Author: colbytheblog

I haven’t kept an actual tally, but I’d guess a third of my listening time in 2025 has been spent soaking up jazz. It’s the one consistent thing (musically) that has kept me most interested and excited this year – partly driven by my fledgling drum practice (oh how I fantasize about having actual jazz drumming skills…) and partly by Bandcamp’s supportive platform for new jazz releases. I also think there’s something about instrumental music in general that has been easier for me to relax into lately – not being distracted by someone else’s lyrical themes and instead just letting the rhythms, melodies, and sonic landscape connect with whatever I’m feeling at the time.

Whatever the reason, I’ve found enough new jazz treasures this year that it again warranted it’s own separate list. And while it was at it, I couldn’t help but compile a bonus list of additional instrumental, ambient, and electronic albums that created my musical world in 2025.

MY TEN FAVORITE JAZZ ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Theon Cross, Affirmations (Live at the Blue Note) [Hip-hop influences and a blazing tuba!]

2. Laura Jurd, Rites & Revelations [Celtic and traditional folk influenced]

3. Linda May Han Oh, Strange Heavens [A standout trio doing modern jazz]

4. Carl Allen, Tippin’ [Straight ahead jazz lead by an amazing drummer]

5. Untethered (Paul Giess, Grant Calvin Weston), Grasping for the Moon [Electronically enhanced free-form jazz]

6. John Patitucci, Spirit Fall [High energy but accessible work from three big name musicians]

7. The Necks, Disquiet [The masters of long-form improvised soundscapes]

8. Beiggja, Morning [Nordic jazz “super group”]

9. Cosmic Ear, TRACES [Intercontinental, spiritual jazz vibes]

10. Cochemea, Vol III: Ancestros Futuros [Latin rhythms galore!]

MY TEN FAVORITE INSTRUMENTAL/AMBIENT/ELECTRONIC ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Aux Meadows, Draw Near [Ambient Country]

2. Orcutt Shelley Miller, Orcutt Shelley Miller [Labeled “Avant-Rock” by some… sounds like a kick-ass rock band when the lead singer is on break]

3. Animal, Surrender!, A Boot for Every Bone [Blurring the line between Post-Rock, Jazz, and…]

4. Toby Hay, New Music for the 6 String Guitar [Beautiful, delicate guitar music]

5. Brian John McBrearty, Remembering, Repeating [Dreamy, melodic, ambient]

6. Gwenifer Raymond, Last Night I Heard the Dog Star [Acoustic guitar music with a bit of thrash]

7. The Bug vs Ghost Dubs, Implosion [Deep, foreboding, trance inducing dub – guaranteed your sound system is not sufficient]

8. The Dwarfs of East Agouza, Sasquatch Landslide [Just hold onto your seats – it’s going to be a wild ride]

9. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Gift Songs [Rich, piano based ambient]

10. Water Damage, Instruments [Dark, Heavy Ambient World Building]

During the last year it feels like I’ve experienced a growing tidal wave of people putting out their own personal music reviews. Maybe nothing’s actually changed and it’s just a matter of the social media algorithms feeding me a new view of the world based on some adjustment in my type-cast. There’s obviously always been a lot of folks writing about music. But I have this gnawing impression some shift has occurred. Maybe a tipping point was reached with the dwindling of traditional music media outlets and now, as each remaining diehard professional music critic is fired, they release a cloud of spores into the meta-verse that spawns 1,000 new wannabe music critics on Instagram, Substack, Youtube, and any other social media channel you can think of.

Now I fully realize I could easily be inserted into that wannabe music critic “spore cloud,” so I’m not trying to throw stones at anyone – but the result has been a lot of procrastinating and false starts on this end-of-year music recap. Should I really bother? Things are feeling pretty saturated and it’s getting harder to write an album description that doesn’t sound cliche or formulaic to my ears.

That all being said, I know there are a few folks who are still interested in hearing music suggestions and I’ve always believed sharing good music with others is meaningful. So I’m plowing ahead – although with a different, more simplified (and far less wordy) approach. I’ll focus on letting the artists and their music speak for themselves and hope in the process you find some favorite new tunes.

So let’s get to the music! I’ll begin with my favorite albums of the year, broken into to parts – I’ll share my top jazz/instrumental album in the next post but get things started below with my album picks for everything else. I’ll then finish off my 2025 recap with a list of favorite songs. Cheers!

MY TWENTY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Ken Pomeroy, Cruel Joke [Country / Americana with Wonderful Lyrical Imagery]

2. Geese, Getting Killed [Strange, off-kilter, and provocative Indie-Rock that still manages to be charming]

3. ROSALIA, LUX [Religious Awakening via Magisterial Art-Pop]

4. Ethel Cain, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You [Dark, Cinematic Indie Heartache]

5. Lambrini Girls, Who Let the Dogs Out [Raging UK Post-Punk]

6. Aesop Rock, I’ve Heard It’s a Mess There Too [Minimal Production, but Lyrically Dense Rap]

7. Jason Isbell, Foxes in the Snow [A great song writer and his guitar]

8. Armand Hammer, Mercy [Underground Rap Super-duo Hitting Peak Form]

9. Annahstasia, Tether [A Genre-transcending Voice]

10. Dean Johnson, I Hope We Can Still Be Friends [Like Roy Orbison went Country]

11. Garrett T. Capps, Life is Strange [Cosmic Country meets Tom Petty]

12. Horsegirl, Phonetics On and On [Bare-bones but playful Indie-Rock with twee charm]

13. Will Johnson, Diamond City [Aching, Bitter-sweet Indie-Rock]

14. Wednesday, Bleeds [Narrative Heavy Modern Slacker Rock]

15. Annie and the Caldwells, Can’t Lose My (Soul) [Soul / Gospel]

16. Folk Bitch Trio, Now Would Be a Good Time [Folk trio harmonies]

17. Fust, Big Ugly [Blue Collar Country Rock]

18. Billy Woods, GOLLIWOG [I know, more Billy Woods – but he’s just that good]

19. Tobacco City, Horses [Lush Country Harmonies]

20. Slow Motion Cowboys, Wolf of St Elmo [Dreamy, Laid-back Country]

Having covered my favorite jazz/ambient/electronic/instrumental albums for the year in Part 1, let’s get into what I guess I’ll lump together as “everything else.” You’ll find some Americana, country, post-punk, and latin, a dash of hip-hop, a bit of good old rock, and maybe some bits and bobs.

These lists come together differently every year. This go around, I knew my top two albums when they released early in the year and never heard anything that made me consider supplanting them. The rest of the top five was also pretty clear to me as soon as I sat down and started listing out candidates. From there, picking albums to fill in my top 20 was easy but ranking became hard to nail down – I think every time I’ve looked at my list I’ve reordered those remaining 15 spots. Ranking is of course pretty irrelevant in the end, partly because these rankings are so inherently subjective but largely because no one is paying that much attention to my list anyway. I do however continue with the ranking more for myself as it’s interesting to go back and look at later.

For you though, dear reader, please enjoy these recommendations regardless of their order and I’ll share some favorite songs before the year is closed.

1. The Past is Still Alive, Hurray for the Riff Raff
“I used to think I was born into the wrong generation / But now I know I made it right on time / To watch the world burn / With a tear in my eye.” Combining a bit of Jack Kerouac, Woodie Guthrie, and Ani Defranco into a current Americana sound, this is Alynda Segarra’s best album to date and the point where they can be nominated as one of America’s best songwriters. Like most (all?) of our best songwriters, they take harsh aim at America. Painting distinctly rich, evocative pictures of life from the marginalized corners of our society – something every generation needs.

2. TANGK, IDLES
I’ll try not to go on too much about IDLES as I’ve raved about them before but they’ve been on a string of putting out increasingly excellent albums, each one evolving in a new way but never loosing any of the incredible intensity and authenticity. This album will bunch you in the face (again – I know, they’ve done it before) but this time with love. Don’t be fooled though, the brutal honesty is still there and while they may be dishing out acceptance and love they will take no bullshit from you along the way.

3. Malegria, Reyna Tropical
A wonderful debut album of insanely hooky latin grooves that will force you to move around the room and swing your hips. However, even for a non-Spanish speaker it’s obvious there’s a complexity in these songs, maybe an embrace of some duality. I later found out this is signaled from the start by the album title itself, a term that mashes the Spanish words for “bad” and “happiness.”

4. Letter to Self, SPRINTS
A bit like IDLES’ album listed above, this one is here to deliver some hard love – but with their own powerful formula of distortion and blazing guitars. This is rock music that pushes you to scream truth to power while enveloped in the comradery of a mosh pit.

5. A Firmer Hand, Hamish Hawk
Hawk’s baritone is magnetic and projected like the crooning lead in a noir musical about sexuality and desire. The music is relatively uncomplicated indie pop/rock but is powerful in creating a dark, pulsing background with vivid, gritty lyrics.

6. Untame the Tiger, Mary Timony
Infectious rock and roll from a long-standing but generally unheralded icon of the indie-rock landscape. The album’s foundation lies in Timony’s stellar guitar riffs – but there’s nothing showy or overdone in this music. This is the work of someone with hard-earned rock cred and no concerns about trying to prove it.

7. Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee
Katie Crutchfield’s sound has always had elements of “alt country” and dashes of DIY punk (a sweet-spot combination for me personally). Across six Waxahatchee albums she’s fine-tuned her music, getting better and better. With Tigers Blood she’s set a new high-water mark. While the traditional touches of Americana music are subtle, the beautiful, often plaintive sound of this album feels like it’s rising straight up from the Appalachian hills or quiet sloughs of the southern bayou.

8. Service Merchandise, Previous Industries
Three rappers with a solid back catalog of their own work come together for a debut collaboration and immediately generate obvious chemistry. The grooves are subtle but lush; the lyrical quirks and dry humor focus on nostalgia and the realities of adult life.

9. Manning Fireworks, MJ Lenderman
If you’re not familiar with MJ Lenderman (he was called out in my 2022 top 10) there’s still a good chance you’ve heard his contributions as he’s become a common collaborator and band mate across various corners of the indie-rock and Americana scene. For his latest solo project, imagine Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) doing crunchy country-rock with a slacker vibe.

10. Bite Down, Rosali
I’ll admit I slept on this album at first. It seems to register on two levels. With just a casual listen, it could present as warm, comforting 1960’s folk-rock that could be ideal grooves while you’re making dinner. But there are harder edges here, facets that comes through with a more intent ear, or just subtly rise to the surface over time – guitars that swing from delicate to dense and Rosali’s world-weary but confident lyrics.

11. Songs of a Lost World, The Cure
In my mind, the biggest surprise of the year. When I first saw there was a new Cure album, I rolled my eyes and skipped right past it. I mean who would have thought any artist who’s 40ish years into their career and been touring on their classic hits for a decade and a half without any new music would then put out a good album, let alone a great album? Can’t be many examples of that – but Robert Smith and his collaborators did it and I’m thrilled.

12. Nasgino Inage Nidayulenvi (It Started in the Woods), Agalisiga
Agalisiga Mackey is a country musician and songwriter who performs in his native Cherokee language. Like so much of the best music in the world, there’s no hard requirement for understanding the language in order to understand the feeling. The sincerity in Agalisiga’s words is palpable, and when paired with the lonesome lament inherent in traditional country-western music, they speak volumes.

13. Gemelo, Angelica Garcia
I was immensely charmed by Garcia’s 2020 release, Cha Cha Palace. Four years on, she has come back with an album that’s full of lush, layered Latin-pop and a darker, more mature lyrical voice.

14. Lost in a Dream, Cassandra Lewis
I had the pleasure of standing front-row to see Cassandra Lewis at Treefort and, from a personality standpoint, she didn’t give off diva vibes – but on Lost in a Dream she sure sings like one. Shifting away from the country sounds of her first album she grabs the soul-diva mantle and delivers goosebump moments in spades.

15. Earthworks, Straw Man Army
Henry Rollins is someone we should listen to and he recently made the call to arms: “This is not a time to be dismayed. This is punk rock time. This is what Joe Strummer trained you for. It is now time to go.”

16. Little Rope, Sleater-Kinney
A part of me may never get past the departure of Janet Weiss – her drums were so foundational to the power of peak Sleater-Kinney – but with Little Rope Angie Boylan is given space to contribute her own great drumming alongside Tucker and Brownstein and I’m immensely grateful to have this band heading back towards what they do best – visceral rock’n’roll panache.

17. Diamond Jubilee, Cindy Lee
Diamond Jubilee made quite a splash in the pool of music journalism this year, with enough hyperbole and critical grandstanding (and eccentric dogma by the artist themself) that my first reaction was a bit skeptical. Regardless of that initial skepticism, the album won me over. I still feel the two hour double-album could use a bit of editing down (I know – blasphemy!) but there’s no denying the magical world-building that Flegel has accomplished.

18. Cold Sea, Oisin Leech
Sitting here, the winter giving us it’s longest nights and summer’s warmth a distant memory, there are two choices. You can fight against the cold and darkness, or you can embrace the sober beauty. Recorded on the coast of northern Ireland, Cold Sea evokes the windswept grandeur of its namesake in lonesome waves to such a degree it should probably come with a warning for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder.

19. The Future is Our Way Out, Brigitte Calls Me Baby
This album may have come from an alternate timeline of the multiverse that split off in the 80’s during the peak of New Wave – a timeline where Morrissey was prescribed effective anti-depressant/anti-psychotic meds and then headed off to do a residency on the Vegas strip.

20. Honky Tonk Beast, Jackson County Kills
Everyone needs some good honky-tonk in their life and I suppose by definition the best honky-tonk always comes from a band you’ve never heard of that’s lingering just outside the edge of “making it.” Added bonus when that band is from right here in Portland, Oregon.

The close of the year is upon us, so here’s my 2024 music review. I’m changing things up slightly this time and expanded my lists to put out two separate selections of favorite albums. I’ll start off my 2024 review with a list of favorite jazz and other instrumental-focused albums. Part 2 of my favorite albums will cover everything else genre-wise that I’ve been listening to, and then I’ll finish with a list of favorite songs as usual.

I’ve been listening to more jazz over the last few years and 2024 has been so rich in wonderful new finds that I just couldn’t find a way to mash them into a top twenty list with everything else. Keep in mind though, this first list isn’t entirely jazz music. Some can safely be lumped in that genre – a few of these albums are wonderfully traditional or modern takes on classic jazz foundations – but many bleed across fuzzy boundaries into areas that are labeled ambient, minimalist, drone, funk, Afrobeat, or electronic. There’s also one folky, guitar album – and then there’s whatever you want to call Colin Stetson’s music.

Regardless of the categories, or any potential preconceived notions you might have about certain music labels, I hope you find new music to enjoy as you browse this list and the rest of my 2024 review. Cheers! 

1. People of the Fast Flowing River, Work Money Death
In just four tracks of long-form, improvised work this album covers a lot of space – and it’s all captivating. I’ve seen the album referred to as “spiritual jazz,” and while I couldn’t give you a good definition for that genre tag I would have no problem saying this is the soundtrack I want for my spiritual awakening.

2. 11:11, Carlos Bice
It’s a warm, summer evening. I’m stretched out in a large, comfortable rocking chair on the front porch. A fragrant breeze rises up with the moonlight and looks to build into a summer storm. I begin to drift back and forth across the edge of sleep. At some point, my mind wonders how the evening winds have conjured such beautiful, cascading melodies from the neighbor’s wind chimes… or am I just dreaming.

3. Owl Song, Ambrose Akinmusire
Akinmusire’s trumpet arrives with such a delicate, sometimes strained, and fleeting nature in these songs that I feel the urge to stop whatever I’m doing and just enjoy the spell that’s been created.

4. Adrift, Soren Skov Orbit
Saxophone led, these are improvised compositions with modern jazz flare and elements of African-inspired percussion.

5. A New Beat, Ulysses Owens Jr and Generation Y
I would guess that drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. is one of the biggest and most established names in today’s jazz scene. I could see there being a point where he becomes something akin to the next Wynton Marsalis. Like Marsalis, he is not just a gifted jazz talent with a broad musical pallet but he’s also a strong advocate, ambassador, and champion of jazz itself. This project is a wonderful illustration of that as he’s brought together a band filled with the new generation of jazz talent to highlight who we should be watching in the future, including a feature from Sarah Hanahan who shows up again later in this list.

6. Endlessness, Nala Sinephro
In my preface, I alluded to the blurring of genre boundaries and this is probably the most blurred. Some call it an ambient album. Some call it a jazz album. Obviously it doesn’t matter who is right – just listen and let yourself fall into the world Sinephro and her collaborators have constructed.

7. A Willed and Conscious Balance, Tomin
Uplifting is the word I’d use. There’s an impression of warmth and light throughout and when an album can overcome my preconceived, anti jazz flute bias you know it must be good.

8. Is This Water, divr
Intricate yet intimate and playful music from a piano lead trio. This is modern jazz that sounds at times almost like contemporary classical or verges into experimental, particularly in the albums later tracks. The pieces are composed not with a straight time signature but instead using “multi-directional time… It’s not done with maths, it’s more about entering a flow.” While I have a hard time wrapping my head around what that means, the flow is evident as well as the magic that can be generated from improvised music.

9. Small Medium Large, SML
Another delightful genre mystery. I’d say this is improvised jazz that’s been run through an electronic mixer to be diced, sliced, and reconstituted into something entirely unique.

10. Tension, Mulatu Astatke and the Hoodna Orchestra
Imagine you find yourself living inside a 1950’s Technicolor romantic-adventure movie, set in some unnamed Egyptian city. You walk out of the crowded street and into a smoky bar filled with the sound of a jazz orchestra – but this is no Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman led band and this movie is definitely not set in Kansas.

11. TRUE STORY, Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O
Many jazz albums draw their strength from the collective improvisation of the assembled musicians. TRUE STORY’s power builds very intentionally from the unique, courageous voice of trombonist Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O.

12. The Love it Took to Leave You, Colin Stetson
Understanding the specifics of how Stetson creates and plays his music makes the listening experience astounding and mysterious. In this new album he’s more potent and visceral than ever before. Be warned though, this is no pleasant listen – this is an album that will likely haunt your dreams. Stetson has channeled his talent and physical might into something that is staggering and portentous. It may not be an album I will listen to frequently, but it is absolutely one I can’t stop thinking about.

13. Precipice, Ill Considered
Ten tracks of improvised “free” jazz fronted by Idris Rahman’s blazing tenor saxophone – but I think it’s the cohesion of the rhythm section that gives these recordings their warmth and vitality.

14. STAY, Julieta Eugenio
Backed by a solid rhythm section, this is an album of relatively straight forward jazz originals with subtle dashes of Latin flavor that could give away Eugenio’s Argentinian roots. But really, it’s all about her tone. She may be a “young, up and comer” but that’s a tone any great sax player would admire.

15. Dance, No One’s Watching, Ezra Collective
It really doesn’t matter if anyone is watching, you’re going to dance anyway.

16. Among Giants, Sarah Hanahan
There are an incredible number of female saxophone players leading the charge these days. I hesitate to dwell on which musicians are women as it shouldn’t matter in how we hear their music. But I’ve listened to interviews with Hanahan and I’m sure there have been times when she’s been underestimated and overlooked because she’s a young woman with an unassuming background. Those people made a big mistake – she is confident, determined, immensely talented and this album showcases it all.

17. Tapestry, Vazesh
Mysterious and ethereal improvised music that seems to arrive from some far off corner of the world we dream to explore. Oh, and did I mention there’s a bass clarinet?

18. Dream Rain, Peter Webber
I’m not particularly knowledgeable about primitive guitar music and I don’t know much about this artist (I think he may have a connection with Portland) but this album stood out to me immediately. It’s simple yet imaginative, with a diverse set of beautiful compositions that leave you wanting more.

19. Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk, Jamie Saft Trio
I am not a Monk scholar so I don’t feel fully qualified to judge how well Saft honors the work of that legendary figure with this album. But what my ears hear is three musicians making wonderful, playful jazz that calls back to the greatness of past giants even if I don’t recognize exactly why.

And for an Honorable Mention:

Sunday Morning Put-On, Andrew Bird Trio
So this one’s a bit different – not “jazz,” but rather “midcentury jazz” – a collection of jazz standards (plus one original). I’m a big Andrew Bird fan so this album was probably destined to be catnip for my ears and I think anyone would be hard pressed not to be delighted. And as advertised, it makes for the perfect Sunday morning soundtrack.