Best Of 2025 – For Notekeeping7 min read

[To be clear, the goal of these lists is not to shift product. It is mostly to keep notes for myself. I’ve always been a list-nerd. I find lists to be helpful to return to in the future, to see what i enjoyed or what inspired me a few years ago. But increasingly i keep lists to assist my faltering brain, with Long COVID continuing to take a toll. I publish this list on December 31. I do not understand why people publish their *end of year* lists at the start of December?! But anyway, to each their own. With this the year 2025 is now done, and what a nightmare it has been, in so many ways. Fuck fascism. Let’s see what 2026 has in store for us]

---

Album

Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke – Tall Tales
Even on this album there are moments when Yorke’s voice irritates me. But what an album, the hamonies, the creativity. Favorite track: Gangsters
Nicolas Jaar – Piedras 1-2
Another powerful musical meditation by the Palestinian-Chilean artist. Favorite track: Rio De Las Tumbas
Sirisumo – Buletten & Blumen
Whenever Moritz drops new music, i drop everything to listen to it. More playful than recent releases, and that’s a good thing. Favorite track: Irgendwohin
Yasmine Hamdan – I remember I forget بنسى وبتذكر
Pan-arabic influence meets poetry on this album by the Beirut-born, Paris-based artist. Favorite track: Shmaali, check out the remix by Jaar
billy woods – Golliwog + gowillog
I was late to discover billy woods, but i am blown away. Favorite track: Misery
Wagon Christ – Planet Roll
Luke Vibert continuous to deliver powerful re-inventions of hip hop. Favorite track: Snatch
Fingathing – G
Fingathing have not released a lot of music in recent year. So this was the surprise album of the year. Favorite track: The Garden

Track

The Cure — ENDSONG [Orbital Remix]
Feeling the lyrics so much. So so much. And the Orbital remix makes me cry, it’s so damn good
Little Simz – Free
Her latest album is not my favorite Little Simz album. But i love this track, and especially in this orchestra arrangement
Marie Davidson – Push Me Fuckhead
I almost listed the album above, but fine. This is the stand out track for me
Burial – Comafields
Sit down and allow the hauntology wash over you
Clipse – Chains & Whips
Of course they are skilled rappers, maybe the best at the moment. But the religious zealotry of this album turns me off. This track is great, though
CAPSLOCK SUPERSTAR x ENL Helvetia
This swiss-german track makes me happy every time i listen to it. Shout out to Globi

Video

It’s Revolution or Death Part 2: Heads Up, The Revolution Is Already Here [sub.media]
It’s Revolution or Death Part 3: Reclaiming the World Wherever We Stand [sub.media]
Narrated by Peter Gelderloos, politically spot on, great interviews. What’s not to like? Part 1 was on last years list

BLOCK BASF – a film from the Earth Uprisings
This short documentary shows a protest by French farmers. Made me cry with rage and hope

Molly Crabapple & Keith LaMar: The Injustice of Justice, A Short Film Animation
Keith LaMar’s voice over the phone and Molly Crabapple’s animations work together so well

The most INSANE Bohemian Rhapsody Flashmob you will ever see!!
It’s hard to explain why i loved this so much. I don’t even like Queen that much and it is not a flashmob. But there you go

Podcast

In Bed With The Right: Project 1933
If i had to name just one podcast series that helped me get through this year, as the so-called US of A turned fascist, it’s this well researched dive into the rise of the Nazis in Germany 1933
Death Panel – Health Fascism & the Anti-State State
Essay-formatted overview of year one of Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” eugenic nightmare, with a look at the implications on the disability justice movement. So far only available as a teaser, but the whole episode might be released soon
In Covid’s Wake Part 1: Lying About Lockdowns | If Books Could Kill
I couldn’t think of a better person than Michael Hobbes to fact check this book
Anarchism and Disability [final straw]
Found Richard Amm’s thoughts on disability and anarchism super inspiring, especially where they talk about language

Book
Non Fiction:

David Graeber – The Ultimate Hidden Truth Of The World
A collection with many of Graeber’s strongest essays. How much we miss him
Sophie Lewis – Enemy Feminisms
A truly mind-blowing book and inspiring read
Boff Whalley – But
Anarchist punk is not dead. At least the bloke from Chumbawamba isn’t

Sami Tamimi – Boustany
Vegetarian Palestinian dishes presented with amazing photos
Joanne Lee Molinaro – The Korean Vegan Cookbook
After the fantastic Chinese Vegan cookbook from 2022, here’s a dive into vegan South Korean kitchen, but i think it’s not a new book, or is it? Hmm

Peter Kuper – Insectopolis
A brilliant comic book, dense with information on all things insect and beautiful drawings
Eric Drooker – Naked City
This comic book is actually from 2024, but i fell in love with it this year, so. It’s part of a series

Fiction:

>Miranda Mellis – Crocosmia
Full disclosure: I used to be friends (i think) with Miranda when we both lived in SF. Their utopian scifi novel draws the arch between our current state and a liberated society, while also treating the dreaded violence question in an inspiring way
Madeleine Thien – The Book Of Records
A daughter and her father take refuge in an enclave called the Sea, where various migration stories collide
Olivia Laing – The Silver Book
Not quite done with this book yet, but love it already. Cinecittà, Fellini, Pasolini and the Italian gay culture of the 70s

TV Series

Adolescence
Magnificent
What It Feels Like For A Girl
A moving coming of age story by Paris Lee
Dying For Sex
If you think that the search for an orgasm by a terminally ill woman sounds dark, it’s not
Riot Women
From the makers of Happy Valley

Movies

I am not big on movies these days, ever since The Wire they seem irrelevant as a medium. In recent times movies were used as a tool in the pandemic normalisation/neutralisation. But this year we have seen some entertaining ones.

Nouvelle Vague
Incidentally this is a movie about movies. Hauntology
One Battle after Another
Yeah yeah, it is a movie fishing for Oscars. And yes, they fucked up the ending. But the treatment of activism is nice in parts
Caught Stealing
Punks and great action sequences. What’s not to like?

Must-Read Articles

The rise of end times fascism | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor [the guardian]
An early summary of the white supremacist, fascist turn in the so-called US
Fascism and the Spectacle of Death [ill will]
And then we have started to enjoy reading accelerationists and insurrectionalists
An Iron Sky Pressing Down | Beatrice Adler-Bolton [substack]
I could have listed a number of B’s articles. But this one offers a sharp analysis of the eugenic undercurrent of capitalism
Rituals of Ache: In Defense of Human Noise | Napkin Manifestos [substack]
Alison Rose Reed is now one of my favorite writers

Cute and/or hilarious

Some of my own stuff

We started a website, food not fireworks. But the project went nowhere, and will only be online for a few more days ¯\_(シ)_/¯

In January started a new mixtape podcast called Screaming Into The Void
Screaming Into The Void was meant as a weekly musical mixtape podcast, reacting to current events while featuring new music. But it turned out to literally be a case of “screaming into the void”. After twelve issues i got the message and stopped

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Then i made two long mix tapes. But again almost no one listened to them. I now dedicate these mixes to the one person that i know listens to them. My wonderful and amazing partner, who also does the beautiful cover art:

Anti-[Placeholder] – A Selectah J Mixtape For My <3

Death Is A Social Construct – A Selectah J Mixtape

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

And i also wrote a few articles:

Wait. Has It Been 5 Years Already?
The case against anarchist prepping
The Ones Who Walk Away From Patriarchy
If my therapy can’t be mutual aid, it’s not my revolution

But since April i have been stuck on this one fucking article, that i can’t seem to finish. Ever.

My life is such a success story. //sarcasm off

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

In No Particular Order
May Add More Later
Suggest Stuff Please
Have Fun
Tell A Friend 😉

---

And Some Other Best Of 2025 Lists

2025: The Year in Review
2025 | DJ Food
sgtpepper2025 [b3ta]
100 Tracks: The 2025 Listening Guide
The 50 best TV shows of 2025
The Quietus Albums of the Year 2025
Hängengeblieben 2025

---

Previous End Of Year Lists

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012