All Things Konsidered: The Best Albums of 2025

Tim Midyett from Mint Mile returns to discuss andwhichstray, what recent Silkworm reunion shows have been like, the throughlines between songs he wrote in that band about mortality, connection, and community and his most recent Mint Mile material, how fortune enabled him to make one more record with his late friend Steve Albini, who engineered andwhichstray in France during the second last recording session of his life, how he relates to records he has made with people who are gone, finally listening to and recording a song that the late Jason Molina wrote for Silkworm after drummer Michael Dahlquist was killed in a car accident twenty years ago, bands like Pavement who play live but don’t make new records and whether he thinks Silkworm might write new songs, Aerosmith and Die Kruezen, upcoming Silkworm shows, other future plans, and much more!EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #1044: Steve Albini (2008)Ep. #1035: Ed Kuepper and Jim WhiteEp. #994: mcluskyEp. #952: SilkwormEp. #933: Alex Ross Perry, Scott Kannberg, and Robert Greene on ‘Pavements’Ep. #924: Lance Bangs and Bob Nastanovich on ‘Pavements’Ep. #910: The Hard QuartetEp. #869: Steve AlbiniEp. #840: Mint MileEp. #514: Steve Albini and Silkworm’s Andy Cohen and Tim MidyettEp. #369: Andrew Cohen & Light ComaEp. #70: Joel RL PhelpsSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My son, who is 14, and I discuss our top 10 albums of 2025, along with several honourable mentions. Each of us mostly highlighted records the other wasn’t all that familiar with, and other members of our family make background or brief appearances on this episode as well. All in all, these are some eclectic lists, so we hope our music recommendations help you in some way!Featuring music produced by Levon Khanna.EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO MONTHLY $6 USD PATREON SUPPORTERS. This one is fine, but please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:All Things Konsidered: JID, Sloan, Julianna Riolino, Live showsAll Things Konsidered: ‘Let God Sort ‘Em Out’ by ClipseSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dave NeSmith and Drew Ringo from Sleepytime Trio are here to discuss Memory Minus Plus Minus, their current music community involvement, the Guelph house show they played and the ice cream tricycle Drew rode around on that day, the significance of bands like Hoover, Shotmaker, Fugazi, Slint, and Drive Like Jehu, making hip-hop music and getting into shoegaze, why kids can’t be blamed for the technology at their disposal, the odds of Sleepytime Trio recording new songs, upcoming shows, other future plans, and much more!EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. Enjoy this excerpt and please subscribe now via this link to hear this full episode. Thanks!Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #1034: Sean Wilentz on Bob Dylan’s ‘Through The Open Window’Ep. #966: Regulator WattsEp. #927: Papa MEp. #914: American FootballEp. #900: Fugazi and Jem CohenEp. #879: Dead BestEp. #835: J. RobbinsEp. #732: SoulsideEp. #682: Steven LambkeEp. #217: Do You Compute – The Story of Drive Like JehuEp. #112: Britt Walford of Slint and WatterEp. #99: Brian McMahan of SlintMETZ (2010, 2012)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friendly Rich returns to discuss his latest album, The Birds of Marsville, his Brampton, Ontario pride, completing his PhD in music education and becoming a doctor, what having a giant beard might mean, playing the artistic and comedic long game, learning more about Marsville, the eighteenth-century researcher C. Smalloochi, and the orchestrion’s capabilities as a musical instrument, getting into birds, birders, and birding, Canadian arts grants, challenging the players on this album, Gordon Heavyfoot, future plans, and much more.EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #1008: Marc RibotEp. #851: Mark MothersbaughEp. #772: Friendly RichEp. #517: Friendly RichEp. #367: Lido Pimienta, Sara Hennessey, Friendly Rich, and James Keast on Long NightEp. #107: Friendly RichSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jimmie Kilpatrick returns to discuss his excellent album Jimmie, the heartening experience of living in Manitoba, Canada these days and concentrating on his community, why he retired his Shotgun Jimmie name, bringing his sound sculpture work into his indie-rock aesthetic, collaborating with Ladyhawk’s Ryan Peters and messing around with tape loops, making subversive pop music, numerous lyrical references to analog and communication technology and falling asleep, keeping a little too busy, touring with the Burning Hell and alluding to Joni Mitchell, pondering work with John Samson Fellows, other future plans, and much more.EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!Thanks to the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #957: The Burning HellEp. #944: Bonnie “Prince” BillyEp. #911: Richard Laviolette’s ‘All Wild Things Are Shy’Ep. #910: The Hard QuartetEp. #857: Michael FeuerstackEp. #850: You’ve Changed Records is 15!Ep. #740: Dry CleaningEp. #682: Steven LambkeEp. #673: Sonic YouthEp. #502: Shotgun Jimmie! Thrush Hermit!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rebecca Foon and Aliayta Foon-Dancoes are here to discuss their debut album, Reverie, studying at Princeton, their family dynamic and their respective early forays in classical music, how much formal music education can inform improvisation and punk rock, Rebecca’s work on the Lost River Music Festival and the Pathway to Paris initiative, how their feelings about the ecological inspiration behind Reverie are more melancholy since collective climate change mitigation targets have not been met, a conversation about the novel The Alchemist with Patti Smith and Jesse Paris Smith, what’s next, and much more.EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. Enjoy this excerpt and please subscribe now via this link to hear this full episode. Thanks!Thanks to Blackbyrd Myoozik, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #1048: Mark MolnarEp. #667: Efrim Manuel MenuckEp. #636: SofaEp. #382: EsmerineEp. #314: SaltlandEp. #220: EsmerinePatti Smith (2007) – TeaserEp. #18: Colin Stetson & Sarah NeufeldSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On a recent Kreative Kontrol episode, Mark Molnar mentioned his fondness for a radio interview I once conducted with Tom Holliston, John Wright, and Rob Wright from Canada’s greatest band, Nomeansno. And so, here’s that interview, which occurred over breakfast at the By the Way Café in Toronto, Ontario on April 5, 2011. It’s one of my most cherished work life experiences, so thank you again to Nomeansno, whose entire catalogue is now available on streaming services, and Alternative Tentacles is reissuing their catalogue in physical forms too.To hear this entire conversation, subscribe to Kreative Kontrol on Patreon at the $6 U.S. tier or higher (a reminder that an annual subscription includes a discount compared to a monthly one).Related episodes/links:Nomeansno's Rob Wright (2009)Ep. #1048: Mark MolnarEp. #854: METZEp. #782: Dead BobEp. #707: Ian Blurton’s Future NowEp. #476: Ford Pier live at CFRU!Ep. #227: John Wright & Frank Barnes of CompressorheadSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Molnar is here to discuss his new album EXO, being made to take classical music lessons at three years old over pursuing sports, key figures in his life who exposed him to music, musicians, and ways to approach your musical instrument, the death of arts funding and risk aversion in the cultural sector, his engagement with my music journalism and a breakfast interview I once did with Nomeansno, the state of contemporary classical music and whether he and other Constellation Records artists might fit within it, his own label Black Bough Records, other future plans, and much more.EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. This one is fine, but if you haven’t already, please subscribe now on Patreon so you never miss full episodes. Thanks!Thanks to the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #1044: Steve Albini (2008)Ep. #944: Bonnie “Prince” BillyEp. #919: Oren AmbarchiEp. #900: Fugazi and Jem CohenEp. #782: Dead BobEp. #712: Kee AvilEp. #636: SofaEp. #31: Jesse Stewart and Hamid DrakeSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lonnie Holley is here to discuss his 2025 album Tonky, his view of and appreciation for Canada, the role the country played for African-American slaves and the evolution of terms ascribed to Black people in America, growing up in juke joints, whiskey houses, and slave camps in Alabama in the 1950s, his interest in salvaging objects to make art, his observations about historical cycles, his song “Protest With Love” and viewing presidencies as temporary viruses, what’s next, and much more.EVERY OTHER COMPLETE KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO PATREON SUPPORTERS STARTING AT $6/MONTH. Enjoy this excerpt and please subscribe now via this link to hear this full episode. Thanks!Thanks to the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters Charity. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #1011: Saul WilliamsEp. #864: Mary Lattimore and Walt McClementsEp. #754: Baron VaughnEp. #598: AquakultreEp. #390: Beverly Glenn-CopelandEp. #348: Matthew ShippSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometime this past November, a Patreon subscriber named Brian asked me if I might have any older interviews with Buck 65 in my archives. So, I took a look and sure enough, I do, including a 2009 talk about his Bike For Three! collaboration with Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê. Then, on December 4, 2025, Mr. 65 released a Deluxe Edition of More Heart Than Brains, which was the debut record by Bike For Three! and was originally released on May 26, 2009. Then I thought, “Huh, sharing this old interview is rather timely,” and so that’s what I’m doing. From what I can tell, this interview with Rich Terfry was recorded in May 2009. Enjoy!To hear this entire conversation, subscribe to Kreative Kontrol on Patreon at the $6 tier or higher (a reminder that an annual subscription includes a discount compared to a monthly one).Related episodes/links:Ep. #1033: ShadEp. #858: Cadence WeaponEp. #800: Buck 65Ep. #937: Mouth CongressEp. #272: Gord Downie [Archival; May 2010]Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.