Year-End Roundup
The best albums of July-December 2025
Well, the year’s finally over, which means it’s time to take stock of things. In case you’re a new reader, I’ve been doing these lists since 2022, and the methodology hasn’t changed: every January, I start an Excel spreadsheet that I call “INCOMING MUSIC.” I organize it by Artist, Album Title, Release Date, Genre, and whether it’s a Promo, a Purchase, or just a Download from somewhere. I also make notes on Coverage: whether I include it in my Stereogum jazz column, review it for The Wire or DownBeat, or write about it for Burning Ambulance or the Shfl.
It’s either been a slow year or I’m being more selective about which promos I even bother to download, because my spreadsheet only lists a little over 400 releases. (Box sets count as a single entry.) Despite that, it’s been a pretty good year: I reviewed more than 250 records for the outlets listed above. I know, I can’t believe it either. The 50 best from the second half of the year — July through December — are listed below, unranked, in alphabetical order. A lot of them are part of my Bandcamp collection, so feel free to check that out, too.
(If you missed the Half-Year Roundup of the 50 best albums released between January and June, check that out, too.)
Abhorrent Expanse, Enter The Misanthropocene (Amalgam): Improvised death metal with a guest appearance from Craig Taborn; I wrote about it here.
JD Allen, Love Letters (The Ballad Session) (Savant): Like the title says, a collection of ballads from the American songbook. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Rodrigo Amado/Chris Corsano, The Healing (European Echoes): A sax/drum duo from 2016, finally released this year; wild and free. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Mulatu Astatke, Mulatu Plays Mulatu (Strut): the legendary keyboardist and pioneer of Ethiopian jazz revisits his own compositions with a killer band. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Bad Brains, Live At The Bayou (Time Traveler): Astonishing, previously unreleased live recordings from 1980 and 1981; I’ll have a full review here in February.
Beastwars, The Ship // The Sea (Beastwars): The latest album from New Zealand’s most heart-on-sleeve stoner rock band; I wrote about it here.
Maya Beiser, Salt (Islandia Music): Stunning new music for cello and other instruments; I interviewed Beiser here.
Jakob Bro/Wadada Leo Smith/Marcus Gilmore, Murasaki (Loveland Music): Gentle guitar/trumpet/drums improv that begins and ends with meditative drum solos. Reviewed for Stereogum.
The Bug vs Ghost Dubs, Implosion (Pressure Sound): Crushingly heavy digital dub, half punishing and half unsettlingly ambient.
Castle Rat, The Bestiary (King Volume): Doomy, fantasy-themed trad/power metal.
Castrator, Coronation Of The Grotesque (Dark Descent): A crushing death metal album featuring drummer Carolina Pérez, who played on the 2025 Burning Ambulance Music release Mama Killa; I wrote about it here.
Chicago Underground Duo, Hyperglyph (International Anthem): The first duo album in many years from cornet player/electronics wiz Rob Mazurek and drummer/mbira player Chad Taylor. I interviewed them both for Stereogum.
George Coleman, With Strings (HighNote): Like the title says, the veteran tenor saxophonist with a solid backing band and a string section. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Cordyceps, Hell Inside (Label): Modern, high-tech death metal with an old-school feel; I wrote about it here.
Coroner, Dissonance Theory (Century Media): After more than 30 years away, this Swiss art-thrash act reunites without losing a step. Reviewed for Shfl.
Theon Cross, Affirmations - Live At Blue Note New York (New Soil): A brilliant British tuba player teams up with saxophonist Isaiah Collier for a scorching show. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Lucrecia Dalt, A Danger To Ourselves (RVNG Intl.): Arty, unsettling trip-hop from a highly individual artist. Reviewed for The Wire.
Demiurgon, Miasmatic Deathless Chamber (Transcending Obscurity): Blasting death metal from Italy; RIYL Hate Eternal, Deicide.
Dave Douglas, Alloy (Greenleaf): An album of adventurous modern (as in 21st century) jazz with a unique lineup of three trumpets, vibes, bass and drums. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Fieldwork, Thereupon (Pi): The trio of saxophonist Steve Lehman, pianist Vijay Iyer, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, reunited after 17 years. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Tomas Fujiwara, Dream Up (Out Of Our Heads): A beautiful, dreamlike album by a percussion quartet (vibes, Japanese and African instruments, and drums). Reviewed for Stereogum.
Melvin Gibbs, Amasia: Anamisia Sessions 2 (Hausu Mountain): A complex amalgam of ’70s Miles Davis and 21st century sound design with a stunning cast of collaborators. Reviewed for The Wire.
Glorious Depravity, Death Never Sleeps (Transcending Obscurity): Face-punching NYC death metal in the tradition of Suffocation et al.
Muriel Grossmann, Breakthrough (RR Gems): Four long spiritual jazz jams by the Austrian saxophonist; just one of three albums she released in 2025. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Hedonist, Scapulimancy (Southern Lord): Utterly savage death metal/crust, like Bolt Thrower with Jo Bench on vocals.
Art Hirahara, Peace Unknown (Posi-Tone): A usually somewhat meditative post-bop pianist/composer goes in a more spiritual jazz direction. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Anna Högberg Attack, Ensamseglaren (fönstret): After several years away, saxophonist Högberg completely revamps her group and creates an album-length suite. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Intermission! Castrator (the 11th entry on this list) recently completed a US tour; here’s their December 7 performance in Austin, TX in full.
Buy albums from Burning Ambulance Music
Now back to the list!
Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones, New Monuments: Live In Vilnius (Fernflower): A radical live expansion of an already pretty furious work of out-jazz protest music. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Kirk Knuffke, Window (Royal Potato Family): An intimate, minimalist trio album (cornet, bass, drums) with occasional vocals. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Josh Lawrence, Still We Dream (Posi-Tone): An inspired album that juxtaposes versions of Thelonious Monk compositions with jazz interpretations of Frederic Chopin; I wrote about it here.
Makaya McCraven, Off The Record (International Anthem): Four digital EPs of live material collaged and reconstituted, then combined into a double LP/double CD. I interviewed McCraven for Stereogum.
Darragh Morgan, For Violin & Electronics II (Diatribe): Exactly what the title says — Morgan’s violin placed into electronic contexts in work by multiple composers; I interviewed Morgan about it here.
Camila Nebbia/Marilyn Crispell/Lesley Mok, A Reflection Distorts Over Water (Relative Pitch): Sax/piano/drums from an ascended master and two younger but very strong players; I wrote about it here.
Gard Nilssen’s Acoustic Unity, Great Intentions (Action Jazz): Drummer Nilssen’s long-running trio adds two more saxophonists on its fourth studio album. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens (Biophilia): A brilliant, beautiful trio album featuring trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and drummer Tyshawn Sorey. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Orcutt Shelley Miller, Orcutt Shelley Miller (Silver Current): Raw, blasting instrumental trio rock for fans of Comets On Fire, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, etc.; I wrote about it here.
Aaron Parks, By All Means (Blue Note): On their second album, pianist Parks’ trio with bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart adds saxophonist Ben Solomon. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Arvo Pärt, And I Heard A Voice (ECM): Gorgeous new works featuring a 15-member vocal ensemble.
Ami Taf Ra, The Prophet And The Madman (Brainfeeder): Kamasi Washington’s wife makes her debut as a vocalist, backed by him and his band. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Brandon Sanders, Lasting Impression (HighNote): The third album by a drummer/bandleader who released his debut in 2023 — when he was 52. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Pharoah Sanders, The Complete Theresa Recordings (Mosaic): A 7CD box gathering some unfairly overlooked albums by the legendary saxophonist, and some not-great ones, too; I reviewed it here.
Sanguisugabogg, Hideous Aftermath (Century Media): A grimy, witty death metal band makes its play for the big stage. Reviewed for The Wire.
Jaleel Shaw, Painter Of The Invisible (Changu): A talented alto saxophonist’s first album as a leader in more than a decade. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Soulfly, Chama (Nuclear Blast): A half hour of relentless, face-punching thrash from Max Cavalera’s long-running band.
Submerged, Reparations Collected In Flesh (Ohm Resistance): The latest batch of grimy drum ’n’ bass and assaultive electronic music from a friend and BA collaborator; I wrote about it here.
Henry Threadgill, Listen Ship (Pi): It’s not jazz, it’s a brilliant long-form composition for two pianos and six guitars that should be embraced by ensembles around the world. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Trio Of Bloom, Trio Of Bloom (Pyroclastic): Guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist Craig Taborn, and drummer Marcus Gilmore unite and rock out. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Webber/Morris Big Band, Unseparate (Out Of Our Heads): An adventurous collection of pieces that will challenge your assumptions about what big band music can and should be. Reviewed for Stereogum.
John Zorn/Dave Lombardo, Memories, Dreams And Reflections (Tzadik): The first-ever duo collaboration by these long-time collaborators, sometimes fierce and other times surprisingly intimate. Reviewed for Stereogum.
Various Artists, The Bottle Tapes (Corbett vs Dempsey): an incredible archive of free jazz and improvised music from 1990s-00s Chicago; I wrote about it here.
All right, folks — that’s it for 2025. We’re taking January off, but we’ll be back February 1 with some great stuff. See you then.
Irritable Hedgehog! That label is based in KC, where I live. Hope they start releasing stuff again.
Nice!