ThisSmallPlanet Music: M'dou Moctar live in Felton, California, December 4, 2025
BEST SINGLES OF 2025 (with links to their YouTube videos)
Babyshambles. "Dandy Hooligan"
The Beths. "No Joy". & "Mother, Pray For Me" & "Metal".
Fontaines D.C. "It's Amazing To Be Young" & "Before You I Just Forget" & "In Heaven"
Geese. "This Must Be The Place" (Talking Heads cover). The Talking Heads & David Byrne seemed to be very present this year. Geese also did a cover of The New Radicals hit "You Get What You Give". And Geese appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel" to perform the song "Taxes" from their 2025 hit album "Getting Killed".
Hurray For The Riff Raff. "Pyramid Scheme"
Joni Mitchell & Neil Young. "Raised On Robbery". Also this version by Jesca Hoop & Friends.
Kneecap. "The Recap" & "No Comment". Kneecap & Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) "SAYŌNARA".
MJ Lenderman. "Dancing In The Club" (This Is Lorelei cover). "Just Be Simple" (Jason Molina/Songs: Ohia cover).
Manu Chao & Juliana Linhares. "Melo Do Bode" (Mestre Vieira cover)
Margo Price. "Maggie's Farm" (Bob Dylan cover).
The Minus 5. "Blow In My Bag".
The Molotovs. "More More More" "Today's Gonna Be Our Day". & "Suffragette City".
Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts. "Let's Roll Again" "Big Crime" (Neil's new anti-Trump anthem).
The New Pornographers. "Ballad Of The Last Payphone"
Neko Case. "Wreck". & "Winchester Mansion of Sound"
Shame. "Quiet Life". & "Sparktak" "Cutthroat".
Sparks. "Drowned In A Sea Of Tears".
Suede. "Trance State"
Sugar. "House of Dead Memories". Bob Mould's band's first new release in three decades.
Tyler, The Creator. "That Guy"
Vicki Peterson & John Cowsill. "A Thousand Times"
Vienna Vienna. "God Save The Queens"
Woody Guthrie. "Deportees (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)".
BEST ALBUMS OF 2025
Aesop Rock. I Heard It's A Mess There Too. His second album this year. Hip hop for people who don't like hip hop? Well it is refreshing to hear clever smart rhymes instead of mere bragging. Aesop Rock. Black Hole Superette. Something different and interesting and cool.
Bob Mould. Here We Go Crazy. Former Husker Du frontman back with a solid album.
The Beths. Straight Line Was a Lie.
Julien Baker & Torres. Send A Prayer My Way. Best damned singin' lesbian cowgirls out there.
Kneecap. Kneecap Original Soundtrack. The film, which is great, has a soundtrack that collects many of Kneecap's formative, seminal singles which were not included on their debut album. A great showcase for the talents of the bilingual Irish/English rappers from West Belfast. The movie is a must-see for anyone interested in Irish and The North. It's a blast. Three cheers for Michael Fassbender (and Gerry Adams) for their roles in the fil-lum.
Mavis Staples. Sad and Beautiful World. Love her.
Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts. Talkin to the Trees. Surprisingly strong album from this icon.
Neko Case. Neon Grey Midnight Green. Amazing. Also been listening a lot to case/lang/veirs, her 2016 collab with K.D. Lang and Laura Veirs. She's great.
Orcutt Shelley Miller. Orcutt Shelley Miller. Being a word-oriented guy, I hate instrumentals, but for some inexplicable reason, I find Bill Orcutt's guitar instrumentals, full of feedback drone and fuzz, incredibly compelling. He's suddenly all over the place, an unlikely rock star, but fresh and exciting. He's helped here by bassist Ethan Miller and drummer Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth.
Peter Doherty. Felt Better Alive. A Libertine goes solo with some cool new songs.
Portugal. The Man. Shish. Very different. Very interesting.
Tyler Childers. Snipe Hunter. Rick Rubin-produced country gone wild, genre-bending, etc.
Tyler, The Creator. Don't Tap The Glass. He's a creative little bastard, innit he?
Wednesday. Bleeds.
Wreckless Eric. England Screaming. We know and love him from his 1977 punk classic "Whole Wide World", but he's still at it in 2025. This album is actually pretty good and worth checking out.
Bruce Springsteen. Lost And Found (Selections From The Lost Albums). Some of this is really good but doesn't sound at all like the Springsteen we're used to. Bruce Springsteen. Electric Nebraska 1982 (Expanded Edition). Out October 24, 2025 feat "Born in the U.S.A.".
Curtis Mayfield. The Makings Of: A Curtis Mayfield Collection. The soundtrack of the Curtis documentary is a nice overview of his amazing career.
Faces. Early Steps. Rhino (love them!) just released this collection of alternate takes for the first Faces album First Step (1970) feat Rod Stewart (voice), Ronnie Wood (guitar), the late Ronnie Lane (bass), the late Ian McLagan (keys), and Kenney Jones (drums), recorded shortly after the band formed from the ashes of The Small Faces (feat Steve Marriott) and The Jeff Beck Group. Now we're waiting for the rumored NEW Faces album and tour feat Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones to emerge in 2026.
Jimi Hendrix. Bold As Love - The Axis: Bold As Love Sessions. Simply great!
Sly & The Family Stone. Sly Lives! (AKA The Burden Of Black Genius). Mega-Classics. The First Family: Live at the Winchester Cathedral 1967. Early appearance by the ensemble. Great stuff.
Ted Lucas. Ted Lucas. Interesting folkish album from back in the day, rediscovered.
Thin Lizzy. 74-75 - Night Life/Fighting. Their first two albums feat the classic line-up, with several bonus tracks. All these years later, the twin guitar attack of Thin Lizzy, along with their frontman, the immortal and singular Black Irishman, Phil Lynott, still rings strong in the valleys and on every mountainside. Feat "She Knows" from a session with John Peel in 1974.
The Who. The Best Of & Greatest Hits Live Broadcast Collection. Who Are You (Super Deluxe). This 1978 classic was the last album The Who did with psycho drummer with a heart of gold Keith Moon. The Super Deluxe version contains lots of extras including some live rehearsals and concerts showing the band trying to plot a path forward from tragedy. The Who. Live At The Oval 1971.
Woody Guthrie. Woody At Home, Vol. 1 + 2. Twenty-two previously unreleased recordings by an American master. Some of the songs we've heard before, but others are completely "new". Guthrie made these recordings at home for a publisher and the intimacy is powerful. A new classic.
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