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Q's Compilations
Vol #165 – December
2025 to January 2026
With 2025 behind us, it’s time for the usual “best of” the year mix in January. Musically I’d say the year was solid overall with some obvious highs. Maybe a little less weird and definitely not as heavy as previous years. Maybe that just means I mostly stuck to my comfort zone… I’ve just looked at my notes for last year and it turns out I said very similar, maybe this is what mid-40s is really like.
01) Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band - New Threats From the Soul: Coming in hot with possibly my favourite album of the year, New Threats for the Soul came out in July and it just kept growing and growing on me with every listen. It’s an album that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, a folk/Americana record consisting of seven tracks across two vinyls with prog-rock-esque song lengths. I used Better If You Make Me on Q#163
02) The Beaches - Can I Call You in the Morning: There’ll probably be a few “this might be my favourite album of 2025”, to the point of annoyance, but No Hard Feelings, The Beaches’ third album, is pretty much all killer no killer and they seem to have perfected their sound that Blame My Ex introduced. I also used Last Girls at the Party on Q#162
03) Annie DiRusso – Legs: Perhaps the song of the year was Back In Town, which I used on Q#160. Annie’s debut record, Super Pedestrian, was released in March and I saw a very triumphant Webster Hall show in May.
04) Beach Bunny - Pixie Cut: Beach Bunny’s third album, Tunnel Vision, came out in April and BB might just be the best artist/band of the last 6 years. I also used Chasm on Q#161.
05) Freezing Cold - Half Static: It wouldn’t feel right for a best-of the year not to have any representation from Don Giovanni Records, though perhaps surprisingly Freezing Cold are the only DG band on this mix (it does feel like there’s a bit of a Screaming Females shaped hole in the roster right now). Treasure Pool was released in August and I used Backlight on Q#162.
06) Curtis Harding - True Love Can't Be Blind: Curtis Harding’s fourth record, Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt, came out in September and I used There She Goes on Q#162. The record is still growing on me and I was looking forward to seeing him live this month until the show was canceled. As always, this tune has a confident swagger to it that few can pull off.
07) Joyer - Tell Me: It would be wrong to call Joyer’s latest effort, On the Other End of the Line… an upbeat record, but they’ve upped the BPM slightly and some of the guitars have been brightened up. It’s one of those albums that you can sometimes forget about and when you come back to it you forget how much you enjoy it. This track closes the record and you can also hear Cure on Q#163.
08) The Dirty Nil - I Was a Henchman: Toronto power-trio The Dirty Nil never fail to deliver on catchy riffs and anthemic choruses. Their latest album, The Lash, doesn’t reinvent their very fine wheel, and neither should they try.
09) Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Stitches: Death Hilarious was released back in April and is the band’s fifth album. To me, they’re the best stoner rock band I know of at present.
10) Wipes - Good Luck in the Future: A great sludge record that came out this year was Wipes’ second album, Don’t Tell My Parents. It’s a real tour de force and maybe my favourite angry record of 2025, and there was a lot to be angry about. I also used Bleeding Bums on Q#162.
11) FACS - Ordinary Voices: Wish Defence was released in February and has the sad honour of being the last album that the legendary Steve Albini engineered before he died in May 2004. Naturally, the album sounds incredible, although it should be said that all FACS albums do. Brian Case’s guitar adds complex texture as always and the rhythm section of Noah Leger and Jonathan Van Herik are among the most satisfying around.
12) Squid - Building 650: Sometimes records that get released at the beginning of the year can be forgotten when it comes to these kind of exercises, Squid’s third album, Cowards, was released in February and to be honest, I did almost forget about it! Their debut, Bright Green Field, was a highlight of 2021 and whilst I enjoyed follow-up O Monolith, it didn’t quite stick, but Cowards is a return to form.
13) The Reds, Pinks & Purples - What's the Worst Thing You've Heard: It’s probably no surprise given the rate at which he releases songs, but this is the fifth year in a row that The Reds, Pinks & Purples have appeared on a “best of the year” mix. This song appears on The Past Is A Garden I Never Fed, that was released in July. I used I Only Ever Wanted To See You Fail on Q#163.
14) Blondshell – Thumbtack: I’d say the two records I just kept coming back to were Blondshell’s If You Asked for a Picture and Samia’s Bloodless. Two albums that, in all honesty, aren’t really aimed at me, but maybe that’s a testament to the strength of the songwriting.
15) Ryan Allen - Anxious All the Time: The most unabashed power-pop track on this mix, and perhaps the most unabashed power-pop record I enjoyed this year was Living On a Prayer On the Edge, made all the more impressive due to him playing every instrument on the record (save for one song featuring a Rhodes piano). I also used Lost in a Daze on Q#162.
16) Friendship - Tree of Heaven: Caveman Wakes Up is Friendship’s second album on Merge Records (but 5th in total). The record is intoxicating, it’s ragged and you sometimes wonder if singer Dan Wriggins is going to keep it together over the course of a song. It’s often bleak but the warts and all production offers moments of beauty as well.
17) Camp Trash - Cousin Zach (Born Lucky): After finishing the initial mix I had a couple of minutes leftover which left the door open for Camp Trash, who I’d only recently discovered (Signal Them In featured on previous mix Q#164).
18) They Are Gutting a Body of Water - baeside k: The last show of 2025 I had the privilege of seeing was TAGABOW at Bowery Ballroom in support of their latest album, Lotto, that came out in October (I used Trainers on Q#164).
19) The Beths - 'Til My Heart Stops: Straight Line Was a Lie saw The Beths become a little more low-key with their songwriting, I was enjoying the record but I took a much greater appreciation of it after seeing the band perform the songs live (I think they might have played every song).
20) Tunde Adebimpe - Somebody New: I’m not sure I’ve ever done this before, but while writing these notes I realised I have actually used this song before, on Q#161. That’s not a bad track record over the course of over 22 years, but it still feels like a bit of a failure on my part! Anyway, the TV On the Radio frontman released his debut solo album, Thee Black Boltz, on Sub Pop back in April.
21) Samia - North Poles: As I mentioned earlier, Bloodless was one of the records I played the most in 2025 alongside Blondshell. Previous record Honey introduced some pop sensibilities and while it wasn’t a bad record at all, this album seems to be a continuation but ultimately much stronger.
As
always, Peace and Love, and hopefully a happy 2026 to all - Q
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