Dustsucker’s 100 Best Albums of 2025 - Part I: 76-100

First post in the big year-end list, gathering all the releases that made the strongest impression on me throughout the year. We'll begin from numbers 76–100.

76. Cootie Catcher - Shy at First (Cooked Raw, CA)

Genre: Indietronica / Slacker Rock / Indie Pop

Rating: ***½

This is so much fun! Are there still acts out there making indietronica? What a nice surprise… so much positivity, enthusiasm, creative inventiveness and pure pop euphoria on this album…

77. Anund Roheim - Vårlengt: Norwegian-American Hardanger Fiddle Master Ca. 1945-68 (Canary, NO)

Genre: Norwegian Folk Music

Rating: ***½

Another Canary Records release. Traditional Hardanger fiddle playing is simply some of the most beautiful music there is, and this is an exemplary archival recording.

78. Benedicte Maurseth - Mirra (Hübro, NO)

Genre: Free Folk / Post-Minimalism / Ambient

Rating: ***½

We’re staying in Norway for a bit, with a modern interpreter of Hardanger fiddle playing. In many ways, it’s a classic Hubro release - with its delicate, airy, crystal-clear, and finely textured fusion of ECM-like jazz, Norwegian folk music, and modern classical, which I love - but there seems to be a bit more at play here (some of Hubro’s recent releases, excellent as they are, have started to feel a bit samey). Recommended.

79. Kitchen - Blue Heeler in Ugly Snowlight, Grey on Gray on Gray on White (self-released, US)

Genre: Slowcore / Folk

Rating: ***½

I consider Kitchen one of the best and most important songwriters working today - an heir to the late great Molina, or to Sun Kil Moon (now that so many of us no longer feel quite comfortable listening to Kozelek). This isn’t Kitchen’s strongest release from start to finish, but there are some utterly breathtaking tracks among them…

80. Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko - Гільдеґарда [Hildergard] (Unsound, UA)

Genre: Avant-Folk / Drone

Rating: ***½

Ukrainian folk singing and modular synthesizer interpretations of Hildegard von Bingen’s compositions. As beautiful as it sounds.

81. David Michael Moore - Umburkus Returns (ULYSSA, US)

Genre: Avant-Folk / Experimental Americana

Rating: ***½

A truly unique release featuring avant-blues compositions on home-made instruments.

82. Steve Hauschildt - Aeropsia (Simul, GE/US)

Genre: Ambient / Progressive Electronic / Space Ambient

Rating: ***½

Hauschildt returns with some of his best material in years.

83. Prism Shores - Out from Underneath (Meritorio, CA)

Genre: Indie Pop / Jangle Rock

Rating: ***½

A very solid and fun Canadian jangle rock release on the great Madrid-based indie label Meritorio.

84. The Mary Column - Very Sparrow (Errol’s Hot Wax, SCT)

Genre: Indie Pop / Jangle Rock

Rating: ***½

Another of the year’s best indie pop / jangle rock releases - this one from a Glasgow-based group.

85. Huremic - Seeking Darkness (self-released, KR)

Genre: Post-Rock / Experimental Rock / Noise-Rock

Rating: ***½

A bit frustrated with this one. It contains moments of the absolute highest quality you’ll find anywhere in 2025 - but then there are also so many choices I simply can’t understand were made. Much the same way I feel about this artist’s other, more well-known project, Parannoul - as well as many other releases from that same scene, like Asian Glow...

86. Snapped Ankles - Hard Times Furious Dancing (The Leaf Label, UK)

Genre: Dance-Punk / Synth Punk

Rating: ***½

Some of the most danceable music I’ve heard in a long time. It somehow reminds me of the best indie dance of the 2000s - early !!!, Out Hud, and so on - with a dash of Felix Kubin and The Fall.

87. Maria Somervile - Luster (4AD)

Genre: Dream Pop / Slowcore

Rating: ***½

The whole record is very lovely and there are a couple of really strong tracks on here.

88. Denevér - Economía Doméstica (Abraxas Audio, CL/HU)

Genre: Post-Punk

Rating: ***½

Also a couple of really strong tracks on this one.

89. Blue Lake - The Animal (Tonal Union, US/DK)

Genre: Ambient Americana / Chamber Folk

Rating: ***½

This album doesn’t seem to have received quite as much attention as Blue Lake’s previous release, but I actually think it’s even better. Excellent chamber-folk / ambient Americana with elements of jazz, modern classical, and more.

90. Ganavya - Nilam (LEITER, US)

Genre: Hindustani Classical Music / New Age / Spiritual Jazz

Rating: ***½

Ganavya is a new discovery I value immensely. Probably should have been higher on the list.

91. Surgeon - Shell Wave (Tresor, UK)

Genre: Birmingham Sound / Acid Techno

Rating: ***½

This is techno. Capital T Techno.

92. Marianne Faithfull - Burning Moonlight (Decca, UK)

Genre: Singer-Songwriter / Folk

Rating: ***½

R.I.P. the late great Marianne Faithfull. This was the last thing the legendary singer managed to record, and it’s a lovely little handful of songs.

93. Oklou - Choke Enough (True Panther, FR)

Genre: Alt-Pop / Alternative RnB / Ambient Pop

Rating: ***½

This one will surely appear on many year-end lists and will likely stand, for years to come, as one of the most culturally significant albums of 2025. I’m only half convinced myself, though.

94. Kory Reeder & Apartment House - Homestead (Another Timbre, US/UK)

Genre: Reductionism / Contemporary Classical

Rating: ***½

Apartment House is a British classical ensemble I hold in very high regard, and they release many albums on Another Timbre, one of my favourite labels within modern classical music. Kory Reeder is an American composer I wasn’t familiar with before this release.

95. Eterna - Debunker (section1, ES)

Genre: Slacker Rock / Dream Pop

Rating: ***½

Interestingly contemporary-sounding slacker rock / dream pop from Barcelona. Discovered on Nina Protocol during the brief period I was using the platform (the platform received quite a bit of well-founded criticism in the beginning, I’m not entirely sure what the status is now, whether it would make sense to return).

96. Weed420 - amor de encava (self-released, VE)

Genre: Epic Collage / Latin Electronic / Plunderphonics

Rating: ***½

This is mastered insanely loud, if it’s even mastered at all. A crazy listening experience. Rating may go up.

97. Niko Demus - Cruise Control (BELOW0)

Ambient trance is a big thing these days, and I’m totally here for it.

Genre: Ambient Trance

Rating: ***½

98. Iva Peralta - Madrona (Yearning, US)

Genre: Ambient Trance

Rating: ***½

Another great ambient trance release from this year.

99. Mary K - Beach J + Drift Y (Textur, DK)

Genre: Progressive Trance / IDM / Deconstructed Club

Rating: ***½

A brilliant (and shamefully overlooked) Danish electronic musician whom I first discovered during my time at the conservatory. We talked about releasing something by Mary K on PCC, but for various reasons (= life) it never happened. I’m incredibly happy to see this release out in the world now and that the quality has remained so high. Can’t wait to hear more.

100. Sunken - Lykke (Eisenwald, DK)

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal / Blackgaze / Post-Metal

Rating: ***½

I’m unfortunately not the biggest metal fan, and my knowledge in that area is pretty limited. But if there’s one corner of the genre I am fairly tuned into - and can genuinely appreciate, like most indie rock heads, ha ha - it’s the various strains of atmospheric and/or depressive black metal. And Sunken are among the very best in that realm.

Thanks so much for reading part I - the descriptions for each album aren’t the longest, but feel free to check out my earlier blog posts for some deeper reflections on most of the releases included here - and stay tuned for part II, which is coming soon!

Best,

Nikolaj