RSU Radio’s Best of 2025

Brian Horton – Horton’s Heavy Communion

1. Coroner – Dissonance Theory
2. Blackbraid – III
3. Handgemeng – Satanic Panic Attack
4. Ambush – Evil in All Dimensions
5. Helms Deep – Chasing the Dragon
6. Owlbear – Feather and Claw
7. Farseer – Portals to Cosmic Womb
8. Paradox – Mysterium
9. Witchcraft – Idag
10. Shadow of Intent – Imperium Delirium

DJ Sweet Baby Jaysus – WORMCAKE

1. Mary Mortem – Phantoms of the Fall
2. Planning For Burial – The Closeness, It’s Easy
3. Pygmy Lush – Totem
4. Massa Nera – The Emptiness of All Things
5. Hell – Submersus
6. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
7. Iron Lung – Adapting/Crawling
8. Chevalier – Un Dalore A Cui Non So dare Nome
9. Retirement – Attention Economy
10. Ectospire – Spiritual Dismemberment

Joseph – Top 10 Countdown

1. Automatic – Is It Now?
   While my daily driver is a manual transmission, Automatic’s third album, Is it Now?,was love at first listen. Is it Now? is a beautiful cacophony of industrial synth-pop that effortlessly weaves dystopic and rebellious themes with optimistic absurdism. Automatic takes aim at the woes of the world and unleashes a collection of anthems that call to action and demand a change.
2. l.a.z.i.e. – I Don’t Know Anything
3. Haley Heyndrickx & Max Garcia Conover – What of Our Nature
4. Gabriel Jacoby – gutta child
5. Princess Nokia – GIRLS
6. Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS
7. Pon Far – Little Grains
8. Aesop Rock – Black Hole Superette
9. Gelli Haha – Gelliverse
10. Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Trash Classic

Maria – The Lounge

1. Rosalia – LUX
   On her fourth studio album LUX, Rosalía creates a multilingual operatic masterpiece. Who else could rally Björk and Yves Tumor on the same track? The same artist that concocted an album which explores love, men, God, femininity, death and surrender in more than a dozen languages. For all of its impressive scholarship and history, LUX offers more than prestige. Underneath it all, it is a bold and audacious effort that aims straight for the heart.
2. Lady Gaga – Mayhem
3. Sudan Archives – THE BPM
4. Wolf Alice – The Cleaning
5. Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out
6. Pinkpantheress – Fancy That
7. Viagra Boys – viagr aboys
8. Lorde – Virgin
9. Little Simz – Lotus
10. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH

Hugh Foley – Native Air

1. Brandi Carlile – Returning to Myself
   While I’m partial to Oklahoma artists, I can not deny that this album is the best overall work I heard this year. Glimmering throughout the songs are Carlile’s introspective and relatable lyrics alongside her soaring and emotive voice. Adding the tandem of powerful and layered production, as well as Carlile’s multi-instrumental abilities, Returning to Myself rewards multiple listens with new insights and auditory pleasures.
2. Turnpike Troubadours – The Price of Admission
3. Ken Pomeroy – Cruel Joke
4. Samantha Crain – Gumshoe
5. Lance Roark – Bad Reputation
6. Jason Scott & The High Heat – American Grin
7. Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow
8. Hayes Carll – We’re Only Human
9. Mumford and Sons – Rushmere
10. Rhett Miller – A Lifetime of Riding by Night

The Reverend Dr. Ray – HiFi Heresy

1. Luke Bell – The King is Back 
   Hands down, my favorite release of the year. This posthumous release pulls together demos, rough cuts, and fully fleshed out songs that span 2 LPs. I was a big fan of his self-titled release that came out in 2018. If you’re a fan of old-school honky tonk, don’t let this one pass you by. 
2. Third Man Vault 64 – Jack White  Break it all Down!!! (No Name Tour) 
3. Fuzz – Fuzz’s Fourth Dream 
4. The Courettes/Thee Heacoatess – A Christmas Gift for You split single 
5. Wild Billy Childish – CTFM single 
6. Third Man Vault 66 – Billy Strings Live in Rosemont and s/t EP 
7. Beatles Anthology 2025 remaster 
8. Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override 
9. OCMS – OCMS XMAS 
10. The Faces – Early Steps 

DJ Amanda Williams – Spin Theory

1. Sault – 10
2. Blood Orange – Essex Honey
3. Erykah Badu & The Alchemist – “Next to You”
4. DJO – The Crux
5. Nation of Language – Dance Called Memory
6. Remy Bond – Backstage at the Tropicana
7. Men I Trust – Equus Caballus
8. The Cure – Mixes of a Lost World
9. FKA Twigs – EUSEXUA Afterglow
10. Lana Del Rey – “Bluebird”/”Henry, Come On”

Jaiden – Production Manager

1. Samantha Crain – Gumshoe
   Samantha Crain is always going to hold a special place in my heart thanks to this album. Gumshoe hits so close to home with its themes of longing for something bigger than yourself, and what could possibly be a better start to your last year of being a college student than that? I know that this is an album that’s going to follow me for many years to come.
   
2. Rujen – Velvet Dream
3. Say She She – Cut and Rewind
4. Samantha Fish – Paper Doll
5. Super Pyramid – Comment if This Is Paradise!
6. The Beths – Straight Line Was A Lie
7. The Laughing Chimes – Whispers in the Speech Machine
8. Cloth – Pink Silence
9. Pale Rider – 1TO0
10. James Marriott – Don’t Tell the Dog

Tip – General Manager

1. End It – Wrong Side of Heaven
   I have been waiting years for a full length from End It, and the wait was fully worth it. The sound is more polished than their EPs, but it hits just as hard. It has a lot of old school hardcore punk influence, which is my preference in a sea of bands that seem to have grown up on 2000s beatdown. Even their cover of Maximum Penalty’s most catchy song “Could You Love Me” fits perfectly as their single friendly hit without throwing off the feel of the album.
2. Gumm – Beneath the Wheel
3. Samantha Crain – Dragonfly
4. Cloakroom – Last Leg of the Human Table
5. Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
6. Deafhaven – Lonely People With Power
7. Home Front – Watch It Die
8. Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz
9. Audio Book Club – Born Loser
10. The Bug Club – Very Human Features

Sky – Her Voice

1. Lady Gaga – Mayhem
2. Role Model – Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)
3. Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
4. Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl
5. Djo – The Crux
6. The Beaches – No Hard Feelings
7. Conan Gray – Wishbone
8. KPop Demon Hunter Soundtrack
9. Selena Gomez & benny blanco – I Said I Love You First
10. Olivia Dean – The Art of Living

Iris Berkeley – Modern Jetset

1. Tune-Yards – Better Dreaming
2. Project Gemini & Wendy Martinez – Time Stands Still/Le temps s’arrete
3. Kendra Morris – Next
4. Kerala Dust – An Echo of Love
5. Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz
6. Sons of Sevilla – Street Light Moon
7. Ora the Molecule – Dance Therapy
8. Geli Haha – Switcheroo
9. Derya Tildirim & Grup Simsek – Yarin Yoksa
10. The Bug Club – Very Human Features