DiS Users' May 2025 Album Of The Month

Music
1

VOTE FOR YOUR TOP FIVE ALBUMS!!

Vote for your favourite five albums. Make your selections clear please as it makes tallying up the scores easier. If you list a whole bunch of albums without making your selections clear I’ll take the first five mentioned as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. No joint positions please. Sorry to be a pedant.

Your album of the month will get five points, 2nd placed album four points, 3rd placed album three points, 4th placed album two points and 5th one point. If you name only one album I’ll give that five points. If you name two albums I’ll score them with five and four points etc. You get the message.

My choices:

1. Erika de Casier - Lifetime

2. Lael Neale - Altogether Stranger

3. Tune-Yards - Better Dreaming

4. Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film

5. I’m With Her - Wild and Clear and Blue

I hadn’t heard of Erika de Casier before this release. I’m not a huge trip hop fan but love this one. During the warm weather this month (we’ve had a few I think) it was perfect accompaniment and I enjoyed putting it on repeat throughout my days and commutes. It just flows beautifully. If it’s sunny or even if not, give it a spin.

The new Lael Neal is pretty good but her previous was a damn high bar and a tough follow up. Very good but prefer her previous stuff…

The same for Tune-Yards and Stereolab. Whokill and Mars Audiac are respectively my go to’s for those two artists. The new ones are good but didn’t quite connect for me. I remember an absolutely stunning Tune-Yards gig at The Royal Festival Hall maybe ten years ago where the gig was just one big dance party for everyone. That’s always my first thought when Tune-Yards are mentioned.

As with Lael Neal I saw I’m With Her at Rough Trade East this month. It’s very Radio 2 friendly stuff but I like it. I haven’t heard that many new albums this month as I was re-familiarising myself with Throwing Muses for their gig a few days ago and I’m still listening to Sharp Pins endlessly too.

Always a lot of great recommendations from you guys about albums that I’ve missed or overlooked. Not sure what’s out tomorrow. I’ll see what you guys are listening to.

Please forgive any shameless bumps of this thread during the week. I’ll keep this thread open until Sunday 8th June and so you’ll have over a week to listen to tomorrow’s releases if there’s anything out before choosing.

Vote now!! (Or later in the week) but make your choices clear please.

8 Likes
2

Drafty draft - edited to add Aesop. Sure billy will click more later in the year for me but just hasn’t quite yet’

  1. Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
  2. Press Club - To All the Ones That I Love
  3. Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
  4. Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette
  5. Search Results - Go Mutant

HMs to:
billy woods, Florry, CRIMEAPPLE, Maze Overlay, Slow Mass, Alien Boy, and EPs from No Windows and Revival Season

6 Likes
3
  1. Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars
  2. Deradoorian - Ready For Heaven
  3. Ezra Furman - Goodbye Small Head
  4. Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
  5. Eli Winter - Trick of the Light

Also liked Yugen Blakrok, Angel Bat Dawid, Enji, Lael Neale, Pan Amsterdam - good month!

4 Likes
4

Might edit this tomorrow, but so far:

  1. Lido Pimienta - La Belleza
  2. caroline - caroline 2
  3. Kathryn Joseph - WE WERE MADE PREY.
  4. Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
  5. Phi-Psonics - Expanding to One

Updated - caroline and KJ pushing Jenny Hval and These New Puritans out. Makes it a ridiculously good month for my tastes - those Top 3 will all be AOTY contenders for me I think.

4 Likes
5

REALLY good month. Tough to narrow it down.

Will be 5 of the following...

Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette
Billy Woods - GOLLIWOG
MIKE - Pinball II
Men I Trust - Equus Caballus
Model/Actriz - Pirouette
Surprise Chef - Superb
Bibi - EVE: ROMANCE
Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
Collettivo Immaginario - Oltreoceano
Korea Town Acid - Glow Up
Hitech - HONEYPAQQ Vol. 1
Rainy Miller - Joseph, What Have You Done?
spill tab - Angie
Lionmilk - WHEN THE FLOWERS BLOOM
Move 78 - Game Four
Obongjayar - Paradise Now
ovrkast. - While The Iron Is Hot

2 Likes
6
  1. These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
  2. Press Club - To all the ones that I love
  3. Mogwai - The Bombing of PAN AM 103
  4. Stereolab - Instant holograms on metal film
  5. Surprise Chef - Superb
1 Like
7

Missed the last couple of weeks but here’s a draft.

  1. PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs
  2. Preoccupations – Ill At Ease
  3. Press Club – To All the Ones That I Love
  4. Lael Neale – Altogether Stranger
  5. Soot Sprite – Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon

Honorable mentions:
Sunday (1994), Blondshell, Kali Uchis, Friendship, Ezra Furman, Adult Mom, Mclusky

3 Likes
8
  1. Shearling - Motherfucker, I Am Both: “Amen” And “Hallelujah”
  2. billy woods - GOLLIWOG
  3. Planning For Burial - It’s Closeness, It’s Easy
  4. Creepy Crawly - Like A Real Thing
  5. Alan Sparhawk & Trampled By Turtles - Alan Sparhawk With Trampled By Turtles

Notables:

Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Ezra Furman - Goodbye Small Head
Heinali & Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko - Гільдеґарда
Jenny Hval - Iris Silver Mist
Kathryn Joseph - WE WERE MADE PREY
mclusky - The World Is Still Here And So Are We
Paco Cathcart - Down On Them
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing

Great month, particularly lifted by the 30th being an absolutely stacked release day.

3 Likes
9
  1. Swans - Birthing
  2. Duval Timothy - wishful thinking
  3. Smerz - Big city life
  4. Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force - Khadim
  5. Shanti Celeste - Romance

HMs Billy Woods, PinkPantheress, Stereolab

4 Likes
10
  1. mclusky - The World Is Still Here And So Are We
  2. Magus Lord - In The Company of Champions
  3. Bow Church - Unknown Realms
  4. …And Oceans - The Regeneration Itinerary
  5. Hermóðr - The Beholder
2 Likes
11

Funnily enough I remember you asking who she was in the AOTM thread when I put her last album Still as my number one, so if you enjoyed Lifetime then I’d recommend checking that out too as they’re both very good.

3 Likes
12

Was going to chime in that her debut was good too, but a quick check tells me that the album I was thinking of (Sensational) was actually her second album, Essentials from 2019 seems well reviewed, though she wasn’t registering any discussion here until later. Going to add that to my list.

1 Like
13

Essentials is amazing!

1 Like
14
  1. kathryn joseph - WE WERE MADE PREY.
  2. Alan Sparhawk & Trampled By Turtles - Alan Sparhawk With Trampled By Turtles

[Will come back with the other 3 after I’ve listened to a pile more but these two are already album of the year contenders for me]

4 Likes
15

Right, reckon it’ll be this…

  1. Billy Woods - GOLLIWOG
  2. Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
  3. Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette
  4. Model/Actriz - Pirouette
  5. Surprise Chef - Superb
With the following just missing out...

MIKE - Pinball II
Eli Keszler - Eli Keszler
Men I Trust - Equus Caballus
Bibi - EVE: ROMANCE
Collettivo Immaginario - Oltreoceano
Korea Town Acid - Glow Up
Hitech - HONEYPAQQ Vol. 1
Rainy Miller - Joseph, What Have You Done?
spill tab - Angie
Lionmilk - WHEN THE FLOWERS BLOOM
Move 78 - Game Four
Obongjayar - Paradise Now
ovrkast. - While The Iron Is Hot
PinkPantheress - Fancy That
Rome Streets - Trainspotting
Mourning [A] BLKStar - Flowers For The Living
Pan Amsterdam - Confines
SMERZ - Big city life
Mei Semones - Animaru

Aes may by higher if I’d had more listens, so has to settle for 3rd at the moment

7 Likes
16

Had no idea there was a new Hitech album, thanks for this!

1 Like
17
  1. Paco Cathcart - Down on Them
  2. Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
  3. Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
  4. Erin Durant - Fire Trail
  5. Foxwarren - 2
    6-10 - Kathryn Joseph, Alan Sparhawk & Trampled By Turtles, Jolie Laide, Eli Winter, Pan Amsterdam
3 Likes
18

And the stacked months keep on coming…

1: Smerz: Big City Life
2: Kara-Lis Coverdale: From Where You Came
3: Caroline: Caroline 2
4: Erika de Casier: Lifetime
5: Duval Timothy: Wishful Thinking

Summary

Mike & Tony Seltzer criminally unlucky to miss out. So listenable. On the contrary just can’t get into billy woods fully yet. It’s clearly amazing, just not had the headspace to just submit to it. Principe records comp nearly made it too. Rare to have a compilation album that covers so much ground and yet all feels like there’s one strong throughline running through it, then we got two in two months (Pattern Gardening the other). Eli Keszler too is pretty cool if you like Lynch / Portishead. Really good record that. And just got into this Cuneiform Tabs album - woah!

Summary

Anyway - Smerz are less wild than they were, but another great pop album in a year of great, great pop albums. Great songs, done weirdly. I’ll always take that. Kara Lis-Coverdale is not what I expected based on past releases, but it’s so enveloping. Just sunk into it and found loads of great sections and pieces and surprises… played it endlessly. Caroline kept the odd things that made their debut borderline great, but this felt less forced and more organic, even though the opposite is probably true - feels like the other side of the Still House Plants coin, really nice counterpoint to that record. Erika is just amazing. Think this is being slept on massively. Decent argument she’s one of the great underrated artists of our time. Likewise Duval… does so much with so little. I dunno what this album is, exactly, but I love it when it’s on. Strong month, again.

3 Likes
19

Yeah, May was absolutely ridiculous. Silly month.

  1. Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
  2. Florry - Sounds Like
  3. caroline - caroline 2
  4. Surprise Chef - Superb
  5. Charmer - Downpour
6-10
  1. Jenny Hval - Iris Silver Mist
  2. Lael Neale - Altogether Stranger
  3. Home Is Where - Hunting Season
  4. Press Club - To All The Ones That I Love
  5. Adult Mom - Natural Causes
The rest

Milkweed - Remscéla
Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars
Pup - Who Will Look After the Dogs
Park National - You Have To Keep Searching
Pet Symmetry - Big Symmetry
Regal Cheer - Quite Good
Club Night - Joy Coming Down
Beauty Saloon - BS
Esther Rose - Want
Sunday (1994) - Devotion (EP)
Preoccupations - Ill at Ease
Arms Length - There’s a Whole World Out There
Tune-yards - Better Dreaming
Slow Joy - A Joy So Slow At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming
Sedona - Getting into Heaven
Moontype - I Let the Wind Push Down On Me
Empty Heaven - My Own Car
Charm School - DEBT FOREVER
Foxwarren - Foxwarren 2
Jacob Alon - In Limerence
Kathryn Joseph - WE WERE MADE PREY.
Ben Kweller - Cover the Mirrors
Shura - I Got Too Sad For My Friends
Other Nothing - Lr
Alien Boy - You Wanna Fade?
Alan Sparhawk - With Trampled By Turtles
Cash Langdon - Dogs

5 Likes
20

I just listened to the Friendship album. Absolutely loved it, and “Free Association” is already one of my favourite songs of the last few years.

3 Likes