At the Gates has a lot to answer for.

I had a lot of fun trying to build a Martell/Crossing deck that tried to play this with the Water Gardens. Notably, though, I never actually felt the need to try *playing* the deck.

Lancel/Gregor is one of my favourite pairs in the game. Slap Ser Pounce on this guy and you've really got a stew going.

An odd case, this one. The faction kneel got added late-ish in playtesting because it was completely overpowered for generic goodstuff decks without it, but it clearly came at the cost of it being in any way playable. I wonder if we could have salvaged it some other way.

"Took" in the sense that we had to force it to end at that point or we would have perished. Good times

Baby Theon voltron is my happy place

You could not have been more wrong about that

Today's lunch break mostly involves crying over the new episode of Starfleet Academy. I think the show is broadly promising, and this episode good rather than great, but it found the button that breaks me and pressed it hard.

my beloved

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A graphic depicting my top 10 most played artists of 2025, out of a total of 897 artists. In descending order: Aesop Rock (1158 plays), Blondshell (962), Everything Everything (873), The Beths (771), Samia (767), Kerala Dust (763), Hop Along (759), CMAT (685), Clipping. (665), Afro Celt Sound System (645).

A graphic of my 20 most-played tracks of 2025, from 44,759 total plays. In descending order: Running/Planning by CMAT (105 plays), Bovine Excision by Samia (99), Docket by Blondshell ft. Bully (96), Best Laid Plans by the Beths (93), Moonshine Freeze by This Is the Kit (93), North Poles by Samia (92), Neon Signs by the Weather Station (91), Take by the Beths (89), Metal by the Beths (88), Ate the Tuning Fork While I Taxied in the Crepuscular by Rhys Langston ft. Open Mike Eagle (88), The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station by CMAT (87), Keep Pushing by Clipping. (82), 23's a Baby by Blondshell (78), Moonlight by the Weather Station (78), Run It by Clipping. (77), Lizard by Samia (77), White Horses by Wolf Alice (77), Model Rockets by Blondshell (76), I Remember You a Dancer by Kerala Dust (76), Straight Line Was a Lie by the Beths (75).

A graphic showing my top 10 most-played albums of 2025, from a total of 1643 albums. In descending order: Bloodless by Samia (675 plays), Straight Line Was a Lie by the Beths (637), If You Asked for a Picture by Blondshell (595), Black Hole Superette by Aesop Rock (583), Dead Channel Sky by Clipping. (542), Euro-Country by CMAT (515), Bark Your Head Off, Dog by Hop Along (479), Pale Black Negative by Rhys Langston (398), Horror by Bartees Strange (384), Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory by Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (379).

Because the year ends at 23:59 on New Year's Eve rather than early December like the streaming services would like to pretend, here are my listening stats for 2025.

My top 10 albums of 2025, now freed from the constraints of a 55-post thread: georgeankers.com/2025/12/my-t...

As promised/warned, I went much longer on my top 10: georgeankers.com/2025/12/my-t...

#11, Love and Fortune by Stella Donnelly.

11. Love and Fortune – Stella Donnelly

Having only recently discovered – and greatly enjoyed – this Aussie’s debut album, I thought this was a step up on all levels. Gorgeous guitars and harmonies threaten to belie the shock and pain of the acrimonious collapse of a cherished friendship.

#12, I Heard It's a Mess There Too by Aesop Rock.

12. I Heard It’s a Mess There Too – Aesop Rock

The verbose rapper’s surprise second release of the year is a brilliant, holistic take on coping mechanisms in stressful times, with sparse and mysterious production that evokes the liminal spaces into which he tries to effect an escape.

#13, Humanhood by the Weather Station.

13. Humanhood – The Weather Station

Tamara Lindeman continues the sonic exploration begun on 2021’s peerless Ignorance as she wrestles with disassociation, at times getting downright ambient amid her jazz-tinged folk-rock. Restless lead single Neon Signs is one of my absolute favourites of 2025.

#14, From the Pyre by the Last Dinner Party.

14. From the Pyre – The Last Dinner Party

Following up one of 2024’s most exciting debuts is no easy task. These 10 songs are no great departure from Prelude to Ecstasy but they sit worthily alongside it – and triumphant singalong death anthem The Scythe is, for my money, their best song yet.

#15, Natural Causes by Adult Mom.

15. Natural Causes – Adult Mom

Not always an easy listen, as Stevie Knipe wrestles with abusive relationships, queer identity and their treatment for breast cancer, but opener Door Is Your Hand makes clear that there’s plenty of irresistible pop to this indie-rock group’s best album yet.

#16, Thee Black Boltz by Tunde Adebimpe.

16. Thee Black Boltz – Tunde Adebimpe

A grab bag of weird and wonderful stylistic choices from the TV on the Radio frontman, from agitated dance-punk to synth-pop via acoustic ballads. He yearns, grieves and rages with a voice that remains unique and thrilling.

#17, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party by Hayley Williams.

17. Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party – Hayley Williams

Packed full of really good songs – maybe too full; you can tell it was designed as less an album than a playlist. Williams sounds free and emboldened despite the heartbreak and anguish, and the production is immaculate.

#18, Snocaps by Snocaps.

18. Snocaps – Snocaps

A crisp half-hour of top-shelf indie rock. Twins Katie and Allison Crutchfield reunite, plus MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook, for a project that feels effortless. There’s no clear highlight, nor any skips; just a bunch of catchy guitar songs that barely ever exceed three minutes.

#19, Get Sunk by Matt Berninger.

19. Get Sunk – Matt Berninger

The National frontman’s second solo album is mostly a quiet exploration of the depression and writer’s block that afflicted him in the early 2020s. While its meat and potatoes is exquisite, sighing moping, though, its standout is the barnstorming Bonnet of Pins.

#20, Lux by Rosalía.

20. Lux – Rosalía

Easily one of the most impressive albums of the year. I don’t think I’ve ever heard pop get so classical, plus the million languages and Rosalía’s jaw-dropping vocal performance. I am impressed with it more than I am outright in love with it, though, just on a song-to-song level.

#21, Bitcrush EP by Telenova.

21. Bitcrush EP – Telenova

This bite-sized preview of next Feb’s follow-up to my favourite album of 2024 sees the Aussie trio lean harder into their trip-hop influences to very promising results. Only three tracks, but I’ve been hitting all of them hard and not grown tired yet.

#22, The Clearing by Wolf Alice.

22. The Clearing – Wolf Alice

Part of me can’t believe this is so high up. It’s wildly uneven, its throwbacks to 70s glam and soft rock often landing in tedium. But it’s also home to some of the very best songs in an already stacked catalogue, like White Horses, The Sofa and Bloom Baby Bloom.

#23, Year of the Slug by Caroline Rose.

23. Year of the Slug – Caroline Rose

How do you follow up one of the most visceral breakup albums of recent years? By making a DIY record on your phone’s GarageBand app. Rose feels free to be messy and imperfect here, and it only serves to make the album feel like a comfortable, threadbare hoodie.

#24, Getting Killed by Geese.

24. Getting Killed – Geese

I don’t think it lives up to the ‘saving rock’n’roll’ hype but I understand why people are going mad for this even while I think it’s merely very good. It’s the sound of a young person making first contact with the adult world, realising it’s fucked up, and freaking out.

#25, Perimenopop by Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

25. Perimenopop – Sophie Ellis-Bextor

The queen of 2000s disco-pop confidently retakes her throne after a few years away exploring other sounds. Her regal vocals haven’t lost a step – they’re warm and inviting over some luscious production that sweeps you away on the summer breeze.

#26, Forever Is a Feeling by Lucy Dacus.

26. Forever Is a Feeling – Lucy Dacus

I’m still not in love with the blander production (which I think makes this Dacus’s least interesting album) but she’s still a gifted writer – the likes of Lost Time, Come Out and Hozier collaboration Bullseye kept growing on me all year.

#27, Totem by Lamomali.

27. Totem – Lamomali

The second album from this French-Malian collective features some of the most joyful pop bangers I heard all year (the title track and Il Neige à Bamako in particular) but has lovely quieter moments too, given delicate beauty by its koras.