra – Above & Beyond (626company, Feb 14)
Above & Beyond snuck up on me. I was immediately impressed by how well-structured it was for an hour-long, 34-track tape, but maybe it was too much all at once. And then I kept coming back. Now I’m convinced this is the Chengdu-based underground MC’s best work, an indulgent yet consistent showcase of stellar instrumentals and (based on what translation apps give me, at least) his most thoughtful lyrics, both personal and political. A clear standout is “狗叫” (“Dog Barking”), which features an unforgettable vocal performance that underscores why people are so drawn to and obsessive over this music: the bleeding heart it wears right on its sleeve.
Iris Our – Victual Vittle Bottle Cunt (Recital, Oct 31)
This debut CD from Iris Our has only been out for a couple months, but I already can’t imagine it leaving rotation anytime soon. It also begs inclusion here because the pastel cover art by Maggie Fitzpatrick is some real 2025 shit. I said plenty about the poetic aspects in my review, so now I’m inclined to emphasize just how detailed and immersive it sounds. Each component is precisely placed and inseparable from the whole, and every listen reveals new secrets. The shifting stereo image of “The Columns of Echo’s Lymphatic Library” and the dense, muggy layers of “Unshaped Murmuration” are mesmerizing through both headphones and speakers. Original review
Noise Not Music 