Wow, 2025 went by really quickly! All of a sudden we’re at the end of the year.
I went to more live shows this year including two shows at Codfish Hollow in Maquoketa. This was the first time I’ve been back to Codfish since before COVID! I saw Bob Mould with Craig Finn from The Hold Steady in April which was a really awesome show. The last time I saw Bob was in February of 1997 at the Guthrie in Minneapolis. The last time I saw Craig Finn was with the Hold Steady at one of the “Barn on the 4th of July” shows at Codfish. In June I saw Keller Williams doing his DeadPettyKellerGrass tribute to Tom Petty and Grateful Dead. I also saw GA-20 at CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids in August (my pictures here). I wanted to see more shows, and maybe 2026 I’ll ramp up. I already have a number of shows I’m interested in:The Iowa City Jazz Festival is hosting ARTEMIS, whose Arboresque album made my Top 20 list for this year. The creator of the long running Mission Creek Festival is now creating STOP/TIME which is a multi-venue spring festival. The lineup includes Tortoise, Ambrose Akinmusire, William Tyler, Pieta Brown, and a bunch more amazing acts. I’m bummed that Tortoise and William Tyler are probably going on at the same time… Also on the calendar is The Iron and Wine at the Englert, so things are really looking interesting for next year. We also have DeVotchKa : Tribute to the Music of Little Miss Sunshine at Codfish Hollow.
I participated in both Record Store Days again this year. My friends and I went to Davenport and Rock Island to hit both Ragged Records locations for April. I went to Analog Vault in Cedar Rapids for Black Friday RSD. I didn’t have a lot on my list for either event. The reissue of The Pale Saints final album Slow Buildings was a big want for me. Generally regarded as not the band’s best effort compared to In Ribbons, but it was an album I listened to a lot in 1992 when I was in the blush of a 4AD Records romance. I now have all three Pale Saints albums on vinyl, happily. The Blue Note comp of outtakes Alt’s N Outs was a cool release very much in the spirit of RSD. The Nathan Davis RSD exclusive reissue of his 1965 album Happy Girl was an obscure jazz title I’d never heard of, but picked that up as well after listening to some tracks on streaming. For Black Friday RSD I picked up the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology – From the Vaults Vol. 1, which was a vinyl reissue of the 5th CD from the Best Buy exclusive version of the 2009 Live Anthology box set. The Black Friday RSD version was an aqua version and there has since been non-RSD versions of it. I also picked up the Fleetwood Mac Live 1975 2 LP which is essentially disc 3 of the Deluxe version of self-titled that came out in 2018. I was looking forward to this because I had a bootleg of the Capital Theater show which was based on a radio broadcast. This release is a compilation of two radio shows from that early tour. Really cool to hear a fresh-faced and newly-minted version of the Buckingham Nicks version of Fleetwood Mac tackling some early tunes. Plus, that version of “Rhiannon” has an off-the-hook vocal performance from Stevie Nicks that is worth the price of admission.
On last year’s post, I mentioned that I was a member of Vinyl Me Please and that 2024 was the first full year. This was short-lived. I ended up canceling VMP in January after I was able to order the reissue of the fantastic VMP box set The Blue Note Records Story, which originally came out in 2019 and sold out quickly. With the 80th Anniversary of Blue Note Records, there were a number of events around it, which included VMP’s reissue of that box set, which was welcomed by everyone who missed it the first time around. It was getting to the point that I wasn’t finding releases that I wanted, and they kicked off the year eliminating some of the genre channels, and then there was a bunch of news and online chatter about the label going under and I didn’t want to risk losing my monthly subscription fees, so I bailed. Based on the subreddits, there are a lot of people who still have credits and records due to them and the new owners are not handling support very well, so I’m glad I got out when I did.
Without further ado, here is my Top 20 list for 2025. This list is only for new releases in 2025– not reissues, and is in no particular order other than when I come across it looking at my discogs and Bandcamp additions for 2025.
ARTEMIS – Arboresque – I first became aware of the 5 piece jazz band ARTEMIS when they were included on the Blue Note Review Volume 3 box TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLEE as part of the tribute album to Lee Morgan. I included this in my 2024 Top 20 list. Their cover of “The Procrastinator” by Morgan was brilliant and was a catalyst into my deep dive into Lee Morgan this year. Arboresque is a breathtakingly beautiful album. It is anchored in a very post-bop sound (think late 60’s albums from Miles Davis’ second great quintet, Herbie Hancock, and the aforementioned Lee Morgan (in particular his 1964 album The Search for New Land, and his 1967 album The Procrastinator). Check out this Tiny Desk appearance where they perform songs from Arboresque.
Tortoise – Touch – I did not have “new album from Tortoise” on my BINGO card for 2025. 2025 finds the band split up geographically with only two members still living in Chicago, so it’s not surprising maybe that it took them a few years to reconvene. 2016’s The Catastrophist was the first album from the band that I wasn’t totally into. It lacked a cohesiveness that the prior albums had (not to mention a throwaway cover of David Essex’s “Rock On”). Touch is less a return-to-form as it is maybe a return to vision. The album dips pretty liberally into the tones of albums like Standards— the chiming synth patches for example. Touch also comes off more like a guitar album in spots. Jeff Parker brings in some really great guitar tones on this album. Which isn’t to say it’s a exclusively guitar album though, “Elka” is an excellent example of the Krautrock influences the band has with it’s motorik beats and fizzy synth pads. Touch is the first album not on longtime Chicago home Thrill Jockey Records, but is instead on Chicago’s new home for innovative jazz and jazz-adjacent music International Anthem/Nonesuch. IARC is also the label for Jeff Parker. Honestly, the clout (and track history) that IARC/Nonesuch has could bring Tortoise its first Grammy nom.
Steve Gunn – Music For Writers – Gunn returns to his instrumental guitar leanings with Music For Writers. Considered a follow-up to 2021’s Other You, Music For Writers is a lush landscape that, I suppose, could be used as a background to writing. Beautiful album to be certain. Reminds me of Brian Eno in spots, but also David Sylvian’s collaborations with Robert Fripp on Gone to Earth. Gunn also released a vocal album this year called Daylight, Daylight. I didn’t pick that up, but it’s on my list.
LANA GASPARØTTI – Dimensions – This is a reissue of her 2024 EP on vinyl by Portuguese label Now Jazz Agora. Their release of MAZARIN – Pendular was one of my favorite releases of 2024. This album is a sublime mix of jazz keys, lush vocals wrapped in slinky bass and skittering breakbeats. Reminds me of the peak of Acid Jazz and Roni Size’s Breakbeat Era. Fantastic. The album doesn’t take itself too seriously with snippets of 8-bit throwback and cat samples.
Scott Hirsch – Lost Padres – Scott Hirsch at one time was best known as MC Taylor’s partner in Hiss Golden Messenger and prior to that The Court And Spark, but he has been turning out some pretty fantastic solo albums in the self-proclaimed “cosmic country” style. Certainly he has held on to the laidback sound that existed on the early HGM records that sounds a lot like JJ Cale, but on Lost Padres Hirsch layers in some beautiful background vocals and some bubbly dubbiness making Lost Padres a standout album in his catalog and really an overlooked album in 2025.
Brother Trucker – Live at Octopus – Roots-rocking Iowa band Brother Trucker has been recording albums and playing live for over 25 years and to celebrate this, the band released its first live album recorded at one of the best live venues in the area, The Octopus in Cedar Falls. This album captures the live show from the band perfectly. I reviewed the album for Little Village.
James Elkington – Pastel De Nada – Pastel De Nada is an album of guitar instrumental sketches from the go-to sideman James Elkington. This album is a sequel of sorts to his 2023 album Me Neither. Elkington explores the gamut of tones, tunings and effects of guitar. Parts recall his other work in The Horses Ha, and The Zincs and his own solo works. His playing feels distinctly drawn from the history of British Folk, a little Richard Thompson and a little Robert Fripp. An album with no goal other than to catalog guitar sketches, and that works for me.
The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble – Gemini – There’s a reason that the artwork (cover and label) for The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble’s latest album looks like a vintage CTI Records release. SFSE brings the vintage breezy laid back jazz funk sound that CTI was known for. This album is a banger from beginning to end. Of course, brought to you by the fine folks at Colemine Records.
Okonski – Entrance Music – Speaking of Colemine, Steve Okonski of Durand Jones and the Indications was back with another fantastic piano trio album. This is an album that I was anxiously anticipating after his 2023 album Magnolia. Beautiful album.
Kendra Morris – Next – Another wonderful release on Colemine this year was from Kendra Morris. I loved her 2022 album Nine Lives and this album has the lush and bright R&B sound that album had. Her music and her vocals remind me of the early albums from Nellie McKay.
Hiss Golden Messenger – Sanctuary Songs – Although this live album came out digitally in 2024, the limited edition (of 500) vinyl release of this came out in 2025 as a benefit for artists. Citizen Vinyl is a new vinyl pressing plant and label out of North Carolina and they did a fantastic job with the release. HGM has been overdue for a live album and this fits the bill nicely. Check out the fantastic cover of “Eyes of the World” on here, too.
Neal Francis – Return to Zero – Chicago-based musician Neal Francis came back in 2025 with his first album since the FANTASTIC 2023 live album Francis Comes Alive. He still brings the 70’s funk and R&B to the album but we get more disco bump this time. Francis is one of my favorite active musicians and I need to get to a show some time for sure.
Loess – Battens – For me any year that has a Loess album in it, is a good one. Battens still employs the digitally-manipulated palate of sounds we’ve heard on previous releases, but this album seems to be more organic sounding than the others. My first impressions of this album drew comparisons to Peter Gabriel’s Passion album. Very atmospheric, but also evoking a kind of cinematic feel.
William Tyler – Time Indefinite – For William Tyler’s latest album he fully commits to the found sound experimentation that he has been doing. Lots of tape manipulation and distortion. It’s far away from his early American Primitive guitar work, though there are bits that wear through the soundscapes. He considers this album to be his most personal work to date, and certainly it evokes the spirit of contemplation. Tyler continues to be one of the most compelling artists around for me.
The Tubs – Cotton Crown – I heard this in Ragged Records in Davenport during RSD and immediately needed to buy it. The Tubs are a Cardiff, Wales band that are kind of the darlings of a developing music scene there. This album is pure jangle-pop sounding a lot like The Smiths and other 90’s College Rock bands. Lead singer Owen Williams sounds a lot like Richard Thompson, but I hear a little Bob Mould in there as well. Brilliant album, I’m sad I missed their show at Rozz-Tox last spring.
Phil Cook – Appalachia Borealis – Phil Cook’s latest album is a collection of improvisational piano pieces recorded at his home gathering inspiration from the sounds of wildlife around him. Produced by longtime friend Justin Vernon (which is the least interesting thing about it, honestly) The resulting album is beautiful and reflective and one I spun a lot this year.
Jacob Lampman’s Ego Death – Cedar Falls, IA musician Jacob Lampman is probably better known in the projects he lends his guitar. I met Jacob while he was helping Joel Sires out a couple of years ago. I’m not sure what I thought a solo album from Lampman would sound like, but this album is a delightful mix of Seventies breeziness. It is a complex and layered pop with flirtations with jazz (helped out in no small part by a band made up of college music professors). It’s a mix of Van Morrison, Bill Withers, and the symphonic pop of David Axelrod. Is there a Freak Pop genre?
Holiday Innards – Maybe You Should Stay – I caught Holiday Innards opening for 10 Watt Robot this year at The Ideal Theater in Cedar Rapids. Holiday Innards is made up of guys who have been bands in Iowa for decades. Vocalist and guitarist Kelly Plumber was in DREDNEX, one of the very earliest college rock bands. Kylie Buddin on guitar and bass was in Iowa City band Stickman and in Peterbuilt with Tom Jessen (pre-Dimestore Outfit). Drummer Brian Thompson has been in quite a few bands as well including Paisley Bible with Buddin. Largely releasing EP’s under-the-radar, but these are all worth checking out on their Bandcamp. It’s a mix of rough-and-ragged punk and classic rock sounding at times like The Faces and The Stooges and Big Star. Maybe You Should Stay is their physical release available at shows. Made up of tracks from the EP’s
Bob Mould – Here We Go Crazy – Bob returns to the angry and very guitar forward sound that is generally accepted to be the best sound for him. I caught him on the tour for this album at Codfish Hollow in Maquoketa. A wonderful place to see him. Here We Go Crazy reminds me a lot of Sugar, and it sounds like we’re going to get a new Sugar album in 2026, which would be welcomed by me. It’s got a lot of the Black Sheets of Rain sound, too.
Samalandra – Samalandra – Samalandra is another band on Now Jazz Agora (who had three releases in 2025). The band was formed in 2022 by João Neves (drummer), Débora King (keyboardist and vocalist) and Tiago Martins (bassist). They don’t stick to a classic jazz sound, leaning more electronic and beats and rhythms inspired by hip hop. This album fits nicely with similarly influenced artists like Makaya McCraven or Robert Glasper.
That wraps my list of my favorite releases from 2025. A pretty wide-ranging list of releases stylistically showing that there is a lot of new music coming out all the time. It’s important to support artists who still feel it’s important to bring new music to the world, whether that is going to a show, buying records and merch, or just spreading the word.
