Mid-Year 2025 Lists (Best of 2025 ... So Far) • Page 2

Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea
FKA twigs - EUSEXUA
The Callous Daoboys - I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong
Epica - Aspiral
Grayscale - The Hart
Silverstein - Antibloom
Oklou - Choke Enough
clipping. - Dead Channel Sky
Lady Gaga - Mayhem
Novelists - CODA
Rebecca Black - Salvation
Amira Elfeky - Surrender
Mikau - Agartha
Backxwash - Only Dust Remains
Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make Believe
House of Protection - Outrun You All
Ethel Cain - Perverts
The Birthday Massacre - Pathways
The Maine - Dyed (2008 - 2023)
PinkPantheress - Fancy That
The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
L.S. Dunes - Violet
Bad Valentine - I Am a Mess
Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz

My favourites so far.

 

Bambara
Honningbarna

 

Feels like I'm missing a few but off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

Hamilton Leithauser
Anxious
Bon Iver
Lucy Dacus
Speedway
Arm's Length
Charmer (probably #1 right now)

 

I have a list of like 20 records I need to catch up on but so far have loved Cloakroom, Superheaven, LS Dunes, Momma, Bedridden, Cryogeyser, Soft Blue Shimmer, Glare. Will probably make a real list after I get to the Great Death, Turnstile, and Hotline TNT albums this month.

 

Turnstile, Hotline TNT and Haim this month rules.

 

Deafheaven - Lonely People with Power
The Callous Daoboys - I Don't Want To See You In Heaven
Moving Mountains - Pruning of the Lower Limbs
Anxious - Bambi
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island
Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH
Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea
Out of Service - Devastation Awaits
Mac Miller - Balloonerism
L.S. Dunes - Violet
PUP - Who Will Look After the Dogs?
Athletics - What Makes You Think This Is How It All Ends?
Underoath - The Place After this One
The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
Wionna Fighter - My Apologies To The Chef


I haven't really been grabbed by any hip-hop this year yet

 

You’ve heard Phantom Island? I thought it was out next week

 

Drip drip

 

Ah that’ll do it, I’ll hold off for next week but I’m looking forward to it

 

Terrible year on a personal level and I feel like I'm more disconnected from music than I have ever been but here's my top 15.

1. Anamanaguchi - Anyway
2. PUP - Who Will Look After the Dogs?
3. Hot Mulligan - The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still
4. Arm's Length - There's a Whole World Out There
5. Bartees Strange - Horror
6. Michael Cera Palin - We Could Be Brave
7. Mogwai - The Bad Fire
8. The Murder Capital - Blindness
9. We Are Scientists - Qualifying Miles
10. Fox Stevenson - Sunk Cost Fallacy
11. Lakes - Slow Fade
12. Pile - Sunshine and Balance Beams
13. These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
14. The Dirty Nil - The Lash
15. Viagra Boys - viagr aboys

 

cameron winter

 

Man I love that Mei Semones record. Anything that takes that much Bossa influence in 2025 is A+ to me

 

5 tracks into that one right now, I must agree. This is awesome

 

The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
Xink - Dag Nul
The Riptides - Burn After Listening
Anxious - Bambi
Underoath - TPATO
Arms Lenght - TAWNWOT
John Glacier - Like A Ribbon
Hundreth - Faded Splendor
The Maine - Dyed
Turnstile - Never Enough

 

Had Cameron Winter on my list last year so not going to include it here, but if I were redoing that list it’d prob be my top album from last year.

Fust - Big Ugly
Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
Kassi Valazza - From Newman Street
Bonnie Prince Billy - The Purple Bird
Florry - Sounds Like..
Tobacco City - Horses
Cactus Lee - Cactus Lee
Hayden Pedigo - I’ll be Waiving as You Drive Away
Scott Hirsch - Los Padres
Rose City Band - Sol Y Sombra
Ken Pomeroy - Cruel Joke
Esther Rose - Want
Jason Isbell - Foxes in the Snow
Lou Hazel - Riot of the Red
Lilly Seabird - Trash Mountain
Turnstile - Never Enough
Old Pup - Spider Towns
Ty Segall - Possession
Phil Cook - Appalachia Borealis
Dead Gowns - It’s Summer, I Love You
Courting - Lust For Life

 

Rough list of what I've gone back to the most this year so far.

TURNSTILE - NEVER ENOUGH
Ghost - Skeleta
Bad Beat - LP 2025
Gridiron - Poetry From Pain
Combust - Belly of The Beast
Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
Age of Apocalypse - In Oblivion
Model/Actriz - Pirouette
Arm's Length - There's A Whole World Out There
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - I'm Done With Self Care, It's Time For Others' Harm
Coheed & Cambria - Vaxis III: The Father of Make Believe
Lady Gaga - MAYHEM
Ingrown - Idaho
Fools Game - Something For the Pain
Anxious - Bambi

 

in no particular order

Amine - 13 Months of Sunshine
Turnstile - Never Enough
Scowl - Are We All Angels
Lucy Dacus - Forever Is A Feeling
Lady Gaga - Mayhem
Samia - Bloodless
Jensen McRae - I Don't Know How But They Found Me
Julien Baker & TORRES - Send A Prayer My Way
Great Grandpa - Patience, Moonbeam
Marina - Princess of Power
Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
Annie DiRusso - Super Pedestrian
Rebecca Black - SALVATION
jasmine.4.t - You Are the Morning
Addison Rae - Addison

 

Love bouncing into one of these threads and being like, oh, y’all really listen to music, lol.

I have no sense yet at what a frontrunner would be for the top. Imagine when the next Ethel Cain drops, that’ll run away with my AOTY slot. But, some of the highlights I think are worth shouting out so far:

aya - hexed!
Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE
Ethel Cain - Perverts
jasmine.4.t - You Are The Morning
JENNIE - Ruby
LISA - Alter Ego
Lucy Dacus - Forever Is A Feeling
Semler - Revival In My Mind

 

I really love about half of that jasmine.4.t record and the other half is just whatever

 

The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
FKA twigs - EUSEXUA
Ethel Cain - Perverts
Mac Miller - Balloonerism
Chase Shakur - WONDERLOVE
Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist - Life Is Beautiful
PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake - $ome $exy $ongs 4 U
THEY. - LOVE.JONES
Mack Keane - Entries
Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
Saba & No ID - From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID
Bathe - Inside Voice(s)
Q - 10 Songs
MIKE & Tony Seltzer - Pinball II
Wet - Two Lives
R.A.P. Ferreira - OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING
Bon Iver - SABLE,fABLE
Blu & August Fanon - Forty
Isaiah Falls - LVRS PARADISE (SIDE A)
Xavier Omar - Hunnymoon Mountain
Erika de Casier - Lifetime
Billy Woods - Golliwog
Rome Streetz & Conductor Williams - Trainspotting
Kyle Dion - SOULAR
Turnstile - Never Enough

 

Adding Turnstile and caroline to this

 

I've got an eclectic mix so far this year:

Anxious - Bambi
Matt Embree - Orion
Winona Fighter - My Apologies to the Chef
Parachute Day - Seasonal Expression
Millington- Fade Out EP
Turnstile - Never Enough
Arm's Length - There's a Whole World Out There

 

what the fuck do you mean MID YEAR

 

Wow, if I had shown this list to 2024 Friendjamin, he would’ve been really surprised at some of these artists and their positions on the list. I would’ve never guessed that an FKA Twigs album would’ve been my favorite so far. The Oklou album came out of nowhere too.

FKA Twigs - Eusexua
Great Grandpa - Patience, Moonbeam
Oklou - Choke Enough
Anxious - Bambi
Downward - LP2
Cryogeyser - S/T
Weatherday - Hornet Disaster
Athletics - What Makes You Think This Is How This All Ends?
Cloakroom - Last Leg of the Human Table
Baths - Gut
Palmyra - Restless
Ultra Deluxe - The Floria Wars
The Callous Daoboys - I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
jasmine.4.t - You Are The Morning

I think Deafheaven will be on my list by the end of the year but I haven’t been in the headspace to listen to it a lot.

 

1. Danger - Windblown (Original Game Soundtrack)
2. letlive. - The Blackest Beautiful (Revisited)
3. Lux Terminus - Cinder
4. Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea
5. Caelestra - Bastion
6. BRUIT - The Age of Ephemerality
7. Shedfromthebody - Whisper and Wane
8. Myriad Drone - A World Without Us
9. Mirar - Ascension
10. Sleep Token - Even In Arcadia
11. Lights - A6
12. Dawn of Ouroboros - Bioluminescence
13. Kardashev - Alunea
14. Labyrinthus Stellarum - Rift In Reality
15. Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make Believe
16. Vildhjarta - + där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar +
17. you, infinite - you, infinite