I love and hate making these lists.
I love doing it for all the obvious, simple reasons: It’s fun to revisit art and the joy that it inspires; it’s fun to organize and arrange things; it’s fun to consider, analyze, and judge my own behaviors and interests.
Perhaps my hatred of these lists is just as obvious as my love. I hate making them because they lay bare the omissions, the oversights, the many treasures forgotten, neglected, or altogether missed.
There’s not enough jazz on this list. Not enough salsa. WTF? I wish Nathy Peluso had released an entire album of “Malportada.” I probably should have included it here anyway. Remove EUSEXUA and replace it with the similarly capitalized MALPORTADA? Possibly.
There should be more hip-hop, rap, and soul. Where is Billy Woods? MIKE? McKinley Dixon? Earl Sweatshirt? Tyler, the Creator? Pink Siifu? Moor Mother? Clipse? What was I even doing in 2025?
Well.
It’s worth noting that Bad Bunny’s Debir Tirar Mas Fotos was released on January 5th, and I knew on January 6th that it would be my favorite album of the year. Not often that that happens.
It’s possibly also worth noting that, while I had been aware of Geese since the release of their 2021 album, Projector, I hadn’t really paid attention to them until I learned through Interview magazine that they are Mets fans.
“Pitchfork could give Geese 1’s for the rest of our career if the Mets win the World Series this year,” said bassist Dominic DiGesu. That’s all I needed to hear.
Well.
It helped that Getting Killed, the album, is as awesome as everyone says it is. Let’s go Mets. There’s always next year. (We hope.)
25. FKA Twigs: EUSEXUA (Young Recordings Limited)
24. Nourished by Time: The Passionate Ones (XL Recordings)
23. Perfume Genius: Glory (Matador Records)
22. Jenny Hval: Iris Silver Mist (4AD)
21. caroline: caroline 2 (Rough Trade Records)
20. Blood Orange: Essex Honey (Domino Recording Co.)
19. Richard Dawson: End of the Middle (Domino Recording Co.)
18. Lucrecia Dalt: A Danger to Ourselves (RVNG Intl.)
17. Tropical Fuck Storm: Fairyland Codex (Fire Records)
16. Wednesday: Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
15. Anna von Hausswolff: ICONOCLASTS (YEAR0001)
14. DJ Haram: Beside Myself (Hyperdub)
13. Wet Leg: moisturizer (Domino Recording Co.)
12. Bon Iver: SABLE, fABLE (Jagjaguwar)
11. Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
10. Yasmine Hamdan: I remember I forget (Hamdanistan Records)
9. These New Puritans: Crooked Wing (Domino Recording Co.)
8. Circuit des Yeux: Halo on the Inside (Matador Records)
7. Earth Ball: Outside Over There (Upset the Rhythm)
6. Cameron Winter: Heavy Metal (Partisan Records)
5. Piotr Kurek: Songs and Bodies (Unsound)
4. Lyra Pramuk: Hymnal (7K!)
3. Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound (The Flenser)
2. Geese: Getting Killed (Partisan Records)
1. Bad Bunny: DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment)