JDK's Favorite Films and Albums of 2025

Favorite film of 2025: One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

Given that films are written and planned years ahead of time, this dropped at the perfect moment. And it's better that it occurs in a non-specific era, in fictional cities, with not-specified-as-ICE goons. It sounds weird to type this, but I've seen this film three times and don't quite love it yet, but the same happened with There Will Be Blood and (my opinion as PTA's best film) The Master. If nothing else, the two rewatches have allowed me to focus on DiCaprio's whacked-out, slapstick performance, which he makes look effortless when he switches from desperation to fury to cluelessness.

Other favorites of 2025:

• Sinners (dir. Ryan Coogler)
• Weapons (dir. Zach Cregger)
• Sovereign (dir. Christian Swegal)

Favorite new-to-me, non-2025 film: Crimson Tide (1995, dir. Tony Scott)

Total films watched: 217
Average films/day: 0.59

2025 films watched: 61
New-to-me films: 139

First film of the year: Nosferatu (2025, dir. Robert Eggers) on January 1
Last film of the year: There Will Be Blood (2007, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) on December 31

2025 songs heard: 711, 1.8 days listening time

Favorite album of 2025: Hotline TNT - Raspberry Moon

Still very much enjoying the shoegaze revival. Recording in a studio proper also allowed Hotline TNT to make a huge rock sound that plays great from both big speakers and headphones.

Other favorites of 2025:

• Alex G - Headlights
• Bon Iver - Sable, Fable
• Geese - Getting Killed
• Militarie Gun - God Save The Gun
• Momma - Welcome To My Blue Sky
• Water From Your Eyes - It's A Beautiful Place

Albums that need a few more listens:

• Big Thief - Double Infinity
• Caroline - Caroline 2
• Flock of Dimes - The Life You Save
• Greg Freeman - Burnover
• Haim - I Quit
• Jay Som - Belong
• Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out?
• Matt Berninger - Get Sunk
• No Joy - Bugland
• Smerz - Big City Life
• Snooper - Worldwide
• Turnstile - Never Enough
• Ty Segall - Possession
• Quickly, Quickly - I Heard That Noise
• Wednesday - Bleeds
• Wet Leg - Moisturizer
• Youth Lagoon - Rarely Do I Dream

New additions to the Mux Hall of Fame:

• Cheatahs
• Junior Boys

Mux433: Stick This In Your Mux And Smoke It (Jan. 2026)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. Wet Leg - Mangetout (Moisturizer / 2025)
2. Turnstile - Never Enough (JDK Edit) (Never Enough / 2025)
3. Tune-Yards - Heartbreak (Better Dreaming / 2025)
4. Hatchie - Wonder (Liquorice / 2025)
5. Dehd - Dist B (Poetry / 2024)
6. Jay Som - Drop A (Belong / 2025)
7. Smerz - Feisty (Big City Life / 2025)
8. Snooper - Relay (Worldwide / 2025)
9. Been Stellar - Can't Look Away (Scream From New York, NY / 2024)
10. Geese - Islands of Men (Getting Killed / 2025)
11. Bon Iver - If Only I Could Wait (feat. Danielle Haim) (Sable, Fable / 2025)
12. Quickly, Quickly - Drawn Away (I Heard That Noise / 2025)

TRT 39:21

Spotify playlist of individual tracks.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux432: Seasonal Mux Disorder (Dec. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

Another 2025-centric playlist. There are still so many great albums from the year that I've only spun once or twice. And like most years, I probably won't find my favorite album of the year until 2027.

1. Big Thief - Los Angeles (Double Infinity / 2025)
2. Youth Lagoon - Speed Freak (Rarely Do I Dream / 2025)
3. Militarie Gun - Throw Me Away (God Save The Gun / 2025)
4. Fake Fruit - No Mutuals (Fake Fruit / 2021)
5. Momma - New Friend (Welcome To My Blue Sky / 2025)
6. Wolf Alice - Passenger Seat (The Clearing / 2025)
7. Flock of Dimes - Keep Me In The Dark (The Life You Save / 2025)
8. Ty Segall - Shining (Possession / 2025)
9. Sleigh Bells - Badly (Bunky Becky Birthday Boy / 2025)
10. Superchunk - Care Less (Songs In The Key of Yikes / 2025)
11. Hotline TNT - Break Right (Raspberry Moon / 2025)*
12. Phoenix - Sometimes In The Fall (It's Never Been Like That / 2006)

TRT 43:07

Spotify playlist of individual tracks. *Hotline TNT has pulled all of their tracks from Spotify.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux431: Mux of Theseus (Dec. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

Somehow this became an all-2025 Mux. Definitely not a problem, though I admit I still haven't considered my favorite albums of the year. I'm partial to Alex G, Bon Iver, and Geese (among many others), and Water From Your Eyes is a dark horse candidate.

1. Jay Som - What You Need (Belong / 2025)
2. Algernon Cadwallader - Hawk (Trying Not To Have A Thought / 2025)
3. Panda Bear - Praise (Sinister Grift / 2025)
4. Hatchie - Sage (Liquorice / 2025)
5. Alex G - Louisiana (Headlights / 2025)
6. Water From Your Eyes - Born 2 (It's A Beautiful Place / 2025)
7. Smerz - Big City Life (Big City Life / 2025)
8. Purity Ring - imanocean (Purity Ring / 2025)
9. Darkside - Graucha Max (JDK Edit) (Nothing / 2025)
10. Matt Berninger - Inland Ocean (Get Sunk / 2025)
11. Bon Iver - Walk Home (Sable, Fable / 2025)
12. Geese - Taxes (Getting Killed / 2025)

TRT 44:10

Spotify playlist of individual tracks.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux430: One Mux After Another (Nov. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. Militarie Gun - Fill Me With Paint (God Save The Gun / 2025)
2. Big Thief - Words (Double Infinity / 2025)
3. Wet Leg - U And Me At Home (Moistuzier / 2025)
4. Franz Ferdinand - Cats (The Human Fear / 2025)
5. Snooper - Worldwide (Worldwide / 2025)
6. Yo La Tengo - Deeper Into Movies (I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One / 1997)
7. Elias Rønnenfelt - Close (Heavy Glory / 2024)
8. Hotline TNT - Where U Been? (Raspberry Moon / 2025)*
9. The National - Crumble (feat. Rosanne Cash) (Laugh Track / 2023)
10. Momma - Welcome To My Blue Sky (Welcome To My Blue Sky / 2025)
11. Caroline - Total Euphoria (Caroline 2 / 2025)
12. Flock of Dimes - The Enemy (The Life You Save / 2025)

Rookies: Caroline

TRT 41:41

Spotify playlist of individual tracks. *The Hotline TNT track isn't on Spotify because, like a growing numbers of bands, they don't want to support some really nasty shit. It's not about royalties (though that's definitely another issue) but rather the ties of Spotify's CEO's link to a weapons company. And yes, I'm very well aware that I'm part of the problem, and I would absolutely love it if I didn't have to take huge bites of a shit sandwich every day.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux429: A Crisp Mux In The Air (Nov. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. The Men - Breeze (Mercy / 2020)
2. Geese - Getting Killed (Getting Killed / 2025)
3. Tune-Yards - How Big Is The Rainbow? (Better Dreaming / 2025)
4. Pavement - Silence Kid (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain / 1994)
5. Greg Freeman - Gone (Can Mean A Lot of Things) (Burnover / 2025)
6. Venturing - We Don't Exist (Ghostholding / 2025)
7. Water From Your Eyes - Playing Classics (It's A Beautiful Place / 2025)
8. Wild Pink - St. Catherine St. (Dulling The Horns / 2024)
9. Fake Fruit - Sap (Mucho Mistrust / 2024)
10. Alex G - June Guitar (Headlights / 2025)
11. Bon Iver - There's A Rhythm (SABLE, fABLE / 2025)
12. Algernon Cadwallader - You've Always Been Here (Trying Not To Have A Thought / 2025)

Rookies: Algernon Cadwallader, Geese, Greg Freeman

TRT 47:30

Spotify playlist of individual tracks.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux428: Upways Downways Sideways Muxways (Oct. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. No Joy - I Hate That I Forget What You Look Like (Bugland / 2025)
2. Wolf Alice - White Horses (The Clearing / 2025)
3. Wet Leg - CPR (Moisturizer / 2025)
4. Wednesday - Pick Up That Knife (Bleeds / 2025)
5. Destroyer - Song For America (Kaputt / 2011)
6. TV On The Radio - No Future Shock (Nine Types of Light / 2011)
7. Smerz - You Got Time And I Got Money (Big City Life / 2025)
8. Ratboys - I Go Out At Night (Printer's Devil / 2020)
9. The Beaches - Edge of the Earth (Blame My Ex / 2023)
10. Hotline TNT - Letter To Heaven (Raspberry Moon / 2025)*
11. The National - Laugh Track (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) (Laugh Track / 2023)
12. Momma - Stay All Summer (Welcome To My Blue Sky / 2025)

Rookie: Smerz

TRT 44:01

Spotify playlist of individual tracks. *Hotline TNT removed their songs from Spotify, so there's only 11 tracks on that playlist.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux427: A Mux Made In Heaven (Oct. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. Lagwagon - May 16 (Let's Talk About Feelings / 1998)
2. Matt Berninger - No Love (Get Sunk / 2025)
3. Franz Ferdinand - Right Action (Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action / 2013)
4. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - I Can't Imagine (Why You Feel This Way) (Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory / 2025)
5. The Smile - No Words (Cutouts / 2024)
6. Phoenix - All Eyes On Me (Alpha Zulu / 2022)
7. Bon Iver - I'll Be There (SABLE, fABLE / 2025)
8. Pool Kids - Sorry Not Sorry (Easier Said Than Done / 2025)
9. Chromatics - On The Wall (Mux Edit) (Closer To Grey / 2019)
10. Mannequin Pussy - I Don't Know You (I Got Heaven / 2024)
11. Water From Your Eyes - Nights In Armor (It's A Beautiful Place / 2025)
12. Alex G - Headlights (Headlights / 2025)

Rookie: Pool Kids

TRT 44:03

Spotify playlist of individual tracks.

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux426: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Muxes (Sept. 2025)

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. Hotline TNT - Julia's War (Raspberry Moon / 2025)*
2. The Beaches - Everything Is Boring (Blame My Ex / 2023)
3. No Joy - My Crud Princess (Bugland / 2025)
4. Wet Leg - Davina McCall (Moisturizer / 2025)
5. Tunde Adebimpe - Drop (Thee Black Boltz / 2025)
6. Quickly, Quickly - I Punched Through The Wall (I Heard That Noise / 2025)
7. Black Lips - In My Mind There's A Dream (Satan's Graffiti Or God's Art? / 2017)
8. Momma - Ohio All The Time (Welcome To My Blue Sky / 2025)
9. Indigo De Souza - Heartthrob (Precipice / 2025)
10. Venturing - Famous Girl (Ghostholding / 2025)
11. Haim - Gone (I Quit / 2025)
12. Spoon - The Way Love Comes (Home Demo) (They Want My Soul [Deluxe More Soul Edition] / 2024)

Rookies: The Beaches, No Joy

TRT 41:31

Spotify playlist of individual tracks.

*Hotline TNT has removed their catalog from Spotify, so past and future Muxes will probably have some holes in them. More reason to download the MP3!

The Rules of the Muxes.

Mux425: Wish Upon A Shooting Mux (Sept. 2025)

Supershort obligatory plug: Check out my novel, Meet Me In The Gameroom, over at Amazon. Pro tip: If you click on the ebook box, the sample pages include nearly the entire first chapter, whereas the paperback preview only shows the first few pages.

Apologies for the car-crash transition from Air into Bon Iver at the end. The Bon Iver track already has a tail from the prior song and I couldn't get it to smoothly come in, so it's a real shoddy crossfade. Just like the radio! Also, if you listen to the MP3 and think that "Gold Lion" runs a little quick, you're not crazy; I am a music terrorist and nudged it 8% faster. Also also, apologies that you'll have "Bread! Believer!" stuck in your head forever.

Download or stream a continuous MP3 mix via my Dropbox.

1. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - Southern Life (What It Must Be Like) (Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory / 2025)
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion (Show Your Bones / 2006)
3. Alex G - Afterlife (Headlights / 2025)
4. Fake Fruit - Long Island Iced Tea (Mucho Mistrust / 2024)
5. Car Seat Headrest - Equals (The Scholars / 2025)
6. Youth Lagoon - Perfect World (Rarely Do I Dream / 2025)
7. The Beach Boys - Cabin Essence (The Smile Sessions / 2011)
8. !!! - Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass (Strange Weather, Isn't It? / 2010)
9. Porches - Bread Believer (Shirt / 2024)
10. The Smile - The Slip (Cutouts / 2024)
11. Air - You Make It Easy (Moon Safari / 1998)
12. Bon Iver - Everything Is Peaceful Love (SABLE, fABLE / 2025)

TRT 44:24

Spotify playlist of individual tracks.

The Rules of the Muxes.