Best of 2025

Happy New Year to you all. Thank you as ever for checking out the blog. For the second year running over 1,000 of you came to the site, which is really special.

Here are my most played tracks of the year courtesy of Spotify. Heavily featured artists include TEED (as usual), Maribou State, Seb Wildblood, Caribou, Little Dragon and NEIL FRANCES. You’ll find the new Leon Vynehall, along with various bits and pieces across all genres that I had on repeat this year. There is also a complete album by Marconi Union; I think I put it on and then fell asleep while it played in a never-ending loop. You’ll understand when you hear it.

And as a little New Year’s treat, here is a link to my top 48 on Soundcloud. Knock yourself out.

Otherside & Blackoak – Maribou State

One of the first posts I wrote on this site was on the release of Kingdoms in Colour. That was way back in 2018 – the last time electronic duo Maribou State released an album. So it is pretty exciting that they are back with a new album, Hallucinating Love, which will be released on 31st January 2025. The process has been a long one in part due to a serious illness suffered by one of the duo. Chris Davids has required brain surgery due to a rare condition called a Chiari malformation. That they are now releasing new music and announcing live dates is great news for the band and their fans.

7 years is a mighty long time in music, but from the sounds of the first two singles it may have been worth the wait. Both Blackoak and Otherside are unmistakably Maribou State, once again featuring Holly Walker’s beautiful vocals. Excitingly, Andreya Triana is a featured artist on a yet to be released track, which feels like another match made in heaven.

Tickets for their Valentine’s Day gig at Ally Pally go on sale this Friday.

Manifest Bliss – United Freedom Collective

With the sun out as it is today, there’s a lot to like about this record.

Manifest Bliss is the debut single from United Freedom Collective, a new project from Mathieu Seynaeve, WaiFung Tsang and producer Robbie Redway. They say their music draws on the clinical work of Seynaeve and Tsang while also taking influence from worlds of Zen Taoism, Chinese plant medicines, and worldwide healing traditions. Lofty goals, but it really does come through, in a Bonobo and Maribou State kind of style. Enjoy!

Pick Your Shots Clean – Pedestrian

Sometimes in music, as in life, you need a bit of dirt. Pick Your Shots Clean delivers that in spades. 90s outdoor rave meets Berlin club. Turn it up and grind it out. Oosh.

The flip-side Airs & Graces is new to me, and has a completely different kind of appeal, but its very nice too – impossible not to notice the Maribou State connection. Enjoy.

Nervous Tics (DJ Tennis Remix) – Maribou State

I posted the new Maribou State album a couple of weeks ago – since they’ve been drip-feeding a few remixes. This one is the clear stand-out. DJ Tennis delivering some Anjunadeep style deepness. He re-imagines the song with amped up angst and beauty. Goosebump material.

Kingdoms in Colour – Maribou State

Released last week, Maribou State’s long-awaited second studio album, Kingdoms in Colour.

Long-time collaborator Holly Walker is once again featured on a number of the tracks, including the stand-out single Nervous Tics; a track that’s also been given the remix treatment by Maceo Plex. The album also features an unexpected cameo from mind-bending rock trio Khruangbin – the track Feel Good features their trademark bass guitar thrums and provides a welcome spurt of tempo to the middle of the album. Another standout track is Turnmills. Featuring MS’s trademark strings alongside a pleasant chuggy baseline – the track is a tribute to the now-closed iconic Turnmills club in London.

All in all it’s a successful follow-up number from Maribou – they have put together an album that should please existing and new fans alike

They have 3 UK dates booked for early March – check them out