2025: A Top 20

 

The blog is not being relaunched. This is not an official post. In fact, I've decided to take all previous posts offline as I don't like clinging on to the past. So like last year, this is purely a personal documenting of my favourite records of the year. Well, I've gone and stuck in some You Tube links to tracks as well, so it's a better post than last year, although to be fair, I started putting this together back in October when I was bored, and I've just picked away at it since.

Anyway, they're not in any particular order, except the top 2. I mean, the very fact the Cardiacs album exists at all, after 18 years in the making and the tragedies that befell it in the interim period, is an absolute miracle and should be celebrated for that alone. Thing is, it's also absolutely wonderful, a worthy and majestic tribute to its creator, the genius that was the late, great Tim Smith.

The Floodlights record was my fave of the year until 'LSD' was unleashed. I owe our friend SWC for the tip about this band. Not only have they made one of the finest records of the 2020s, they also completely blew MrsRobster and I away when we saw them live this year. We are agreed that was our gig of the year. For the record, SWC must also take credit for his introduction of Golomb to my life. One day, I will buy him all the pints I owe him and watch him get incredibly drunk and fall over.

Obviously I've highlighted the Welsh acts in the list. I might offer to do another Welsh Wednesday mini-series for JC over the next 12 months, but we'll see.

CARDIACS 'LSD'
FLOODLIGHTS 'Underneath'
SCROUNGE 'Almost Like You Could' (Mrs Robster's fave album of 2025)
THE BUG CLUB 'Very Human Features'
CATE LE BON 'Michaelangelo Dying'
JEHNNY BETH 'You Heartbreaker, You'
GOLOMB 'The Beat Goes On'
YOUNG KNIVES 'Landfill'
MELIN MELYN 'Mill On The Hill'
THE WOMBATS 'Oh! The Ocean'

HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT 'All Asimov And No Fresh Air'
MCLUSKY 'The World Is Still Here And So Are We'
PANIC SHACK 'Panic Shack' (we're in this video somewhere...)
BIG SPECIAL 'National Average'
DIVORCE 'Drive To Goldenhammer'
THE MINUS 5 'Oar On, Penelope!'
MÚM History Of Silence (this is just gorgeous...)
DAS KOOLIES 'Pando'
SORRY 'Cosplay'
THE MURDER CAPITAL 'Blindness'

In other news, 2025 saw me attend the most gigs in a single year since I started gigging back in 1988! Well, according to my records anyway. In 1992, I went to 16 gigs, and that was the most until 2025 when I attended 17.  Now, I should point out - festivals count as ONE gig. There might well be a few shows I've completely forgotten about during my hedonistic period of the early-to-mid 90s. And I don't count all the gigs by local bands I saw in back rooms of pubs during those days either. So caveats considered, it's been a record-breaking year. My full list of gigs from 1988 to 2025 (and beyond) is still up here.

Phew! 

This feels like a proper post. That's not intentional.  So, I'll be off and I'll see you somewhere sometime next year I suppose...