Album of the year

Morgan Szymanski and Tommy Perman: Songs for the Mist Forest

Songs for the Mist Forest was the unanimous choice as The Chill Out Tent’s album of the year – and it’s mine too. It was a bit of a surprise that it was such a hit among the Balearic fraternity but they all love a Spanish guitar so maybe it shouldn’t be.

Artist and Blackford Hill label owner Tommy Perman’s last LP with guitarist Morgan Szymanski Music for the Moon and the Trees was a slept-on classic. The pair took to the woods to fuse Perman’s quirky organic beats with Szymanski’s classical guitar. The result is an album that seems firmly rooted in those woods but also kinda global in nature, sometimes recalling the simple beauty of Toumani Diabate and Ali Farka Toure, sometimes bringing echoes of flamenco.

Songs for the Forest, which followed the equally stunning Ash Grey and the Gull Glides On Perman recorded with Andrew Wasylyk, was inspired by Szymanski’s ranch in the mist forests of Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The music evolved from a soundtrack the pair produced for a documentary about the ecological crisis in the forest. It’s a beautiful record of mourning and celebration for a unique habitat. Again, the beats, electronics and guitar dance in perfect harmony with the Mexican influence broadly apparent throughout. Magical.

Because it seems I still like indie dance 

James K: Friend

Or indietronica as it seems to be called nowadays. James K’s album was a revelation. It melded the most innovative techniques from the worlds of pop, rock and dance. You can hear hints of the best producers of the last 30 years, with the likes of Timbaland (pop), MBV (rock) and any number of junglists having an influence on Jamie Krasner’s sublime stew.

Krasner says she still writes with guitar and then turns it electronic, which makes sense. The New Yorker spent some time in Rhode Island’s noise bands and the freak folk scene before meeting Galcher Lustwerk and starting to hone her electronic production skills. She also spent some time in Berlin and is buddies with Naemi, whose Dust Devil album from last year feels like a rougher round the edges preview of Friend.

All these influences bleed into Friend, which above all else is just a sparkling selection of pop songs using shoegaze, trip hop, ambient and drum n bass production techniques. Gorgeous.

Acopia – Blush Response 

Like James K, Australian band Acopia write great pop songs melded with a shoegaze vibe. You can hear echoes of the Cocteau Twins and The Cure here but most of all, it’s just great indie pop with an electronic music sensibility. There are some great bands and a real scene freshening and cross-fertilising ideas across this indie dance spectrum. James K has mentioned working with Moin, for example, which released another good album this year, albeit I didn’t love it as much as last year’s You Never End. In turn, Moin drummer Valentina Magaletti seems to be forging alliances with a whole street of interesting collaborators.

Water From Your Eyes: It’s a beautiful place

From the rocky end of the nu-shoegaze continuum. Like a playful MBV. The rockiest album I have communed with for years. 

Some beautiful ambient records

 Leon Todd Johnson: wa kei sei jaku

The following records give a fairly good summary of the state of ambient in 2025, ranging from this lovely slice of Japanese-inspired neoclassical beauty…. 

Ambre Ciel: Still there is the sea  

….to this Julee Cruise-a-like late night jazz record…

Laurie Torres: Après coup

….to these beautiful piano jazz vignettes…

Wilson Tanner: Legends

….to Wilson Tanner’s backyard organic blues… see also R&D…

Sontag Shogun x Lau Nau: Päiväkahvit 

… to Nordic firesongs… 

Cerys Hafana: Angel

…which are closely related to Cerys Hafana’s grogeous avant-folk, jazz, electronic Celtic harp mysticism…

Horizontals: Wild Light  

…and then you have the Balearic Album of the Year from Leo Zero, which is a delicately-produced sunset record of pure bliss…

Voices from the Lake: II 

…and finally the sublime ambient dub techno of Donato Dozzy and Neel – nobody does trippy electronic techno trance better.

The not really reggae but kinda section

Kwashibu Area Band: Love Warrior’s Anthem

Founded in Accra, Ghana, in 2014, Kwashibu Area Band are supposedly dedicated to both preserving and innovating Ghanaian highlife but for me this is an African take on dub reggae. Fans of Khruangbin should love this.

African Head Charge, Adrian Sherwood and Speakers Corner Quartet: Barbican Heights

Adrian Sherwood’s LP didn’t quite gel with me but African Head Charge have been on a roll for the past few records. Speakers Corner Quartet bring some jazz into the grooves, which are gently entrancing throughout this EP. More please. 

Om Unit: Acid Dub Versions III

Chris and I went to see Om Unit do his acid dub thing live at the Jazz Cafe and it’s a great show. On record, none of his albums has stuck in quite the same way as Recondite’s incredible On Acid did back in 2012 – a record that continues to endure and enchant. But these versions from a bunch of friends and collaborators bring out the best in Om Unit’s sound – sometimes driving and funky, always trippy. A collective triumph. 

Cos it turns out I still like hiphop…kinda

Makaya McCraven: Off the Record

Most of the hiphop I listened to this year came following the death of D’Angelo and a deep dive into his work and that of his Soulquarian allies – from Mos Def to The Roots, Bilal, Common and Erykah Badu. While we are waiting for Ms Badu’s joint venture with The Alchemist to appear, I’d argue that Makaya McCraven is keeping the Soulquarian flame alive. His live jazz remixed into hiphop is inspired by Questlove, D’Angelo and J Dilla’s innovations and imbued with a life in jazz. Cool, funky, heady grooves.

De La Soul: Cabin in the Sky

I have grown to love De La Soul more and more over the past few years. We saw De La at Chalk in Brighton on the group’s last tour before the death of Dave Jolicoeur/Trugoy the Dove/Plug Two. It was such a heartwarming and joyful tour de force with guest appearances from Mos Def, particularly, and Black Sheep’s Dres giving the show a lap of honour feeling. It was a bloody great party.

Their last album And The Anonymous Nobody… pulled on the heartstrings coming, as it did, after a long and fractious gap between records. But with a string of collaborators such as David Byrne, Damon Albarn and Justin Hawkins, it was perhaps a bit too pop for some purists. Cabin in the Sky retains the pop sensibility but is more of a hiphop mixtape, punching even deeper into the heart/gut as a tribute to Dave and featuring (presumably) some of his last raps.   

A mix CD but not really

Call Super: A Rhythm Protects One 

Superb mix CD in the style of Plastikman or Ricardo Villalobos, where all the tracks are pseudonyms of JR Seaton. Intricate production abounds. Thrilling.

Reissue of the Year

Virgo: Landform Code

Japanese electronic music producer Virgo’s debut album, Landform Code, a forgotten underground classic from 1998, is a beautiful hypnotic delight. Timeless.

Remix of the Year

The Cure: And nothing is forever (Cosmodelica Electrick Eden Remix)

Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy’s set at We Are Love was something of a revelation for me (although not for many others). She didn’t play this, sticking mainly to disco-house bangers and closing the festival with an edit of Style Council’s ‘Shout it to the Top’. For me, this was the only remix that truly stood alone on The Cure’s epic remix project of their last LP. It’s just lovely and the perfect place to end this review.