Hi Everyone,   Here are my lists of favorite albums of 2025. As is my usual custom, I’ve broken this down into several categories, as I’m just not comfortable ranking unlike entities on one list.   Contemporary Categories   Disclaimer alert: I heard A LOT of fine albums in 2025, more than in several years; the competition was fierce! If your album doesn’t appear on the list, please trust me when I say that it in no...

Featured IPO CD Artist: The PoZers IPO Vol. 24 CD Song: “Two”     1. What was the reason you chose the song you did for the IPO CD?   Jim Richey: We chose the song “Two” for the IPO Volume 24 compilation CD. The song originally appeared on The PoZers’ CD, Crybaby Bridge. It is one of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written. We always try to do something special for the IPO CDs, so we decided to submit a...

Hi Everyone,   Here are my lists of favorite albums of 2024. As is my usual custom, I’ve broken this down into several categories, as I’m just not comfortable ranking unlike entities on one list.   Those marked with an * are vinyl-only releases. Those marked with an ** are cassette-only releases.   Contemporary Categories   Disclaimer alert: I heard A LOT of fine albums in 2024. If your album doesn’t appear on...

Featured IPO CD Artist: The On and Ons IPO Vol. 24 CD Song: “Don’t Wanna Talk About It”     1. What was the reason you chose the song you did for the IPO CD?   We chose “Don’t Wanna Talk About It” for the IPO CD because we felt as the second song on our Menacing Smile mini-album it had been perhaps overlooked and deserved another listen. It is pretty much the essence of The On and Ons distilled into under 3...

Featured IPO CD Artist: Athanor 2.0 IPO Vol. 24 CD Song: “I Dream of You Every Night”     1. What was the reason you chose the song you did for the IPO CD?   “I Dream of You Every Night” jumped out of a new guitar I bought, a Gretsch snow-crest white electromatic. Seriously. I opened the case and the song was born. That kind of thing has happened to me only a handful of times.   2. If you had to pick...

Featured IPO CD Artist: The Arcadeans IPO Vol. 24 CD Song: “Hear What I Say”     1. What was the reason you chose the song you did for the IPO CD?   It’s the first track from our latest EP, it’s our live show opener, it’s up beat and sets the tone of what the band is all about.   2. If you had to pick only one artist (living or dead) as your musical hero, who would it be and why?   Rory Gallagher,...