Sparks and Eric Schuman | photo by Paige Walter for WXPN
Eric Schuman’s Top Indie Rock Hit Parade moments of 2025
IRHP host Eric Schuman reflects on his favorite show moments of 2025…
It happens every year. I look back at the previous 12 months’ worth of action and excitement on the Indie Rock Hit Parade and think, “it’s going to be hard to top that.” And yet, as sure as the turn of the calendar page, each new year of IRHP brings bigger, better, and wilder happenings. These are my favorite IRHP moments of 2025…
Interviewing Sparks
As the photo up there implies, the biggest highlight of my year (IRHP-related or otherwise) was spending time chatting with my favorite band. For as many interviews as they’ve done over their 50+ years in music, Russell and Ron Mael remain friendly and insightful, humble and curious. It was a delight to host Sparks on the show to reflect on the one-of-a-kind career that led them to releasing my favorite album of 2025.
New sessions with new friends
Nearly anything goes when it comes to booking sessions for IRHP, but I do my best to mainly host artists who have not been on the show in the past. This year saw the in-studio debuts of Australian punks CIVIC, concert whistler Molly Lewis, and Chicago’s Clickbait, who notably recorded their session less than 24 hours after I saw them open a show in South Philly.
New sessions with old friends
Despite my general rule about not re-booking artists, there are some folks who bring something new and different to each of their studio visits. That was certainly the case with the first session I aired in 2025, with Palberta member Nina Ryser expanding the minimalist setup of her IRHP into a mini-orchestra. Also returning was Lael Neale, making her in-person debut after delivering a home-recorded session years back.
Rediscoveries and reinventions
For some of this year’s IRHP sessions, we welcomed back artists who previously visited the station under different projects and guises. Anand Wilder and Amy Millan last appeared on our airwaves as members of Yeasayer and Stars, respectively, and Teeny Lieberson made one of her three XPN showcases on IRHP as Lou Tides (the other two were as a member of Sharon Van Etten’s band, The Attachment Theory).
The starkest reinvention of the year came from Yukimi, longtime singer of the Swedish band Little Dragon. Shedding the dancefloor electronics of her main band as well as the DIY texture of her solo debut, Yukimi’s IRHP session is a slinky and soulful set for the ages.
Giving Tsunami their flowers
What an honor it was to host reunited DC combo Tsunami for their first radio session in 30 years. The band, led by artists-turned-advocates Jenny Toomey and Krisin Thomson, didn’t miss a beat as they showcased some of their beloved classic material as they toured their career-spanning box set Loud Is As. In their matching jumpsuits sporting iridescent designs by Jon Langford, Tsunami embodied IRHP in their performance: stylish and playful, looking backward and forward at the same time.
As for what 2026 has in story for IRHP, there are already a few live sessions ready to be shared and others that are only glimmers in our brains. See you then!