BEST OF WHAT I HEARD THIS YEAR
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Young Fathers / 28 Years Later / Boots
An earworm I am too terrified not to put in the #1 slot
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Stephen Wilson Jr. / søn of dad (deluxe) / Calico Creek – Acoustic
This man is the real thing. These songs and covers could have been recorded fifty years ago just as easily as last year (or 2023 as sone of these are). Voted most likely to make a deal at the crossroads in his Seymore. Indiana high school yearbook
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Snocaps / Snocaps / Over Our Heads
As supergroups go these folks are up there with The New Pornographers, The Postal Service, Middle Brother and Boygenius. That said, it two Crutchfields and one Lenderman seems a little unfair.
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Sarah Shook & the Disarmers / Years / Good As Gold
Shook and her band are proof positive that outlaw country isn’t dead. Like Stephen Wilson Jr, you can hear the touring miles in their voice and the dead certain reality that these songs flow from place of truth, pain and honesty.
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The Beths / Straight Line Was A Lie / Straight Line Was A Lie
There is an exciting amount of quiet on this album to go with their usual offering of loud. Either way they still embody the embody the essence of youth, energy and confident self-determination.
Ty Segall / Possession / Possession
Paco Cathcart / Down On Them / Bottleneck Blues
Way Dynamic / Massive Shoe / The Others
V.I.B.E. Late 90s Paul Weller meets Gordon Lightfoot meets Fruit Bats. Count me in.
Mouthful / yellow/love you forever / love you forever
I have long trusted Minnesota’s The Current as source for my everyday music curation and am often rewarded by new sounds from the north. “love you forever” is a song I returned to over and over again last year, both for the song itself and the fact that it transports me to CBGB Gallery circa 1994.
Sugar / House of Dead Memories / House of Dead Memories
Technically a 2026 release, but who cares. This out-of-the-blue revival of Bob Mould’s post-Husker Du power-pop trio is the greatest thing since the 2023 Dinosaur Jr residency in Brooklyn.
Bon Iver / SABLE, fABLE / THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS
This album continues to evolve, but made the list immediately based on “THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS.” Is this really the last album from Justin Vernon or is he just going doing his version of playing AA baseball for the Chicago White Sox?
Ratboys / Singin’ To an Empty Chair / Anywhere
Future Hates Me era The Beths meets Too Far To Care era Old 97s. Nothing not to like.
Wolf Alice / The Clearing / The Sofa
The lounge glam of “The Sofa” is the way in this luscious album, but it’s a trojan horse. Ellie Rowsell has darker thoughts but is savvy enough to cloak them in dazzling instrumentation and a luxuriant vibe
Margaret Glaspy / The Golden Heart Protector / These Days
I can’t remember a non-tribute covers album I have listened to more than once. but Glaspy’s unexpected song choices (Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.,” Rufus Wainwrights “Sometimes You Need”) and unpredictable collaborators (Andrew Bird, Indian “actor, model, dancer” Alam Khan) pay off.
Jeff Tweedy / Twilight Override / Stray Cats in Spain
Tweedy makes the list if for no other reason than the audacity of releasing a triple solo album in 2025. And to do so with an album that is the opposite of self-indulgent is remarkable. A few stand out tracks capture your attention (“Stray Cats In Spain,” “Cry Baby Cry”), but the real reward is the funny-sad-hopeful-weird vibe that the six sides of this album offer as a whole
Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band / New Threats From The Soul / New Threats From The Soul
Dear Ryan,
Yes, you are brilliant. Your lyrical dexterity is impressive, your time signatures complicated, your instrumentation fascinating, your sound authentic. But do you have to try so hard all the time?
Love, Rob