#new2me25
open.spotify.com/playlist/3fV...

Here's an accompanying playlist. I didn't include everything as it sounds great as it is, if I do say so myself.
December 20, 2025 at 2:56 PM
#new2me25

Thanks for putting up with this self-indulgence over the last couple of months. It is a great reason to listen again to everything I have bought. Here is the full list for those who might be interested. It was supposed to be a top 50, but I must have messed up somehow as there are 52 LPs.
December 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
#new2me25

1. Brigitte Fontaine - Est...Folle (1968)

This is a staggering piece of work. A collection of incredibly inventive songs with a Jean-Claude Vannier production that just blew the doors off French popular music. Easily on of the best albums I've ever heard, a true original that 1/2
December 18, 2025 at 7:56 PM
#new2me25

2. Gal Costa - Gal Costa (1969)

The third Brazilian album in my top 10. If this is the kind of quality that a country produces under a dictatorship then I look forward to America's output over the coming years. This album is spellbinding. It has a classic 'tropicália' sound 1/2
December 17, 2025 at 7:18 PM
#new2me25

3. Jorge Ben - A Tábua De Esmeralda (1974)

As my long suffering wife would attest, I don't really listen to much music that can be described as 'uplifting'. I've always been more drawn to the angry or sad end of things. However, this album is one of the most life-affirming I've heard 1/2
December 16, 2025 at 7:21 PM
#new2me25

4. Jim Sullivan - UFO (1969)

I had heard of this album and always assumed that it would sound really far out like Skip Spence's Oar album. I couldn't have been more wrong. It's incredibly well played (members of The Wrecking Crew backed Sullivan on this) and beautifully produced 1/2
December 15, 2025 at 7:21 PM
#new2me25

5. Norma Tanega - Walkin' My Cat Named Dog (1966)

I adore this album. Tanega was working in a California mental hospital when she was spotted by a record exec singing some of her own songs to the patients. Her songs sound very stripped and straightforward, but she was already using 1/2
December 14, 2025 at 6:55 PM
#new2me25

6. Relatively Clean Rivers - Relatively Clean Rivers (1976)

A privately released album from a band from California, this sounds far more 1969 than 1976. Gently psychedelic country-rock with slightly odd religious overtones. The main man, Phil Pearlman refuses to allow a reissue 1/2
December 13, 2025 at 8:07 PM
#new2me25

7. Lô Borges - Lô Borges (1972)

A 19-year-old Brazilian kid is pressured by his record company to get an album done quickly & drops an absolute classic. Half an hour of funky psychedelic Latin folk-rock that just leaves you gasping for more. Endlessly inventive & damn near perfect.
December 11, 2025 at 8:13 PM
#new2me25

8. Bridget St. John - Thank You For... (1972)

The fact that Bridget isn't a household name by now totally baffles me (this album doesn't even have a Wiki page). This is her third album & it's simply gorgeous. Understated beauty pours out of every tune, even the two covers.
December 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
#new2me25

9. Barry Booth - Diversions! (1968)

Imagine Paul McCartney going full music hall in 68 & hiring Alan Bennett as his singer & lyricist & you'd still only halfway there. Booth was an accomplished pianist who was once smuggled into the US in the boot of a car driven by Roy Orbison. 1/2
December 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM
#new2me25

10. Sidan - Teulu Yncl Sam (1975)

This is probably the most obscure album on my list. A Welsh language girl group who were all still in school at the time of this release. They wrote many of the songs themselves and managed to bounce between several genres with ease. 1/2
December 8, 2025 at 8:05 PM
#new2me25

As we enter the top 10, please forgive my overenthusiam. Ten stunning albums that I had never heard before this year.

🇺🇸 x 3
🇧🇷 x 3
🇬🇧 x 3
🇲🇫 x 1
December 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
#new2me25

Flamengo - Kuře V Hodinkách (1972)

I have only known this album for about three weeks, but it almost gatecrashed my top 10. A Czech band that sound like a massively funky King Crimson, McDonald & Giles or Gong. Huge thanks to @maryepworth.bsky.social for alerting me to this lost gem.
December 7, 2025 at 8:53 PM
#new2me25

12. Scientist - Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (1981)

Grade A dub. The production on this album is as crisp as a ginger nut biscuit and the songs are clever and inventive. I have played this album to death over the last couple of months.
December 7, 2025 at 7:14 PM
#new2me25

13. Charles Mingus - The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady (1963)

I realise that everyone of you heard this album before I did and that you all know how amazing it is already. It is such a vivid sounding album, like a silent movie in reverse. Not a moment is wasted nor a note out of place.
December 5, 2025 at 8:19 PM
#new2me25

14. Organic Pulse Ensemble - Zither Suite (2024)

Not an ensemble at all, just one Swedish guy multitracking all the parts of a modern day spiritual jazz masterpiece. To my novice jazz ears, this is as good as some of the 60s classics, he needs a wider audience. An incredible record.
December 4, 2025 at 8:00 PM
#new2me25

15. Advance Base - Nephew in the Wild (2015)

Another @andrewmale.bsky.social tip-off, Advance Base is basically a man named Owen Ashworth who specialises in writing darkly humorous songs mostly about the everyday happenings of middle America. Lyrically up there with Berman & Jeff Lewis.
December 3, 2025 at 7:05 PM
#new2me25

16. Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand The Rain (1974)

The first time I played this, I wrongly assumed that it was a greatest hits album, it's that good. I'm guessing most of you know the title track, but there isn't a duff song on the whole album. This is peak mid-70s pre-disco/soul music.
December 2, 2025 at 9:10 PM
#new2me25

17. Veronique Chalot - A L'Entrée Du Temps Clair (1979)

Achingly beautiful Breton folk music that sounds as though it was teleported from 300 years before. Her voice is that of an angel and the combination of medieval instruments is utterly hypnotic.
December 1, 2025 at 7:49 PM
#new2me25

18. Pharaoh Sanders - Karma (1969)

I've bought a fair amount of jazz albums this year with varying degrees of success, but this one clicked for me immediately. Only two tracks, but the groove instantly feels familiar, possibly a nod to A Love Supreme? Hypnotic, dreamlike & beautiful.
November 29, 2025 at 8:23 PM
#new2me25

17. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Again (1971)

I didn't know this album even existed until this year. Titled Did You Ever? in Europe with a different running order, this is every bit as great as their 1968 collaboration. It's gentle, funny & warm and contains some amazing tracks.
November 28, 2025 at 7:14 PM
#NowPlaying It's too late for this to join my #new2me25 list, but this is such a great album. The production is a sparkling thing of wonder. However, the song titled Inside My Love is utter filth. Careful now.
November 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
#new2me25

18. Jean Claude Vannier - L'enfant Assassin des Monches (1972)

Legendary producer & arranger Vannier (he produced Melody Nelson for Gainsbourg) released this incredibly odd concept album in 72. It covers a lot of musical ground in a short space of time & is a deeply rewarding listen.
November 27, 2025 at 7:48 PM
#new2me25

19. Keith Cross & Peter Ross - Bored Civilians (1972)

Progressive with a small p, this LP has a West Coast feel, but the guys were both English. It reminds me of mid-period Traffic with even a touch of Steely Dan here & there. This should've been a huge album, but Decca fucked it.
November 26, 2025 at 8:38 PM