Orcutt/Shelley/Miller - Orcutt/Shelley/Miller (Silver Current)

A little over half an hour of instrumental jamming from this power trio. Bill Orcutt’s best known for his Guitar Quartet, while Steve Shelley’s the long-time drummer for Sonic Youth and Ethan Miller for Comets on Fire. This is a live recording with heady jams, not far removed from what Chris Forsyth is getting up to down in Philly with BASIC. Some might find the jamming a little long in the tooth, others might think it's more rough-and-ready than what, say, Goose is up to. But I think this one hits a sweet spot where they don’t overstay their welcome while still coming up with nice grooves.

Jules Reidy - Ghost/Spirit (Thrill Jockey)

This one straddles an interesting line between experimental and singer/songwriter, with songs that fragment like dry leaves in the autumn. It opens with “Every Day There’s a Sunset” a song that lurches between drones, acoustic guitar, and electronic percussion. It never quite gels into something solid, but instead feels like something you have to let wash over you. So let it. Get carried away by the glitches and bursts of sound and the sense of discovery here as Reidy goes into outer space. Key track: “Ghost”

HotWax - Hot Shock (Marathon Artists)

My fave debut record of 2025. It’s a simple formula: loud guitars, fuzzy bass, pounding drums, shouted vocals. But it’s loaded with enough energy to power SETI. “Strange To Be Here” stopped me dead in my tracks with its slick riot grrl vibes: the chugging drums, the roaring guitar, the layered vocals over the chorus. The record’s a little front loaded with three killer songs leading off, but overall I get the impression HotWax might be the most fun power trio to come out of England in a while. Key track: “Strange To Be Here”

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet - HausLive 4 (Hausu Mountain Records)

A live tape that puts you right in the middle of Orcutt’s guitar quartet running through a setlist that’s mostly drawn from Music for Four Guitars and has four tremendous musicians: Orcutt, Ava Mendoza, Shane Parish, and Wendy Eisenberg. This tape has that great sense of ambience that you get from the best audience recordings: a slight reverb opens the sound and makes it come alive, and the notes bang and echo off each other and the walls to create this almost baroque kind of music. It feels fresh and alive in a way that the 2022 studio version doesn’t. Key track: “In the Rain.”

Jasmine.4.t - You Are the Morning (Saddest Factory Records)

It opens with “Kitchen,” a nice acoustic number that lulls you in and then suddenly in “Skin on Skin,” she’s asking if you can feel her pulse in your cheek and the rhythm section kicks in and before you know it there’s crashing guitar and you wonder if this is even the same record. This duality is all over Jasmine.4.t’s latest, one that moves between folk-pop and indie rock. She deftly moves across genres and instrumentation, guiding listeners with a steady hand, on a record that feels intimate and personal. A strong debut record. Key track: “Elephant”

Yea Big, Drazek Fuscaldo, and Tatsu Aoki - Fishes (Island House)

One long piece divided into two tracks, this one circles and swells around itself and builds into a very cool space where the touches of percussion and horns play against each other in a way that reminds me of Art Ensemble of Chicago. I was torn if this one belonged on my jazz list, and maybe it did, but I think it’s a good enough record that I wanted it included here among like-minded experimental records.  

PainKiller - The Great God Pan (Tzadik)

Another one that’s two long pieces, the latest from John Zorn/Bill Laswell/Mick Harris shows them moving further into abstract, almost ambient zones. The layered synths and electronic sounds are given a wide sonic treatment that makes Zorn’s squealing sax sound like he’s blowing alone somewhere in a desert, or at least one of Laswell’s more dubbed-out ambient records. It’s hard to believe this is the same lineup that did such raw, punishing grindcore back in the day. But don’t mistake being mellow with being boring: this one grew on me after a few listens and I think it’s an interesting record that rewards close listening.

Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars (Matador)

It’s been a long time coming for Will Toledo and company, but with this they’ve delivered their best full length yet. A concept album about, well I dunno, growing up? Being a furry? I’m not sure. I don’t really care that much, either, when the music is this good and has the band pushing themselves as hard as they do on marathon tracks like “Reality” and “Planet Desperation".” Also shoutout to Cate Wurtz for the cover art - Wurtz’s comic Crow Cillers is one of the best out there.

Ezra Furman - Goodbye Small Head (Bella Union)

In her best record since Transangelic Exodus, Furman sings about losing control of the self and letting go. It’s a sharp set of songs and rocks like it’s nobody’s business. At times she’s stripped down, like on “Veil Song,” while at others she’s almost overwhelmed by music: in “Power of the Moon” she almost struggles to make herself heard over the music.  

Sorry Girls - Dreamwalker (Arbutus Records)

Lush, keyboard driven pop that draws as much from Stevie Nicks as it does Tennis and Caroline Polachek, Sorry Girls latest hit me like a splash of cold water in the summer heat: it caught me off guard but was refreshing, and it was easily one of my summer’s most played records. The production by Dylan Konrad Obront is packed with sonic detail, while Heather Foster Kirkpatrick’s singing carries songs like “Quiet Hands” and "Ricochet." Key track: “Falling Down Stairs”  

Shane Parish - Solo at Cafe OTO (Red Eft)

See my review at Dusted here .

Jamie Paige - Constant Companions (Bandcamp)

Paige kind of exploded this summer with the vocaloid-powered “Birdbrain,” a viral hit with a video where Kasane Teto dances, spins, and falls to the floor after taking a shot below the belt. But beneath the fun video was a track with a nice piano hook, a fun accordion solo, and Teto’s digital voice manipulated to a scream. The rest of the record is no slouch: Paige’s music is packed with hooks, from the glitch pop of “Cadmium Colors” to the hyperpop of “Machine Love.” There’s a lot here to enjoy for anyone who’s wearing out their Femtanyl and Girls Rituals records. Key track: “Birdbrain”

Men I Trust - Equus Caballus (Bandcamp)

Montreal’s best shoegazers dropped two records this year but this one gets the nod because it includes their best single to date: the moody, hazy guitar driven “Husk.” But there’s more than just that here. They strike gold when they mine 80s pop for hooks: between the hazy keyboards on “Come Back Down” and the early REM vibes of “Where I Sit,” they’re showing themselves as one of Canada’s best indie bands. Key track: “Husk”  

Samantha Fish - Paper Doll (Rounder)

An absolutely rockin 'blues/roots record where Fish shows herself coming into her own. It’s easy to say she’s the new Bonnie Raitt but this brings to mind Lowell George and Little Feat with the country fried grooves, touches of soul, and her quick, revved up slide riffs. The band behind her is cooking, too. One of the year’s more overlooked records. Key track: “Rusty Razor”

Reissues

Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus (Sacred Bones Records)

I used to know a guy who said he’d clear dance floors with “Goodbye Horses” at the end of his DJ shift. And maybe he was even telling the truth. But this year I think Q Lazzarus is finally getting her due. There’s a documentary I haven’t seen and a soundtrack I’ve spent a lot of time with. It takes stray tracks from all over - a “New Wave” version of “Goodbye Horses,” a version of “Heaven” that was in Philadelphia but not on the soundtrack, a cover of “Summertime” that mixes a Prince-esque drum track with roaring guitars and her voice reaching low and into the music. It also shows her range, with music ranging from New Wave to 80s R&B to 90s techno.  It’s all really good stuff and a more-than-overdue reevaluation of the late artist.

Frank Zappa - Cheeper Than Cheep (uME)

The soundtrack to a long-shelved and all but forgotten TV special from summer 1974, this one shows Zappa and the much loved 1974 band in full flight. George Duke’s playing is as on point as ever, Napoleon Murphy Brock’s singing and playing is full of humor and energy, and Zappa takes his first steps toward guitar heroics with nice solos on “Cosmik Debris” and “Inca Roads.” It won’t make you forget either A Token of His Extreme or the Roxy movie, but it compliments both nicely and fills in a gap nicely with a handful of songs that there weren’t played live much, if ever: “I Don’t Even Care,” “Apostrosphe,” and a couple of live improvisations.    

Akiko Yano - Tokyo Wa Yoru No Shichi-ji (WeWantSound)

Originally released in 1979, this live album finds Yano backed by a variable who's-who of city pop: Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Tatsuro Yamashita, among others. Think of it as a Japanese Back to the Bars: Yano in front of a small audience, working through her back catalog at a piano and a killer band. The opening medley of “GOD'S LOYAL LOVE - Tokyo Wa Yoru No Shichi-ji” sets the stage for Yano’s angular pop where her piano guides a crack band. It’s a short record and the language barrier might be a bit for some, but I think it’s a more than welcome addition to her North American catalogue and well worth tracking down. Key track: “Ike Yanagida”

The Arms of Someone New - Susan Sleepwalking (Projekt)

See my review at Dusted here.