A Few Of My Favorite Things 2025 Edition: The Albums

 By Henry Lipput

"The Lucky Thirteen."

That's what I'm calling my year-end list of my favorite albums of 2025, the ones I've most enjoyed listening to over the past twelve months. For each of them I've included a short description, my favorite song from the album, and a link to where you can find the album on Bandcamp (so that you can support these wonderful musicians and maybe bump into something else you can enjoy). 

David Mead, January, San Fernando (Bandcamp)

Since his debut album, The Luxury of Time, was released in 1999 David Mead has become one of the best American singer-songwriters we have. His new album, January, San Fernando, fits comfortably in his catalog especially next to albums like Indiana.

Favorite song: "Amelia"

Assistant, Certain Memories (Subjangle)

Certain Memories is a collection of sadly beautiful songs played by a band that makes a lovely, delicate jangly sound. The album is Assistant's first since 2022 and is a concept album of sorts dealing with the illness of a parent and how a family and friends get through it.

Favorite song: "Song for Jil"

Massage, Coaster (Bobo Integral Records)

Coaster is Massage's third album and the one where everything comes together. It's no coincidence that one of the members of this LA-based five piece was a co-founder of The Pains of Being Pure of Heart and you can hear this echoed in many of the songs on Coaster.

Favorite song: "When You Go"

The Bablers, Like the First Time (Big Stir Records)

Big Stir's release of Like the First Time was 25 years in the making as this album was only available in Japan and the band's native Finland in 2020. Full of power pop rave ups and ballads the album may have a different track listing but it's the way The Bablers want it heard now.

Favorite song: "You Are The One For Me"

Emma Swift, The Resurrection Game (Tiny Ghost Records)

If music has the power to heal, Swift has taken advantage of the opportunity to use the sounds of a swooning Nelson Riddle-like orchestra on her songs dealing with romance, desire, and a real-life nervous breakdown. And if the album is ever made into a musical the song "Catholic Girls Are Easy" would be a great Act 2 opener.

Favorite song: "Nothing and Forever"

Crossword Smiles, Consequences + Detours (Big Stir Records)

Consequences + Detours is the second album by the Michigan-based band led by Chip Saam, Tom Curless, and friends. The album is full of pop bliss and clever lyrics, a combination not usually found together but here found in spades.

Favorite song: "Millicent"

Tony Molina, On This Day (Slumberland Records)

Molina has been known for writing and recording songs that are less than two minutes long. None of these songs are throwaways or rough sketches.  Some like On This Day's "Faded Holiday" barely hit the one-minute mark but he puts everything in them which only makes you want to visit them again..

Favorite song: "Faded Holiday"

SUPER 8 featuring Lisa Mychols, UNFINISHED MONKEY BUSINESS (Bandcamp)

SUPER 8 and Lisa Mychols have been making music together from opposite sides of the world since their 2019 single "Timebomb." Their new collection consists of previous released singles and album tracks as well as songs that are new to me.

Favorite song: "Falling For You"

Sunny Intervals, Swept Away (Bandcamp)

 

The album is described on its Bandcamp page as a "late night whisper." Swept Away was written over the course of a decade and recorded by Andy Hudson mostly in his kitchen at night. The Janglepophub blog called it "pristine sunshine pop."

Favorite song: "Waiting For Sunshine" 

Shapes Like People, Ticking Haze (Jangleshop Records)

Ticking Haze is the debut album from the husband and wife team of Kat and Carl Mann. Following his work with The Shop Window it's not surprising that the songs are rich with melody as well as peopled with characters who yearn for love and a better life as well as an offering of hope and support to both lovers and friends.

Favorite song: "When The Radio Plays"

Tamar Berk, ocd, (Bandcamp)

Berk has described ocd, her fifth album in five years, as her most personal and intense.  She continues to add new musical ideas and instruments to her sound and she has found new ways to address both real and imagined conversations that can present roadblocks in relationships. 

Favorite song: "ocd"

Robert Forster, Strawberries (Tapete Records)

Since his time in The Go-Betweens and throughout his solo career Forster has mastered the writing of story songs. On Strawberries there are two: "Tell It Back To Me" and "Breakfast On The Train." "Train" is the one that has stuck with me because of its use of a novel storytelling device 

Favorite song: "Breakfast On The Train"

Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires, Sounds Made By Humans (Skep Wax)

Brian Bilston is a poet and The Catenary Wires are a pop group and their unique collaboration  produced an album of "song-poems." Using Bilston's words, the band's Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey wrote the music for songs that are sung and performed by The Catenary Wires and others have Bilston fronting the band.

Favorite song: "Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You"

Joy to the World! Like The First Time by The Bablers is reviewed and front man Arto Tamminen answers the Pure Pop Phive

By Henry Lipput

25 years ago The Bablers released their album Like The First Time – but only in Japan and Finland, their native country. After that the album, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.

But a few years ago their current label, the California-based Big Stir Records, has been releasing singles from Like The First Time which was only whetting the appetites of power pop devotees as to whether the entire album would be made available at a future date.

That time is now. Joy to the world!

For the first time Like The First Time (Big Stir Records) is out now for the whole world to enjoy. If, like me, prior to the album’s release you’ve only heard the great power pop bangers (like the opening track “You Are The One For Me” ) you’re really in for a treat because the ballads are just as good – and all together make the whole album a terrific listen. And although the Big Stir release has a new track listing and new mixes and arrangements we’re not dealing with what Capitol records did to The Beatles albums pre-Pepper – this is the album The Bablers want us to hear and the way they want us to hear it.

The album’s power pop rave ups are the sounds The Bablers have developed since they got together in the 1970s. Songs like “You Are The One For Me,” the Peter Gunn-with-a-bullet of “Thinking Of You,” and “Holding Me Tight Tonight” all show the band working at full steam.

On the wonderful ballads the band’s influences show but none of this takes away from what The Bablers have done with them. “Together Forever” recalls solo McCartney while The Bablers channel solo Lennon with “In This World.”

The Bablers’ Arto Tamminen answers the Pure Pop Phive

How would you describe your music?

Pop with a rock attitude… or as our slogan says: “The best possible organic pop music. No artificial ingredients.” We use no samples, no autotune – no artificial ingredients!

What/who are your major influences?

Each member of the band has different preferences. I was born and raised in a family where music was everywhere. Everyone played an instrument or sang in a choir.

My first influences were classical – from Sibelius (the Finnish composer) to Bach, Mozart, and the rest of those guys. I remember we had "go-to-sleep music" when we were very young, and I still remember falling asleep to those beautiful classical pieces. I started playing the cello when I was six, and it has stayed with me ever since – you can hear it on our new album, on tracks like “Where The Wind Blows Free.” So classical music is a big one!

Then came jazz, fusion, progressive rock, folk-rock, Irish folk, and all that British Invasion stuff – plus Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. I got into those through my older brothers, who had about 1000 vinyl records in our "music room," where we had a drum kit, a Vox AC30, a Gibson SG, acoustic guitars… and my mother’s piano, which I still use in our recordings!

Do you perform live? Do you have any upcoming gigs?

Not at the moment. But you never know! If something interesting comes up, we’re open to hitting the road. For live shows, we’d need a fifth member – a multi-instrumentalist – to make it possible to play all the tracks from Psychadilly Circus and Like The First Time. In some arrangements, four guys just don’t have enough hands. 😊

Everyone's pretty busy playing with other bands and working on recordings. Janne, our drummer, and Pekka, our bassist/keyboardist, are on the list of the top 10 most recorded musicians in Finland – and they’re constantly touring with top Finnish artists, so they’re really in demand! Hannu now works full-time in a recording studio. He also used to do a lot of touring and producing – which he still does.

Nevertheless - this is a secret - we are working on new Bablers material.

How do you support yourself so you can continue to make music?

I’m the only one with an "honest day job" at the moment. The others work with music 24/7. I used to be a full-time musician for almost eight years, but lately I’ve been working as a director at a copyright licensing agency.

What's your favorite album of all time  (that's not one of yours)?

I’ve never really thought about that. But if I had to choose right now, I’d pick Mstislav Rostropovich’s recording of J.S. Bach’s six suites for solo cello. It has everything!

A Few of My Favorite Things 2023 Edition – Part Two: The EPs, singles, a live release, compilations, and a reissue.

By Henry Lipput

Here is the rest of the music I've been enjoying (and listening to more than once) over the past year. I hope there's something here that you can get into as well. Next time we'll see start to see what 2024 is going to bring us.

EPs

Peter Hall, About Last Night

The initial email for About Last Night from the Subjangle label described the new Peter Hall release as a mini-album and/or an extended EP. For the purposes of this blog post I’m going with the latter although it would have been in the top five of my album list from Part One. About Last Night (Bandcamp) is another brilliant collection of songs from Hall whose Light The Stars album was at the top of the list in my 2021 year-end roundup. Each EP or album Hall presents to us is a musical step forward and we continue to be struck by how the vocals, lyrics, and soaring arrangements come together .

The 3 Clubmen, The 3 Clubmen

The musical powerhouse trio that is The 3 Clubmen is made up of Andy Partridge, Jen Olive, and Stu Rowe. Their self-titled EP (Burning Shed) is the kind of musically inventive and downright fun collection of songs that you just don’t hear much anymore. The trio made their first appearance when the first single from the EP, “Aviatrix,” was announced back in the Spring of 2023 (a few weeks later a glorious pop-art style video was released). In my review of the song I called it “mind-bending” and this also applies to the paint-splattering way all of these songs have been put together; there’s nothing in these songs that’s expected. 

Caleb Nichols, So This Is Crimble

It’s hard to deny Caleb Nichols his Beatle fan credentials. In addition to the very Beatles-influenced Ramon, he also released the single DoubleMantasy with covers of McCartney’s “Waterfalls” and Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels.” The centerpiece of the EP (Kill Rock Stars) is “Crimble Medley” in which Nichols creates a wonderful mashup of a song from a Beatles Christmas fanclub disc as well as holiday offerings from three solo Beatles along with Ringo's "Photograph" which fits very nicely in the mix (what's Christmas without photographs?). The EP also includes his two most recent Christmas songs, “(I Fell In Love On) Christmas Day” from Ramon (my favorite new Christmas song) and “Christmas, California” from his recent Let’s Look Back album.

SINGLES

The Bablers, “Thinking of You"

“Thinking Of You” (Big Stir Records), the latest single from The Bablers, is just the latest knock-out track following “Holding Me Tight Tonight,” “You Are the One for Me” (my personal favorite), and “Mr. King” which was released as the commutation (as a certain Mr. Lennon might have said) of Prince Charles was taking place. With these songs we’ve been treated to four singles from Like The First Time, an album only available in Japan and Finland (their home country) and things look good for a world-wide release of the whole thing in 2024. 

Fallon Cush, “Grain of Salt”

“Grain of Salt” (Bandcamp and all streaming services) is the first new music from Fallon Cush since 2019’s Stranger Things Have Happened album and the second single from the five-track Tricks EP which is being released in March 2024. “Grain of Salt” is mostly a solo effort with Fallon Cush’s main man Steve Smith with an assist from producer Josh Schuberth. At the beginning of 2020 Smith suffered a breakdown that left him with crippling anxiety. He stopped working and barely picked up a guitar. I wasn’t aware of any of this when I reviewed the song; it didn’t sound anything like an ask for help from its author, but it certainly sounds like that now.

Confusion Boats, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”

Brian Dear of Confusion Boats has been coming up with Beatles and Beatles-related covers for a long time and the fourth one to be released “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Bandcamp) is the best. With the slowed down and soulful vocal of Andrew Lubman, Dear and fellow Boater Fernando Perdomo lay down the original arrangement for Abbey Road’s “Oh! Darling” on top. It’s just such a brilliant move that I’m sure no one saw it coming (I certainly didn't and have been playing it for people since it came out) and the result is amazing.

LIVE

The Sylvia Platters, Summer Dreamin'

The Sylvia Platters from Vancouver, British Columbia, is a four-piece consisting of Alex Kerc-Murchison, Stephen Carl O’Shea, Nick Ubels, and Tim Ubels. In December 2022 the band entered Malibu Sound Studio in Burnaby BC and performed a five-song set. Recorded and mixed by Kyle Schick, the collection was released in the summer of 2023 as Summer Dreamin' (Bandcamp). The title song is new to the band’s catalog but the other four tunes are from the albums, singles, and EPs The Sylvia Platters have released over the past ten years. Their sound is undoubtedly influenced by Teenage Fanclub and “Norman 4” (a bonus track originally on 2022’s Youth Without Virtue EP and dedicated to Norman Blake) is a standout on Summer Dreamin’.

COMPILATIONS

Dot Dash, 16 Again

The wonderful Dot Dash collection, 16 Again (Country Mile Records [sold out]/Last Night From Glasgow: vinyl/ Bandcamp: digital), is the first time these songs have been on vinyl and it’s a great way to hear them. It’s also a terrific way to introduce new fans to the band and a way to remind current fans why they liked Dot Dash so much in the first place. The title 16 Again refers to the fact that these songs (all but one) have been previously available on all ten of their albums released by Wally Salem’s The Beautiful Music label between 2011 and 2022. You can think of these songs, hand-picked by the band, as "a greatest hits album by a band with no hits" as the Bandcamp page says. But there's a difference between songs not being hits and songs loved by fans that should have been hits ("Unfair Weather" immediately comes to mind). 

Various Artists, Let The Band Times Roll (a tribute to The Replacements)

Philly’s Creep Records, with their Replacements tribute album Let The Bad Times Roll (digital available on Bandcamp and the vinyl from Creep Records) have put together a tremendous collection of 13 songs that span the ‘Mats recording career played by a group of bands and singers that I’ve never heard of playing songs I’ve been listening to for 30 or so years. Her Heads On Fire’s “Alex Chilton” and Celebration Summer’s “Left of the Dial” have arrangements close to the original but they just reinforce how great these songs are. The real gems are the ones that feature a different take on these beloved songs. Crazy Tom Martin’s “Sadly Beautiful” is electronically infused and Sammy Kay has an acoustic take and a Tom Waits vocal on “Favorite Things.” 

REISSUE

Pernice Brothers, Overcome By Happiness

I know I sound like a broken CD at times (because for a decade or so it was very difficult to buy a vinyl copy of an album in the US) but like 2001's Meaningless by Jon Brion (the vinyl release was in 2022) the Pernice Brothers great 1998 album Overcome By Happiness (New West Records) has finally been made available on a wonderful sounding remastered vinyl. Thanks to an arrangement with New West you can not only get yourself a single vinyl version of the 25th anniversary edition of Overcome but there's also a gorgeous deluxe edition with a second disc of pre-Overcome singles (the single version of "Monkey Suit" featuring both Joe and Bob Pernice is nearly worth the price of the whole thing), album demos, and a hardback book with comments by Joe and as well as lyrics. Another bonus of the coming together of New West and Pernice is the upcoming new solo album Who Will You Believe from Joe Pernice (now available for preorder here).

Thinking of The Bablers

By Henry Lipput

We may never get all of Like The First Time, the album The Bablers only released in Japan and Finland (their home country), although there have been mentions of an eventual release at a future date. But as of now we’ve been treated to four singles from the album which put together give one the impression that when it is released to the rest of the world it will surely be a very, very big hit.

“Thinking Of You” (Big Stir Records), the new single from The Bablers, is just the latest knock-out track following “Holding Me Tight Tonight,” “You Are the One for Me” (my personal favorite), and “Mr. King” which was released as the commutation (as a certain Mr. Lennon might have said) of Prince Charles was taking place.

Usually, bands make singles available to generate interest in a forthcoming album that has yet to see the light of day but The Bablers seem to be doing it in reverse. And I have no problem with this when what we’re getting bit by bit is this good. Keep babbling gents!

A Few Of My Favorite Things, 2022 Edition – Part Two: The Singles, EPs, Live, Compilation, and Reissues

 By Henry Lipput

Part Two of my 2022 year-end review is for the singles, EPs, a live release, a compilation, and reissues that I've enjoyed over the course of the year. I hope you've enjoyed what I've been writing about throughout the year and I encourage you to buy a download, a CD, or a record to support indie music.

SINGLES

Peter Hall, "In Plain Sight" (Bandcamp)

Peter Hall continues to amaze and “In Plain Sight” is pop of the highest quality. It’s also included in his latest (mini) album About Last Night (Subjangle).

The Bablers, "You Are the One for Me" (Big Stir Records)

“You Are the One for Me” is a banger of a power pop track. It’s one of the songs from an album by this Finnish band yet to be released in the US.

The Boo Radleys, Keep On With Falling (thebooradleys.com)

“Keep On With Falling” is the second single and title song from the band’s first album since 1998. (The band is releasing a new album in June!). It’s a great, joyous slice of the Boos led by Sice’s always welcome vocals.

EPs

Theatre Royal, Beneath the Floor (Bandcamp)

Although “Ship Beneath the Floor” had a video made, “Talking to Tracey” is my favorite song from the band’s terrific Beneath the Floor EP. Reworking tracks not finished for 2020’s wonderful Portraits album plus another new track. Favorite track: “Talking to Tracy”

The Black Watch, the neverlands of spoken things (ATOM Records)

On the EP, with the title track of the black watch’s new album (to be released in March), John Andrew Fredrick and company are again plugged in and ready to bring on the fuzz and the crunch to the melodies. Favorite track: “the neverlands of spoken things”

The Magic Es, Talk in Tongues (Bandcamp)

I’ve been enjoying the indie rock sounds The Magic Es have been making since I reviewed their first album, It Goes On, back in 2017 for CoolDad Music. On their new EP they are back to being a trio and with songs like “Gone” are still making sounds I enjoy. Favorite track: “Gone”

LIVE

Silver Haar, Live (Bandcamp)

Silver Haar’s Light’s Out EP was a 2021 favorite for me and they’ve followed it up with a live set with many of the songs from that EP. Adding an extra guitarist they’re expanded their sound and also expanded the length of songs to bring new elements to the mix. Favorite track: "Lights Out"

COMPILATION

Various Artists, Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas (Bandcamp)

In 2021, the Welsh journalist Kevin McGrath but together, V4Velindre: Charity Mixtape for the NHS, an amazing 50-song collection of indie artists to raise funds for Cardiff’s Velindre Cancer Center. Last year he went even further and assembled a two-volume, 108 song mixtape to raise funds for Crisis, a UK-based charity the helps the homeless. Favorite track: “Snowboardin'” by The Pearlfishers

REISSUES

Blake Babies, Sunburn (American Laundromat Records)

One of the great things about reissues (if they’re done well) is that you hear things you didn’t hear before and that’s the case with this marvelous release. This reissue is for more than long-time fans of Sunburn; it’s a must-have for lovers of great pop music and is the first time the album has been available on vinyl for over 30 years. Favorite track: “Train”

Jon Brion, Meaningless (Jealous Butcher Records)

When is a reissue not a reissue? Jon Brion’s brilliant album Meaningless was released in 2002 only in CD and digital formats. Yeah, the CD has been gorgeously remastered and counts as a reissue, but the vinyl wasn’t available in ’02 which makes this an even more important release.  Favorite track: “Hook, Line and Sinker”