Part one of this End-of-Year Mixtape Series can be heard here. In the playlist below, you can find album review links, so feel free to take some time out to read why we thought this music was so special. All of the tracks in this playlist feature in our 2025 Albums of the Year list. There’s a broad mix of genres from folk and jazz to experimental and ambient.
It includes music from Alex Rex, Jim Ghedi, Blue Lake, David Allred, Alabaster DePlume, Ben LaMar Gay, claire rousay, Erlend Apneseth Trio/BLACK HAUGE, SML, Fuubutsushi, Jim White, Annie A / Maxine Funke, Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes, Fletcher Tucker, Glenn Kimpton, Bridget Hayden and The Apparitions, Chris Brain, Buck Curran, Greg Jamie, Cameron Knowler, Cerys Hafana, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer, JJJJJerome Ellis, Clara Mann, Dylan Golden Aycock, Daniel Bachman, David Grubbs, Eiko Ishibashi & Jim O’Rourke, Emily A. Sprague, Eli Winter, and Setting.
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Show Playlist
- Alex Rex – Boss Morris (The National Trust)
- Jim Ghedi – Wasteland (Wasteland)
- Blue Lake – Weft (Weft)
- David Allred – Stray (The Beautiful World)
- Alabaster DePlume – Invincibility (A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole)
- Ben LaMar Gay – yowzers (yowzers)
- claire rousay – just (feat. m sage) (a little death)
- Erlend Apneseth Trio – BLACK HAUGE – Draumen (Black Hauge)
- SML – Chicago Four (How You Been)
- Fuubutsushi – Loop Trail (Columbia Deluxe)
- Jim White – Inner Day (Inner Day)
- Annie A / Maxine Funke – Nasturtium Runners (Read by the Rain) (The Wind That Had Not Touched Land)
- Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson , Sam Wilkes – Marvis (Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes)
- Fletcher Tucker – A Candle (Kin)
- Glenn Kimpton – Basic Lament (Small Show)
- Bridget Hayden and The Apparitions – Lovely on the Water (Cold Blows the Rain)
- Chris Brain – Sun Did Glide (New Light)
- Buck Curran – Unicorn Song (Far Driven Sun)
- Greg Jamie – Beautiful Place (Across a Violet Pasture)
- Cameron Knowler – Felicity (CRK)
- Cerys Hafana – Helynt Ryfeddol (Angel)
- Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Mean Solar Time (Different Rooms)
- JJJJJerome Ellis – Evensong, Part 1 (for and after June Kramer) (Vesper Sparrow)
- Clara Mann – Stadiums (Rift)
- Dylan Golden Aycock – No Spring Chicken (No New Summers)
- Daniel Bachman – The sun (bending through the glass) (Moving Through Light)
- David Grubbs – The Snake on Its Tail (Whistle from Above)
- Eiko Ishibashi & Jim O’Rourke – Par (Pareidolia)
- Emily A. Sprague – Tokyo 1 (Cloud Time)
- Eli Winter – For a Fallen Rocket (A Trick of the Light)
- Setting – III (at Public Records)