The Beatles’ Anthology 4 has not been met with the same rapturous praise that their recent expanded albums have received. Nonetheless, there are some delights to be found on the newest anthology addition that stretches from the band’s earliest recording days right up to 2022. A few highlights include “I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)”, “All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal For BBC Broadcast)”, and “Baby, You’re a Rich Man (Takes 11 & 12)”. Perhaps a bit inessential for some but it would take more than two hands to count highlights from the 2 disc set.
The two main songwriters from British Britpop/Shoegazers Lush have released very good albums in the past few years. Emma Anderson’s Pearlies + the Piroshka albums that Miki Berenyi has released. Early in 2025, Miki released Tripla under the Miki Berenyi Trio moniker. Excellent songs include “8th Deadly Sins” and the dreamy “Ubique”. These next generation of releases by the Lush ladies have been a joy.
The much acclaimed Big Thief has been one that I’ve struggled to get into. I appreciate them more than really enjoyed their albums. That changed with last year’s solo album from singer Adrienne Lenker and continued with the band’s latest release, Double Infinity. Finally, their music clicked on an album that many others loved as well. All this time it’s been me with the issue, not you.
While others have long since listened, I’m still working my way through the David Bowie box sets that have been released over the years. The boxes that collect all the official releases and group by certain eras has been a bit of a mixed bag at times but finally reaching his Berlin Years on the brilliant A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) released in 2017 was a glorious listen. It’s been one where each new album listen made me excited for the next to hear the next one. A highwater mark in the legend’s career, this will be a set returned to again and again.
I ordered Kim Deal’s 2024 album from a local record store with normally fast shipping times but this one seemed to take ages, to the point of thinking I already had it in the collection when the call came that it had arrived. It took a minute to finally have in my hands but the impression of the album was immediate, Nobody Loves You More could have been released some time in the 90s and would not sound out of place with the great records from that period. Several decades later, Deal sounds as relevant as ever as she sings, “coming around is easy/coming down is rough”.
The world has genuinely been a scary place at times this year. War, bombs, rampant racism/antisemitism, random violence, drug abuse, homelessness, etc. I don’t make it out to as many local band shows as I used to but did attend the Death Cassette show at Winnipeg’s fantastic Blue Note Park venue. The punk rock energy was a cathartic release from all of the world’s turmoil. The beers were cold and the energy was electric. Punk rock lives, the kids are alright.
When walking through the hallways of high school in the late 80s/early 90s, sounds from the golden age of hip hop was regularly being blasted. Some albums I was fully onboard with and others passed me by. One of those albums that got away from me was the classic 3 Feet High and Rising from Long Island, New York’s De La Soul. Famously the disc has not been re-released in years due to original record label Tommy Boy not bothering to get clearances for the sample heavy tracks. That changed in 2023 when it finally saw the light of day again, in slightly altered form. Well worth the wait to finally hear daisy chain era tracks like “The Magic Number” and top 40 hit “Me Myself and I”, among the many.
I heard about the new Geese album when it released and knew it was getting some great reviews. I made the mistake of listening to the Sound Opinion podcast guys who completely trashed the experimental album. So it sat in my playlist for ages before finally getting back around to it months later. The podcast guys got it all wrong – Getting Killed was a helluva album that was chaotic at times but also had the melodies and tunes to back it up. My pick as album of the year – this one is a classic.
The last I had heard about Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires was from the excellent 2023 documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed. I hadn’t heard about their relationship since then and was sad to hear that they have gone their separate ways. Isbell’s newest album, Foxes in the Snow talks a lot about old and new relationships. Working with engineer/producer Gena Johnson, he put out the album that is heavy on acoustic guitar and personal matters. When he played the Winnipeg Folk Festival in July of this year, the acoustic guitar was put to the side several times so he could riff heavily with his band The 400 Unit. One of the great concert moments of the year.
For those of us that hit the drinking age in the 90s, 2025 was a big year for nostalgia. Suede released a terrific album as did their former tour partners, Manic Streat Preachers. It was their album, Critical Thinking that caught my attention. Never short on ear catching songs, “People Ruin Paintings”, “Brushstrokes Of A Reunion”, and “Decline and Fall” all held up through the year.
The Light Appears 