ktravis · ktravis · Dec 24, 2025 · Dec 24, 2025 · Dec 24, 2025 · Dec 24, 2025
diff --git a/src/blog/top-albums-2025.md b/src/blog/top-albums-2025.md
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+---
+name: My Top Albums of 2025
+slug: top-albums-2025
+labels:
+- music
+- lists
+- 2025
+previewLines: 2
+---
+
+2025 has been another banner year for music, at least if you have my particular taste (and if so, we should be friends probably). I don't really go for ranking art, but I felt like sharing my highlights, or some of the ones that brought me the most joy. To keep things contained, this list doesn't include things I only *discovered* in 2025 that were actually released in prior years.
+
+*Note: I tried to link to Bandcamp wherever possible, but some of these albums aren't available there sadly.*
+
+# The Rules
+- The list is in an arbitrarily chosen order.
+- I'm only including *albums*. The **single Single of 2025** is [*outta sight, outta mind*](https://yvetteyoung.bandcamp.com/track/outta-sight-outta-mind) by Yvette Young
+- No re-releases or deluxe editions of albums first released in other years.
+- Deluxe editions of albums that first came out earlier this year are fine.
+- If something isn't listed here, it doesn't mean I didn't really like it. I probably just forgot.
+- It's not that serious, don't worry about it.
+
+# The List
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![choke enough album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2662516338_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*choke enough*](https://oklou.bandcamp.com/album/choke-enough) by Oklou
+
+I would challenge anyone not to find something unique and compelling here, and if your immediate reaction is "oh no, computer music" first of all how dare you - but second check out Oklou's NPR Tiny Desk concert, with some really creative acoustic/analog arrangements:
+
+<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jg9uwVvOy0E?si=V_wCn3qnTe0HWsYW" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+
+**Favorite track** has to be *blade bird*, it burrows in my brain for days at a time.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![cut. turn. fade. back. album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2110622995_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*cut. turn. fade. back.*](https://hailthesun.bandcamp.com/album/cut-turn-fade-back) by Hail The Sun
+
+[*Divine Inner Tension*](https://hailthesun.bandcamp.com/album/divine-inner-tension) was easily in my top 5 of 2023 and brought me back to Hail The Sun after years. I didn't expect their next release to be even better somehow? Lyrics that don't hold back or mince words in their condemnation of evil are what we need right now. Thank you for the reminder that tolerance is not the answer to those who hurt and exploit others.
+
+[*Don’t say that you’re only policing virtue / I see the faces of children torn apart from afar*](https://hailthesun.bandcamp.com/track/war-crimes)
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![Evangelic Girl is a Gun](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2799602248_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Evangelic Girl is a Gun*](https://yeule.bandcamp.com/album/evangelic-girl-is-a-gun) by yeule
+
+"yeule, the cyborg alchemist coalescing the soundscapes of glitch-pop electronica, alt rock, and trip-hop". I can't even pick a favorite song here, between the driving pace of the title track, the poppy build and release of *Eko*, to the sweet melancholy of *Dudu*.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![See You In Heaven album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0707581493_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*See You In Heaven*](https://softcult.bandcamp.com/album/see-you-in-heaven) by Softcult
+
+Ok so listen, this is technically an LP re-release of two EPs that came out in 2023 & 2024 - is that against the rules? Probably, but I'm including it anyway so that I can mention *Spoiled* which has been literally on repeat for me, writing this sentence I have to put it on again. 
+
+*I'm water, I'm oil, I'm rotten, I'm spoiled*
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![K-Pop Demon Hunters Soundtrack album art](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/04/KPop_Demon_Hunters_%28soundtrack%29.jpg/250px-KPop_Demon_Hunters_%28soundtrack%29.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*K-Pop Demon Hunters Soundtrack*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mvB1b-5JvguorHZ7EsoKx3jYDq4VDvt04) by... various artists 
+
+The movie slaps and the soundtrack is basically unassailable. Don't @ me (does anyone still say that?)
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![2000: In Search Of The Endless Sky album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1169169067_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*2000: In Search Of The Endless Sky*](https://fleshwater.bandcamp.com/album/2000-in-search-of-the-endless-sky) by Fleshwater  
+
+I stumbled onto this during a grunge/noise/shoegaze arc that I'm still riding. I can't describe the feeling that *Last Escape* evokes, but it's perfect to me.
+
+*is there somewhere else you would rather be but home?*
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![Vaxis - Act III album art](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/The_album_art_of_Coheed_and_Cambria%27s_2025_album_Vaxis_Act_III%2C_The_Father_of_Make_Believe.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make Believe (New Entities Edition)*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kn6U1AqiBglyYzNbOt2wEqNikOITkT2ss) by Coheed and Cambria  
+
+This didn't initially hit me as hard as 2022's [*Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mv2ulNXLwW--0lUT8Iw57XjmlSp55UVSs), but it has definitely grown on me - especially with the added *New Entities* tracks. Coheed and Cambria have been one of my favorite bands for well over a decade and I'm happy to see them continuing to evolve creatively.
+
+Speaking of not mincing words:
+
+<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M4T6fGUB190?si=sH559p_ZjjLsgWBf" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![Ghostholding album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2137255050_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Ghostholding*](https://janeremover.bandcamp.com/album/ghostholding) by venturing
+
+Side project of Jane Remover who also released [*Revengeseekerz*](https://janeremover.bandcamp.com/album/revengeseekerz) this year which probably deserves its own place on this list, I truly don't understand the prolific pace they've achieved here. Hearing *Revengeseekerz* first I was a little sad there wasn't more of what I loved from 2023's [*Census Designated*](https://janeremover.bandcamp.com/album/census-designated), little did I know there was a whole album building off of it in new ways.
+
+I've also just noticed that [a riff in *Sick / relapse*](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FWrEf1HBRWg&si=5fOr82Ky0-72IpPN&t=230) that alludes to [*search party*](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cMkYZ49n5Gw&si=1v0YzMRBtSxt8sCh&t=180) on [*Frailty*](https://janeremover.bandcamp.com/album/frailty-2) (2021), I love a callback.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![Willoughby Tucker album art](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/57/Willoughby_Tucker%2C_I%27ll_Always_Love_You_-_Ethel_Cain.png/250px-Willoughby_Tucker%2C_I%27ll_Always_Love_You_-_Ethel_Cain.png)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lF1BNLNE7NVB4RVZQDeaVkwPfvo4gCwKY) by Ethel Cain
+
+[*Golden Age*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lg-9A1ssmgpujQ7w6aNNXu6oTnQSWsjDY) (2019) and [*Preacher's Daughter*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nphgAlwBM2iLRJc7PPqhXfvA47wZidpvM) (2022) were already haunting me and *Willoughby Tucker* continues the trend. I'm a sucker for:
+
+- concept albums
+- long, droning tracks
+- lyrics that hit like a truck
+
+so this was an obvious hit.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="list-item">
+
+![Dreams of Being Dust album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3750009892_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Dreams of Being Dust*](https://theworldis.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-of-being-dust) by The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die
+
+**TWIABP&IANLATD** had what was easily my AOTY 2021 with [*Illusory Walls*](https://theworldis.bandcamp.com/album/illusory-walls), and now brings renewed rage. What happened to my emos?! Every song is (relatively, by comparison) short, energetic, and to the point - the album is almost unrelenting and I get it, I'm here for it. While *Illusory Walls* was naturally bleak, it ends with a 20-minute march toward (maybe?) a glimpse of hopefulness, for me one of the most emotionally moving tracks in recent memory. No such relief here - *"on a planet without trust / we have only ever been / bugs that can think"*.
+
+I'm starting to see a bit of a pattern in this list... what a year.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+---
+
+# Others that could have been on the list
+
+<div class="mini-list-item">
+
+![Violet album cover](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1366969534_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Violet*](https://lsdunes.bandcamp.com/album/violet) by L.S. Dunes
+
+L.S. Dunes' 2022 debut [*Past Lives*](https://lsdunes.bandcamp.com/album/past-lives) was a major winner for me, but I spent less time with *Violet* for no discernible reason - looking forward to revisiting.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="mini-list-item">
+
+![On Being album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3994509303_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*On Being*](https://maxcooper.bandcamp.com/album/on-being) by Max Cooper
+
+This is really solid and varied in a lot of ways I really enjoyed multiple times.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="mini-list-item">
+
+![Sofa So Good album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1610756527_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*Sofa So Good*](https://totorro.bandcamp.com/album/sofa-so-good) by Totorro
+
+I'm expecting to like this very much given their discography, but I haven't been able to give it the proper time.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="mini-list-item">
+
+![conditions of an orphan// deluxe edition album art](https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b2731411e356ee434a1f5bd15430)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [*conditions of an orphan// deluxe edition*](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nmf9yHqfi9XGH937VWL1kg_qv__npCSec) by KennyHoopla
+
+I've had some KennyHoopla EPs on repeat for the past couple of years - this came out pretty recently and hasn't had enough room to germinate yet.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="mini-list-item">
+
+![Tranquilizer album art](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0188445141_16.jpg)
+
+<div class="wrapper">
+
+## [Tranquilizer](https://oneohtrixpointnever.bandcamp.com/album/tranquilizer) by Oneohtrix Point Never
+
+Another recent release that has only gotten a single playthrough so far. That was enough to know it would be a mistake to leave out.
+
+</div>
+</div>
+
+---
+
+## *Thanks for reading?*
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