{"id":3050,"date":"2025-12-17T16:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T21:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/?p=3050"},"modified":"2025-12-19T13:17:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T18:17:37","slug":"favorite-music-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/2025\/12\/17\/favorite-music-of-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"favorite music of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear reader: For some reason, I can’t make embed YouTube videos into this blog anymore, so you can’t listen\/watch along to a sample of each of my favorite albums while you read. I need to ask my tech gurus at Vassar to help me fix this problem… but, oh look, it’s winter break. Until then, I invite you to click on the hyperlinks underneath each album \u2014 they’ll pop out a YouTube page and won’t lose your place on this post \u2014 or just enjoy this YouTube playlist of all 14 videos<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Barry Can\u2019t Swim \u2013 Loner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This album activated the serotonin in my brain that was dormant ever since hands-in-the-air \u201cbig beat\u201d electronica faded away from my rotation. More, please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/5zsxlZeMhi8?si=BRIzvdUyLZ8o_E1U
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Cate Le Bon \u2013 Michaelangelo Dying<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another reliably lovely wash of melancholy and lust from Cate Le Bon, who now has three excellent albums I\u2019ll always associate with our pandemic times..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=W3nONEnGgpI
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Kelli Scarr \u2013 Greater Mysteries<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two albums made in the Hudson Valley left a deep impression this year. The first takes an enchanting voyage of personal awakening, layering Kate Bush-style mythopoetry over Talk Talk\u2019s improvised stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nxngk0VgT1E
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Hannah Cohen \u2013 Earthstar Mountain<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second album finds a Californian millennial escaping to the idyllic Catskills \u2014 don\u2019t hate, they\u2019re floating much of the economy out here \u2014 for twinkling folk-rock and yeah some Instagram poses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=anwbu8QCXcc
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Turnstile \u2013 Never Enough<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambient interstitials? Zenyatta Mondatta guitar echoes? When was the last time I had this much fun listening to a hardcore punk album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Nfk1Su1Q8SI
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james K \u2013 Friend<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ingredients that are recognizable, but james K combines into them into icy, hypnogogic tonic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ji5by6AYNNA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Convenience \u2013 Like Cartoon Vampires<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old-school, noughtys-era indie rock interests me less and less, but this New Orleans duo won me over with clever formalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-nLTsLfEHYg<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Castle Rat \u2013 The Bestiary<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This New Jersey heavy metal band recorded their best album yet to accompany their must-see, Dio-on-a-DIY-budget concert experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rWRmjkPgZkY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kills Birds \u2013 Crave EP<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovered on a lowly Creem playlist, \u201cBehind\u201d became my single of the year. Haven\u2019t heard self-destructive rage against the social machine with such conviction like this since, what, Courtney before Kurt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XbhCvoaOF_g<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Die Spitz \u2013 Something To Consume<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of young women\u2019s rage: the blistering, rambunctious attack of L7 has found a new owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VB01l-V_vAE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stereolab \u2013 Instant Holograms On Metal Film<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revived after a 15-year hiatus, simply the greatest art rock band of our generation doesn\u2019t miss a beat with this new high-point in their many-peaked discography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Cg69OglydeE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Population II \u2013 Maintenant Jamais<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This French-Canadian trio fuses Moog synths, krautrock jams, and space-rock quests into an invigorating blast of an album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jF1bnqOaHfU<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Dears \u2013 <\/strong>Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying in Quebec, the Dears add a dash of glitter rock to their middle-aged pop noir. Few others know how to create a mood with an opening track (not below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/5on0yk-lx4o<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anika \u2013 Abyss<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Anika has a music career outside her much-missed Mexico City band Exploding View? Her English-nanny-with-a-concussion vocals will always have a place in my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fqv5zf5MZJM<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pulp \u2013 More<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh Pulp, I\u2019m sorry I bailed on your New York return this year \u2014 the first time I\u2019ve let expensive tickets go unused. \u201cI was wrestling with a coat hanger, can you guess who won?\u201d Help the aged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-27a1ugJX8U<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This album activated the serotonin in my brain that was dormant ever since Fatboy Slim and other “big beat” practitioners faded away from my collection. More, please!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":3069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43659],"class_list":["post-3050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-music-criticism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3050"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3074,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions\/3074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/musicalurbanism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}