Every week, 88Nine music director Erin Wolf shares a sonic gem she found using her nearly 20 years of new-music exploration experience. You can hear all her discoveries live on 88Nine at 10 p.m. every Monday on What’s All This: Adventures in New Music.
When one shares over 500 songs a year, it could be seen as real challenging to sift through all of them and find the gold. However, my ultimate rule in putting together a “best of” episode is to simply let those songs that had me coming back for repeat listens rise to the top.
This was a particularly delightful year of returns (Stereolab!) and new projects for perennial faves (Sharp Pins!). It also saw a hella lot of collabs, which put a fun community vibe into the vast musical scene across the globe (Blood Orange, Dijon, Snocaps, etc.). It really is a small world, and this year’s cross-pollination was evidence of that.
While we’re in reflection mode, I’ll quickly share that putting together What’s All This every week is something I truly look forward to. I hope that tuning in, hearing the handcrafted playlist and absorbing those individual songs grabbed you. That you had lightning-bolt moments sending you back for that musical “zing,” seeking out repeat listens, rippling out to adjacent artists and never-ending discovery.
Tap into What’s All This with me one more time this year as I share some of my fave moments and hint at the shape of what’s to come in 2026. You can hear the episode using the player at the top of the page, or catch a rebroadcast on-air at 10 p.m. next Monday, Jan. 5.
Best new indie music of 2025
- Saya Gray, “SHELL ( OF A MAN )”
- Blood Orange, “Mind Loaded (ft. Caroline Polachek, Lorde & Mustafa)”
- Stereolab, “Transmuted Matter”
- Water From Your Eyes, “Life Signs”
- jasmine.4.t, “Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation”
- Graham Hunt, “I Just Need Enough”
- Sharp Pins, “I Can’t Stop”
- Snocaps, “Avalanche”
- Wednesday, “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”
- Geese, “100 Horses”
- GOON, “Begin Here”
- Dijon, “Another Baby!”
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