That Was The Year That Was

Greetings friends! Though I’ve once again neglected this Substack for the better part of a calendar year, I maintain it with the hopes that - in some not too distant future - both Avalon and my daughter will will have matured to an age at which I am once again allowed to complete 1 to 2 coherent thoughts per day. And while that’s not currently the case, I do at least want to continue the tradition of taking a moment during my Christmas week downtime to share some favorite recorded music. Though most of this stuff came out in 2025, I’m also including some new-to-me discoveries that go back a ways further. I hope you hear something you like…

Warmth

2025 was the year I finally learned how to use Reddit, and even though I’m at least a 15 years late to the party I’ve really been enjoying how it manages to carry some of the weirder more anarchic energy of the old internet into the present day. It has been a great tool for learning about new artists, and one of my favorite discoveries is Warmth - an ambient musician from Spain who seems to have almost no press coverage, but a lot of very devoted fans on r/ambientmusic.

Like many artists of the faceless Bandcamp-era ambient scene, Warmth has an intimidatingly large discography - he sometimes releases 2-3 albums a year. I haven’t tackled all of it, but my favorite so far is Parallel (reflection), a 2024 reworking of a well-loved 2018 record. The original is great too, of course, but this version adds an element of sonic spaciousness that is really delightful if you are, say, high out of your mind and drifting off to sleep with headphones on. A close second fave is the 2023 album Collider… both albums are highly melodic, warm pad-based affairs that remind me of some favorite early ambient loves like Apex Twin’s “Rhubarb” or Eno’s “ An Ending (Ascent).”

The Fascinating Chimera Project

As usual, this was a year of Catskill bands punching waaaay above their weight in terms of putting out great albums. And while there are several local releases from ’25 that I listen to on a regular basis, my most-played has definitely been The Fascinating Chimera Project’s Songs For the Moon. FCP have performed consistently at Avalon over the past few years, and everyone who sees them seems to understand they’re witnessing something beyond the sum of the band’s spare parts. Unhurried, dreamy piano folk-pop meets Bossa Nova, Laurel Canyon, Enya, and a hint of whimsical Penguin Cafe Orchestra-esque experimentalism, all build around Alex Daud’s unaffected vocals. It’s sincere and personal work, and I want to listen to it again and again.

Constant Follower

Though I hope I remain more open to new sounds than the average 44 year old, there is also definite comfort in being a middle aged guy who’s unrepentantly attracted to anything that resembles music I liked in my 20s. Constant Follower falls in this category - they’re deeply indebted to the Mojave 3 dream folk template, and aren’t necessarily doing anything that new. But it is really nice stuff to listen to, beautifully recorded and infused with a deep melancholy that seems to come easy to the Scottish. Where they do distinguish themselves musically is an inventive sense of melodicism, with vocal lines that shift from hypnotic repetition to surprising leaps, turns, and contrapuntal layers.

This is Loreli

Holo Boy just came out less than two weeks ago. It’s a December surprise of an album, much like Cameron Winter’s solo record last year (though I doubt this one will culminate in a Paul Thomas Anderson-documented Carnegie Hall performance)… just really damn good, catchy indie pop. Make songs two minutes long again.

Paul St. Hilaire - With the Producers

In the pantheon of Trips To The Record Store That Changed My Musical Life, a visit to San Francisco’s Aquarius records in 2005 wherein I purchased Rhythm & Sound’s “With The Artists” sits among the top - an album that served as my introduction to the worlds of dub techno and ambient dub.

Hilaire’s celebrated work as a vocalist on that record (as well as with Basic Channel) led to a career that took him from the Caribbean to Berlin where he’s lived ever since. And after a long period of only scattered tracks and collaborations finding their way into the world, he’s started releasing a steady stream of fantastic albums more recently. This year’s With the Producers (a title that serves as a cheeky callback to that Rhythm & Sound album) features 9 collaborations with contemporary techno artists. It’s not a totally even record, but the good tracks are GREAT.

Cuddle Magic

I’ve had the pleasure of following Cuddle Magic’s output since they formed 20 years ago, thanks to a friendship with their drummer Dave. They’ve carved their own unique path as a conservatory-trained ensemble that embraces pop idioms, and while they’ve always been a great live act, their performance a few months ago at Avalon (my first time seeing them in years) was kind of astounding; they’ve achieved some sort of mythical mind-meld as a band that one rarely witnesses. I’ve been digging on their new album ever since.

Acid House

I’ve been taking some deep dives this year in to the fringes of Acid (aka a subgenera of electronic music built around the swooping and squelchy sound of the Roland 303), helped along my way by the vast musical knowledge of our Avalon bartender Byrd. While I’ve found a lot that I like, I’m mostly attracted to the downtempo and abstract ends of things… here’s a playlist of some tracks I’ve really enjoyed

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/acid-house-finds/pl.u-2aoqp4ecNVZ09b

Miyaxx

Q: How many indie rock fans does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Oh … you mean you haven’t heard this one yet?

I do understand how annoying it is for me to tell you that my favorite album of the year is - in fact - one that hasn’t been released and that I’m not allowed to share with you. But after seeing the Catskill duo of John Thayer and Lea Thomas play their new Miyaxx material at Avalon a couple months ago, I was so into it I asked them to send me the tracks. The sound is deeply, deeply up my alley, weaving together influences from acts like Grouper, Talk Talk, and Fennesz, and the record sounds incredible.

There’s no question that I’ll be finding opportunities for them to perform in 2026. But more importantly, they haven’t been able to find a label for this album, which REALLY deserves a proper release. And so I include this one on the list not just to annoy you, but to implore anyone with connections to small labels that might be into this kinda thing to get in touch - this is one that needs to see the light of day.