WXPN hosts share their 10 favorite albums of 2025

It’s the year of Geese, and after trying to resist the groundswell of attention they have been receiving, sure enough—the more I listened, the more I wanted to listen. Is it the confusion, noise, cacophony, terror and joy of 2025? I don’t know why, but this album just seems to capture where we’re at musically / culturally. Also dug discovering (or finally going deeper) into artists like Jesse Welles, CMAT and Sharp Pins, hearing the evolution of Turnstile, the best Brandi project of the decade, a solid sophomore effort (and killer live gig!) from Wet Leg, a fine addition of the Attachment Theory to Sharon Van Etten, and sweet local jams from Mt. Joy and The Tisburys.

1. Getting Killed — Geese
2. Moisturizer — Wet Leg
3. Middle — Jesse Welles
4. Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory
5. A Still Life Revisited — The Tisburys
6. Euro-Country — CMAT
7. Hope We Have Fun — Mt. Joy
8. Returning To Myself — Brandi Carlile
9. Balloon Balloon Balloon — Sharp Pins
10. Never Enough — Turnstile

My list has more than nine, but less than eleven…

1. Getting Killed — Geese
2. Never Enough — Turnstile
3. Baby — Dijon
4. Straight Line Was A Lie — The Beths
5. Caveman Wakes Up — Friendship
6. Phonetics On And On — Horsegirl
7. Twilight Override — Jeff Tweedy
8. West End Girl — Ben Arnold
9. XI — Lily Allen
10. Thee Black Boltz — Tunde Adebimpe

I dug folks that had SOMETHING TO SAY (Hayley, Brittany, CMAT) or emotions to pour out of themselves (JB, Brandi), folks who continued to experiment with and evolve their sounds (Bartees, Geese, the LDP), and folks who wanted to get you dancing or uplift your spirits (Gaga, Valerie).

1. Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party — Hayley Williams
2. MAYHEM — Lady Gaga
3. Horror — Bartees Strange
4. Black Thunder — Brittany Davis
5. For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) — Japanese Breakfast
6. Owls, Omens, and Oracles — Valerie June
7. EURO-COUNTRY — CMAT
8. Getting Killed — Geese
9. Returning to Myself — Brandi Carlile
10. From the Pyre — The Last Dinner Party

Tough to boil it down to just TEN records this year! So much good music in 2025. Truthfully, most of my list was set until Geese dropped their new album—which totally floored me and forced its hand to the top of my list.

1. Getting Killed — Geese
2. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
3. Snipe Hunter — Tyler Childers
4. Clams Casino — Brian Dunne
5. Foxes in the Snow — Jason Isbell
6. Euro-Country — CMAT
7. Snocaps — Snocaps
8. Sounds Like… — Wednesday
9. Bleeds — Florry
10. Balloonerism — Mac Miller

What does “top albums” mean anyway? The LPs I think are the best? The records I listened to the most? The answer should be yes to these last two questions. There’s so much music out though, it’s impossible to take it all in. Not on the list (but should be) if we had more selections: Kathleen Edwards, Olivia Dean, Davido, Oklou, caroline, Wednesday, Ichiko Aoba, Panda Bear, Sharp Pins and Mary Halvorson (excellent jazz record).

1. Getting Killed — Geese
2. Never Enough — Turnstile
3. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
4. Earthstar Mountain — Hannah Cohen
5. Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party — Hayley Williams
6. Sounds Like… — Florry
7. New Threats From The Soul — Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band
8. From The Private Collection of Saba & No ID — Saba & No ID
9. Essex Honey — Blood Orange
10. Twilight Override — Tweedy

Let me put a disclaimer on this: I hate ranked lists and I have a hard time rating music. These are the albums that moved me this year, that I kept coming back to, that I felt. Every single one of these albums gave me physical chills at one point while listening to them.

1. Getting Killed — Geese
2. Everybody Scream — Florence + the Machine
3. Neon Grey Midnight Green — Neko Case
4. Mourners — Trupa Trupa
5. Headlights — Alex G
6. Thee Black Boltz — Tunde Adebimpe
7. Who Will Look After the Dogs? — PUP
8. Glory — Perfume Genius
9. Sinister Grift — Panda Bear
10. Paradise Now — Obongjayar

No way, Jose.

1. Lazarus Original Series Soundtrack — Kamasi Washington, Bonobo, Floating Points
2. Earthstar Mountain — Hannah Cohen
3. Billboard Heart — Deep Sea Diver
4. Sinister Grift — Panda Bear
5. Restless — Palmyra
6. Horizons — Daniel Donato
7. Moments — Cut Copy
8. Planting By the Signs — Richard Russel’s Everything is Recorded
9. Temporary — SG Goodman
10. C.R.E.A.M. — Kassa Overall

Just a nice assortment of albums I liked this year!

1. MAD! — Sparks
2. Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory
3. Make Up / Lost Time — Landlady
4. EURO-COUNTRY — CMAT
5. Horror — Bartees Strange
6. Altogether Stranger — Lael Neale
7. Songs for Other People’s Weddings — Jens Lekman
8. Kiss from the Balcony — Madeline Kenney
9. Chime Oblivion — Chime Oblivion
10. Instant Holograms on Metal Film — Stereolab

It was the year of Geese for me. Life will now be split in two distinct timeframes…BGK (before “Getting Killed”) and AGK (after “Getting Killed”). I never knew that I needed an album that sounded like a perfectly balanced hybrid of Radiohead, Car Seat Headrest and Neutral Milk Hotel…but now I can’t imagine life without it.

1. Getting Killed — Geese
2. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten
3. Double Infinity — Big Thief
4. Get Sunk — Matt Berninger
5. This Side of the Island — Hamilton Leithauser
6. Everybody Scream — Florence + The Machine
7. Moisturizer — Wet Leg
8. Phonetics On And On — Horsegirl
9. Sable, Fable — Bon Iver
10. With Trampled By Turtles — Alan Sparhawk

I think with all of my picks the production is what stands out the most to me. With each album I found myself enjoying the instrumentals or instruments being played before I paid attention to the lyrics. The lyrics then became icing on the cake!

1. Let God Sort Em Out — Clipse
2. Alfredo 2 — Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist
3. NSFW — The Paradox
4. Your Love Alone — Nesta
5. Everything is a lot — Wale
6. Manifesto — Major Key
7. Love on Purpose — Beano French
8. Pholks — Leon Thomas
9. When In Doubt — Chioke
10. Deadbeat — Tame Impala

As usual there are so many albums to pick through each year and 2025 was no different. Many choice picks for loud, quiet, sublime, defiant, thoughtful and sonically diverse run the gamut from rock to jazz, ambient and beyond—much like Sleepy Hollow. Something for every mood and time of day. May your musical discovery be as fulfilling in 2026!

1. Billionaire — Kathleen Edwards
2. Luminal/Lateral/Liminal — Brian Eno & Beattie Wolfe
3. Here We Go Crazy — Bob Mould
4. Detour — Boz Scaggs
5. Foxes In The Snow — Jason Isbell
6. Belonging — Branford Marsalis Quartet
7. Without Further Ado, Vol 1 — Christian McBride Big Band
8. Sidereal Days (Day 1) — Bill Scorzari
9. West Of Broadway — Rachael & Vilray
10. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory

Rap albums about aging, gnarly, unhinged punk, and deeply spiritual jazz. 2025 wasn’t a mind-blowing year for me overall, but it had plenty of bright, brilliant moments.

1. Cabin in the Sky — De La Soul
2. Demo — Commitment
3. Feral Moons — Yikes The Zero
4. CREAM — Kassa Overall
5. AFTER — yaz lancaster
6. Under The Surface — Sumi Tonooka
7. DROMEDARIES X ALEXOTERIC — The Burning Bright Light
8. Forty — Blu & August Fanon
9. List of Demands — Damon Locks
10. Delicious Collision — gushes

There are a lot of “number elevens” that maybe should have made the list. Some of these focus on older music, with two giving strong new performances of older songs (Colin Hancock and Maria Muldaur), and two being previously unreleased older recordings (Johnnie Johnson and Jim Brewer with Dan Smith).

1. Ain’t Done With The Blues — Buddy Guy
2. Talkin’ Heavy — D.K. Harrell
3. Room On The Porch — Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’
4. Cat & The Hounds — Colin Hancock’s Jazz Hounds featuring Catherine Russell
5. New Southern Vintage — Candice Ivory
6. Hard Road — Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
7. Take It Easy Greasy — Jim Brewer with Dan Smith
8. I’m Just Johnnie — Johnnie Johnson
9. Bob Is Back! — Bob Stroger & The Headhunters
10. One Hour Mama — The Blues Of Victoria Spivey — Maria Muldaur

Across 2025 Star’s End presented 40-60 new releases per month. So trying to select only 10 albums to summarize such a plentiful year in Spacemusic from out of the hundreds produced has been a daunting task. While the established/veteran Electronic Musicians reliably advance their art and craft, a great many new names have entered the field—bringing with them ideas, influences and atmospheres never before realized in a genre recognized for its discovery and innovation. As Star’s End approaches its 50th year of broadcast over the WXPN airwaves I find the endeavor, with all its forward-looking, imaginative musicians and listeners, continually renewing—and more meaningful than ever before.

1. Aftermath — Cosmic Ground
2. Tone Science 10: The Final Patch — Various Artists
3. Drawn Into the Edge Effect — Andrea Cichecki
4. Protostar — Martin Sturtzer
5. Rendering Time — Deborah Martin/Jill Haley
6. Hydrology — Loula Yorke
7. Portals and Spirals — Steve Roach
8. Incubation — Robert Rich/Markus Reuter
9. The Absence of Being — Raica
10. Into the Night — Jeannine Wagar