Favorite Albums/Tracks from 2025

[phoebean]

tldr; i listened to a lot of music in 2025 and i hope everyone else had a good year in music! let me know what songs and albums you liked too! my 2026 be a good year for music too

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Hi everybody,
I'm new (to posting) here: just wanted to say some of my favorites I've been listening to in 2025 (in no particular order)! I also only listen to full albums so bare with me here as I go through. Also-also, there's a lot, sorryyyyyyy.

From 2025
Anyway by Anamanaguchi, Favorite Song(s): Rage (Kitchen Sink), Buckwild, Really like to
A real unexpected hit for me! Anamanaguchi is a Pop-Rock Chiptune band that I've been listening to since 2011, but fell-off for a while. When I saw they had a new album I was super curious to see what they've been cooking and, to my surprise, a really infectious and crunchy Alt-Punk album.

Constant Companions (Deluxe Edition) by Jamie Paige, Favorite Song(s): My Darling My Companion, Machine Love, BIRDBRAIN (with OK Glass)
Technically cheating with this one since it actually came out in 2024, but the Deluxe Edition from 2025 adds about an EPs worth of songs that really enhances the experience. In any case, just really fun and vibrant Queer Electro-Pop that will get stuck in your brain for months. Also... birdbrain...

日常消滅 by kinoue64, Favorite Songs(s): 被害者, 消えていく, 白
I know Hatsune Miku is already the worlds greatest idol, but you're telling me she can also do Shoegaze? kinoue64 has put together a grungy, melodic, and often times hypnotic album ranging between slow and methodical to uptempo thrashers. The tuning used for the Miku vocaloid synth melds so effortlessly with the abbrasive instrumentation that you can really feel the synergy; an albums with incredible intentionality.

Evangelic Girl is a Gun by yeule, Favorite Song(s): Tequila Coma, What3vr, Evengelic Girl is a Gun
Moody and eclectic, this album continues yeule's transition from soft, etherial, electro guro-pop to a much more assertive electronic alt-punk-pop. This album in particular leans more into a blend of synth and traditional instrumentation that really accentuates yeule's vocals.

Straight Line Was A Lie by The Beths, Favorite Song(s): Til My Heart Stops, Roundabout, Best Laid Plans
How do you follow-up an album about the struggle and lingering feelings of a breakup? Just make another album about how, honestly, its harder to move-on and come to terms with life than you ever want it to be. This album knows that recovery is never steady, always changing pace.

WALKM4N by A M 4 N 音楽, Favorite Song(s): 心と体と流れ [mind, body and flow], 深いところから抜け出す[deepend]
A jazz infused drum-&-bass jaunt that screams retro-futurism, this brisk EP is, for a lack of better words, absolutely dripping with style and vibes. The frenetic DnB production melding with a jazz swing and freeflow makes an experience that feels like an active tour than a passive listen.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) by Japanese Breakfast, Favorite Song(s): Orlando in Love, Picture Window, Winter in LA
For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is purposely made to be a stark contrast to Japanese Breakfast's 2021 album, Jubilee. Where the last album was an excersise in finding the joy in life and making the fullest of existing, this album is a meditation on the hurt and sorrow that lingers. A morose, almost dream-like journey that isn't so much a depression-romp but a relfection on the sadness inside all of us and how beautiful vulnerability can be.

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Honorable Mentions/Not From 2025
If you've stuck around this long, thank you for reading my thoughts (I have a lot). I'll keep this section strictly list-like, mostly consisting of albums that I listened to, or re-listened to a lot during the year.

EVO EVO by moe shop (2025)
Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest (2011 & 2018)
Jump Rope Gazers by The Beths (2020)
Natural Causes by adult mom (2025)
EARTHBLADE ~ Across the Bounds of Fate by Lena Raine (2025)
Queen and Elf by Voision Xi (2024)
All This and So Much More by Tasha (2025)
Evergreen by soccer mommy (2024)
Seed of a Seed by Haley Heynderickx (2024)
好在没失去爱的能力Still in Love by 桃子假象 Peach Illusion (2024)
MG Ultra by Machine Girl (2024)
for a moment i saw myself as inexorably beautiful by smiling broadly (2024)
"smiling broadly" EP by smiling broadly (2023)
News of the Universe by La Luz (2024)
Cyan Blue by Charlotte Day Wilson (2024)
Blackout of the Centuray by Instinkto Industrio (2023)
I'mdifficult by I'mdifficult (2023)
Wesley Dreamers by ODDEEO + Karma Wears White Ties (2017)
Gut by Baths (2025)
Masterpiece by Big Thief (2016)
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief (2022)
Historian by Lucy Dacus (2018)
Retired from Sad, New Career in Business by Mitski (2013)
Flying Beagle by Himiko Kikuchi (1987)
Variety by Mariya Takeuchi (1981)
Timely! by Anri (1983)

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

These are a couple of songs I’ve been hung up on this past year

 

[thumbsdown]

streamed this one over and over again and I still can't get enough of this: https://windows96.bandcamp.com/track/nostalgia

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

 

[diet_orange]

Main ear-worms album wise for me have been The Cult's Love, Nitzer Ebb's Belief (which might be my contender for favorite album of all time), Hiroshima's Go, and Billy Idol's Cyberpunk (favorite album period)