Richard Dawson – Tim Major

Favourite albums of 2025

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025

2025 has been an outstanding year for new music. More than in any of the last five years, I’m confident that my favourite albums this year will still be on regular rotation in years to come.

Indie

I had high hopes after their first record, but caroline 2 by caroline is a staggering follow-up. It’s my favourite sort of indie music: experimental, reluctant to fall into anything resembling predictability, yet filled with hooks that seem almost to embarrass the band in their catchiness. The opening track, ‘Total euphoria’ is exactly as its title describes, and it’s my pick as an exemplifier of the best music on offer this year.

Close behind is Brooklyn band Geese, who weren’t on my radar before 2025, but Getting Killed has secured them as one of my new favourite acts. Like caroline, Geese are fidgety and strange, and while they sometimes veer between soundalikes (particularly Radiohead and Slint), the sheer breadth of their range convinces, as do Cameron Winter’s vocals, jerking constantly as though he’s sprinting throughout. This album contains a greater number of tracks I adore than any other album this year.

Richard Dawson can do no wrong, but on End of the Middle he’s even more right than usual. His ability to swing between fastidious description of middle England’s quirks and frailties, to reaching for and finding profundity in small moments, to punishing listeners with experimental Fahey-esque moments and Beefheartian insanity… It’s simply unimprovable, and it’s absurdly my sort of thing.

Odysseús by Herman Dune is a far more approachable record than Dawson’s, and my love for it is partly informed by my two-decades-long love for the band, but it’s wonderful to hear David Herman Düne on form and appearing to enjoy himself so much, with beautiful arrangements for beautiful songs.

Post-rock / Modern composition

The Necks have for a long time been a band I’ve appreciated but not loved. That’s changed with Disquiet, a three-hour daydream shifting (slowly) from Ambarchi-esque single-tone drones to barely contained skittering kaleidoscopic carnival queasy nightmares. It’s absolutely wonderful.

With ICONOCLASTS, Anna von Hausswolff moves further away from her recent pipe-organ dirges to the grand singer-songwriter demonstrated on her 2022 release, Live at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Many of the tracks on ICONOCLASTS are monolithic, often thanks to saxophonist Mats Sandsjö (sounding very like Colin Stetson, and surely inspired by his work). While less convincing lyrically, Anna von Hausswolff’s delivery is so wild, ranging from Kate Bush to primal screech, that it’s totally convincing, and frequently overwhelming. I’d love to see her play live.

One album that crept up on my over many repeated listens is Ghost Note by Kim Hiorthøy, a quiet and reserved collection of unusual rhythms that, while largely digital, sounds like pots and pans in the rain. Similarly affecting and meditative is Cassotto by Suzan Peeters, a short collection of treated accordion drones that are near-impossible to believe could be delivered by that instrument.

Some familiar names provided my favourite post-rock albums this year. Horse Lords and minimalist composer Arnold Dreyblatt prove a potent and unsettling combination on FRKWYS Vol. 18: Extended Field. Mogwai reliably come up with the goods on The Bad Fire. David Grubbs and friends deliver with the self-titled Bitterviper. Finally, Tortoise have returned! From its opening moments, Touch makes you believe they’ve never been away, or indeed that they produced any albums since TNT, their all-time high back in 1998.

Hip hop / Rap

hexed! by aya has been topping many end-of-year polls, and rightly so. It critiques a very different side of Britain than Richard Dawson’s End of the Middle – and a side of society I know far less well – but together these two albums represent a pretty damning state of the nation. ‘off to the ESSO’ is up there with my very favourite tracks of the year.

One album I’ve had on constant rotation since the early in the year is 80’z by Spanish artist Bb trickz. Despite understanding little of the lyrics, I’m in love with the scratchy DIY vibe.

The ungoogleable act NEW YORK aresigned to Inga Copeland’s Relaxin’ Records, and on Push they sound very like her. As in, they’re wonderful.

Compilations / Reissues

Like the return of Tortoise, it’s emotional hearing The Notwist once again. Magnificent Fall may be only a rarities compilation, but there’s enough previous unheard material here to make me swoon all over again. A new album soon, please.

My two favourite multi-artist compilations this year are Pattern Gardening, a collection of hypnotic micro-house tracks from Wisdom Teeth, and Going Back to Sleep…, a compilation of dreamy indie tracks put out by A Colourful Storm.

Of my favourite reissues this year, the only one that was new to me is baby, it’s cold inside by the fun years, from 2008. What an album! And great writing music, too. Old favourites spruced up and reissued were cLOUDDEAD by cLOUDDEAD (2000), The Amateur View (Expanded) by To Rococo Rot (1999), the unsurpassed A Fragile Geography (10th Anniversary Edition) by Rafael Anton Irisarri (2015) and the raw, parallel-reality versions of 2004 album tracks included on Madvillainy Demos by MF Doom & Madlib.

Favourite albums of the first half of 2025

June 27, 2025

How is it possible that we’ve reached the halfway point of the year? But as that’s the case, here are my favourite albums released in 2025 so far.

Indie / Rock / Post-rock

A new Richard Dawson album is always cause for celebration, and End of the Middle is as wonderfully as anything he’s delivered, and a great deal more accessible than his early work, palatable even to my family when played in the car. I’m particularly spoiled with a wonderful new album by Herman Dune, too – Odysseús is the best work the band has released in years, and contains some spot-on observations on ageing. Moin continues its rattling, Sonic-Youth-esque good work with EP Belly Up. Displaying his best songwriting since the death of his wife and Low bandmate Mimi Parker, Alan Sparhawk teams up with Trampled by Turtles in a heartfelt self-titled album. On The Bad Fire, Mogwai pull their usual trick of their new tracks sounding straightforward, then worming into the mind over time. Perhaps inspired by last year’s Gastr Del Sol retrospective, David Grubbs’ new release Whistle from Above sounds more like that band than most of his solo work. The self-titled OSMIUM is pounding, industrial and intense, as you might expect when Emptyset pairs with Hildur Guðnadóttir.

Weird / Beats

Am I remembering this wrong, or did Darren Cunningham announce the retirement of his Actress alter ego years ago? Regardless, he’s been producing more than ever recently. Grey Interiors is an Eraserhead-esque 20-minute EP, whereas Tranzkript1 contains more familiar clacks and bubbles. Dawuna also teases with a short EP, Love Jaunt, which contains one of his least tampered-with vocal lines, sounding uncannily like Sly Stone. Vicki Bennett aka People Like Us ropes in the always amazing Ergo Phizmiz for vocals on Copia to create a more coherent mash of 1950s samples and found sounds than in her past work, and while it’s often headache-inducing, it’s genuinely incredible stuff.

Drone / Modern composition

After a detour into swoony vocal performances, Ellen Arkbro returns to her roots with the hypnotic organ drones of Nightclouds. The ever-dependable Oren Ambarchi, this time with Eric Thielemans, produces two more slabs of antsy skittering on Kind Regards. Abul Mogard reappears with his first full-length album in years, Quiet Pieces, featuring soundscapes that burrow under the skin.

Hip hop / Rap

aya seems to have been a poster child for UK hip hop recently, and deservedly so – hexed! is utterly brilliant, and gloriously abrasive; ‘off to the ESSO’ is one of my favourite tracks this year so far. Similarly scrappy and catchy is 80’z by Bb trickz, though I’ve no idea what the Spanish raps are actually about. The same applies to much of the French Violence Gratuite on Baleine à Boss, which sounds ace all the same. John Glacier continues to impress with the downbeat Like a Ribbon, and Doseone and Steel Tipped Dove have raucous fun on All Portrait, No Chorus, and clipping. channels righteous anger on Dead Channel Sky.

Compilations / Reissues

My favourite multi-artist compilation so far this year is micro-house collection Pattern Gardening from Wisdom Teeth, featuring artists all unfamiliar to me. The Arthur Russell archives have been opened again, and this time Open Vocal Phrases, Where Songs Come In and Out provides insight into Russell’s development of his key album World of Echo. Another compelling glimpse into the creation of classic album is provided in Madvillainy Demos by Madvillain aka MF Doom & Madlib, which in some cases have become my preferred versions of their tracks. In terms of more straightforward rereleases, I’ve been hooked on The Amateur View (Expanded) by To Rococo Rot and the still bonkers cLOUDDEAD by cLOUDDEAD. I also love three rereleases that are entirely new to me: baby, it’s cold inside by the fun years, SYR5 by Kim Gordon, Ikue Mori and DJ Olive, and the 2001 Peel Sessions by The Locust.

Favourite albums of 2017

December 19, 2017Leave a comment

RICHARD DAWSON – Peasant (Domino). A departure from his previous work, in that he’s accompanied by a band, but Dawson’s ramshackle weirdness and Beefheartian tendencies are intact. ‘Soldier’ is my favourite song of the year, and includes my favourite lyric too: ‘Let’s betroth without delay / Pack the horse and ride away / Find some better place / Where we might raise a family / My heart is full of hope / I am tired, I am afraid / My heart is full of hope’.

BILL ORCUTT – Bill Orcutt (Palillia). Orcutt goes electric! Shimmering and abstract covers album with melodies I can never quite fathom. ‘Christmas on Earth’ is my favourite.

ROB NOYES – The Feudal Spirit (Poon Village). A traditional Fahey-style fingerpicking counterpart to Orcutt’s out-there album.

DEAN HURLEY – Anthology Resource Vol. 1 (Sacred Bones). Not only do they recall the happy, woozy weeks of David Lynch’s mind trip masterpiece, these soundscapes from Twin Peaks: The Return are incredible in their own right.

DEDEKIND CUT – American Zen (Ninja Tune). Wonderful washes of noise and hints of techno.

F INGERS – Awkwardly Blissing Out (Blackest Ever Black). Barely-there dark dreams.

BLUE IVERSON – Hotep (World Music). Twenty minutes of Dean Blunt’s soul and R&B doodlings. Far more compelling than that might sound.

HANNAH PEEL – Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia (self-published). Is it my imagination, or has there been a glut of albums featuring synths and colliery brass bands this year? This was the best.

VESSEL – Nyt Alfabet (DME). Shakily soporific in the best possible way. And that voice! I’m melting.

ALDOUS HARDING – Party (4AD). Speaking of voices… I predict that next year Aldous Harding will conquer the world.

Favourite tracks of 2014

December 17, 2014December 17, 20141 Comment

Firstly, it’s been more a year for albums rather than individual songs. Even though my longlist is 41 tracks and 4.5 hours, I’m being strict with myself for this list by not including tracks to represent albums I love, if the track doesn’t stand alone. So nothing from Oren Ambarchi’s Quixotism (Part 3 came close, but is far more glorious in the context of the album). I’m also disallowing tracks from compilations and rereleased albums, therefore it’s a no-show for the Soul Jazz Gipsy Rumba or Strut Haiti Direct compilations, Finders Keepers’ Lewis album, or the rerelease of Aby Ngana Diop’s Liital.

So it’s a pretty pared-down list. Only eight tracks remain, though two of them are well over the 10-minute mark:

I Have Walked This Body by Jenny Hval & Susanna
Advice to Young Girls by Copeland ft. Actress
CIRCLONT6A[141.98][syrobonkus mix] by Aphex Twin
Hidden Thieves by Eyes & No Eyes
Nothing Important by Richard Dawson
Body Sound by Holly Herndon
Pretending by Mice Parade
Speech Spirits by FIS (The Nagger remix by Oren Ambarchi)

Here’s a Spotify playlist:

The numbers

OK, so I keep a log of all the new stuff I listen to. Doesn’t everyone do that? Up until today I’ve listened to 589 unique albums, 98 EPs and 41 singles this year – that’s 728 releases in total.

354 of these titles were released in 2014. This chart shows the release years, ordered by listening date:

254 releases were by artists from the USA, 204 from the UK. Germany’s next in the list with 37 releases, then Australia with 23, then Sweden with 18. I listened to artists from 55 different countries in total.

But that’s just the releases that were new to me. I don’t log everything I listen to. That would be crazy.

Most of my listening was via Spotify. The site’s ‘Year in Music’ tells me that my most-listened genres were experimental, drone, glitch, warm drone, post-rock. Sounds about right.
Apparently I’ve listened to 38,739 minutes of music on Spotify this year, which certainly justifies the £10/month payment.
That’s 645 hours. That’s 27 whole days.

Finally, Last.fm tells me my most-listened artists this year. Given that many Oren Ambarchi tracks are longer than 10 minutes, he’s even more of a clear winner:

Favourite albums of 2014

December 16, 2014December 19, 2014Leave a comment

Meshes of Voice by Jenny Hval & Susanna
Plotting a course between pretension and striking beauty, this album features more exquisite moments than any other this year. Jenny Hval’s impossibly high falsetto weaves in and out of Susanna’s warmer tones. Contrasting hummable melodies, the most unexpected elements are the unsettling drones, reaching a pinnacle in ‘I Have Walked This Body.’

Nothing Important by Richard Dawson
The title track is the single most exciting song I’ve heard all year. It’s folk music for this century. It’s punk music without the posturing. It’s the short story I wish I’d written.

Quixotism by Oren Ambarchi
Every so often I revisit a location important to me during my childhood. Each time, when I arrive, I worry that the magic won’t remain. Each time, I’m surprised all over again. Quixotism works in just the same way. Its simplicity seems mundane at first, until you begin to notice all of the irregular elements. Then it becomes hypnotic, even when the thump segues into jerky techno. It’s my favourite 2014 album for driving in the dark, occupying a similar place to Carter Tutti Void’s 2012 album Transverse.

Everybody Down by Kate Tempest, for its genre-busting storytelling. Pipes by Katie Gately, an artist who’ll no doubt produce something even more astounding in the near future. La Isla Bonita by Deerhoof – an unexpectedly direct and fun return to form. Wilderness of Mirrors by Lawrence English, for soundtracking my writing in 2014. And possibly, although it’s a bit soon to tell, Shadow of the Monolith by Lawrence English and Werner Dafeldecker.

Compilations

My absolute favourite is Gipsy Rhumba: The Original Rhythm of Gipsy Rhumba in Spain 1965-1974 from Soul Jazz, strange and diverse and loved by my son. Marshall Allen presents Sun Ra And His Arkestra: In The Orbit Of Ra on Strut is outstanding. The French Avant-Garde in the 20th Century on LTM is terrific, too.

2014 reissues

Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 1 by Craig Leon – astounding proto-techno from early-80s Takoma label. Money by Nath & Martin Brothers, the funkiest ride of the year. Furia by The Fates, a weird folk/post-rock diversion from 1985.

Favourite record labels

Thrill Jockey (new releases by Skull Defekts, Man Forever, OOIOO), Hospital Productions (Vatican Shadow), Exotic Pylon (Time Attendant, Isobel Ccircle), Editions Mego (Oren Ambarchi).

Favourite albums overall, new to me, from any year

Even before the release of Quixotism, 2014 was, for me, the year of Oren Ambarchi. I heard 14 of his albums for the first time, five of which I adore (Connected, Grapes from the Estate, Intermission 2000-2008, In the Pendulum’s Embrace, Quixotism). The combination of The Glass Trunk and Nothing Important puts Richard Dawson in close second place. Free jazz was another predominant theme – I love Karma by Pharoah Sanders and World Galaxy by Alice Coltrane. Hillbilly Tape Music by Henry Flynt is an eye-opener. What?? by Folke Rabe was on constant rotation for a while, during writing stints. Material by Emptyset is terrifying and exhilarating. Inspiration Information by Shuggie Otis features killer tunes. I felt embarrassed I’d never before heard Slates by The Fall. And Go Bo Diddley by Bo Diddley is another of my son’s favourites and therefore mine too.