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This Is Not a Review of the New Sleep Token Record

January 23 2026 //

Well, I guess it's true that history is a cycle. I originally wrote this entire thing a week after Sleep Token released their latest record, Even in Arcadia, and then thought, "Why should I publish this? What is the point?" But upon reflection and seeing the band get a Grammy nomination, both in a metal and rock category, I thought maybe I should revisit this in case a flood of new think pieces come out saying how this is a horrible thing.

But let's get some things out of the way first.

Sleep Token is an anonymous (even though they've been doxed) masked group of weirdos stationed in the UK, who have had a banner year off their fourth studio release. Don't mistake; I say weirdos with love here.

2025 has been big for them, as they put out a new record, Even in Arcadia, and as someone who has been listening to this band since before Sundowning was released, I think the record is pretty good. Admittedly, it's not as good as their last, Take Me Back to Eden, which, incidentally, has recently reached number one Billboard status with a vinyl reissue. It feels more like This Place Will Become Your Tomb, a middle album designed to connect two other records, and therefore not as strong as its sandwiching records. Still, it mixes djent, ballads, hip hop, trap, and RnB into a delicious slurry that sounds unique to the metal landscape. It also managed to snag the number one Billboard spot for both the UK and the US, and have some of the largest album sales for anything under the rock umbrella for the past two years.

TL;DR: It's a good record from a band doing something different in metal that people seem to like.

But this is not a review of the new Sleep Token record.

Now, before I continue, let me be clear. I actually don't really care if you hate Sleep Token. You can actively dislike any band you choose, and that's fine. I've been calling them "Elven John" since this record came out, and heard the prominent piano in "Damocles", and you can feel free to steal that and use it as you see fit, positively or negatively. I myself hate many bands and the music they make, sometimes with no real adequate reason, and that's okay.

So it was that, as I was listening to the record again on the way to work and contemplating how this band has galvanized the metal community, it occurred to me that I wasn't listening to a new, well produced record by a hot metal band that has managed to bring in new fans and managed to snare a headlining spot at Download Festival, one of the UKs largest rock/metal fests. No, in fact, I was listening to a flashpoint, a new chapter in a common and depressing metal argument. This was, in fact, the new "not metal band".

Let me explain.

The "not metal band" is a band that, for whatever reason, manages to gain popularity among people outside the metal community, and, through this process, becomes not metal. This can be an immediate dislike, such as with every band that has the audacity to be heavy, but still palatable by the mainstream (see: every radio "butt rock" band). It can also happen to bands over a gradual period of time as they gain popularity, such as with Ghost, the last not metal band to dare to make music that could be enjoyed by people outside of metal. It can even happen if other elitists try to jump onto a band, such as the case of Deafheaven releasing Sunbather and the indie rock Pitchfork crowd actually liking it.

In any other genre, these situations would be celebrated as wins; other people coming in and noticing a genre that they are less familiar with would supposedly be good for that genre. Afterall, it expands the audience and shows there is an appetite for something that people may have overlooked or dismissed.

But this is most definitely not the case in metal. People discovering and trying to get into metal should be a win. It should be what people strive for. And in fact, this attitude does not happen in other genres.

When Charlie XCX put out brat this year, an innovative album that mixed up multiple sub genres of pop and dance music, I didn't hear any chatter about how someone liking the album meant they "didn't really like pop music" or that they were clearly "some pop poser". Pop fans were not saying, "Well, that isn't REAL pop. True pop is what Cyndi Lauper was doing in the 80s."  

Hell, I know metalheads who LOVED that record and would proudly say so, but, more importantly than that, it isn't the first time that metalheads decided to deride another genre of music for its exclusionary practices.

Remember last year, when Beyoncé released a country record? I saw members of the metal community say, "It's really not fair that country stations and the Country Music Association aren't recognizing Beyoncé since she's mainly from another genre." Of course, that was smugly followed by, "But, I guess we should expect it, amirite? You know, country people and how they exclude people that aren't already in the scene, especially if they look different from anyone else that has prominence."

But it's very hard to take these stances seriously when "trve cvltists" will not just take a shot at a band, but people who would dare admit they like a band. These fans of whatever particular pariah band the community have decided are "not worthy," will dismissively say, "Well, people who like not bands don't REALLY like metal, so they aren't part of the community and their opinion doesn't matter."

And this is not just reserved for single bands and their fans. As we all know, bands exist within genres, and there are entire genres of "not metal". Hair metal, screamo, metalcore, and, of course, who can forget nu-metal, which was pilloried until the recent new nu-metal revival and all the contrarians came back to say they actually liked nu-metal all along.

So we must ask ourselves, what do all those genres have in common? Well, they aren't musically the same, clearly. The time periods aren't the same, so that's not it. I'm going to oversimplify a bit here, but these genres and bands do have something in common, and that is simply that they became popular to people outside of the metal sphere.

"Well, no, it's because they're not heavy, you fool."

But is that it, Strawman in a battle vest?

Heilung, Emma Ruth Rundle, Alecast, Opeth's middle to late discography... none of these are the heaviest things that have ever come out, yet they are still under the metal umbrella, and there is very little argument in the community about that.

"Well, all those things are just unoriginal."

Oh, I see Strawman. Nice obscure band patch you have there, by the way. So then, let me pose this question to you: Is the same black metal record that is trying to be Emperor from the 90s original? The countless thrash bands that desperately want to be a Bay Area band from the 80s? That's what originality looks like? The death metal bands that can't even seem to get a different font for their band names are original? How many stoner bands are LITERALLY trying to be Black Sabbath, and they get a mammoth pass?

The truth is, metal fans don't really like innovation. Metal fans like slight variations on things they already like.

And, that's okay. That's actually pretty normal. But it is very difficult for you to convince me that you like originality when a band dares to do something unique, gains some popularity, and they get shunned by the community.

"Well, everyone knows that if a lot of people like something, it isn't good."

Strawman, c'mon... that's a real argument you're trying to make? Because let me tell you, the inverse is also not true. Just because a majority of people don't like something doesn't make it good either. And, further to that, if you're actively trying to keep people out unless it's on your specific terms, you are not a welcoming, open-minded community.

I'm not sure if everyone else has noticed this, but metal and its fans are getting old because that's how time works. It's also no secret that metal does not have the drawing power that it did in its heyday. Now, I could make a very salient argument that 44% of tickets sold to attend Download Festival this year were to first-time attendees, but I'm sure that has nothing to do with a popular band that younger fans enjoy headlining on one of the days.

And before you simplify in order to misrepresent my argument, is Sleep Token the only reason that is happening? Of course not. But having a band that for a while was all over TikTok headlines certainly didn't deter young people from going to a festival, and I'm not sure how you could argue otherwise.

Now, if you're a fan of metal, the above info should fill you with a bit of hope. Young people might take up the torch and actually keep the genre going with fresh and interesting ideas, and take something you care about and breathe fresh life into it... If they stick around, that is. Because you know what has never helped to make people stay in the scene? The elitism that metal has cultivated through its outsider mentality.

Speaking of, one argument someone threw at me was that Sleep Token was, and I quote, "diluting metal," as opposed to other bands that were "distilling metal," citing slam as an example of the latter in relation to death metal.

Now, I find this argument not even worth engaging with, but apropos of nothing, hey, did you also notice that metal has a higher amount of real Swastika wearing, piece of shit Nazis versus other music genres? There is literally a subgenre of black metal, National Socialist Black Metal, that is dedicated to espousing the most heinous and stupid ideas the worst and dimmest among us want to put forward. Do you think that these drooling simpleton white supremists feeling free to form an entire subgenre and flaunt it in and among the community might... maybe... possibly... have something to do with the fact that metal purposely and actively tries to discourage new people from joining? Does it try to actively keep out "undesirables" and will describe something new as "diluting" the purity of a proud lineage they think themselves a part of?

Just to be clear, because if I don't make this point, this will all be written off as entirely invalid, I am not saying that if you like metal or are even just your run-of-the-mill elitist, you're one of these Nazis. What I am saying is that this attitude of exclusion and looking down at people as inferior doesn't exactly make people who hold similar ideas in other areas feel as unwelcome as they should. In fact, some of these, and I will be generous here, "problematic" artists are not shouted down, and, in fact, are actively venerated. Alex Terrible in Slaughter to Prevail had a Nazi tattoo, and even though he now says he made "bad decisions in his youth," he doesn't really go into detail about what that means. Phil Anselmo of Pantera has done multiple Nazi salutes and been known to throw out racial slurs, and then hides behind "being drunk". People are wearing Burzum shirts to shows with no shame, but I'm sure this list of non-exhaustive examples is just nothing.

But fine. Make the same "poser leave the hall" comments and make sure to express that all other people are not worthy to stand next to you in liking something. You're doing your part to try to keep people here by making sure they feel unwelcome. That is what metal is for, right? Exclusively for the outsiders, those shunned by society. "You must be this socially awkward to hear these blast beats," right? It would be funny if it weren't so deeply sad.

What will welcoming these people do to metal exactly? Will it mean that Methwitch won't continue to make music that sounds like hell made real? Will it mean power metal will have to stop singing exclusively about dragons, fire, and metal? Will it mean Cannibal Corpse will suddenly have a lead singer who is obsessed with adorable plushies? Well, if you're worried about the last one, I've got bad news for you, sunshine.

No, none of the terrible things you envision will come to pass, just like it didn't when Metallica became a worldwide phenomenon. Just like it didn't happen when nu-metal brought hip hop and metal together, much to the chants of purists saying, "Keep your rap out of my metal." We've seen this all before, and metal has not diluted from it. It has become stronger, better, and taken more seriously as an artistic medium.

And if you do think that metal will be lost with this influx of new sounds and ideas, then you shouldn't be here. I would rather stand with a Sleep Token fan, hungry to discover new things and maybe only dip their toes into metal, than to listen to the same musical cliches that you can't and seem hellbent to never let the genre change or evolve.

And so let me end this by turning around the popular thing that I have seen bandied about metalhead circles:

"People that gatekeep and actively shit on people for their musical choices... They don't REALLY like metal. They should leave the hall, for they are not the trve cvltists that metal deserve and their poser opinion does not matter." 

Andrew Weiler is the host of Grade A Explosives, on-air Sundays from 4-6 pm. He is also the Metal Director at CJLO.

MTELUS Reaches Euphoria Under Snow Strippers’ Spell

January 21 2026 //

Walking out of Saint Laurent metro, it wasn’t hard to spot who was headed to the Snow Strippers show. Fuzzy leg warmers, mini shorts with ripped tights, and spiked hair all moved excitedly towards MTELUS. Under the venue’s painted ceiling stood a growing crowd, with sunglasses in their hair and plastic cups in their hands. The night was very much young and alive, as conversation mixed with electronic pop resonated across the room.

The room was full as Anna Luna began the show, her silhouette emerging in clouds of smoke as she danced on stage. The hyper-pop and electronic princess blended dreamy vocals with a heavier electronic sound with tracks like Rotten and "So High". Her reverbed lyrics lingered through the venue as strobes pierced the haze, setting the stage for the euphoric evening. Hands swayed in the air, eye makeup smudged from sweat and heat of the night, and the smell of cigarettes was unavoidable yet welcomed - The scene felt like something out of a Skins episode. Behind the DJ deck was Los Angeles producer Eera, who followed with his own hypnotic set. Despite the doors having opened hours ago, spirits and energy were high, bodies pressed up against each other moving as one.

As 10pm came around, three drinks deep, a Crystal Castles track playing through the speakers faded as the room turned black. As Tatianna Schwaninger and Graham Perez stepped onto the stage, effortlessly commanding the venue under pulsing red and purple lights, seconds seemed to slow down. Snow Strippers started with the chaotically explosive "Just Your Doll" as everyone in the room jumped around. The moment felt like a dream, as the audience was mesmerized by the duo’s perfectly chaotic and messy nature. Despite oxygen feeling sparse as bodies pushed and shoved against each other, the heat of the moment seemed to only add to the euphoria. Vocalist Schwaninger seemed untouchably cool, dancing around the stage in her red top and shorts, glitchy vocals flooding the room as Perez was stationed behind the deck. Lights swirled behind them as the crowd accompanied the duo through every note, beat and breath. Phones, old digital and VHS cameras swayed in the air, all wanting to capture the moment, though none could come close to capturing the night’s essence. Tracks melted into each other, the night passing in a blur.

As Schwaninger sang the eclectic and raw "So What If I’m A Freak" into the room, the audience sang every word back. The track is unapologetically messy, loud and chaotic, well encompassing the Snow Strippers aesthetic. As the track’s sample from a viral YouTube video I’m with the suicide squad brought the song to its peak, the duo took the whole room on a trip, whether you were high or sober. The show was surreal, as tracks like "Know My Name" and "Aching Like It’s swallowed the crowd". After many tracks spanning across their discography and repeated alarm and gunshot effects, with sweat clinging to skin and an aftertaste of tequila, the energy reached its peak as the familiar "Under Your Spell" started playing. Imposing lights consumed the venue, the smoke thick as the duo’s silhouettes cut through the haze. As they performed their most popular song, it was difficult to properly see them because of the sea of bodies moving up and down – yet you could still feel the ecstasy of the moment as the ground shook through chopped vocals and synths.

The night ended unapologetically loud and messy with the explosive Castle, the duo drowned in the flashing stage lights as spilled drinks covered the floor. The aftermath of the night lingered outside the venue through the groups raving about the show over a joint outside or the two girls singing "Know My Name" in the metro - Snow Strippers proved that Indie Sleaze is in good hands.

 

McGill’s Lilith Fair Returns Bigger and Better in 2026

January 20 2026 //

As a first-year student at Concordia, I’d never been to McGill’s Lilith Fair, though I’m aware that it happened last year as well. This mini-festival, organized by the McGill Collective for Gender Equality and McGill’s Jam for Justice, is inspired by the original Lilith Fair, founded by Sarah McLachlan in 1997. Her goal with this festival was to promote female artists and address gender inequality in the music industry. To do this, she selected only female artists or female-led bands to perform, which McGill’s lineup reflected as well (with the addition of queer-led artists as well). This year’s sets were absolutely fantastic, with Night 1 showcasing Boyish Apocalypse, PascalePascale, Fionavair and Bebe and Oona; and Night 2 with 2kyerg, Angela Bégin (CJLO DJ!!), Palomine, and Niivi.

I was attending Lilith Fair on behalf of Palomine, a McGill band that only started performing in 2025 but has been doing shows all over Montreal (and the occasional Ontarian city). As I’m friends with one of the frontmen, I was asked to take photos of both Lilith shows, which I immediately said yes to. I’ve seen Palomine a few times, so I am a slight superfan, but I had never seen some of the bands before, and I was not disappointed.

I’d seen Niivi two summers ago in Ottawa at one of their first gigs (maybe it was their first ever), and they were just starting out. The singer, Niivi Snowball, is an Inuk musician whose music is centred around their Indigenous culture and the struggles they’ve faced because of this. Extremely emotionally charged, their songs were angry and loud but also extremely beautiful. Headlining Night 2, as was deserved, this band has improved so much since their first show. With a new guitarist and drummer, their set was incredibly fluid. Many of my friends were remarking on the skill level of the band, and the rest of the audience seemed to respond extremely well, dancing and moving the whole time. 

Palomine, performing right before Niivi, definitely set them up for success. Every time I see this band, they get better. I especially love bringing my friends to see them because I know no one will ever be disappointed. Palomine’s songs are so intentional and atmospheric, often quite long and mostly full of beautiful instrumentals. It’s easy to get lost in their music, yet I find myself always fascinated by every part and every instrument. They gained a fifth member in the last couple of months, so they’re on the larger side, but by no means excessive. Every aspect feels very necessary. I would highly recommend a Palomine show to anyone feeling uninspired or low, as I guarantee a surge in passion and overall joy afterwards. Though no matter your mood, this band will certainly be enjoyed whenever and is one to look out for.

PascalePascale is also hugely inspirational for me. This was my second time seeing her, the first was when she opened for Palomine in early November, a show that arguably might’ve changed my life (I’ll avoid being dramatic). Performing mostly solo and sometimes with a band, Pascale has mastered the art of riffs and rhythms. Her songs aren’t overcomplicated, but they’re almost sneaky, featuring a sudden harmonic or chord change when you’d least expect it. Her music is so hypnotic and incredibly moving that I often find myself sitting in an excited anticipation of where each song will go. Especially seeing her now with a band, there was a moment where the entire crowd reacted to a change in the song, which was so cathartic. It is euphoric moments like these that are so unique to live music, and Pascale delivers them every time. I can't wait to see what she does next, and I’m sure I’ll be increasingly impressed.

If it wasn’t obvious, this experience was incredibly rewarding. I’m constantly astounded by the music scene in Montreal, especially student-led bands. I struggle to understand how anyone has time to organize these events while juggling their academics and personal lives. However, you wouldn’t know that any of these artists were students based on how professional and practiced they present themselves. I’m sure Lilith Fair will return next year, EVEN bigger and better. I feel so lucky to have attended, and to anyone who didn’t know about it, look out for it next year!

Dom is the host of Unheard Of, playing all new music Wednesdays from 11-12

Quinton Barnes Helps Me Understand the Meaning of Life

January 16 2026 //

A few days before Quinton Barnes was set to perform at Casa Del Popolo, I listened to Quinton’s most recent project, Black Noise, an album characterized by the unsettling cacophony of orchestral instruments inspired by Miles Davis, overlayed over an otherwise beautifully produced album. On the day of the show, I woke up at 6 in the morning to catch a rideshare from Ottawa to Montreal. At around 7:30, right at the Quebec/Ontario border, the driver hit a patch of ice going over 100 km/h, lost control and swerved off the side of the road, nestling itself in a snowy ditch, leaving us unscathed. I had narrowly escaped death, I should have been overjoyed, but instead I found myself sobbing on the side of the highway. The realization that my life could be taken away at any moment, without preparation, that I could never be fully in control over whether I lived or died, filled me with dread.

As the concert drew closer, the uncomfortable saxophone runs, the erratic screams of the trumpets, and the screeching strings that I remembered from Black Noise played through my head. While I knew it might not be the easiest listening experience, I walked into the bar with confidence and made my way to the front of the crowd, knowing that I was prepared for what was to come…or so I thought. Quinton Barnes walked up to the stage, plugged his phone into the sound system, and affronted the audience with booming 808s, otherworldly synthesizers, distorted samples and an aggressive style of rapping. This was not Black Noise; this was something totally different. Life had taken me by surprise once again, and it wouldn’t be the last time that happened that night. 

In the first half of the show, Barnes performed songs from “For the Love of Drugs”, which, according to the artist, takes inspiration from industrial R&B, hip-hop, electronic artists like SOPHIE and Arca, Afropessimism and “a loud ass disruptive baby.”  I found myself bobbing my head to the incredibly heavy and grimy instrumental on “To Freedom”, but it was when the song suddenly switched to an elegant, synthy, beautifully sung melody that I realized how truly talented this artist was. As the night went on, Barnes continued showcasing his versatility. Elements from the Southern Trap movements of the early 2010s appeared on songs like “Stunner” and “Scenes Of”, while the ethereal production on songs like “Fuck On U” turned the room into a dream sequence. 

Throughout the show, Barnes occupied the instrumental breaks with energetic and explosive dancing. Despite this, the crowd remained stubbornly still, as if in direct defiance of Barnes’ enthusiasm. This all changed when “LaLaLa”, the first track of the album CODE NOIR, blasted out of the speakers. An uneasy feeling spread throughout the room as if we were all thinking, “Uh-oh, am I gonna start dancing too?” As Barnes continued performing his catchy electronic dance songs, the crowd started to stir, the tiny backroom of the bar morphed into a Boiler Room set, and time seemed to stop. Soon, the whole room was dancing as if in a trance, and I was enthralled. Through both his infectious rhythms and his visually stimulating stage presence, Barnes could make any crowd dance, and I suspect it won’t be too long until every club in the city will be scrambling to book him.

In the days following the accident, I came to the realisation that the unexpected is what makes the human experience as beautiful as it is tragic. Not knowing what will happen next is part of the fun, and I believe that there are very few people on this planet who could have made me understand this better than Quinton Barnes. When his show finally ended, I realized that for the second time that day, I had lost control over my own life, and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

 

It’s Marty Supreme, It’s Marty Supreme: A Review of Marty Supreme

January 15 2026 //

The press tour for Josh Safdie’s new film, Marty Supreme, is virtually inescapable. Perhaps you’ve seen the orange blimp flying over the southern USA. Or the viral colour-block windbreaker worn by a motley list of celebrities ranging from Patti LuPone to Bill Nye to Frank Ocean. Or star Timothée Chalamet rapping a verse on EsDeeKid’s “4 Raws”, which is my personal favourite of the film’s idiosyncratic promotional stunts. Underscoring this marketing extravaganza is Chalamet’s insistence on his own excellence. With his declared ambition to be considered “one of the greats,” Chalamet sets a high bar for his performance—a bar which he extraordinarily exceeds, cementing his status as a generational talent. 

Marty Supreme follows Jewish-American Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) as he endeavours to prove to the world what he unwaveringly believes about himself: that he is the greatest ping pong player ever. The film begins with Marty as a silver-tongued shoe salesman working for his uncle Murray (Larry ‘Ratso’ Sloman), and his first lines spoken are lies to a customer about shoe size. Enter Rachel Mizler (Odessa A’Zion), the fiery married woman with whom he is engaged in an affair. After the two have sex in the shoe store’s stockroom, an inspired opening credit sequence plays, during which Rachel’s freshly fertilized ovum transforms into a ping pong ball. The film’s first act sees Marty rob the shoe store at gunpoint to retrieve $700 (which, to be fair, he is owed) and fly off to compete in the British Open. Marty beats the reigning champion, Hungarian Holocaust survivor Bela Kletzki (Géza Röhrig), but is ultimately defeated in the finals by the deaf Japanese newcomer Endo (played by Koto Kawaguchi, who is also a deaf table tennis player in real life). Broke and humiliated, Marty tours with the Harlem Globetrotters as a farcical sideshow act in order to scrounge together enough money for transportation to the next year’s table tennis championship in Tokyo. 

What follows is an odyssey at breakneck speed: Marty runs from the police after his uncle has him arrested, Marty learns Rachel is pregnant with his child, Marty owes $1500 to the International Table Tennis Association, Marty accidentally gets involved with mobster Ezra Mishkin (Abel Ferrara), Marty hustles with cab driver Wally (Tyler Okonma, AKA Tyler, the Creator), Marty begins an affair with former movie star Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), Marty is abjectly degraded by Stone’s megalomaniac husband Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary), Marty repeatedly devolves himself into deeper and deeper debt. Josh Safdie co-edited the film with longtime collaborator Ronald Bronstein, and the result is electric, gripping audiences from the very first shot and leaving no time for respite. At every turn, audiences don’t know what to expect; the only certainty is Marty’s unyielding conviction of his destiny, and his willingness to exploit and sacrifice anyone and anything to realize it. As he says in one scene, when Kay Stone asks him what he plans to do if his dream doesn’t work out: “That doesn’t even enter my consciousness.” 

Safdie and Bronstein also co-wrote the film and created the character of Marty Mauser for Chalamet specifically. While Marty Supreme is ultimately Chalamet’s show, his performance is thrillingly matched by Odessa A’Zion, who plays Rachel with such ferocity that scenes between the two are nothing short of exhilarating. Gwyneth Paltrow is masterful as Kay Stone, conveying her character’s underlying need for love with a steady confidence. Aided by his persona as a ruthless investor on Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary’s performance as Milton Rockwell is bone-chilling. The film’s soundtrack is replete with songs from the 1980s, reflecting Marty’s fixation on his future grandiosity, his conviction that he is miles ahead of those around him, and his refusal to occupy himself with past or present happenings.

Set in 1953, just eight years after the Holocaust, Marty Supreme is fundamentally a secular Jewish story about chasing assimilation in a society that continues to sideline you. Marty imbues himself with a messianic purpose, driven by a pathological need to vindicate the Jewish people from their perceived weakness following the Holocaust. He calls himself “Hitler’s worst nightmare.” He gifts his mother (Fran Drescher) a piece of an Egyptian pyramid that he hacked off while touring with the Harlem Globetrotters and forcefully proclaims: “We built that.” The weight of six million dead Jews propels his dogged determination to prove himself, not only as the greatest ping pong player in the world, but as a beacon of American exceptionalism. 

What makes the film’s tagline, “Made in America” so poignant is that Marty’s brash conviction of his primordial superiority is what makes him so American after all. 

Marty Supreme is currently playing in cinemas.

 

CJLO YEAR END TOP 100 OF 2025

January 13 2026 //

We made it to 2026! Every year it feels like CJLO is getting bigger and better. From filling our schuedule from 10AM-10PM, to multiple packed concerts, to the most successful funding drive in station history, 2025 had a lot to be proud of. As we look back on 2025, lets also give a nod to all the amazing local, underground, and otherwise just awesome albums our DJs have spun in the past year. From the explosive rise of Geese, to new albums from station legends like No Joy and Kestels, to Ribbon Skirt's miraculous run, holding down both the #10 and #1 spots, CJLO kept its finger on the pulse all year long. 

Take a look through the top spins of 2025 tay tuned for everything your favourite campus-community radio station has in store for 2016!

  1. Ribbon Skirt - Bite Down

  2. Cootie Catcher - Shy at First

  3. No Joy - Bugland

  4. Fencing - Fencing Wikipedia

  5. Karma Glider - From the Haze of a Revved Up Youth

  6. Casper Skulls - Kit-Cat

  7. Marlaena Moore - Because You Love Everything

  8. Water From Your Eyes - It's a Beautiful Place

  9. Shunk - Shunkland

  10. Ribbon Skirt - Pensacola

  11. Wednesday - Bleeds

  12. Men I Trust - Equus Asinus

  13. TOPS - Bury the Key

  14. Ada Lea - When I Paint My Masterpiece

  15. Mike Shabb - Shabbvangogh

  16. Eliza Niemi - Progress Bakery

  17. Hotline TNT - Raspberry Moon

  18. Joni Void - Every Life Is a Light

  19. Sunforger - Auspices

  20. Kestrels - Better Wonder

  21. Big Thief - Double Infinity

  22. Bluffing - Nature

  23. Geese - Getting Killed

  24. They Are Gutting a Body of Water - Lotto

  25. Bracelet - I Hear Bracelet

  26. Shallowater - God's Gonna Give You a Million Dollars

  27. Bonnie Trash - Mourning You

  28. Quinton Barnes - Black Noise

  29. Choses Sauvages - Choses Sauvages III

  30. Swimming - Old

  31. Heaven for Real - Who Died and Made You the Dream

  32. Birds of Prrrey - Birds of Prrrey Live from CJLO

  33. Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love

  34. Whitney K - Bubble

  35. Wombo - Danger in Fives

  36. Prism Shores - Out from Underneath

  37. Backxwash - Only Dust Remains

  38. Mike and Tony Seltzer - Pinball II

  39. Hanorah - Closer Than Hell

  40. Last Waltzon - Wethouse

  41. Living Hour - Internal Drone Infinity

  42. Maddie Jay - I Can Change Your Mind

  43. Alex G - Headlights

  44. American Lips - On Strike!

  45. Poolgirl - I Can't Swim

  46. Nicholas Craven & Boldy James - Late to My Own Funeral

  47. Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones

  48. Blood Orange - Essex Honey

  49. Helene Barbier - Panorama

  50. Panda Bear - Sinister Grift

  51. Mares of Thrace - The Loss

  52. Quinton Barnes - Code Noir

  53. Tim Hecker - Shards

  54. Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn

  55. Funeral Lakes - Mountains Turned to Dust

  56. Milk & Bone - Baby Dreamer

  57. Peace Flag Ensemble - Everything Is Possible

  58. Sunwell - Sunshine, Etc

  59. Yeule - Evangelic Girl Is a Gun

  60. Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film

  61. Mike Shabb - Fight the Power!

  62. Marie Davidson - City of Clowns

  63. Daffo  - Where the Earth Bends

  64. Oklou - Choke Enough

  65. Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures

  66. N Nao - Nouveau Language

  67. Nadah El Shazly - Laini Tani

  68. The Weather Station - Humanhood

  69. Fly Anakin - (The) Forever Dream

  70. Teethe - Magic of the Sale

  71. Basia Bulat - Basia's Palace

  72. Bleary Eyed - Easy

  73. Swans - Birthing

  74. Yoo II avec Nolan Potter - Yoo II avec Nolan Potter

  75. Fine Food Market - I'm Afraid to Be in Love with Someone Who Crashes Their Car That Much

  76. Bambii - Infinity Club II EP

  77. Superstar Crush - Way Too Much

  78. Franki - All the Things I Try to Say

  79. Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal

  80. Still Depths - Like Hell

  81. PUP - Who Will Look After the Dogs?

  82. Common Holly - Anything Glass

  83. Jim Legxacy - Black British Music (2025)

  84. Frog - 1000 Variations on the Same Song

  85. Thanya Iyer - Tide/Tied

  86. Bloodshot Bill - So Fed Up

  87. Alix Fernz - Symphonie publicitaire sous influence

  88. Saya Gray - Saya

  89. Destroyer - Dan's Boogie

  90. Quadeca - Vanisher, Horizon Scraper

  91. Blooming Season - In the Presence of Another

  92. Greg Freeman - Burnover

  93. Momma - Welcome to My Blue Sky

  94. Propagandhi - At Peace

  95. Foxwarren - 2

  96. Sadboi - Dry Cry

  97. Isabella Lovestory - Vanity

  98. 9Million - 9Million

  99. Debby Friday - The Starr of Queen of Life

  100. Matt Jencik and Midwife - Never Die

Aviva Majerczyk is the head music director at CJLO 1690AM. She is also the host of The Alley, a folk-rock show airing Fridays at 11:00 AM.

The End of the Internet…or Is It?

January 5 2026 //

Over the past decade, we have tacitly acknowledged that online, we are the product. Our search histories and scrolling habits are being sold, not just to corporations, but also to government intelligence agencies. Relinquishing any modicum of privacy feels so inevitable that most of us passively surrender our online data to the ownership of a few major internet conglomerates. Dylan Reibling’s 2025 film, The End of the Internet, which screened at the 28th annual RIDM (Montreal International Documentary Festival) back in November, provides a glimpse into various resistance groups around the globe operating decentralized online networks to resist this data control. 

Instantly positioning the consolidation of internet power as problematic, the film opens with an anecdote about the so-called “Google Maps War,” in which an armed conflict was nearly incited between Nicaragua and Costa Rica due to Google Maps mistakenly labelling Isla Calero as Nicaraguan territory. The film then attempts to demystify how the internet operates by describing network nodes, undersea fibre optic cables, and internet exchange points, showcasing how the centralized internet leaves users vulnerable to cyber attacks and control of information. 

The crux of the film introduces five decentralizing movements seeking to preserve ownership of data in the hands of the user. Mimicking the experience of surfing the web, the film bounces between communities in Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, Catalonia, and Miami, offering cursory glances into the internet experiments occurring within them. In the social media age, when our shortened attention spans have been tirelessly memed and editorialized to the point of tedium, this spasmodic structure is well-suited. That said, the most common refrain I overheard when leaving the theatre was that people wished the film selected a subject to focus on in further depth.

In the director’s statement published on the film’s website, Reibling writes that the objective of the decentralizing groups is “to rewire the internet in the service of freedom and equity.” This prescription undoubtedly applies to a platform like Mapeo, a peer-to-peer mapping tool used by Indigenous communities in Brazil to ensure that information regarding locations of various natural resources is protected from government seizure. However, the film spends significant time on the decentralized personal server platform Urbit, a platform which decidedly opposes those professed ideological claims. 

Urbit was co-founded by Galen Wolfe-Pauly and Curtis Yarvin, the latter of whom has amassed a loyal following as a far-right political pundit under his pseudonym Mencius Moldbug. Yarvin argues for “neocameralism,” a political system that abolishes liberal democracy and replaces it with a patchwork of city-states each owned by a CEO sovereign. Yarvin is essentially a technofascist who is on the record saying that he is “not exactly allergic” to white nationalism, among other reactionary statements. These might sound like the ravings of a lunatic, but his ideas are endorsed by some of the most influential members of the American ruling class, including Vice President JD Vance and his puppet master, Peter Thiel. Yarvin’s social vision is inextricable from Urbit, as the network’s hierarchical structure materializes neocameralism on a virtual scale. 

Yet, Yarvin’s neofascistic social vision is only briefly mentioned in the final minutes of the documentary—a choice which, combined with the film’s presentation of Urbit in an identical manner to all other networks presented and the inclusion of Urbit’s literal marketing materials, leaves viewers with what is functionally an advertisement for the platform. 

I left the documentary feeling rather helpless, as while some of the decentralized movements Reibling shows are fascinating and commendable, the documentary gave no material advice on how an ordinary girl like me can seize control of my data and protect against corporate and government surveillance. Urbit is the most accessible decentralized option covered in the documentary, which frankly feels like that “the illusion of free choice” meme where a cow sees two hallways that lead to the same dead end—in this case, the dead end is a technofascist future where my mortal enemy Peter Thiel reigns supreme.

The End of the Internet screened at the 28th annual RIDM and is streaming on MUBI.

Dijon Commands L'Olympia with Unpredictable Energy

December 20 2025 //

Most people have at least one artist they tell themselves they must see live one day. Some years they just don’t come to your city, or the dates don’t work out, or the album releases don’t come as often as you’d hoped. But finally, on a Friday in late November, as I was standing at the back of a crowd, eyes very slowly closing and opening again, looking around at the marvel that is the L’Olympia venue, I had experienced that sweet satisfaction of checking Dijon off my list. 

Around mid-August of this year, I took two of my best friends to my late-grandmother’s home on the waterfront of Mayne Island, BC. After a day of whimsical, child-like fun that felt like four days squished into one, we sat in front of the TV and watched Dijon’s short film: Absolutely. It makes me emotional every time I see it; a stunning live performance of tracks off the 2021 album that can’t be described as anything else but raw, musical magic. My friend Aliyah is sitting on the floor, and we realize Dijon is going on tour soon. She says, “If I can’t get tickets for the Vancouver show, I’m coming to Montreal.” And that she did, along with my partner from Ottawa, making for a night I knew would be filled with love, beaming light and memories. 

Dijon’s style has become increasingly polarizing, and he wears it on the sleeve of his live performances. Whereas his debut album, Absolutely, was tender, soft, and heartbreaking, Baby packs a punch that hits you from all angles. Its radical leap from the acoustic and mellow tones is unapologetic. Drums and random vocal snippets played loudly between tracks, making for almost no silences throughout the entire show. Even when starting it off with the song “Many Times” from Absolutely, it was fast and loud and had a totally different feel, making you wanna jump up and down rather than hold your head in your hands. 

But it wasn’t complete chaos. It was like a mature tenderness that embodied themes of sacrifice and of changing life stages, the album being named after his son and the music reflecting that transition. The intense sampling from the recorded album is amplified in the performance and fills the whole space with sounds from all directions, with a mesmerizing light show that flashes on cue. My face hurt from smiling, and everyone else around me was beaming. It was hard not to be pumped up for whatever would come next. 

Dijon also has a uniquely passionate voice. My boyfriend Caleb and I joke about how he sings in cursive, which you could hear so crisply through the loudspeakers. Like his close pal Mk.gee, he’s not afraid to screech and yelp between words. Even in the slower songs, where he sang low and soft, the light in his voice never dimmed, and his eyes were squeezed shut with intense focus. I’ve got to give props to his drummer, too, who was grooving to the music the whole time with his cymbals positioned high as hell. 

With Dijon growing in popularity, even gaining the title of Pitchfork’s “Artist of the Year” for 2025, I’ve sometimes contemplated whether his new direction in music is still for me. Music rooted in spontaneity and an improvisational nature can be destabilizing, making you rethink where you stand with the artist and if what they think is working, is really working for you. Seeing someone you admire perform live can settle that, I think. Intently watching how they move through the process, interact with the crowd, their instruments and their collaborators is telling.

The story Dijon told that night gave me all the assurance I needed. You can tell he cares, maybe too much and to his own fault. I read Paul Thompson’s Pitchfork article that talks a lot about his struggle in crafting this album, but it seems to have paid off. His on-stage crew were smiling ear-to-ear watching him sing, and the interactive nature between them was lovely and free. There wasn’t a ton of crowd interaction as I’ve seen in clips of his other shows, but I was there for the music, which was strongly delivered.

 

CJLO'S BEST OF 2025

December 18 2025 //

As we close out another great year at CJLO, we asked our DJs and staff to compile their favourite music, media, and, well, anything of 2025! Join us for recommendations of albums, songs, films, snacks, shows, and other experiences you may have missed this past year.

Aviva - Head Music Director and Host of The Alley, Fridays 11:00AM

It's the most wonderful time of the year, 'best of' time! It has been a huge year for CJLO. We've had so many changes and successes, I'm so proud of this little community. I truly have the best job in the world, where every week I'm inspired by the tastes and passions of all of our CJLO DJs, and I think that's reflected in my top 10s this year. So, without further ado, have fun reading through all our takes!

Best Albums of 2025

1. Water From Your Eyes - It’s a Beautiful Place

To say I was shocked by this year’s Water From You Eyes record would be an understatement. Up until this point, WFYE had blended into the sea of New York Zillennial bands I knew hip people were talking about, but I hadn’t given a shot. However, It’s A Beautiful Place can’t help but grab you from the first track. Rachel Brown’s deadpan and too-cool-for-you vocal stylings over Nate Amos’ catchy songwriting and unexpected production choices make this guitar-driven experimental pop so infectious. This album blends catchy pop tracks with a general feeling of unease that is all too relatable for our current moment.

2. caroline - caroline 2

The album that got me through thesis writing. caroline 2’s blend of avant-folk and post-rock envelops you in swells of strings and drones. It is a particular album that can be put on for really any mood/activity and yet still demands your attention. The violins and choir vocals on “Two Riders Down” and “U R UR ONLY ACHING” are discordant but somehow soothing at the same time. For the rest of the year, I’ve been trying to find more albums that sound like this.

3. Wednesday - Bleeds

Wednesday keeps on getting better and better. The band at the forefront of the Asheville alt-country scene cements their legacy with this record, with roaring highs (“Bitter Everyday,” “Pick Up That Kife”) and heartfelt quieter moments (“Elderberry Wine,” “The Way Love Goes”). Karly Hartzman’s pen is sharp and witty, and her voice booms over this record. 

4. Ribbon Skirt - Bite Down

I’ve said a lot about Ribbon Skirt, and I’ve been saying it since back in their Love Language days. Bite Down is everything a debut record should be– intriguing, concise, and with a strong point of view. The driving guitars and lush production, together with lyrical landscapes of Indigenous culture and environmental decay, make Bite Down singular in the indie rock landscape. Ribbon Skirt has been on a tear this year, with stand-out SXSW showcases, signing to Mint Records, a Polaris shortlist spot, and the release of this record and an EP right on its tail. Ribbon Skirt is a great reminder of the talent we have here in Montreal. 

5. Greg Freeman - Burnover

Greg Freeman’s Burnover was one of my most-anticipated albums of the year, and it did not disappoint. This country-rock record is full of quirky characters and sprawling stories that put Freeman at the top of his class for this new generation of slacker indie. The album puts aside the shoegaze influences of his 2023 debut in favour of more plucky, naturalistic instrumentals, which suit his Americana theming well. 

6. Lily Seabird - Trash Mountain

Another Burlington, VT artist back-to-back?? Cool! Lily Seabird (mem. Greg Freeman band and vice versa) also put out a beautiful country-rock record this year. American rural decay is put on beautiful display on Trash Mountain, in this pedal steel and harmonica-driven record that would make any Lucinda Williams fan smile. 

7. Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn

I was totally captured by these little Chicago guys. Rip-roaring energy from the first note that doesn’t let up for the entire 30-minute record. Between Lifeguard, Sharp Pins, and Horsegirl, this new generation of the Chicago Matador-related scene has been very fun to watch. Lifeguard finds a way to toe the line between wearing its post-punk influences on its sleeve while still creating a sound uniquely their own. The band’s show at L’Esco this past summer was amazing, but did, for other reasons, define itself as, for better or worse (worse), the weirdest night of my year. Real Aviva-heads know. Moving on. 

8. Florry - Sounds Like…

Yet another great country-rock record this year. Wow, it’s almost as if there has been an explosion in this genre and scene in these past two years… Florry does it impeccably, though. A record that doesn’t take itself too seriously, lyrical motifs include river dips and Holly Hunter movies over beds of some classic rock n’ roll riffage. 

9. No Joy - Bugland

What a fun surprise the new No Joy album was! Blending the local artist’s distinctive shoegaze sound with experimental y2k-evocative production by Fire-toolz, Bugland is 90s referential but wholly unique. 

10. Gelli Haha - Switcheroo

This album is so silly!! Switcheroo is wacky, cartoony synth pop made for the weird art kids. It feels like going to a cool LA club that’s full of circus clowns.
 

Honourable Mentions

Ela Minus - DIA

Home Is Where - Hunting Season

Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On

Acopia - Blush Response

Annahstasia - Tether

Rochelle Jordan - Through the Wall

 

Best Local and CanCon of 2025

Marlaena Moore - Because You Love Everything

Living Hour - Internal Drone Infinity

Heaven For Real - Who Died And Made You The Dream?

Eliza Niemi - Progress Bakery

Goldenstar - goldenstar EP

Sunforger - Auspices EP

Casper Skulls - Kit-Cat

Common Holly - Anything Glass

Alicia Clara - Nothing Dazzled

Fine Food Market - I’m afraid to be in love with anyone who crashes their car that much

Sunwell - Sunshine, Etc. EP

Holly McLachlan - faith adventure

 

Notable Shows of 2025

Cindy Lee @ Rialto Theatre

Land of Talk @ La Sala Rossa

Los3r @ Taverne Tour

Mount Eerie @ Le Fairmount

Fantasy of a Broken Heart @ Mohawk (SXSW)

 

Strangest Karaoke Picks of 2025

Galaxie 500 - "Tugboat"

Built to Spill - "Carry the Zero"

The Velvet Underground - "I Found A Reason"

Metric - "Black Sheep"

LCD Soundsystem - "Drunk Girls"

Lisa - Station Manager and Host of Mirror Journal, Tuesdays 11:00AM

2025 never fails to astound me! There have been so many wins, accomplishments and amazing experiences that have left me absolutely humbled. Below is my little list of albums and shows that kept me company during the year. There’s nothing like losing and finding yourself in art, music, community, connection. Here’s to another year of great music and adventure in the city!!!

Favourite Albums of 2025 

Frost Children - Sister 

Oklou - Choke Enough

Nadah El Shazly - Laini Tani 

caroline - caroline 2

Water from your Eyes - It’s a Beautiful Place

Claire Rousay - A Little Death 

Smerz - Big City Life 

Joseph Shabason, Nicholas Krgovich & Tenniscoats - Wao 

Saapato - Decomposition 

Early Fern - Wetland Interiors

J - Little Lock 

Joni Void - Every Life is a Light 

 

Favourite Concerts of 2025 

Takako Minekawa, Joni Void & Mineo Kawasaki (Suoni Per Il Popolo) -La Sotterranea, June 25 2025 

Sunforger, Dresser, Wally & Sundots - L'Hemisphere Gauche, July 26 2025

Barnacle, Swimming & Bracelet -The Crumper, Aug 9 2025

Sparks (Toronto) - Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Sept 17 2025

Bolis Pupul (POP Montreal) - Rialto Hall, Sept 25 2025

Cindy Lee & Freak Heat Waves - Rialto Theatre, Nov 10 2024    

Claire Rousay & Laurie Torres - Toscadura, Dec 3 2025

Cameron - Program Director and Host of Shaking the Habitual, Tuesdays 1:00PM

Best Albums of 2025

Chat Pile, Hayden Pedigo - In The Earth Again

Fencing - Fencing Wikipedia

Marie Davidson - City of Clowns

caroline - caroline 2

N Nao - Nouveau Langage

Ribbon Skirt - Bite Down

Shallowater - God’s Gonna Give You a Million Dollars

Slash Need - SIT & GRIN

Sunforger - Auspices

Swans - Birthing

They Are Gutting a Body of Water - LOTTO

Water From Your Eyes - It’s a Beautiful Place

Samuel “Thee” Roberts - Hip Hop Music Director and Host of Whip Appeal, Mondays 3:00PM

2025 was a huge year for CJLO’s hip-hop department. We held our first ever Hip-Hop 4 Life concert showcase at L’Escogriffe, shoutout 110%, Quinton Barnes and Fraud Perry! I hit up SXSW in Austin, TX with the rest of the MD crew and had a blast; plus so, so, so many great local acts dropped so much great stuff this year; Mike Shabb, SeinsSucrer, CHUNG, ZIMBA, DeusGod and many more just to name a few.

Top 10 Hip Hop/R&B Albums

1. Egotrip by John Michel & Anthony James (Loudmouth Records)

I went back and forth on what my favorite record of the year was, but I ended up giving the edge to Egotrip because of how big a surprise it was. An independent release from artists I had legitimately never heard of before, yet sounded like a masterpiece by artists who had spent decades honing their craft. A modern chipmunk-soul influenced conscious hip hop record that doesn’t ever sound corny or derivative is unheard of in today’s climate, and the songs are catchy and Michel’s lyrics are extremely relevant to the social realities of our time and the production is unbelievably creative and lush?! Highly recommend and can’t wait for what they put out next.

2. Alfredo 2 by Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist (Self-released)

This record feels like cruising through 80s Florida in a convertible at very low speeds iced out with garish diamonds and draped in floral-patterned clothes. My vibe for 2026.

3. black british music (2025) by Jim Legxacy (XL)

A masterpiece of forward-thinking UK hip hop in a year filled with projects that blew my mind from the scene.

4. Only Dust Remains by Backxwash (Ugly Hag Records)

My favorite full-length project from MTL icon Backxwash; a statement I have said after every album she puts out. Unbelievable and can’t wait for what she does next.

5. Golliwog by billy woods (Backwoodz Studioz)

At times feeling like a victory lap through woods’ vast discography and rolodex of collaborators, but at the same time cohesive and extremely creative as usual with rap’s greatest enigma.

6. Through the Wall by Rochelle Jordan (Empire)

Diva house is BACK. UK street soul is BACK. High-bpm R&B is BACK. Do you miss the vibes of 1991 dance/R&B? You should!

7. Cult Subterranea by Celestaphone & Dealers of God (Dismiss Yourself)

The most bizarre record of the year. I have no idea what the hell Celestaphone is talking about most of the time (a la Kool Keith) and I have even less of an idea where Dealers of God found the zany and off-kilter samples on this project. Must-listen if you love schizo-rap.

8. Glockaveli by Key Glock (Paper Route Empire/Republic)

Sometimes, a classic throwback southern hip-hop LP is all I need. Key Glock is the heir to the legacy of all the Memphis greats that came before him.

9. Papaholic, Vol. 1 by Papo2oo4 & Subjxct 5 (Self-released)

Just so much fun. Classic 00s east-coast flows over some ridiculous beats.

10. The Beautiful Malaise by Everything Is Psychedelic (Live at the Clinic)

Another entry into hip-hop’s wildly experimental side this year, I don’t really know how to describe this other than an hour-long odyssey of abrasive rap experimentation.

 

Top 10 Hip Hop/R&B Tracks

1. “Crush” by AJ Tracey feat. Jorja Smith (Revenge Records)

Pop-rap perfection.

2. “Girls Gone Wild” by JT (Quality Control/Motown)

A ghettotech revival by formerly one-half of the City Girls. Audacious bars and 80s electro production is the key to my heart.

3. “So Be It” by Clipse (Roc Nation)

Hot take: I’m a huge fan of Clipse, but their comeback record was supremely overrated! However, this track is up there with anything they put out in their mid-2000s peak, even better in some cases. That sample is nuts.

4. “As Far As You Know” by Corey Lingo (Natra)

I don’t know why nobody before Corey Lingo decided to study the vocal melodies of 90s slow jams instead of just sampling them for modern plugg&b, but holy s**t. So good.

5. “Life’s Too Short to Be This Afraid” by Zayok feat. H3artch3rades (Forevermore/Create Music Group)

Progressive emo-rap? Artsy trap sadcore? Glitch&B? Don’t know what to call this but I love it.

6. “LV Sandals” by EsDeeKid feat. Fakemink & Rico Ace (XV/Lizzy)

The Northern English accent will come to dominate hip-hop if I have anything to do with it.

7. “War” by Preservation & Gabe ‘Nandez feat. billy woods (Backwoodz Studioz)

Essential listening. Politically revolutionary hip-hop that really feels sonically radical as well is hard to come by sometimes, but this record achieves it and more.

8. “stick” by Jim Legxacy (XL)

One of the most underrated producers and songwriters working today.

9. “Sin City” by MIKE & Tony Seltzer (10k)

MIKE fits shockingly well on mainstream production, so much so that I think this could have been a mainstream hit if that wasn’t so antithetical to his ethos, lol!

10. “More” by George Riley (Confessions)

2000s rom-com original soundtrack scores have infiltrated R&B/pop, debated between this or PinkPantheress but I’ll go for the more underappreciated look here.

 

Top 10 Musical Obsessions

“Be Like a Woman” by Chris Rainbow

When I visited my hometown of Calgary this summer, my younger brother had this obscure yacht rock/prog pop song by Scottish singer Chris Rainbow come up while driving in his car in-between his usual mix of Chicago drill and Steely Dan. I was blown away by the unique instrumentation, killer chord progressions and the Beach Boys-style vocal layering… but even more blown away when this (now top 25 of all time personally) banger turned out to be not a hit or popular at all when it came out in 1979. Insane stuff.

 “Scarred” by Uncle Luke feat. Trick Daddy

Possibly the hardest song of all time, a high-BPM Miami bass odyssey propelled by a Barry White sample pitched up to sound like a whimsical ‘50s cartoon that Luke and Trick Daddy spit some of the grossest and most out of-pocket bars ever on top of.

Birthing by Swans

Apple Music said I listened to Swans more than any other artist this year, but that’s not hard when I listen to a 2.5-hour long album like at least 8 times in full. I also got to see them live at Le National this fall and it was a transcendent experience.

Latin American art rock

I got heavy into classic Latin prog rock this year, and while it’s too wide a net and too diverse to encompass in a brief little blurb, I’ll shoutout some of my favourites I discovered this year: Charly Garcia, Invisible, Los Jaivas, Spinetta Jade, Bubu and Congreso

Womack & Womack

The husband-and-wife duo of Cecil and Linda Womack made some of the finest soul/R&B music of the 20th century and it seems to have been mostly overlooked. If you love this genre at all, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not checking out their discography, particularly 1983’s Love Wars and 1988’s Conscience. Cecil’s rock-influenced acoustic guitar wizardry accompanies Linda’s relaxed yet powerful voice in a way I’ve never heard and don’t expect to soon.

Fijian Effluvium by Phyllomedusa

If you listen to CJLO often, I’m sure at some point you’ve thought to yourself, ‘Gee, I think I’ve heard just about every genre of music!’. I chuckle at your naivete and point you towards Phyllomedusa’s bizarre, brutal fusion of sludge metal, grindcore, and… tropical steel drum music. Has to be heard to be believed.

Alcohol abuse-themed country music

I’m not a big drinker at all, but there’s just something about a belligerent 70s country artist singing about being depressed, drinking heavily and making an ass out of themselves that touches my soul. Some highlights include “(I Drank) Fifteen Beers” by Johnny Paycheck, “D-R-U-N-K” by David Allan Coe, “Straight Tequila Night” by John Anderson and “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)” by George Jones

Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection by Alison Krauss & Union Station

Genuinely up there with the most beautiful albums I’ve ever heard, Krauss’ voice is otherworldly, Union Station’s harmonies and classic bluegrass mastery, the warm atmosphere and so much more in this compilation has made this winter exam season bearable for me. I’m a man of many musical tastes, what can I say?

Trans by Neil Young

Neil’s widely-scorned synth album is actually kind of incredible. It exudes sincerity and amazement at the then-new possibilities opened up by electronic instruments without the cynical commercial desires that many of his peers succumbed to. So many great tracks here and once you listen a few times, he manages to get some genuine emotion out of the primitive pads and vocoders.

“Up ‘N Da Club” by 2nd II None

Most recognizable as a background song during Bada Bing scenes in Season 2 of The Sopranos, I’ve found myself frequently saying “UP ‘N DA CLUB!” in the ridiculous-ass operatic voice heard in this G-funk classic’s refrain throughout the year at any possible moment and I expect to for the remainder of my life.

 

Top 10 Movies of 2025

I have officially completed my Film Studies degree at Concordia this term, so this is the last year I’m legally allowed to share with CJLO my favorite films! Pray I don’t decide to switch the wildcard category to my top 10 pro wrestling matches next year…

1.     One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

2.     Eddington (dir. Ari Aster)

3.     Bugonia (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

4.     Friendship (dir. Andrew DeYoung)

5.     Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler)

6.     The Naked Gun (dir. Akiva Schaffer)

7.     Weapons (dir. Zach Cregger)

8.     Manas (dir. Marianna Brennand)

9.     Hamnet (dir. Chloe Zhao)

10.  A Working Man (dir. David Ayer)

Don’t judge me, Jason Statham movies are my comfort food.

Remi - Equipment Manager and Host of At The Movies, Tuesdays 9:00AM

Albums I have enjoyed or been recommended (In non-ranking order) 

Bon Iver - Sable/Fable 

Lucy Dacus - Forever Is a Feeling

Djlo - The Crux 

Tyler, The Creator - DON'T TAP THE GLASS

Lilly Allen - West End Girl

Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving 

Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out 

Geese - Getting Killed

Discoveries of the year: Chuck Mangione, after one too many King of the Hill episodes (RIP to a Legend). Nala Sinephro. The answer of: You like jazz? Yes I do. 

 

Scores and Soundtracks (Non-ranking order) 

Howard Shore - The Shrouds 

Ludwig Göransson - Sinners 

Kenny Beats - Lurker 

Kansuke Ushio - Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc

Nala Sinephro - The Smashing Machine 

Joe Hisaishi - A Big Bold Beautiful Journey 

Max Richter - Hamnet

The Newton Brothers - The life of chuck 

Bobby Krlic - Anemone

Jonny Greenwood - One Battle After Another 

 

A Non-Definitive, Almost Top 10 Films of 2025, Ranked 

Well, maybe by stating that these are the best films of the year so far, because the theatrical run is not over yet, and my list will ever be changing until mid-January. You can follow the ever-evolving list on Letterboxd.

10. Celine Song - Materialist 

9. Tatsusya Yoshihara - Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc

8. Danny Boyle - 28 Years Later 

7. Ari Aster - Eddington 

6. Chloé Zhao - Hamnet 

5. Kelly Reichardt - The Mastermind

4. Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value

3. Andrew DeYoung - Friendship 

2. Ryan Coogler - Sinners

1. Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another

 

Honourable Mentions 

Zach Cregger - Weapons 

Yorgos Lanthimos - Bugonia 

Amy J Berg - It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley 

Mike Flanagan - The Life of Chuck 

Michael and Danny Philippou - Bring Her Back 

Darren Aronofsky - Caught Stealing 

Alex Ross Perry - Pavements 

Jake Schreier - Thunderbolts 

David Cronenberg - The Shrouds 

Stephen Chung - It’s All Gonna Break

Sam - Magazine Editor and Host of I Think You Might Like This, Tuesdays 2:00PM

Hello! My name is Sam, I'm the host of I Think You Might Like This and CJLO’s magazine editor. In honour of the dissolution of my show as an official hour of hip-hop radio, i’ve decided to supply, in no particular order, my top 5 non-hip-hop albums of the year. To hear my real top 5 you’ll have to find and ask me which will NOT be easy. Enjoy! 

¡ok! - Khadija Al Hanafis full-length follow-up to her Slime Patrol series is a non-stop sample cut fest, collecting a pile of beats and breaks miles high that caves in on itself 6 times over. It’s the kind of album where the catchiest sound bite you’ve ever heard will appear once, and promptly vanish into a sea of blurring drum lines, never to be heard again. It’s razor sharp and unyielding, and finishes as quickly as it comes, leaving you dancing spasmodically in a void of Nintendo samples and flocka adlibs. 

Radio DDR - Kai Slater has cemented himself as the most exciting name in rock 3 times over this year, but his most charming display comes on Radio DDR. Existing beyond lifeguards full-cock, legs-flailing debut, and without the polish of Slater's perennial follow-up record, the jangle-pop of Radio DDR is a timeless jangle-pop love letter. Every song sounds like it’s being sent to earth from a tiny, backyard-built retro spaceship, where Kai sits in tightly-knit sweaters, surrounded by The Who demos and ticker tape. 

The Velvet Underground and Rowan - Worldpeace DMT’s first full-length step out the gate is rumoured to have been made in a sonic negative zone, where music is still 30,000 years away from being invented. Not a single minute in the album's 33-minute run time can be predicted, as it hops so sporadically from stomp-clap run-arounds sung through tin cans to ballads likely to actually be undiscovered Velvet Underground B-sides. I heard someone at Rolling Stone actually tried to do it, and it blew his MacBook through the roof, leaving behind a trail of marshmallow fluff and pink faux-fur. How a band can start at their sgt. Pepper’s phase is entirely beyond me, but it’s wonderful regardless. 

It’s a Beautiful Place - An incredible amount of the music put out on Matador this year has passed me by entirely; thankfully, Nate Amos and Rachel Brown's freakishly tight package squared me directly in the temple. Brown singing “what’s on the record” in her charmingly wry voice echoes throughout my skull whenever this album is played, as it seems to speak for the entire body of work: what the hell is on this record? ambient drone samples lay sandwiched between a raging sonic destruction and a glitchy indie rock cry for help. What more is there to say? 

New Threats From The Soul- This summer, I worked, entirely out of my element, at an off-the-grid electronic music festival. Surrounded by dubstep hippies, my saving grace was Ryan Davis’s pen. New Threats From The Soul is unlike anything that exists; 7 songs with a runtime of 57 minutes, packed with a lid-bursting amount of quotables that read like a Vonnegut book, from an alternate timeline where he was wildly less insufferable. It’s bar piano covered in empty Old Mill cans music, that has a drum and bass break within the first 12 minutes. It’s the most comfortable you’ve ever been in the back of a pickup, floating untethered down a road in pseudo-appalachia, and the coolest thing you’ll ever show your dad.

May - Host of Yumain W Leila/2 days & A Night, Mondays 2:00PM

Best Songs 2025

1. "Opla" - 7ari

2. "Skaba" - Akhrass

3. "Nightmares" - Anys

4. "Stylo" - Madd

5. "30" - A.L.A

6. "DELLALI" - ElGrandeToto ft. Hamza

7. "Drakula: - Issam

8. "Mal Habibi" - Saad Mjarred

9. "Girlfriend" - Wegz ft. Tayc

10. "Gowa elaalb" - Houssam Habib

11. "Ahla Rasma" - Fadel Chaker

12. "Kelma" - Snor

13. "KARMA" - Abyusif ft. Marwan Pablo

14. "Habibi w Bas" - Nassif Zeytoun

15. "CHITANA" - Rubio

16. "RIRI&ROCKY" - Najm ft. Manal

17. "Guerrilla" - Raste

18. "Rockstar: - Soolking

19. "Dawk Lya" - Snor

20. "Cobra Pretty" - Valerieblud

Dan - Host of No Boundaries, Sundays 7:00PM

Best Albums of 2025

25. Lou-Adriane Cassidy - Journal d’un loup-garou

24 Titanic - Hagen

23. Maria Somerville - Luster

22. Mattheis - Waiting For The Silhouette 

21. Eiko Ishibashi - Antigone

20. Rosy Parlane - Array

19. Wednesday - Bleeds

18. Ex-libris - 001 & 002

17. Feeo - Goodness

16. James Holden and Wacław Zimpel - Universe Will Take Care Of You 

15. Ribbon Skirt - Bite Down 

14. Joni Void - Every Life Is A Light 

13. Cleo Reed - Cuntry

12. Djrum - Under Tangled Silence

11. Nino Paid - Love Me As I Am

10. Mereba - The Breeze Grew A Fire

I think this is hands down the best pop album of the year. The songwriting is just so so good and Mereba achieves a nice variety of sounds with such an amazing and emotive voice to carry them. Plus, this album is straight all-killer-no-filler with 12 songs that are all standouts in their own right. On top of all this, the production is uniformly amazing and it’s probably the best mixed record on this list. 

9. Rafael Toral - Traveling Light

I’m a really big fan of Rafael Toral, his early albums from the mid 90s, Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field are two of my favorite drone albums. That’s why this album is so amazing for me. It’s a return to drone for Toral. Yet, he’s mixing in all of the new elements he’s brought to his music since the 90s and blending them into a totally unique take on ambient jazz. This is actually an album made up entirely of drone versions of old jazz standards. The first half of this decade has been an amazing one for ambient jazz. We’ve had Nala Sinephro and Jeff Parker’s ETA IVtet creating their own unique sounds in the genre with masterpiece albums that will probably spawn so many copycats and acolytes, and now we have a 3rd varietal that’s just as unique and will probably have just as much influence. This is the year of drone jazz.

8. Makaya McCraven - Off The Record

I’ve been a Makaya McCraven fan for a minute now. His albums and to-die-for drumming are always always on point. His last album “in these times” was mind-blowing. And I wondered how he could improve on his already amazing formula of sampling his own jams and producing them into the songs he wants them to be, and where he would go from there. Turns out he would go ahead and make one of the best and most generous albums of the year. 1 hour and 30 mins of the most vibey and ingenious jazz.

7. Navy Blue - The Sword And The Soaring

I’ve heard a few albums by Navy Blue and always dug them, but none of them have hit me like this one. This is such a beautiful and moving concept album. From what I’ve heard, it’s the most conceptual and cohesive album of his career. This album is chiefly about him facing his most difficult emotions and family trauma and finding peace through a newfound connection with God. 

But, there’s another thing about the album that really clicked with me. I’m a big fan of the recently departed rapper Ka who was also a friend and mentor to Navy Blue. On this album, the ghost of Ka is like an angel watching over the proceedings. His presence is felt in the aesthetic of the beats, in Navy’s flow, and of course in his lyrics referencing Ka throughout. This album is a very personal statement for Navy Blue, and he was probably working on it before Ka died, but it still seems like he is naturally stepping into that empty place left by his passing. He’s there rapping calmly and with tenderness over beats that sound ancient and beautiful, trying to make the world a better place with his music. What more can you do?

6. Béa Brennan - Trances People Live

In a year where I listened to A LOT of new music and probably about 35% of it was ambient or ambient-adjacent, this album was the one for me. This is my favorite ambient album of the year. Now unlike a lot of albums on this list it was not an instant love at first listen kinda thing. When I first put it on, I immediately thought it was interesting, but it didn’t seem like it would end up being one of my favorites. But, the more I listened, the more I realized how incredible it is. It’s the most adventurous and immersive electronic album I’ve heard this year. 

5. Snakeskin - We Live In Sand

I’ve been a fan of Beirut duo Snakeskin since their last album They Kept Our Photographs. Where that album was haunted by the War on Gaza like a specter—the violence still at a distance and separated by a border—this one is about living in a war zone. On September 30, 2024, Israel fully invaded Lebanon and the fighting was brought to their doorstep. Yet, as they told me during our interview earlier this year, they lived only 3 weeks of the war and then they were in a plane to Bern, the quietest city in Switzerland, for a residency. It was there that this album was born in a period of intense focus and creativity, most of it being done in one week. 

This translated to their most calm and ambient album musically, while the lyrics are almost solely focused on the violence and fear that war brings. But ultimately, this album is about life not death. It’s about the life that is lived between bombings and the love still found in a seemingly hopeless situation. It doesn’t turn away from the reality of war, but it also tells us what that reality really is. Like lead singer Julia Sabra said during the interview, “Our lives are a constant mix. There’s no linearity to it. It’s not like ‘oh it’s bad’ and then it’s good. It’s just constantly bad and good at the same time.” 

4. Annahstasia - Tether

I’d been anticipating this album all year after hearing the first single from it, "Villain". That song hit me like a ton of bricks. The crazy thing is, that’s not even the best song on the album. This album is full of masterfully written and produced songs about little intimate thoughts and moments that are actually so profound and yet always get overlooked for the bigger things. And no matter how much I love to analyze music, sometimes something just speaks to you. And this album spoke to me. There’s one song on this album in particular that spoke so perfectly to a really difficult time that I was going through this past summer. It was like it was saying everything that I couldn’t say at that moment. So how could it not be one of my favorite albums of the year?

3. Apache Prophet - Black Men & Therapy

Apache Prophet has been quietly releasing some of the most raw, honest and beautiful hip hop out there since 2014. This is his best album yet. The fact that it comes with a companion album that’s almost just as good makes it even more amazing. 

Written in the aftermath of an infection and two surgeries that very nearly ended his life, Black Men & Therapy is the follow-up to the album that he thought would be his last. It’s one thing to believe your time has come and romanticize it with a farewell album, it’s another thing to deal with a second chance at life you weren’t sure you wanted in the first place. This album is about that. It’s an unflinching portrayal of someone dealing with survivor’s guilt, depression and chronic health problems. It’s not an easy listen, but I really think it’s a masterpiece. 

Check out my interview with Apache Prophet to hear the full story.  

My favorite lyrics of the year are from this album:

“Call on the ones that love you / call on the one’s that trust you / call on the ones that pull up late at night /  thinking they need to come hug you /  call on the ones that will answer the phone /  call on the ones that won’t leave you alone /  call on the ones that will reach through the dark to the light / in hopes that they can bring you back home”

2. Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures

Luminescent Creatures is the first Ichiko Aoba album to come out since I became a fan and it was by far my most anticipated album of the year. I was a little afraid of being disappointed, but I also remember thinking, “what if it’s her best album yet?” Well, it turns out that, of all the possibilities, we got the best one. This album is without a doubt her best album up to this point and it is an absolute masterpiece. It takes everything good about her past releases, and lives up to all the potential that was there for her to make an expansive, fully arranged album. It contains some of her most beautiful melodies, best songwriting, and most emotive performances. And when pretty much everything she writes seems to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard, that amount of beauty can only be described as transcendent. 

1. Benjamin Booker - LOWER

When I heard that New Orleans singer-songwriter Benjamin Booker was working with Kenny Segal on his new album, I was really intrigued, and when I heard the first single I was just plain excited. Where his last two albums were a modern take on blues rock with amazing songwriting, this time he’s breaking new ground musically. The production on this album is the best and most inventive I’ve heard this year.  But, putting aside all the excellent experimental production—which fuses hip hop, shoegaze, blues, indie rock, RnB, and noise together—these are just amazing songs. And they're sequenced perfectly to make a concept album that couldn’t capture the zeitgeist of this very, very dark time for America more perfectly. Yes, this album is bleak. There are no easy answers or sugar-coated commentaries. But, despite all this, Booker at times provides a glimmer of hope in a very authentic way.

All the hype around the Springsteen movie this year has got me thinking… What if Born in the USA was made now? What if it was made by a Black man? What if it was even more critical of the American dream? What if it recognized that, rather than being a broken promise, it was a lie from the start?

It would probably be a much better, albeit darker album. Like this one. 

 

Best Ambient Albums 

Béa Brennan - Trances People Live

Rafael Toral - Traveling Light 

Jardin Botanique & John Kiran Fernandes - Isthmus

Rosy Parlane - Array

Nick Breinich - Nothing Left To Dissolve

Gabriel Brady - Dayblind

Lisa Pulsatilla - Fernweh

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Gift Songs

Laurie Torres - Après coup

Walt McClements - On A Painted Ocean

Cole Pulice - Land’s End Eternal

Leif - Collide

Matt Emen - Baldios

Voice Actor & Squu - Lust 1

 

Best Songs

DJ Koze & Ada - "Unbelievable"

Benjamin Booker - "New World"

Barker - "Reframing"

Chapell Roan - "The Subway"

Simina Banu - "Dream Dictionary"

Mattheis - "All Meanders"

Ichiko Aoba - "Wakusei No Namida"

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - "The Milky Sea:

Choses Sauvages -  "Chaos initial (feat. Lysandre)"

Ribbon Skirt - "Off Rez"

Bels Larsen - "Might"

Robyn - "Dopamine"

Obongjayar - "Talk Olympics"

Snakeskin - "Blindsided"

Annahstasia - 'Waiting"

Lorde - "Man of the Year"

james k - "Doom Bikini"

Les Louanges - "GODDAMN!"

Lianne La Havas - "Disarray"

Bassvictim - "Lil Maria"

Rosalia - "Reliquia:

Lou-Adriane Cassidy - "Souffle Souffle"

 

Best Shows

10. Elisapie at Jazz Fest

9. Benjamin Booker - at L’Escogriffe

8. Yusu at the SAT 

7. Mereba at the Fairmount Theatre

6. James Holden and Wacław Zimpel at the SAT

5. Maria Somerville at The SAT

4. Lorde at the Bell Center

3. Annahstasia at Le Ministère

2. Djrum at the SAT

1. Lisa Pulsatilla outside at MUTEK

Jayde - Host of Love Actually Needs Work, Sundays 3:00PM

Best Songs of 2025

1. Ella Langley's cover of "Wish I didn't know now," originally by Toby Keith.

She turns this into a gut-punch of regret that feels raw, twangy, and painfully relatable in the best way.

2. Mariah the Scientist "Burning Blue."

It’s moody, addictive, and perfectly captures that “I know this is bad for me but I want it anyway” kind of love.

3. Giveon's "For Tonight"

A  song about choosing to live in the moment over the future, because sometimes one night of love is enough.

4. Olivia Dean's "Man I Need"

Warm, confident, and grown, this one’s about wanting love that feels safe, steady, and actually good for you.

5. Sadie Jean's "Slow Burn"

Soft, tender, and sweet, it romanticizes falling in love slowly and realizing you’re already in deep.

 

Best Albums of 2025

1. Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving

A cozy, feel-good album that makes love sound intentional, healthy, and something you get better at with time.

2. Kelsea Ballerini's Mount Pleasant

Full of memories and emotional growth, it looks back on love with honesty, nostalgia, and a little heartbreak.

3. Cat Burn's How to be human

A messy, heartfelt guide to love and feelings, perfect for anyone still figuring it all out.

4. Avery Lynch's I'm Glad we met

Gentle, intimate, and diary-like, it makes small moments and chance connections feel huge and romantic.

5 . Giveon's Beloved

Big, dramatic, slow-dance love songs that make heartbreak feel cinematic and devotion feel timeless.

Hayley and Jason - Hosts of Lektor Decoder, Mondays 9:00:PM

Top Five Drummer Firings in 2025

5. Matt Cameron quitting Pearl Jam

4. The Who firing Zach Starkey (first time)

3. Keith Urban firing Nicole Kidman

2. Foo Fighters firing Josh Freese

1. The Who firing Zach Starkey (second time)

 

Top Five R.E.M. Songs in 2025

5. Wh. Tornado

4. Sitting Still

3. Radio Free Dub (Mitch Easter Remix)

2. Radio Free Europe (Jacknife Lee Remix)

1. Radio Free Europe

 

Top Five Albums in 2025

5. TOPS – Bury the Key

This record is such an earworm, it’s constantly on loop in my head. It drives me f*cking

nuts. At the same time, I can’t stop listening to it. Well played, TOPS. Well played. -H

4. Snocaps – Snocaps

The existence of Snocaps in 2025 has made my party trick of identifying which

Crutchfield sister is singing based on just a snippet much more relevant. -J

This must be how Oasis fans felt when the Gallagher bros got back together. -H

3. Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band – New Threats From The Soul

If country music always sounded like this, people might actually listen to it. If country

music always sounded like this, I might actually believe the singers meant it. Ryan

Davis’ voice sounds like Nashville pantomime but his words are timeless and sharply

modern, like denim. Hard to get bored on the 5+ minute runtimes because he never

repeats himself. -J

2. Wet Leg – moisturizer

Easily the best album this year featuring a reference to a Diablo Cody movie. -J

I’ve been waiting for this album since 2022 when the band flat-out lied to everyone just

for a laugh and said their second record was already “in the bag”

(#dakotajohnsonmoment). It’s the perfect follow-up to their sardonic debut album,

pairing their signature playfulness and catchy tunes with a surprisingly hopeful approach

to matters of the heart. Lovebirds, rejoice! -H

1. Iggy & The Stooges – Raw Power

Unfortunately, nothing that came out this year was able to best the proto-punk classic

from 1973. The aggressive riffage and dangerous charisma of Iggy Pop are as relevant

today as they’ve ever been. To the rest of the music industry, I say: better luck next

year. -J

Dom - Host of Unheard Of, Wednesdays 11:00AM

Best Albums (These are not from 2025)

1. Precious Thing - Allegra Krieger 

2. The Head Hurts but the Heart Knows the Truth - Headache, Vegyn

3. Morning View - Incubus

4. Imaginal Disk - Magdalena Bay

5. Household Name - Momma

 

(These are actually from 2025)

1. Where the Earth Bends - Daffo

2. Double Infinity - Big Thief

3. Animaru - Mei Semones 

4. Live at Revolution Hall - Adrianne Lenker

5. Forever Howlong - Black Country New Road

 

Best Films From 2025

1. Bring Her Back

2. Frankenstein 

3. How to Train Your Dragon

4. The Phoenician Scheme

 

Best Concerts of 2025

1. Allegra Krieger (London, UK)

2. Kali Uchis (Montreal, QC)

3. Paul Mccartney (Montreal, QC)

4. Sharon Van Etten (London, UK)

5. Momma (Ottawa, ON)

Angelica - Art Director and Host of BVST, Wednesdays 7:00PM

Another year, another collection of delightful releases, as usual presented in no particular order. Extreme electronic influences tinge a few of these records, but sludge and hardcore still dominate. Wanna listen? The playlist is here.

Bonnie Trash - Mourning You

In a surprise to no one, another beautiful release by one of the best bands in this country right now made it to my year end list. Let this record haunt you, you won't regret it. Track to taste: "Veil of Greed"

Dusk - REPOKA

Dusk return with an experimental quartet of tracks, just as menacing as their previous output but branching in frightening new directions, including an unexpected Slayer cover. Track to taste: "Dark Shaman"

Black Magnet - Megamantra

Never did getting shredded apart and hastily reassembled by a slab of industrial noise feel quite so sexy. Track to taste: "Better Than Love"

Emma Goldman - all you are is we

You call it skramz, I call it a perfect gem of blistering hardcore, its viciousness punctuated by bits of spoken word and breakneck DnB. Track to taste: "I don't think much at all"

Scare - In The End, Was It Worth It?

Ferocious and bleak, this record puts all the best bits of hardcore, sludge and even doom and black metal into a blender and invites you in to dance among the blades. Track to taste: "Crowned in Yellow"

Teen Mortgage - Devil Ultrasonic Dream

Eleven tracks of catchy punk earworms in 26 frenetic minutes, this party ends before you want it to, but luckily you can just hit play again. Track to taste: "Disappear"

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Death Hilarious

Pigs x7 deliver the sludge sludge sludge sludge sludge sludge sludge on this big, mean, meaty album that will leave you licking your chops. Track to taste: "Stitches"

Aawks - On Through the Sky Maze

Crunchy occult doom and fuzzy space rock fight for dominance on this drugged out psychedelic Canadian concoction. Track to taste: "Drifting Upward"

Mountain Dust - Mountain Dust

It took a long time to get here, but Mountain Dust return with a big blues-inflected number transported through time and space from the hipp(i)est 1970s Laurel Canyon turntables. Track to taste: "Vengeance"

Harakiri For The Sky - Scorched

Another searing, introspective work of precision and melancholy from these post-everything masters makes it on the list. Don't miss the Radiohead cover. Track to taste: "I Was Just Another Promise You Couldn't Keep"

Emma - Host of Screamers, Saturdays 7:00PM

I just started hosting my show at CJLO this year, and boy was it a good year for screaming. For context, my show Screamers has to have music where people are screaming (pretty self-explanatory). Will I be bending those rules? Well yes! It also isn’t just metal and emo, there’s a good mix of electronic music as well, but the entire show is very alternative leaning. Tune in every Saturday at 7pm! Being a part of CJLO has been so rewarding this year, and I’m so grateful to be a part of this community. Hogging aux at a function for years has led me down this road, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. 

That being said, here’s some of my favourite screams from this year. 

Alexisonfire - Copies of Old Masters Vol 1 (EP)

Favourite song: "Cuz"

Classic Can Con. This year, I always played Alexisonfire on Screamers. This EP in particular is super well kept. Some classic screaming. There’s even a Tragically Hip cover of “Fully Completely” (one of my favourite TTP songs). It’s a quick listen (around 15 mins or so), but still very good. Shout out to my uncle Greg for putting me onto them. Hoping there’s more volumes to come! 

Flowersforpersephone - a temporary stay  (EP) 

Favourite song: "put on your big girl panties and deal with it!"

I struck gold when I found flowersforpersephone. Based from Columbus, Ohio, their EP itches a certain part of my brain. It’s heavy and delivers in every aspect: the entire band is incredibly talented, with heavy guitar riffs with a sludgy feel, but their lead vocalist stands out by mashing heavy screams with light and airy squeaks. Three new singles have been released since this album that I’ve also played  on Screamers. If you love heavy hitting metal, then definitely give it a listen. Looking forward to seeing what they’ll do in the future!

Frost Children - Sister 

Favourite songs: "ELECTRIC" and "Ralph Lauren (feat Babymorroco)" (sorry I couldn’t just choose one)

Frost Children never ceases to disappoint me. So incredibly glad I saw them back in 2022 in a room full of maybe 30 people MAX. It was an incredible experience. Sister is a pop electronic album that sports amazing production and catchy beats. I first listened to this album because I was co-hosting a charts and crafts episode with Lisa (if you’re reading this, hi queen). We both couldn’t help ourselves and turned up the volume to an unhealthy level. Overall, this album is meant to be played at full volume while dancing with your friends. 

Geese - Getting Killed 

Favourite song: "Cobra"

I discovered Geese this year and I couldn’t be happier. The band opens with “Trinidad”, with lead singer Cameron Winter screaming THERE’S A BOMB IN MY CAR!!! Incredible. Looooved playing it on charts. The album has a roughness and some nice guitar and good percussions to accompany it. Although it was released in late September, it has a very summer feel to it that I can’t exactly explain. Nice listen if you’re into some indie rock. 

Hail the Sun - cut. turn. fade. back.

Favourite song: "Consumed With You"

God I love Hail the Sun. Great vocals, great composition. I discovered them too late and missed their show in Montreal by one week. I will never forgive myself. This album plays into their strengths as an emo band: great vocals, well structured production, great energy. I will say though, this album is much softer and less gritty than their previous albums, so if you’re not into the more melodic emo, it might not be your cup of tea. My favourite song “Consumed With You” is a swooning romance song that I just keep coming back to. Definitely a different direction from them, but I’m not complaining. 

Alex - Host of Ashes to Ashes, Tuesdays 7:00PM

Top 10 favourite albums of 2025

Listed in alphabetical order. But for the first time, a tie for #1 between one of my all-time favourite acts (TOPS) and one of the best discoveries I've made in a long time (Nourished By Time).

Addison Rae - Addison

Austra - Chin Up Buttercup

Debby Friday - The Starrr of the Queen of Life

Hatchie - Liquorice

FKA twigs - Eusexua

Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)

Men I Trust - Equus Caballus

Nourished By Time - The Passionate Ones

PinkPantheress - Fancy That

TOPS - Bury the Key

Ari - Host of Past Tense, Mondays 10:00PM

Favourite Shows of 2025

goldenstar + Shallowater + Worlds Worst
Bracelet + Taupe + Sunforger

Wombo + Ribbon Skirt + Poolgirl

Goldenstar has been a favourite of mine since I first saw them in the spring, and Shallowater (having come all the way from Texas) played an incredible show with them back in July. I'd somehow gone in without expecting much of Shallowater (thinking the Weed-reminiscent Worlds Worst would do more for me of the two out-of-towners), but was blown away by their capacity for both restraint and intensity. God's Gonna Give You A Million Dollars and There Is A Well are both stand-out albums, and the latter felt somehow contextualised by Shallowater's live performance.

The Bracelet EP release was kind of a super-show for me, having three of my favourite local bands, and was very much worth getting rained on then cramming into P'tit Ours for. Sunforger has been playing sparingly the last year or two, and Taupe has since dialled back on playing live shows, so it felt like a special occasion even besides the new release. And while Sunforger and Taupe have been favourites of mine for a while, my first time seeing Bracelet was earlier this year, at which time they really impressed me, and every show I've seen them play since they've been great, with the EP release being a summer-closing cherry on top.

As for the Wombo et al. show, while Poolgirl and especially Ribbon Skirt are both good, Wombo were incredible. I'll leave it at that.

 

New Albums of 2025

goldenstar - goldenstar EP
Bracelet - I Hear Bracelet
Fencing - Fencing Wikipedia

Goldenstar's self-titled probably had the greatest effect on me for being the Canadian slowcore I've spent the six years of my show's existence searching for, though Fencing's own considerably more casual? slacker? take on slow post-rock is similarly impressive. Bracelet's EP is super tight and, to put it simply, fun as hell.

Notably, these are all debut releases, although both Bracelet and Fencing can be connected to Learning and Urban Vacation, respectively. See Learning's Dirger and Urban Vacation's Success with House Plants.

Fencing is not the only slow-rock Winnipeg band I'm interested in, as they're neighbours to Tarp and Living Hour. I sincerely hope some Winnipeg-Montreal cross-polination occurs. Tarp came here back in September (before I had heard of them, sadly), so Fencing, please come next.

 

New-to-Me Albums of 2025

Alps - Alps Of New South Wales (2006)
memory card - memory card (2022)
UTAH - Reaper's Gain (2018)

Alps and memory card were part of a re-found love of sadsack bedroom pop that formed a large part of my summer listening. UTAH was a surprise find for me last winter considering I thought I'd plumbed the online depths of New York state's 2010s slowcore scene, and even more surprising since it was recorded by one of my favourite musicians, Francis Lyons (see ylayali); “Sam” deserves special mention as an incredibly moving closer.

Of these three bands, memory card is the only one currently active, and released an EP back in September (on top of many other great albums between the self-titled and now).

Angela - Host of The Spacious Astrology Playlist, Saturdays 9:00PM

Best Songs of 2025

1. "Zoology" - Fionavair

2. "Danger in Fives" - Wombo

3. "Feeling" - Billie Marten

4. "Heaven Is No Feeling" - Cate Le Bon

5. "What Was That" - Lorde

6. "Lucky River" - Kris Delmhorst & Anais Mitchell

7. "Motorway" - Salami Rose Louis 

8. "Dearly Missed" - Searows

9. "Piece by Piece" - Anna Justen 

10. "A Dream In Liminal Haze" - Bobby Tarian

11. "Final Words" - Pike

12. "Cross Your Mind" - Shelly

13. "This Is Real" - feeble little horse

14. "something in the wind" - Ada Lea

15. "Somewhere in Between" - Blood Orange

16. "Falling on my Sword" - TOPS

17. "Surviving You" - Hannah Frances

18. "PENSACOLA" - Ribbon Skirt

19. "Aegean blue" - Common Holly

20. "infinity" - Carl Glacier

Ingrid - Host of Bikini Brrroadcast, Mondays 11:00AM

Top 25 Songs of 2025

1. "Elderberry Wine" - Wednesday

You can’t really beat this can you… surely will be a favourite for many years. Yum!

2. "Playing Classics" - Water From Your Eyes

A classic to my ears. Standout song from one of my favourite albums of the year.

3. "Pensacola" - Ribbon Skirt

Addictive.

4. "4 Raws" - EsDeeKid

There’s no way Timothée Chalamet could do this.

5. "You got time and I got money" - Smerz

Can you listen to this without swaying your arms and head and scrunching your eyebrows together? perfect harmony. beautiful song. I like your shoes.. i like your shoes!

6. "Headphones On" - Addison Rae

“Guess I gotta accept the pain, need a cigarette to make me feel better, every good thing comes my way, so I still get dolled up” Many a girl’s anthem.

7. "If it’s in vogue" - cootie catcher

While my true favourite from Shy at First is the undeniably perfect Friend of a friend, alas it was released as a single in 2024. If it’s in vogue might be their best 2025 track, with that signature indietronica intro… so crunchy & delicious.

8. "sour diesel" - They Are Gutting a Body of Water

9. "Tonight" - PinkPantheress

like wha?? like a perfect pop song i might say…

10. "5" - Dean Blunt & Elias Ronnenfelt

11. "Alice" - bassvictim

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

12. "MAKKA" - fakemink, Ecco2k & Mechatok

13. "I could" - Fine

14. "We’re Outside, Rejoice!" - McKinley Dixon

I recommend listening riding your bike on a tree-lined trail, the temperature preferably around 23 degrees celsius.

15. "All over me" - HAIM

That guitar solo going into the bridge… yeaaahhhhhhh.

16. "tears on his rings and chains" - Dean Blunt & Elias Ronnenfelt

17. "Grass is Greener" - bassvictim

18. "Professional Underwearer" - G String

I feel like this should be the Bikini Brrroadcast theme song or something… G-String if you’re reading this… I love you!

19. "Heaven" - Clay St.

Extremely underrated Brooklyn indiegaze band Clay St. turn it out. Had this on repeat all fall. Check out their other single “You Say” if you like a slightly noisier sound!

20. "Au Pays du Cocaine" - Geese

I hate to say it, but they got me… “You can change, baby, you can change, and still choose me”. Honestly! I’m not sure if anyone can resist this one. Sometimes you gotta admit Cameron Winter can be objectively great.

21. "Dollar Store" - Ben Kweller (feat. Waxahatchee)

This would not be to its full effect without Waxahatchee’s perfect complementary vocals. Start to turn your headphones up around 2:35.

22. "I Care For You" - Good Flying Birds

23. "Disco Life" - Say She She

It’s very hard to go wrong with classic dance! Let’s affirm a disco life in 2026

24. "This Is Real: - feeble little horse

25. "Shandy in the Graveyard (feat. billy woods)" - Panchiko

 

5 Great Canadian Albums of 2025

These are five great Canadian albums released this year that have paved the way for and/or rode the wave of what’s good about indie and alternative rock right now. The prolific (and wonderful!) return to melodic, slacker-ish vocals over noisy guitars in alternative music have made their way up north. While these five albums could fit on a playlist together, they are still distinct and have something for everyone; from Tashiina Buswa’s drawling and absorbing vocals on Bite Down, to cootie catcher’s expert indietronica instrumentation, to Living Hour’s Manitoba-made mellow folk-rock — it’s been a great year for new Canadian music.

1. Bite Down — Ribbon Skirt

2. Shy at First — cootie catcher

3. Who Died & Made You The Dream? — Heaven For Real

4. Internal Drone Infinity — Living Hour

5. Kit-Cat — Casper Skulls

 

Best Shows I Saw in 2025

The Linda Lindas — April 24th, Fairmount Theatre

I remember this day I had a terrible and headache and did not want to go to a punk show, and then it ended up being probably the best show I saw all year, so that speaks for itself. They are so young and had so much energy, bouncing around the stage and screaming. The fun they were having onstage was infectious. They ended with a cover of Rebel Girl, and their moms were selling the merch — what a way to cure a headache!

Fcukers and Nettspend at Palomosa — September 8th, Parc Jean-Drapeau

It’s true that every time I think about seeing Nettspend live, I do laugh out loud a little bit… However, is laughter not a sign of joy? Sometimes I love getting pushed around to loud music I don’t really know the words to! Fcukers was the other festival highlight, but in the way I could actually dance to songs I do know pretty well.

Blue Linen/Hearts of Palm/Clay St/Lulu Lamontagne — October 17th, Toscadura

This was a lovely and magical night at the end of reading week, one of the days we could probably still just wear a light jacket. Lots of local and emerging talent, I remember being blown away by every band, with clay st and Blue Linen becoming quick favourites of mine! If you’re located in Montréal, I highly recommend you catch a Blue Linen show in the new year.

Cindy Lee — November 10th, The Rialto Theatre

What can be better than seeing Cindy Lee’s first night in Montréal with your best friends during the first big snowfall and a metro strike. My heart grew three times in size and I cried.

PISS — November 19th, M for Montreal at Foufounes Electriques

Vancouver-based hardcore outlet PISS blew Montréal away for the second time this fall. If you have the chance, I highly, highly recommend going to a show and opening your ears to Taylor Zantingh’s words and screams. Heavy content warning, but equally raw, beautiful, important and loud.

Honourable mention: Yung Lean on October 21st at MTELUS for being so fun and awesome! And shoutout to all the local acts I’ve seen this year, in both Montréal and Victoria, that’s what makes me feel alive.

Paul - Host of Trawling the Megahertz, Fridays 8:00AM

Best albums of 2025

1. Lonely People in Power - Deafheaven

Incredible performances all across, fantastic lyrics, killer riffs, some of the best vocals in Black Metal. It’s just a top notch album front to back that hit me really hard on the first listen and it was a great start to a year where I delved into metal much more than before. Their best album over Sunbather also. Doberman, Magnolia, Winona are truly incredible songs.

2. The Passionate Ones - Nourished by Time

Great eclectic pop record that is varied, but also balances a wide array of emotions. Was a great live show too. Tossed Away is one of the best songs of the year.

3. I Love My Computer - Ninajirachi

Killer electropop/electrohouse and it was one of the most fun concerts I’ve ever been to.

4. Safe 2 Say - Corey Lingo

Loved his debut, but this takes what made his debut great and pushes it a notch or 2 in quality.

5. After EP 1 & EP 2

I love the y2k aesthetic so 2 whole EPs of y2k pop is everything I could ask for and I wasn’t disappointed at all, they studied to perfection the sound and replicated it in such a fresh, beautiful way.

6. Deseo, carne y voluntad - Candelabro

Gen Z Chilean BCNR-ish rock music. I was listening to a ton of South American rock this year so this dropped at the perfect time and it was great.

 

Honourable Mentions

Big City Life - Smerz 

Shine Forever - Lil Shine

Lifetime - Erika De Casier

Femme Fatale - Mon Laferte

Bleeds - Wednesday

El nuevo sonido - SINAKA

Eric - Host of Patch Notes, Wednesdays 3:00PM

Best Albums of 2025

Album of the year: Tapeworms - Grand Voyage

I haven't listened to a more perfect album this year. Grand Voyage is the excitement of a plane ride, the endless possibilities of a new journey, the freedom and nerves that change brings. Each track glistens and glides by, filling you with joy and hope through its sugary synths and carefree vocals. It's brought me so much joy throughout the year, I truly love this album.

Ten Honourable Mentions (Unranked):

Ninajirachi - I Love My Computer

Baths - Gut

caroline - caroline 2

Wednesday - Bleeds

Frost Children - SISTER

Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones

Sharp Pins - Radio DDR

This is Lorelei - Holo Boy

The Armed - THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED

Skrillex - F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3

Clifton Hanger - Host of Brave New Jams, Sundays 10:00PM

Top Shows of 2025

Billy Corgan and the Machines of God - Theatre Beanfield Montreal, QC 06-13-2025

Cowboy Junkies - Tupelo Music Hall Derry, NH 09-26-2025 

 Donna the Buffalo- Haw River Ballroom Saxapahaw, NC 01-26-2025 

Drive-By Truckers - Ardmore Music Hall Ardmore, PA 02-03-2025 

Eggy - Thalia Hall Chicago, IL 11-15-2025 

Greensky Bluegrass - Wings Event Center Kalamazoo, MI10-31-2025 

Goose -  Allianz Amphitheater 10-03-2025.  

Matt Berninger (The National) - Union Chapel London, England 04-05-20205  

String Cheese Incident - The Pines Music Park 08-16-2025

Widespread Panic - En Market Arena Savannah, GA 01-11-2025

Sophie - Host of Are We There Yet? Wednesdays 9:00AM

Top 10 Albums of the Year (unranked)

caroline 2 – caroline

Earnest, gut wrenching orchestral post-rock. Like a hit straight to the throat, leaving you with that sinking feeling you get when you’re about to fall asleep, the one that jolts you awake – Caroline manage to bottle the feeling just before that jolt. Contributions from fellow Caroline (Caroline Polachek), whose ethereal vocals float above the ambient symphonic terrain, gives the album a necessary variegation. 

Purity – Anysia Kym, Tony Seltzer

Anysia Kym has been one to watch and this year is no different – she has the midas touch, listening will turn you gold. This year she's done it again alongside Tony Seltzer, crafting a sea of breakbeats and choppy rhythms. Purity has an undercurrent which allows you to be carried away by Kym’s sedative voice as a raft – unfazed and evanescent. 

Blurrr – Joanne Robertson

Joanne Robertson’s sixth studio release stays true to her artistic ethos; ephemeral, untethered and hard to quite pin down. Aptly named, Blurrr, this album is understated and otherworldly, like trying to remember a dream after waking up that's only slightly out of reach. Spectral and hazy, as though you’re listening through the cosmos, Robertson’s voice sounds almost alien – à la Cocteau Twins, she could be speaking gibberish for all I know but her music still maintains a mainline to the soul.

Radio DDR – Sharp Pins

Sharp Pins are one of those bands which feel decidedly of a bygone era despite being entirely fresh and new. Radio DDR is brimming with catchy riffs and jangly melodies, capturing the essence of the reckless abandon which only comes from being young and idiotic. This album found me at the perfect time in my life and is one which I can only imagine will be transportative to listen to in the future. In sum, Kai Slater is a god and every project he touches becomes an instant classic for me.

Friend – James K

Simply put, this album is straight-up beautiful dream pop and was one of my favourite study albums of the year, which is a highly coveted genre for me. Entrancing and diaphanous, James K creates an oneiric fantasy playground on this album, both radiant and hypnotic.

Way Too Much – Superstar Crush

Oozing with charm, Superstar Crush’s Way Too Much is just that, way too much in the best way possible. Punchy, poppy, with instantly catchy riffs. Listening is like that moment of being on the dance floor and suddenly becoming filled with a sense of existential dread – in a good way, I promise! Fun filled with longing, this album has something for the whole family. 

Lucre – Dean Blunt, Elias Rønnenfelt

A pairing seemingly put together by the gods, Dean Blunt and Elias Rønnenfelt’s work together feels nothing if not divine. Rønnenfelt whines over Blunt’s lamenting guitar and synth-forward production leaving the listener reeling. The short, only 15 minute long, album (which I suppose is more of an EP) acts as the paddles of a pinball machine, slapping the listener as the metaphorical ball around rapidly, and ending before you can realize just what hit you.

Blizzard – Dove Ellis

Recency bias be damned, I love this album! I didn’t add Heavy Metal by Cameron Winter to my list last year for that very reason and I’ve regretted it every day since so I am learning from my mistakes this time. Carrying the torch of annual heart-wrenching December releases, debut album, Blizzard by Irish singer-songwriter Dove Ellis strikingly parallels the raw emotion and hopelessness captured by Cameron Winter’s own debut project. While perhaps less wailing-heavy, Ellis captures the same shades of Rufus Wainwright, Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley on his achingly comforting album, embodying the act of dwelling on a feeling and letting it stew. Ellis has cooked up a perfect soup of self-indulgent heartbreak, with enough shimmering glimmers of hope to steer it as promising rather than morose. Throwing caution to the wind, Dove Ellis has charmed me and made the list!

Goodbyeshouse – Snuggle

Nostalgia is a drug which I am in the process of getting clean from, however Snuggle has been able to wean me off with this album specifically. Listening feels like being 17 years old again, but experienced through my own current reality, entirely unique and fresh. Goodbyehouse allows me to revel in the feeling of deja-vu and retreat into the confines of my own mind while still seeming to maintain connection to the other world.

Body – Finnish Postcard

It wouldn’t be my list without a classically depressing under the radar release and this year that was presented to me on a silver platter in the form of Finnish Postcard’s album Body. Toting all the classic indie trappings, they sound like the opener of a local show you happened upon and were lucky enough to catch and discover. Melancholic folk-pop with sparkling moments of certainty, like a daydream born from a bleak February stroll.

Dan - Host of Advice by the Fireplace, Wednesday 5:00PM

Hi folks. Dan Lilah here. If there's one thing I love, it's advice. And if there's two things I love, it's advice and a roaring fireplace. And if there were let's say ten things that I loved, they would be, in order: advice, fireplaces, red wine, bubble baths, mid-September sunsets, a Baroque era piano concerto, oversized hooded cardigan sweaters, shiatzu massage chairs, the colour beige and in the number ten spot ... year-end top ten lists. Here are a few of my hand-crafted artisanal top ten lists across all forms of modern arts and culture (not books).

Songs

10. Lou Laurence - "Be Bodies"

9. Kirby - "Vain"

8. Tune Yards - "Heartbreak:

7. Smerz - "You Got Time And I Got Money"

6. Sault - "I.L.T.S."

5. Raye - "Where Is My Husband?"

4. Earl Sweatshirt - "Tourmaline"

3. Cameron Winter - "Love Takes Miles"

2. De La Soul - "The Package"

1. Wet Leg - "CPR"

 

Movies

10. The Naked Gun - d. Akiva Schaffer

9. The Phoenician Scheme - d. Wes Anderson

8. On Becoming A Guinea Fowl - d. Rungano Nyoni

7. Mickey 17 - d. Bong Joon Ho

6. It Was Just An Accident - d. Jafar Panahi

5. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You - d. Mary Bronstein

4. Paying For It - d. Sook-Yin Lee

3. Friendship - d. Andrew DeYoung

2. Eddington - d. Ari Aster

1. One Battle After Another - d. Paul Thomas Anderson

 

TV Seasons

10. WWE: Unreal

9. Win Or Lose S1

8. The Chair Company S1

7. Smiling Friends S3

6. Pluribus S1

5. Demascus S1

4. Andor S2

3. Severance S2

2. Taskmaster S19 & S20

1. The Rehearsal S2

 

Comedy Specials

10. Sarah Sherman: Live & In The Flesh

9. Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

8. Joe List: Small Ball

7. Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian

6. Michelle Wolf: The Well

5. Matteo Lane: Al Dente Special

4. Marc Maron: Panicked

3. Maclunkey Treasure Island: A Live Staged Reading Of Star Wars - A New Hope

2. SNL50: The Homecoming Concert

1. Las Culturistas Culture Awards 2025

Jasper - Host of The Castle, Fridays 1:00PM

This year was a lot better than last. Many angles of life blew up in my face in January, but once I turned 24, restarting a 12 year long astrological cycle, things started to brighten. Back to square one, wobbling on a foal’s sea legs. My journal is a dusty lavender color, thick and heavy. The good days outnumbered the bad. Got back in touch with a practice of prose writing and astrological study. Made a lot of really great new friends, got really into camo and nudism. 

This year marked a big transition in my music listening tendencies. It was all guitar music. Okay, not all, but there was a significant decrease in my years-long appreciation of glitched out club music. I also stopped wanting to go to raves that weren’t outside, opting instead for many many concerts and cozy nights in with precious friends. Lots of Cronenburg movies were watched. 

Best albums of 2025, relatively in order

Bite Down by Ribbon Skirt, followed up by their EP PENSACOLA

two house by food house

Basspunk 2 by bassvictim

Bleeds by Wednesday

Birds Of Prrrey Live from CJLO by Birds Of Prrrey

From The Haze Of A Revved Up Youth by Karma Glider

frog song by fish narc

star by 2hollis

audio stars 2 by Tommy Fleece

9Million by 9Million

Sounds Like… by Florry

Burnover by Greg Freeman

It’s A Beautiful Place by Water From Your Eyes

God’s Gonna Give You a Million Dollars by Shallowater

Bugland by NO JOY

Wide Awake by Mechatok

 

Best singles

“Hornse” by Things Made Of Noise

“tower of memories” by ivri

“CRUSING TO SELF SOOTH” by Ecca Vandal

“Crocodiles and Concrete” by Abygale Scott

“Dx2 - I'll Count You In Even When You Turn Away” by los3r

 

Best local bands of 2025

Ribbon Skirt

Birds of Prrrey

 

Best concerts by local artist

The Fake Friends at Honey Martin’s Pub in NDG    

The band was too big to fit on the stage that doesn’t exist. The lead singer was up on the bar, ass crack displayed, pouring liquor into open mouths. Epid dudes.

The CJLO birthday party with Dresser, Bodywash, and Land of Talk + DJing by No Joy at La Sala Rosa

I gotta look up the astrology of that night cause the vibes were so perfect. 

 

Best concert by touring artist

Wednesday and Daffo at Club Soda

The pit was waves of bodies screaming the lyrics. Felt like we were part of a moment building to monumental heights.

 

Best rave

Voie maritime outdoor bike rave organized by Vasimolo, Zamalek,  and Memento Cycles

Naked river dips, dirt dance floor, CCR, biking over a bridge at dawn.

 

Best book released in 2025

Fucking Magic by Clementine Morgan

The Body Is a Doorway by Sophie Strand

Both of these books are memoirs that touch on autoimmune disorders, sexual trauma, finding oneself in the wild mess of the world, and the magic of connection and the natural world. Both are very inspirational, urging me to write more and reconnect to witchcraft. 

 

Best book read in 2025 that was not released in 2025

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Pulled me through a breakup and out of late winter’s eclipse season. 

 

Best YouTube video

The Channel 5 interview with Hunter Biden

 

Best movie I watched but didn’t come out in 2025 cause honestly there were a lot of flops this year

eXistenz by Cronenburg, 1999

 

Best Swim Spot 

(45.27’19.7”N, 73.33’46.2”W)

Although it is close to boat docks so there is the consideration of oil slicks and boat sounds but that is balanced out by it’s proximity to an ice cream shop. There's a gap in the tree line allowing direct sunshine in the later hours of the afternoon. The horizontal tree branch allows for easy and comfy hammock installation. I would often run into Verdun friends and my mama here.

 

Best Car I drove

‘The Leer’, a GMC Sierra pick up truck, 8 foot covered bed with sliding wooden board for easy loading. This is a landscaping work truck used by the carpentry team, often seen with piles of 2x4s sticking out the bed window. It violently shakes while it idles, doesn’t want to go over 70km/h, its loud growling keeps all other cars on the road far away. Has the strongest AM receiver of all my company’s work trucks, the volume dial is stuck on loud. Bright headlights. I am often the only one brave enough to drive it. 

 

Best Castle Episode

“You Will Fall In Love Everyday” broadcasted live on August 1st

 

Biggest shout-out to

The dead mice I keep finding in my apartment

Gigi - Host of The Gigi Brown Experience, Sundays 8:00AM

Best Albums of 2025

1. Ada Lea - When I Paint My Masterpiece

I can confidently say I listened to this album every day on my way to school for the first week I downloaded it. It’s such a whimsically Montreal album that was a perfect soundtrack for my bus rides. There’s a haunting quality to her voice on songs like moon blossom but oh that guitar puts you right at ease. 

Top track: "baby blue frigidaire mini fridge"

2. Hanorah - Closer Than Hell

It’s no secret I adore Hanorah, and Closer Than Hell is such a great way to reason my adoration. The 4 songs on this EP are masterfully curated by Hanorah and Max. With poetic lyrics and groovy melodies, this EP is equal parts raw and refined. Do you want to dance or cry? Girl, just eat a babybel cheese.

Top track: "Matty"

3. Lou-Adriane Cassidy - Journal d’un loup garou

Journal d’un loup garou is such a well-rounded album, there is sparkle and light, but also some slower, darker moments like with her song 16 ans bientot 30. Lou-Adriane is able to balance it all and show off her beautiful vocal range perfectly on these 14 tracks. Seeing Quebec's pop queen at the Francos was a highlight of my year so that's another reason this had to be on the list. 

Top track: "Cours, Cora, Cours" 

4. Out By Lucy - Max O'Million Extraordinarious' Super Symposium

I think this album is so fun. The capacity for a band to make some really good music without taking themselves too seriously is something I appreciate a lot and these fellas sure have that. This album was a late find for me this year, but I’m so happy I did because this album has a little bit of everything from testosterone filled rock to some softer twee songs. 

Top track: "Red Sorghum" 

5. Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild

This album has to be on here for the amount of times I listened to it: showers, cleaning, morning walks, you name it. Carpenter’s witty lyrics and fun music made this album irresistible. (Her calling out ICE is an added bonus ;p)

Top track: "When Did You Get Hot?"

Nina - Host of Dreamscapes, Mondays 4:00PM

Top Dream Symbols of 2025

Reindeers eating buildings, blueberries, owl faced moose with psychedelic antlers, mud, nicotine patch dreams, Binraglica (a real  game of bingo that can be played while watching the metallica documentary), war, eclipse soup, dream premonitions, babies , Paul Rudd as a mischievous roommate, radio stress dreams, quetzals, magic trees, mirror versions of the dreamer that hold up a sign that says “sleep b*tch”. 

 

Favourite Music of 2025

Albums: Ribbon Skirt- Bite Down, No Joy- Bugland, They are gutting a body of water - LOTTO, Wednesday- Bleeds, Marlaena Moore- Because You Love Everything, Geese - Getting Killed, Mark Molnar - EXO, Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out, Earl Sweatshirt- Live Laugh Love. Makaya McCraven - Universal. Beings (IA11 Edition) Singles/Songs: Charli XCX and John Cale ”House”, Tempete Solaire “ Manicouagan”, eLm - “fledgling”, Val Bah- “masterpiece”,  Goodnight moonshine - “Stars”

 

Albums from 2024 that I really got into in 2025

Truck Violence, Cindy Lee, Mustafa, Daevar, SZA, Fulu Miziki Kolectiv

 

Top Dreamscapes Snacks 2025

“Dream Cakes” from  NDG korean+japanese grocery store 

Melted chocolate bars

Protein

 

BANDS I NO LONGER LIKE (and maybe never liked at all? There was always a certain level of dissociation that I had to do anyways to hang out with people as a teen/young adult and I think I just buried any feelings of discomfort because I didnt want to seem critical of something that seemed to give everyone so much joy. Don't be a buzzkill Nina everyone is having so much fun interacting with the music in the normal fashion . Everyone loves a mediocre white man singing about the this and that of life , and thoughtfully curated dog bark soundbytes and the sunshine face on the CD.  Everyone loves fun and fun means listening to songs that are kind of mean and definitely sexist and we can all laugh about it because fun is about dissociating, actually. Also sexism and racism in the late 90s/early 2000s were a specific all encompassing beast that felt impossible to escape from but thank goodness it’s the end of 2025 and we’ve solved that for good, finally. Thank you, Omar, for freeing us all from this charade.

Sublime

 

Top Culutre

Watt from Pedro Show, Fashion Neurosis, This Jungian Life, Adam Friedland Show

Sonam - Host of Brave Little Emo Girl, Sundays 12:00PM

Top 10 new albums of 2025 unranked

Avec Plaisir - Active Listening 

Montreal emo that shines and shimmers like fresh snow, this album is full of heartfelt and uplifting midwest emo harmonies and genuine lyrics that are best experienced in singing along. This album makes you want to put on a little beanie, roll up your khakis and consider different guitar tunings. 

Listen if you like American football, mom jeans and retirement party. 

Tortoise - Touch 

This album is a soundtrack for instrumentally side questing in the snow and fog. Ambient, abstract and awesome. I can’t write too much or else it’s recency bias. Soz. Listen if you like Boards of Canada, spacious jazz and bald guy math rock 

Viagra Boys - viagr aboys

Despite this being my contender for male music critic album of the year, there is a layer of depth and relevancy here that had been present in their previous albums, but this time around there is a heaviness to it, like on « medicine for horses »and « river »  both of which made me cry on first listen? What are the Viagra boys doing out here making a 20-year-old girl cry? 

Listen if you’re a thoughtful freak. 

Wednesday - Bleeds

Karly's writing continues to intimately build and deepen the world and lives being explored in previous albums, a hyper specific, vulnerable and diaristic telling that is somehow so painfully relatable. I love the little genre moments too, the psych rock thing happening on “phish pepsi”, the hardcore energy on “wasp” and the narrative folk happening on “elderberry wine” and « Gary’s II ». 

You’ve definitely already listened to this

 (or listen if you enjoy the idea of country and shoegaze making out on a lap steel running through a decked out pedal board). 

Mourning glow - idailedyournumber

Electro/Emo album from Halifax, this album feels like a warm hug from the inside of a motherboard. It’s full of delicate guitar and synth lines, a wonderfully arranged bouncy rhythm section and distorted, ethereal lofi 4 bit harmonies. 

Favourite tracks are "6:00 am", "holiday dog" and "linen shroud". 

Listen if you like your arms are my cocoon, brave little abacus, bedroom sçreamo or dream pop 

Fleshwater - 2000 In Search Of The Endless Sky 

While continuing with their late 90s nu metal shoe gaze  revival sound, this album brings a little more production and genre variation  than « we’re not here to be loved » which I really appreciate, like the little electro beat on « be your best », or the build on « sundown ». I love how energetic their last album was, but I really like slow tunes on here, the album has a little more room to breath. Also female bass player fronted bands own my heart so. Wish there was another Björk cover though, army of me would be great. 

Listen if you like any sort of nu metal or heavy shoegaze  

PUP - Who Will Look After The Dogs 

Sixteen-year-old me is feeling emotional. This album is catharsis, and a return to form for PUP, kind of ridiculous and self deprecating diaristic writing  still but with a little bit more tenderness. The cd packaging is also lovely with scans of the actual handwritten lyrics giving us a glimpse into Stephen’s process. 

Listen if you are learning to accept yourself faults and all. 

Holly Mclachlan - faith adventure

After seeing Holly play live at the mai/son show in april i knew this album would be on repeat. Dreamlike, diaristic low-fi abstract anti-folk (I don’t even really know what anti-folk is but that's okay), this album makes me sink into myself in the best way. 

Listen if you like Cocteau Twins, Big Thief/ Adrienne Lenker or Alex G) 

Swimming - Old

No skip midwest emo album by St. Johns band Swimming, this 28-minute album is required Canadian emo listening and has been on repeat both on the show and anytime I'm in need of some dopamine. 

Again, listen if you like Midwest Emo you loser. 

Alex g - Headlights

Look. Alex G is my goat. Of course it's going to be on here. It's indie folk with weird production and great drone. Love the chainsaw on louisiana. 

Listen if you’re on /mu

 

Honourable Mentions

Tron Ares soundtrack 

Deftones - private music 

Big thief - double infinity 

Car Seat Headrest - the scholars 

Lorde - virgin 

Home is where - Hunting Season

Genvieve Artadi and the Norbotten Big Band - Another leaf

Rocket - R is for Rocket

dead butterflies - Heat death of the universe

They Are Gutting a Body of Water - LOTTO

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Carpe Diem, Moonman & Pogo Rodeo

 

Top EPs 

earth2tiffany - Get better

Dangerbox - Reality

february - Run like a girl

Nothing To Hear Without A Sound - Retirement party 

Ora Cogan - Bury Me 

 

In and out list for this year (2026)

INS: 

  • Fibre

  • Ttrpgs 

  • Living seasonally 

  • Embracing the backpack 

  • Walking 2+hours to a destination 

  • Scary ass eyeliner 

  • Wearing super bright colours and patterns 

  • Unionization

  • Print media 

  • Food at home

  • Local businesses 

  • Hunting incels for sport

  • Stuffed animals 

  • Understanding and unlearning your biases while still trusting your intuition 

 

OUTS:

  • shaving 

  • The STM

  • hipsters 

  • Choice feminism 

  • Trend cycles

  • Bootlicking

  • Tiny beanies that don’t cover your years 

  • Embracing nihilism instead of empathy 

  • Productivity culture 

  • Honestly….. micro bangs 

  • Paying for a university degree only to not actually learn anything because you use AI on your assignments that you see as problems instead of opportunities 

Andrew - Metal Music Director and Host of Grade A Explosives, Sundays 4:00PM

Best Albums of 2025

1. Sleep Token - Even in Arcadia - In the summer, I told someone, "If Sleep Token is in my top 5 I'm going to consider it a boring year for music," but there is no record I spent more time with this year, and though I wouldn't even say its a great Sleep Token record, it still is pretty great.

2. Fleshwater - 2000: In Search of an Endless Sky - Continuing with "Yeah, I've kind of heard this all before," this Fleshwater album is kind of just more of the same, but I'm not tired of it yet, but Fleshwater, if you're reading this, maybe do some switch ups on the next record, yeah?

3. Prostitute - Attempted Martyr - A breath of fresh air from these Detroit...ians? who are rereleasing this record on Mute Records, and honestly, good for them. You could do way worse than to listen to this brand of punky nonsense.

4. Black Magnet - Megamantra - In my continued attempt to hope that "this is year for the industrial comeback," I can hold this record up and tell all the bands, to model their albums off of this.

5. Messa - The Spin - I've been getting Messa records since they were on Svart records, and they just keep improving on the doomy, witchy stuff that they've been doing. I'm glad to see them on Metal Blade and hope they get all the praise they deserve.

6. Lowheaven - Ritual Decay - Grunge gaze with metalcore, blackened parts, and a various array of vocals. Yes please!

7. Emma Goldman - All You are is We - If you haven't listened to this weird mix of electronics, hardcore, screamo and whatever else I'm missing, you are missing a treat. Keep an eye on these ones; I feel like they may be going places.

8. Demonic Death Judge - Absolutely Launched - Fuzzy, but also sludgy, rock n roll. If you're a fan of Whores., you should probably check this out.

9. Bonnie Trash - Mourning You - I guess this could safely fit into the "death rock" genre that people are fond of throwing out there, but the doomy, horror vibes that Bonnie Trash have been doing are added to here with a sense of loss and sadness that is heartbreaking.

10.Ho99o9 - Tomorrow We Escape - Ho99o9 have been on my radar for some time since I first heard their mix of punk, industrial, hip hop, and general weirdness, and this album may be one of the best representations and cohesions of their work to date.

Honorable Mentions
Mares of Thrace - The Loss - Another great addition to the Mares of Thrace discography which is able to be brutal sonically as well as emotionally.

Faetooth - Labyrinthine - If I would have sat with this record more, it is entirely possible this got into my top 10. Doomy, witchy, aggressive; its really good.

The Haunted - Songs of Last Resort - Most bands that put out a record after a long absence do a disservice to their back catalogue by putting out a subpar record. The Haunted seem to have taken a different approach and made something that kind of kicks ass.

Scare - In the End, Was it Worth it? - Who would think Quebec City could spit out such sludgy hardcore that is always so good?

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power - Ew. Did Deafheaven make a record that I like? Seems so. Between this and the last Liturgy record, something is going on with these Pitchfork approved black metal artists, and I'm kind of down for it.

Frayle - Heretics & Lullabies - Speaking of a witchy doom band that just keeps getting better and better...

Beatrice - Host of The Waxing Gibbous, Sundays 8:00PM

Best Albums of 2025

1. CMAT - EURO-COUNTRY

2. Wet Leg - moisturizer

3. N Nao - Nouveau Langage

4. Spill Tab - Angie

5. Audrey Hobert - Who's the Clown

Zoe - Host of Something For The Mood, Wednesdays 2:00PM

Best Albums of 2025

1. Gelli Haha - Switcheroo

2. Snooper - Worldwide

3. Nourished By Time - The Passionate Ones

4.  Laura Kreig -  Crépuscule

5. Guerilla Toss - You're Weird Now

 

BVST Goes Santapalooza / Lemmy R.I.P. Anniversary

December 17 2025 //

It's beginning to sound a lot like Santapalooza on BVST! For the 14th year in a row, Angelica is joined by special guest Matt Kiernan for another trip through the freshest new Christmas music you've never heard before. Tune in on December 17 at 7 pm ET and then catch it again on Christmas Eve, December 24th at 7 pm ET. Tell your friends!

Then on December 31, tune in for a special 10-year memorial re-airing of Angelica's tribute to Motörhead's notorious frontman Lemmy. Follow along at home with the original companion article here. (link: http://cjlo.com/articles/rip-lemmy-bvst-pays-tribute-tonight-from-7-9pm)
 
Angelica hosts BVST every Wednesday at 7 - 9 PM on CJLO. Tune in for the best (& worst) rock'n'roll, country, punk & metal!

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