:::: Films of 2025 ::::

TOP FILMS OF 2025 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bi Gan  "Resurrection"  (China)
Albert Serra  "Afternoons of Solitude"  (Spain)
Lucile Hadžihalilović  "The Ice Tower"  (France)
Miguel Gomes  "Grand Tour"  (Portugal)
Sho Miyake  "Two Seasons, Two Strangers"  (Japan)
Jafar Panahi  "It was Just an Accident"  (Iran)
Oliver Laxe  "Sirāt"  (Spain)
Mascha Schilinski  "Sound of Falling"  (Germany)
Kleber Mendonça Filho  "Secret Agent"  (Brazil)
Liu Jian  "Art College 1994"  (China)
Masao Adachi  "Escape"  (Japan)
Urška Djukić  "Little Trouble Girls"  (Slovenia)
Paul Thomas Anderson  "One Battle After Another"  (United States)
Joshua Safdie  "Marty Supreme"  (United States)
Richard Linklater  "Blue Moon"  (United States)
Jim Jarmusch  "Father Mother Sister Brother"  (United States)
Kelly Reichardt  "The Mastermind"  (United States)
Lynn Ramsay  "Die My Love"  (United Kingdom)
Lucrecia Martel  "Landmarks"  (Argentina)
Matthias Glasner  "Dying"  (Germany)
Shih-Ching Tsou  "Left-Handed Girl"  (Taiwan)
Mary Bronstein  "If I had Legs I'd Kick You"  (United States)
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne  "Young Mothers"  (France)
Boris Lojkine  "Souleyman's Story"  (France)
Mark Jenkin  "Rose of Nevada"  (United Kingdom)
Gabriel Mascaro  "The Blue Trail"  (Brazil)
Gabriel Azorín  "Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes"  (Spain)
Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke  "A Useful Ghost"  (Thailand)
Rungano Nyoni  "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl"  (Zambia)
Dea Kulumbegashvili  "April"  (France)
Shinji Somai  "Moving"  Restored Rereleased (Japan)
Jacques Rozier  "Maine-Ocean Express"  Restored Rereleased  (France)
Robina Rose  "Nightshift"  Restored Rereleased  (United Kingdom)
Mike Figgis  "Megadoc"  (United States)
Mstyslav Chernov  "2000 Meters to Andriivka"  (Ukraine)

No other event was as consequential or significant to the course of the arts and culture in the United States as the results of the 2024 presidential election. Subsequently, there is little reason or relevance for this annual entry to engage in the traditional discussion and consideration of the finer points of last year's cultural landmarks. Particularly as it was a year in which we lost dear friends, loved ones, and artists who defined our era. Instead, it is an opportunity to reflect on what The New York Times wrote on the brink of these new times in which we find ourselves; "Voters in liberal strongholds across the country, from city centers to suburban stretches, failed to show up to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris at the levels they had for Joseph R. Biden Jr. four years earlier. Contributing significantly to her defeat by Donald J. Trump". Which poses the question, "Why Was There a Broad Drop-Off in Democratic Turnout in 2024?". The Times continues in "How Democrats Lost Their Base and Their Message", wherein the 2024 conservative populist pitch bumped Democrats off their traditional place in American politics. "The overarching pattern is clear. In election after election, Democrats underperformed among traditional Democratic constituencies during the Trump era. Sometimes, it was merely a failure to capitalize on his unpopularity. Other times, it was a staggering decline in support."

"Together, it has shattered Democratic dreams of building a new majority with the rise of a new generation of young and nonwhite voters. It tapped into many of the issues and themes that once made these voters Democrats. This overarching pattern requires an overarching explanation: Mr. Trump’s populist conservatism corroded the foundations of the Democratic Party’s appeal." On reflection the question then becomes one of investigating the complex factors involved in, "How the Democrats Lost the Working Class", and the consequential “History Lesson Democrats Need to Relearn". In the hope of reclaiming this position within the American political landscape, there has been a reassessment of whether or not it is the case that, "The Democrats’ Main Problem isn't Their Message". The New York Times offering a platform to the thinkers, upstarts, and ideologues vying for control of this discussion and new direction for the Democratic Party. In this series of essays, Timothy Shenk has posited that "The Democrats Are in Crisis. Eat-the-Rich Populism is the Only Answer." as a perspective within the assembled voices chronicling, "The Fight for the Future of the Democratic Party".

:::: Albums of 2025 ::::

TOP ALBUMS OF 2025 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
-----------------------------------------------------------
Kali Malone & Drew McDowall  "Magnetism"  (Ideologic Organ)
Lucy Railton  "Blue Veil"  (Ideologic Organ)
Jakob Ullman  “Solo I / Solo IV”  (Another Timbre)
Kevin Drumm  "Sheer Hellish Miasma II"  (Erstwhile)
Eiko Ishibashi  "Antigone"  (Drag City)
Masma Dream World  "Please Come To Me"  (Valley of Search)
Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling & Andreas Werliin "Ghosted III" (Drag City)
Wardruna  "Birna"  (By Norse Music)
Faetooth  "Labyrinthine"  (Flenser)
Nijiumu  "When I Sing, I Slip... into that Void..."  Reissue  (Black Truffle)
Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin  "Stygian Bough Volume II"  (Profound Lore)
SWANS  "Birthing"  (Young God)
Pyramids  "Pythagoras"  (Flenser)
Moin  "Belly Up"  EP  (AD 93)
Olan Monk  "Songs For Nothing"  (AD 93)
Rat Heart  “Dancin’ in the Streets”  (Modern Love)
Circuit Des Yeux  "Halo on the Inside"  (Matador)
Cate Le Bon  "Michelangelo Dying"  (Mexican Summer)
Lovesliescrushing  "Bloweyelashwish"  Reissue  (Numero Group)
Julee Cruise & Angelo Badalamenti  "Fall • Float • Love"  Reissue  (Cherry Red)
Maria Somerville  "Luster"  (4AD)
Just Mustard  "We Were Just Here"  (Partisan)
Aya  "Hexed!"  (Hyperdub)
Los Thuthanaka   "Los Thuthanaka"  (Los Thuthanaka)
Blawan  "SickElixir"  (XL Recordings)
Feeo  "Goodness"  (AD 93)
Carrier  “Rhythm Immortal”  (Modern Love)
Youth Code  "Yours, With Malice"  (Sumerian Records)
Sa Pa   "Ambeesh"  (Short Span)
Filmmaker  "Dehumanization"  (VEYL)
SML  "How You Been"  (International Anthem)
Makaya McCraven  "Off The Record"  (International Anthem)
Natural Information Society  "Perseverance Flow"  (Eremite)
Otis Sandsjö, Petter Eldh & Dan Nicholls  "Y-Otis Tre"  (We Jazz)
Superposition  "II"  (We Jazz)

No other event was as consequential or significant to the course of the arts and culture in the United States as the results of the 2024 presidential election. Subsequently, there is little reason or relevance for this annual entry to engage in the traditional discussion and consideration of the finer points of last year's cultural landmarks. Particularly as it was a year in which we lost dear friends, loved ones, and artists who defined our era. Instead, it is an opportunity to reflect on what The New York Times wrote on the brink of these new times in which we find ourselves; "Voters in liberal strongholds across the country, from city centers to suburban stretches, failed to show up to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris at the levels they had for Joseph R. Biden Jr. four years earlier. Contributing significantly to her defeat by Donald J. Trump". Which poses the question, "Why Was There a Broad Drop-Off in Democratic Turnout in 2024?". The Times continues in "How Democrats Lost Their Base and Their Message", wherein the 2024 conservative populist pitch bumped Democrats off their traditional place in American politics. "The overarching pattern is clear. In election after election, Democrats underperformed among traditional Democratic constituencies during the Trump era. Sometimes, it was merely a failure to capitalize on his unpopularity. Other times, it was a staggering decline in support."

"Together, it has shattered Democratic dreams of building a new majority with the rise of a new generation of young and nonwhite voters. It tapped into many of the issues and themes that once made these voters Democrats. This overarching pattern requires an overarching explanation: Mr. Trump’s populist conservatism corroded the foundations of the Democratic Party’s appeal." On reflection the question then becomes one of investigating the complex factors involved in, "How the Democrats Lost the Working Class", and the consequential "History Lesson Democrats Need to Relearn". In the hope of reclaiming this position within the American political landscape, there has been a reassessment of whether or not it is the case that, "The Democrats’ Main Problem isn't Their Message". The New York Times offering a platform to the thinkers, upstarts, and ideologues vying for control of this discussion and new direction for the Democratic Party. In this series of essays, Timothy Shenk has posited that "The Democrats Are in Crisis. Eat-the-Rich Populism is the Only Answer." as a perspective within the assembled voices chronicling, "The Fight for the Future of the Democratic Party".