Without wasting any time, let’s plunge into the second half of 2025’s Best Albums of the Year, every one of them a staggering achievement of ingenuity and brilliance that defies any and all expectations. Individually, they’re vital and essential; together, they define the very best of the best of this …
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France
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So here we are again, the end of the year, looking back at the almighty heights scaled by the most intrepid few. Here’s the first half of 2025’s Best Albums of the Year, an absolute showcase of fearless invention and remarkable beauty that demands and deserves your full, undivided attention.
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There’s a deep, tragic irony in the title of Breton musician Emilie Quinquis’ latest album. Eor means ‘anchor’, suggesting not just water and depths, but security and immovability. Yet its eight tracks are a dark sequence continually articulating wistfulness, uncertainty and loss. Its initial sounds, in opening track ‘Inkanuko’ (desire) …
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In addition to the solos and duos i discussed previously, there were various ensemble performances at this year’s Sacrum Profanum, though they were very far from being highlights, memorable for the wrong reasons. As far as Stephen O’Malley‘s You Origin was concerned, one already knew what to expect. However, to …
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While the Sacrum Profanum festival’s name hints at its beginnings, mixing sacred and secular music of the 18th and 19th centuries, today’s iteration bears no resemblance. Notions of ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’ – absurdly outdated and meaningless concepts both – are absent, and the entirety of the festival programme focuses on …
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This year’s Warsaw Autumn festival didn’t so much have a theme as a keyword: “clearing”. Referencing Heidegger’s use of the term (lichtung), the idea was that it “symbolises a new stage, a new opening and chance, in both the social and individual dimension. The word carries the hope that we wish to …
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To view this content, you must be a member of Simon’s Patreon at £5 or more
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To view this content, you must be a member of Simon’s Patreon at £5 or more
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To view this content, you must be a member of Simon’s Patreon at £5 or more
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To view this content, you must be a member of Simon’s Patreon at £5 or more
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