Constantly Hating's Top 50 Albums Of The Year
At the end of the year every publication arrogantly thinks their lists should open minds to what music has offered over the past 365 days, and I cannot throw stones because I am no different. I’d like to assume that you will find kinship in my picks for the best music this year or find something new, however. If you are subscribed to Constantly Hating, thank you and I hope you have a great holiday season and 2026.
50. Erika De Casier - Lifetime
I mean this in the most complimentary sense: Erika De Casier is like a pop T.J. Mcconnell. Unfussy, productive, and gives you a nice 13 points 7 assists or in this case, a collection of very good pop tunes.
49. The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow
It’s interesting that the Weeknd has lost any sort of critical cache. It could be his forays into other media have turned people off, or the fact that’s he’s truly dominated the 2010s in male pop, but I don’t think Hurry Up Tomorrow deserves to be forgotten. Nothing will ever surpass the hyper sleazebag Weeknd ever, but Abel is still a solid songwriter and has never made a truly bad album.
48. Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound
LEAH LEVINSON FUCKING MENTIONED!!!!!!
47. SlimeGetEm - GetEm
A rare free car album and one that glimpses at its aesthetic cohesive potential. SlimeGetEm gets into some really cool modes here.
46. PulciPerla - Tatekieto
Tropicanibalismo is a Colombian avant subgenre that I’d not heard of before this, and it is some coolass shit. Wild fun jazz cumbia for the unhinged among us.
45. Nuvolascura - How This All Ends
Very difficult to follow As We Suffer From Memory And Imagination, but they manage to do it. One of the best records about the apocalypse in Gaza this year, Israel will never suffer enough.
44. Che - REST IN BASS
Liked the OsamaSon albums well enough but for me this is the definitive newgen rage rap record that came out. Los Thuthanaka has the 100 car alarms at once genre cornered but Che was a solid runner-up.
43. weed420 - amor de encava
Like I’d hate anything with these tags. Smoking that real shit.
42. Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film
My goats not washed :) Forgive the oldheads the AI music videos they know not what they do.
41. niontay - Fada<3of$
Been dope to see how niontay has evolved after falling into the extended 10kglobal universe. I like how the MIKE/Earl crowd has consciously refused to be pigeonholed into the “conscious”, drumless niche, instead choosing to associate with dudes that be on some real nigga shit as well. Multitudes: contained.
40. caroline - caroline 2
I love that caroline decided to be on some Datpiff mixtape naming style with caroline 2. No fuss, no frills, just more of that good post-rock in the original “Lost Generation” vein that I fuck with.
39. Playboi Carti - MUSIC
Haven’t returned to it as much as when it came out, but is still an absolute ripper. Carti has become much more of a curator now, picking his spots and employing careful taste in others. Him and Kendrick going back and forth on “MOJO JOJO” is one of my favorite rap moments of the year.
38. Cóclea / Canut de Bon - No esperan por nadie
They coming like this in Chile? God damn. 2 Santiago hardcore bands pack metalcore, noise rock, sasscore and realass riffs into a hyperspeed split.
37. Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz
Jane’s albums under her name have mostly been fine, but I prefer the psychotic energy emanating from her dariacore’s and leroy NTS mixes. Here she just absolutely goes for it and it pays off, bringing all of the best elements of her side projects into an enthralling mess.
36. Panda Bear - Sinister Grift
Another total victory for uncs baby. This guy really can’t make a bad album huh?
35. Feardorian - Leaving Home
Has to be one of the most adventurous rappers working today. I am consistently impressed by how much I fuck with Feardorian’s projects despite not necessarily being in his sphere as much as some of my other No Bells cohorts. Leaving Home is a young prodigy just strengthening his resume.
34. zayALLCAPS - artPop*popArt
“MTV’s Pimp My Ride” gets all the love, but it’s the rest of artPop*popArt for me. zay is a young Tyler doing a young Pharrell doing something that’s uniquely all his own universe. It’s better than 99% of pop and R&B going right now, and in a just world, he’s a star.
33. aya - hexed!
Some Incredibly Boring Information About Eli: I was a massive Tiny Mix Tapes head in high school and college which amazingly somehow parlayed me into writing for them. I humblebrag like that to say that aya’s hexed! is a summation of the TMT industrial complex; the product of love toward Eartheater, SOPHIE, Chino Amobi, and Jam City, while somehow making it all her own and fresh. Not sure about the #1s from both the Quietus and the Wire though.
32. Zach Phillips - True Music
That shit I talked about Jens Lekman’s new album is essentially inverted here; Zach Phillips’ piano based easy listening is both soothing yet melodically inventive and dexterous, a product of Phillips’ limits on his process and tools. It’s an album that only a singular mind like his could make.
31. miffle - goodbye world!
Hushed electroaustic vignettes perfect for the coming wintertime.
30. The Ghoulies - Shafted By The Algorithm
Yeah eggpunk!!! I love eggpunk!!!! Another banging addition to one of the best microgenres of the past 10 years.
29. WNC WhopBezzy and 70th Street Carlos - Out the Blue
If not for the terrible AI cover, this may have been higher. However, it’s still an excellent Louisiana street record, cocky and swaggy in all the right ways.
28. Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band - New Threats from the Soul
My hatred for contemporary alt-country is well documented at this point, but Ryan Davis’ new record bypasses it cause of just how fucking good it is. Maybe it’s because Davis is a bit older but the craft and care here is top-rate, really shows how much the dude has worked on his gifts.
27. Skee Mask - E
5th in the line of his demo releases. Working on that god level of RDJ, Autechre, Theo Parrish and co where even stuff he doesn’t deem as worthy is still awesome. One of one at the moment.
26. Earl Sweatshirt - Live Laugh Love
Man am I glad to see Earl living his best life. I really love that guy. What a story of growth and self-actualization. Music’s great, of course.
25. good flying birds - talulah’s tape
Oh yeah baby, modern twee. Such a warm and fun record. Sidenote: the minor Twitter racism accusation where people got mad at “hard ass beat” cause it was the Amen Break with monkey noises thrown in was funny as hell. Yeah for sure these DIY white kids playing jangle pop are actually closet neo-nazis doing a dogwhistle, lmao.
24. DJ Elmoe - Battle Zone
Already feels like a footwork classic. Stripped down, vibey and hard as fucking shit.
23. Anna Hogberg Attack - Ensamseglaren
Anna Hogberg doing sludge metal jazz was absolutely not on my 2025 music bingo card. Another example of a singular figure in her respective genre, Hogberg consistently redefines what jazz can be in the modern era.
22. 23wa - AZ
You know how Returnal by OPN started with “Nil Admirari” and moreso drifted away from that to the synthscapes he was known for back then? This is a whole album of “Nil Admirari”’s and it fucking slaps.
21. Khadija Al Hanafi - !OK!
Tunisian hypnagogic ghettotech and footwork. Insane combination of words that somehow leads into a sentence that describes a real existing album that is excellent. 2025 is cool.
20. Vanessa Amara - cafe LIFE
In a year of overhyped Copenhagen releases, this was the one. Sweeping sound collage reminiscent of Klein and Carl Stone, hurried modern living beamed directly to your brain.
19. ZelooperZ - Dali Aint Dead
Just getting better and better man. Another in the category of “if music was just he’d be a star”. Except it’s even worse cause of all the exhausting handwringing about the death of mainstream rap. You niggas just old bruh. Also when I hear Zack Fox rap I always think about Alphonse Pierre saying how ass he is, but I always fw with his verses, so maybe I have shit taste.
18. Juana Molina - DOGA
Late contender from the top rope! Once again, she does it with combination swag and grace. The Argentinian Bjork, or should I say Bjork is Icelandic Juana Molina? In any case, VAMOOOOO ARGENTINA VAMOOOOO BOCAAAAA
17. Crossed - Realismo ausente
What’s that? You’re saying Zegama Beach put out another belter of a skramz record? You’re kidding…
16. key vs. locket - i felt like a sketch
There’s been a really nice stretch of outside-of-the-box midwest emo in the past few years from underrecognized sources, and this is just another entry. Saves the Day-style pop-punk, mathy riffs, emo pathos, lovely Portuguese singing and a tasteful usage of ska are some of the many reasons to tap into key vs. locket.
15. MIKE - Showbiz!
Still the best living. Still underrated. How’s that work?
14. Traxman - Da Mind Of Traxman Vol.3
One of footwork’s elder statesmen with another imperious collection of unfuckwithable tracks.
13. heavensouls - New York Fall, 1977
Tiding us over while waiting for new Standing on the Corner. This some real black artifact shit, dweller forever Hortense Spillers Miles on the block black body as a white right all cops are going to hell type shit. Make peace with America’s mortal sins or fucking perish.
12. Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones
This one’s funny cause the first half is just alright and the second half is so good it might’ve been the best release of the year if you’d of isolated “9 2 5” onward. “BABY BABY” is a serious contender for song of the decade.
11. Jim Legxacy - Black British Music
Did I say someone needs to be a star? My god, seeing him live in New York was so thrilling, a true original in a sea of fakes and lames. I don’t even hate ppl like 2Hollis or Nettspend but I would force them to retire and become multi level marketers for Jim to get his true acclaim. The most charismatic and talented pop star of his generation.
10. Klein - Thirteen Sense
It is an Eli Schoop list, Klein will be in the top 10 if/when she releases music. Best avant artist working and it’s not particularly close.
9. life - demo seven
Maybe I’m just a skramz kid at the end of the day. Damian Anton Ojeda is a fucking one-man army, unfathomably talented. He’s on here again since it’s my list and his other release is so different from this.
8. d. silvestre - Oque as Mulheres Querem
My working theory about why this was too underappreciated compared to his last was that Mr. Billdifferen didn’t post about it much. It’s your fault Tyler. You did this. On the real, d. silvestre is a true maestro and I reiterate, should supplant Arca fraud ass as the most lauded Latin electronic artist on the scene.
7. Chuquimamani-Condori - Edits
Ended vaporwave. The logical endgame of the incorporeality that has typified hypnagogia, sound collage, and plunderphonics. Just in absolute awe of what they’re capable of. Los Thuthanaka may rightfully have the big plaudits and fanfare, but for my listening journey and framework as a critic, this is the one.
6. Los & Nutty - Los x Nutty, Vol. 2
Understated Detroit brothers have made the definitive record of the city. For oldheads that complain about the state of the genre, this is 20 tracks of pure quality—doubly impressive given its length. These guys deserve their flowers and then some.
5. Enjoy - The Sound of Deceit
Probably the surprise of the year for me, a The Garden brother with a solo indie record that’s just a constant earworm. Dude is on Smiths timing with the riffs, coupled with the trademark sleaze from his characteristic style and savvy production turns. Perfect for a despondent night walk.
4. Trhä - lact’eben
Damian Anton Ojeda’s other entry. Euphoric black metal that blows new Deafheaven out of the water. I’ll say it again, people really need to watch this guy as the one for heavy music.
3. Naked Flames - Wall I Was
Almost SEVEN FUCKING HOURS of incredible house and techno. How dog. Monumental achievement from the Brit; quality and quantity in spades. Can we get Guinness to give this guy something?
2. Emma Goldman - all you are is we
Jeez, just realized that a lot of this list is HEAVY shit this year, but I wasn’t really going through it like that. If I’d wager, the disgusting state of society has produced some legitimately sublime artistic responses, and Emma Goldman’s all you are is we is one of them. Above all else, heavy music induces clarity, and there’s nothing clearer than the death drive of capitalism and fascism accelerating our species to an early grave.
1. Cruelster - Make Them Wonder Why
I know these guys IRL. I say this to make it clear, this is absolutely not a nepo pick for my favorite album of the year. I would hope you guys think of me as someone more honest than that. I had no clue these guys, who I partied with down with the street and went to college with and were notorious Cleveland DIY hooligans, could make something this fucking good.
Make Them Wonder Why is classic punk updated, refreshed, given a new sheen, and then slimed and fucking pissed on anyway. It is the product of endless war, Cleveland dive bars, making cool shit with your friends, and being a general menace to the public. Crack a beer, get rowdy, and punch a fucking cop; Cruelster is a Smiling Friends punk band come to life, zigging instead of zagging, always having fun whether you like it or not.
It’s over! Thank you for clicking and hopefully not glazing over my yapping. I hope you have a good holiday and 2026, and I would love comments asking me about what you thought about X or Y album. If you have money please donate to my Ko-fi. Have a good one :)
I have a crush on you Eli
thanks for all the recs as usual 😗 what did you think of hornet disaster?