PV Guide's favorite albums of the year

[Ed. note: There are some topics I can’t keep up with as consistently as others, so I thought I'd ask the people from whom I get recs on those topics. Please welcome PV Guide correspondent (and my brother) Matt Volk to talk about his favorite albums of the year! Matt is a DMV-based musician, writer, and educator currently working as a grant writer for Young Playwrights' Theater and drummer for jam band Scrawl. Follow him on Instagram and Bluesky for musings, music, and more.]

I don't know if it's a true pattern in the music or just what my ears are choosing to pick up on, but surrealism - both lyrical and structural - was a common theme pushing back on the global political shitshow that was 2025. Talented writers like billy woods, Moor Mother, Gareth Liddiard, and Cameron Winter explore the surreal and the abstract in their lyrics, but these ideas also permeate the structures of these songs compositionally and instrumentally. The unsteady rhythms of Patricia Brennan's “Antila”, Kassa Overall’s 7/8 interpretation of “Spottieottiedopaliscious,” William Tyler’s dripping ambient Americana, and SML’s self-sampling synth-jazz show the myriad ways these artists toy with convention and reality - pushing the boundaries of sound, genre, and structure.

I’m happy to share with you my 15 favorite albums of 2025: the things that stood out to me, that got me excited, and that I found myself coming back to again and again.

First, the honorable mentions (in no particular order):

Hip hop: Open Mike Eagle - Neighborhood Gods Unlimited, Little Simz - Lotus, McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive, billy woods - Golliwog, Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love

Rock/punk: Deerhoof - Noble and Godlike in Ruin, Cate le Bon - Michelangelo Dying, Modern Nature - The Heat Warps, Shame - Cutthroat, Viagra Boys - viagr aboys

Folk/Americana: Kassi Valazza - From Newman Street, Bonnie Prince Billy - The Purple Bird, Sam Amidon - Salt River, Cory Hanson - I Love People

Jazz/improvised music: Mary Halvorson - About Ghosts, Into / Out Of - Motion II, Ben LaMar Gay - yowzers, Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu Plays Mulatu, Trio of Bloom - S/T

Everything else: Los Thutanakas - S/T (Andean, Trance), Lucrecia Dalt - A Danger to Ourselves (Experimental, Electronica), Rosalía - Lux (Art Pop)

Now, my top 15 albums of 2025, with a choice track for each:

15. Fly Anakin - (The) Forever Dream

[Buy or listen on Bandcamp]

(The) Forever Dream is a remarkably generous album: both lyrically and structurally, this album is a testament to Fly Anakin’s drive to share it all and leave no friend behind. With playful skits, intricate lyricism, and excellent features from a who’s-who of both up-and-coming and established underground hip hop talent, this album is elevated further through its firm sense of community and kinship. The parts are great; the sum is even greater.

14. Florry - Sounds Like…

Florry is on a roll, and Sounds Like… is another great entry into this young band’s catalogue. It would be reasonable to think that, with their third album, the Philadelphia alt-country-rockers would polish up their sound – but I’m thrilled to report they are keeping it as raw and messy as ever. Jangling guitars collide with Francie Medosch’s joyful howls on an album that is exhilarating, raucous, and simply good fun.

13. William Tyler - Time Indefinite

William Tyler’s newest record is a meditative and thoughtful exploration of Americana (in every sense of the term), with ambient, psychedelic guitar interludes flitting in with found sound footage that ebbs and warbles. As a guitarist, Tyler shows tremendous restraint, and the guitar that does seep through is simple, contemplative, and vulnerable. It’s easy to get lost in this album, and its haunting cosmic soundscapes were a welcome companion to the challenging year.

12. Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette

Black Hole Superette is an intensely human album, full of slices of life from veteran rapper and producer Aesop Rock that are as relatable and engaging as they are exquisitely delivered. Whether he’s rapping about thousands of chimney swifts (“Bird School”), his aquarium’s snail infestation (“Snail Zero”), or a life-changing elementary school lecture (“John Something”), Aesop’s wordplay-fueled lyricism combined with surreal, reality-bending imagery captures the joy and wonder of these everyday stories and elevates them to something much bigger. 

11. Sumac and Moor Mother - The Film

An unexpected but welcome collaboration between avant-garde spoken word artist Moor Mother and post-metal supergroup Sumac, The Film is perhaps the most devastating album on this list. Crunchy, growling guitars drone under Moor Mother’s rhythmic utterances in an album that defies genre. These compositions hit, dissonant and shattered, a cathartic release of anger and a reminder that a better future is worth fighting for.

10. Kassa Overall - CREAM

With CREAM, Kassa Overall reminds us that the most important element of any jazz/hip hop fusion is that it has to be fucking cool. Kassa is that guy; a fantastic drummer and producer in his own right, CREAM is a collection of ambitious jazz covers of (mostly) hip hop songs that still manages to be fresh, explosive, and, above all, incredibly cool. Perhaps what makes this work best for me is that it is through-and-through a jazz album - with complex arrangements, incredible solos, and an energy that is often missing from other jazz musicians’ attempts to honor the hip hop space. 

9. Premrock - Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…?

A Wayne Shorter bar is a great way to catch my attention - for Premrock, this is the tip of the iceberg. Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…? is a layered album full of witty and provocative raps open to interpretation and reinterpretation. For Premrock himself, the titular phrase was originally posted as a mantra at his work desk: unsurprisingly, related themes of time, aging, creativity, joy, and existentialism seeped into the album he created. This album is a very strong solo effort from a rapper primarily known as one half of the duo ShrapKnel - although, considering Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…?’s long list of collaborators including billy woods, Pink Siifu, Cavalier, and E L U C I D, this one’s feeling like a communal win as well.

8. Makaya McCraven - Off The Record

Renowned jazz drummer Makaya McCraven makes “organic beat music” through a unique process where he records live improvisational sessions and heads back to his studio to heavily chop up, loop, and construct fully realized compositions out of the improvised jams. Not technically an album, Off The Record is instead a collection of 4 EPs sculpted from live sessions recorded between 2015-2025 and featuring four distinct musical collectives. McCraven is in fine form as ever, crafting intoxicating, looping jazz soundscapes that slowly morph and build as the improvisors interact. Organically made using acoustic sounds and analog synths, McCraven creates vibey, hip-hop-adjacent instrumental jazz music - the end product speaks to his virtuosity as a drummer, his incredible ear for groove, and the talented roster of young and established musicians that he works with to build these fantastic tunes.

7. Patricia Brennan - Of the Near and Far

Speaking of cool processes: The compositions here are inspired by pitch collections Brennan made by mapping stellar constellations over the circle of fifths, and you’ll find all but one of the tracks here named after its companion constellation. A percussionist with history in both classical and jazz settings, Patricia Brennan brings her impressive vibraphone chops together with a jazz septet that expertly fleshes out this otherworldly album. While the record sits firmly in the world of improvised music, Brennan openly draws influence from orchestral composers like Brahms, Debussy, and Stravinsky, contemporary figures like John Cage, and rock bands like Radiohead and Soundgarden to create this energetic and immersive work. 

6. SML - How You Been

SML weaves in and out of a variety of sounds, grooves, and flavors in this eclectic improvisational effort. While still firmly rooted in jazz, SML feel more like a conventional "band" than most other contemporary groups out there right now. Perhaps this is because, over their short time playing together, they have quickly locked into a vibey, loopey, electronic- improvisational sound rooted in sampling and synths that truly feels like something new. All accomplished (and young!) studio and session musicians in their own right, on How You Been they continue to hone in on this unique sound with skill, grace, and a winky playfulness. 

5. Tropical Fuck Storm - Fairyland Codex

Noisy, chaotic, and surreal, TFS return with a banger of an album. Ever political, Fairyland Codex continues TFS’s tradition of bluntly calling out the global rise of totalitarianism while adding a level of tenderness and vulnerability that recent releases have lacked. The album benefits greatly from Erica Dunn’s increased presence on the vocals – adding a welcome new layer to the group’s sound and a perfect contrast to Gareth Liddiard’s howls. And, importantly - it really rips. The band is as tight as they’ve ever sounded, with catchy bangers (“Teeth Marché”), ambitious ballads (“Fairyland Codex”) and everything in between.

4. Brandee Younger - Gadabout Season 

Perhaps the world’s busiest harpist, Brandee Younger can be found featured on a staggering number of jazz, hip hop, and neo-soul recordings - but she also has a prolific solo career. Her newest effort weaves together an entrancing collection of skillful, spiritual jazz soundscapes that make you wonder why we don’t hear more harps in the genre. Younger’s compositions position the instrument front and center, exploring its distinctive sound and rhythm to its fullest with tunes that give her expressive playing space to breathe. Younger is one of the most exciting voices in the contemporary scene, and Gadabout Season is another incredible entry in her catalog.

3. Armand Hammer, The Alchemist - Mercy

Mercy is the latest and most consistent offering from prolific underground hip hop duo Armand Hammer - legendary rappers billy woods and E L U C I D unite once again for their trademark brand of dark, dense, abstracted rhymes. This is an album that exists in a space between realities - woods and E L U C I D expertly navigate their free, poetic approach to lyricism over production by The Alchemist that manages to be dynamic without overly alienating, asserting its presence while leaving space for the words to breathe. Darkly humorous, pessimistic as ever, political, personal, and everything in between, Mercy is the perfect rap album for the shitshow that was 2025.

2. Geese - Getting Killed

Geese. As is often the case when a young band suddenly explodes on the scene, Geese's rapid rise to alternative-mainstream success (is that a thing? I'm rolling with it) has earned them tons of fans and tons of haters. As a result, they are this year's "will they won't they" of many critics’ best of lists - where an omission speaks just as loudly as an inclusion. 

Sorry for the meta-talk, but if you're at all involved in the music criticism world you've likely read tons of Geese takes already. And, if you've never heard of them, now that they're on your radar you'll probably start seeing references all over the place. So I'll keep the rest of this brief. 

Hell yes. Enthusiastically. Sometimes the hot new band really is that good, and I encourage you, dear reader, to join me in celebrating one of the rare times that happens. On Getting Killed, Geese follows up their breakthrough 2023 album 3D Country with music that is more ambitious, more experimental, and chases new sounds rather than relying on old faithful. Solid from front to back, Geese are at their most chaotic (“Trinidad,” “Long Island City Here I Come,”), their catchiest (“Islands of Men,” “Au Pays du Cocaine”) and their grooviest (“Getting Killed,” “Bow Down”) all at once. There’s a reason why everyone’s talking about Geese; come with me and join the flock. 

1. Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band - New Threats from the Soul

Oh boy, does this album have it all. Relentlessly catchy hooks, witty one liners, and some of the best songwriting I’ve ever heard come together to create a stellar folk/country/Americana experience with depth, humor, and wit. The opener (and title track) “New Threats from the Soul” sets the tone for the album - a 9-and-a-half minute folk song that shifts and morphs between delicious instrumental segments, contemplative verses, and irresistible vocal melodies. The probing, shifting nature of these songs is reflected by the lyrical content matter: largely introspective (as the title suggests), the album explores the existential, the internal, and our relationship with the environments and people around us. Often he laments on where it went wrong - whether the personal (“New Threats from the Soul,” “Better if You Make Me”) or the planetary (“Mutilation Springs,” “Mutilation Falls”) - and Davis spends much of his time exploring the themes of agency, change, and a search for meaning. These themes are most captivatingly expressed through darkly whimsical quips that straddle the line between the pragmatic and the idealist. 

Take this line from “New Threats from the Soul:" 

And I will never be (never be)
Anything (anything)
Other than a caged bird swinging from a chain swing, whistlin' for my payseed
Spinning like a carousel ride

Or, from “Mutilation Springs:”

Ain't a sunrise worth a day
Just the facts that hurt to say
Forsaken punks flip for police force work
And worse, they gift their Kinghorse shirts away

And, finally, from “Crass Shadows at Walden Pawn:”

They say it's something like a miracle
When Dionysus hits the urinal
Your life, my life
And all the lonely others
Anywhere near its whirl
When what's left of my wallet's gone
I'll be down there at Walden Pawn
Waiting on my assignment
From the spirit world

As philosophical as this all sounds (and is), I want to assure you – New Threats from the Soul is also just incredibly fun. Whether you’re looking to dance the horrors away, sing along to some of the most beautiful melodies of the year, laugh at some incredibly clever turns-of-phrase, or read along contemplatively with a sheet of lyrics and a glass of whiskey – this album will scratch any and all of those itches.