Yes, we waited until the last possible minute to release our album of the year list. That being said, the artists we like to cover typically aren’t bound to the schedule of the broader music industry, and for our AOTY list a few last-minute additions were worth waiting until the actual end of the year.

Reflecting on things like change, transformation, and death can bring up all sorts of conflicting emotions, namely those of fear and doubt. In 1989 by Fiona’s Spiral speaks to the neverending repeating nature of things, however this EP is refreshing in its loving, hopeful approach to change.

A wild assembly of instruments including brass and piano pulls off these grand arrangements, augmenting the powerful personality of the singer to create a homespun yet intricate sound.

In crafting such a wildly inconsistent voice, Gamboa reveals the impacts of a scattered and unreadable identity, a social-media-fueled condition that I’m actively contributing to right now.

Despair claws its way to the surface with Clark’s incredible emo-tinged vocals, all while disorienting and dissonant orchestral arrangements push us further down this dark path.

The new album ATROPHY by Midwestern Roadkill is a raw look into what a depressive episode can actually be like. Characterized by fuzzy, hazy production, this skramz-pop release carries with it a sense of isolation and impermeability. It’s the sound of not leaving your bed for 3 days straight, the blinds drawn shut and air stale with halitosis.

Each musical idea establishes itself prominently and confidently before being thrown to the side, this energetic approach leading to an extremely satisfying listen as Pudgel explores a huge array of sounds in its 20-ish minutes.

Each track brings remarkable levels of variety, at times even reaching into free jazz territory as an assembly of auxiliary instruments establish melodies on top of familiar droning guitars.

Evil Empath by Everlastingness is timeless atmospheric industrial music that overturns your expectations for modern experimental electronics, going back to the basics of early industrial in a way that’s refreshing. Think echoing percussion, icy synths, and a spaciousness that adds value when placed alongside heavier, more intense moments.

Immensely underrated in the noise rock scene, we only hope that this release brings Imelda Marcos more much-deserved attention for their unique sound and undeniable talent.

Opening up into segments of wider instrumentation and ear-splitting noise, these tracks meander through a misty pathway defined by different shades of anguish, through alternate expressions of the same fundamental image of lashing out at a mirror.

The artist sits with their father on the last days of his life, the two looking out into the world and their pasts together with new eyes as time screeches to a halt.

Ov Pain wraps their music in circles, slowly descending further into their cave, incrementally adding elements and building tension before allowing the music to disappear into the far distance.

Fatou’s range is impressive, from her smooth jazzy vocals on “The other side”, to her energetic triplet flow on the title track “Adaeh”.

Stress Positions feels wholly unsatisfied not only by the injustice and strife they name outright, but also by the feelings of monotony and hopelessness that come with accepting the status quo laid before them. They are absolutely fed up with the stagnation, perfectly encapsulating our deepest unsettlement with the world, Harsh Reality provides a moment to feel the weight of everything around you.

As electroacoustic, classical, and experimental electronic worlds collide on the collaborative album I by Musique Infinie, a rich, intricate, yet fundamentally minimalist style crystalizes.

Frida and the Filibusters Bid Farewell and Fall Asunder embodies the anarchic energy and radical inclusivity that makes DIY music feel like home. As a live record, listeners are given a front row seat to CIME’s molotov cocktail of noise rock, freak folk, jazz, funk, Latin music, and art punk. While their sound is already explosive in-studio, CIME’s live work is even more intense and captivating. Conga percussion and swells of alto saxophone back Monty Cime’s expressive vocals, her voice strained to its limits in a performance that would draw any porch-dwellers back inside the house to catch this unmissable set.

Where church tradition depicts such moments with choirs and organs, both musical elements with a clean, open sound that soars high above our physical bodies, Saint Elisabeth exhibits a willingness to engage with Jesus and Francis’s shared bodily nature.

From just behind the horizon, however, a slow yet certain march encroaches, bringing with it bulletproof bureaucracy, unsolvable resource shortages, and factory farms.

With an anxious and in-your-face approach, ni downright refuses to fit in any one category as they explore techniques in black metal, avante-garde jazz, math rock, psychedelic prog metal, and more across this 10-track run.