I heard some things
and thought of bringing it to you
Based on my social media observations, it’s already too late to talk about things older than a week, so why talk about a whole past year?
But I figured if I write everything down, I’d be more likely to remember it myself, revisit certain things and also acknowledge little moments in the live of a sound and music lover.
+++ TOP MOMENTS +++
First of all I want to reflect on my little journey in the world of live sound. I made some things happen and got invited here and there. I am really grateful for how things went!
One very important moment was sharing the bill with legends Paul Lytton & Claus van Bebber at reihe M in Cologne where I also found the opportunity to showcase and publish a tape I was working on for a long time and which involved a deep dive into post-industrial histories of the Ruhr Area and the Upper Silesian Industrial Area - it’s called “self is really only the noise of mind”. I also played legendary free jazz Moers Festival and was part of organizing a stage there with my concert-collective soft rotation! In general we organized quite some amazing concerts this year. Then, SPAĆ GRUPPE was born - a loose collective within a theatrical piece I am working on and I really like our first little live recording.
I then performed at CCCB, Barcelona together with Joana Moll and shortly afterwards also performed at Moo Festival in Ahmedabad, India. Phew.
And to wrap the personal moments up - my noisy rock band PIMPERNELLI also had some lovely moments throughout the year playing Sonic Ballroom, Goldkante and Basement. And right after shooting this trailer, I almost lost an eye.
But doing things is one side of a journey, there’s more that accompanies it and in my case it’s music music music
All following lists are in no particular order.
+++ TOP ALBUMS +++
honestly I would want to write an elaborate review for every listed release, but I am too lazy to write. So I will at least give a unfiltered comment and maybe some insights. Overall I listened to a bunch of things and because I went to Norway in February, there was a peak in Black Metal influences as my lastfm suggests. There were no-wave moments, sound things, industrial as usual but my focus artisticly and generally was Noise and especially things that one could file under so called “domestic noise” (I still want to write something about that topic…).
VIOLENT SHOGUN - Asceticism (self)
brutal release with unusual almost silences. something you’d normally not find so often amongst Violent Shogun releases. A late favorite of mine!
Confounder - Country Fucker (Tribe Tapes)
Solid harsh noise bursts and collages. I love love love the CD design and am happy to own a copy. Can’t say much else - it’s just fucking good!
Drumloop & The Rita - Eyelines (Deathbed Tapes)
A perfect continuation of Sam McKinlay’s ongoing obsession with crackling sound and the visual language of fashion and beauty culture. Centering the release around the audio of an EYELINE beauty tutorial presented in the familiar cadence of a YouTube vlog and colliding it with his abrasive, hyper-detailed noise work. That tension between self-care intimacy and relentless sonic fractures push this release straight into the absolute top tier of 2025 for me.
Hiraeth - Run (Silken Heart)
I first got to know her through a circle of noise enthusiasts in NRW, Germany, and I’ve been drawn to her work ever since. Her music occupies a distinctive space where folk-inflected songwriting collides with noise, forming a blend that feels both intimate and unsettling. It recalls the emotional rawness of early Jarboe, yet it’s sharpened by harsher industrial textures more commonly associated with experimental vocal practices. The whole forward-backward pendulum moment of this release is incredible too.
I saw her perform quite some times in ‘25 and we also invited her to soft rotation which was again a highlight for me!
Swans - Birthing (Young God Records)
old man yelling at cloud THE ALBUM. I saw Michael Gira screaming at Kristof Hahn in April. No big shock really, but it was somehow heartbreaking.
Still a good album, I listen to it from time to time since!
Automaalaamo Y. Karjalainen - st (Urealis-Tuotanto & Levykauppa Outo)
there is SOMETIMES something about some things that sound amateurish, that is magically more profound than skilled-produced and perfect things and this release is something like that. the energy and sloppiness of them playing together is speaking dearly to my soul. i can imagine how not many people will like this one. i love it.
Jason Cramer - Lake of Fire (SATATUHATTA)
I’m a huge fan of Crumer. His approach to creating noise is unbound by academic conventions yet unmistakably distinct and incredibly inspiring. The ways he constructs and layers sound have been particularly influential on me, shaping much of my process on my latest release. He is able to bring out the beauty in ugly things, I feel.
Death Kneel - Absolute Earthbound Spirits (White Centipede Noise)
Death Kneel is undoubtedly one of the most compelling figures in contemporary noise. His approach is percussive yet restrained, with a keen focus on texture and timbre and it offers a uniquely nuanced perspective on the genre, standing apart from its more maximalist tendencies.
Sidenote: it was a bit sad seeing him alongside Brainbombs, Urin and Operant in Berlin, because they all had this maximalistic way of blasting on a big stage, while he had more intricacy that somehow go lost in that big hall. It still rocked, just wasn’t the right place I believe. Anyways a fav!
Sawt Out - Fake Live in America (self released)
A trio that gave one of the most transformative concerts of my life. It was one of the first proper free improv shows I experienced after moving to Cologne, and it completely shifted the way I perceive music. Their approach to sound, interplay, and spontaneous communication opened up new ways of thinking about musical ideas for me. It was an experience that still resonates deeply.
I knew Mazen Kerbaj before because of his famous piece STARRY NIGHT. However I did not expect him to turn the Trumpet into an almost electronic sounding machine.
The best. And on top, this album has been compiled of so many different ways of recording that I have to give them some sort of extra point for the title and comping of the actual release!
Temple Mist - O Spiritus, qui in hoc loco adsum, audi me et exaudi preces meas (self)
As mentioned I love drama, I love atonality, I love theatrical spectacles and if you want all that inside Black Metal. Well, there is this surrealstic project by Gnaw Their Tongues.
Last Days of Burden - Black Ocean Beyond Time (Sonic Centurion)
Another noise companion I met last year through a circle of music lovers from NRW. From my Bandcamp review:
”Since his first release, Last Days of Burden has been steadily delivering a ritualistic form of ambient, but it feels like this release is where he truly finds his voice.
Rather than leaning on a single mood, it moves fluidly between textures and emotional registers, giving the music a sense of narrative. It’s a confident step forward, one that crystallizes his aesthetic while expanding the whole scope of it.”
Spring of Life - Shot Girl Costume (Not On Label)
I don’t know what kind of magical techniques Spring of Life posesses, but this kind of noise is pretty unique to my ears (reference here).
This 12” especially feels like a conceptual approach as is somehow has the sonic qualities of a scratched record, but in a forced way. I am happy this release only exist on Vinyl, because everything else would not work like that.
Commuter - Tokyo Pure Decadence (Phage Tapes)
Sonically a beautiful album and I am happy to have waited until the very end of the year to reflect on things, because this came out quite late, in December.
Again a rather narrative way of composing a noise release and that’s exactly why it feels so inspiring to me.
Parasite Nurse - Lack (self)
Parasite Nurse’s “Lack” is a self healing narrative cut up release that somehow is able to transpose pain, sorrow and biographical references into a sonic experience. Her Cut-Up has almost similar percussive qualities as the aforementioned release by Death Kneel. I find her style while seemingly chaotic, while still being very comforting and enjoyable in a maybe even soothing way.
Stephen O’Malley - “But remember what you have had” (INA grm)
Metal-Man goes GRM. O’Malley’s tools are a wide field of sonic languages. There definitely certain styles and gestures. In here, he has built a slowly unfolding composition out of his usual tools of guitars, feedback and intensity we know from numerous other releases, collaborations etc. But in this way he bridged into the electro acoustic world more and more. No surprise his coming release is a full on abandoning of everything and going full church.
Since it’s winter this release feels very fitting to the early dark hours.
Kiran Arora - Virgin Forest (AdHuman)
I end this list with something that took me some time to appreciate and something that is more introspective than most of the other things listed.
In Virgin Forest, Arora goes into some more concrete approach that seems Computer Music at first but is way to defined and tamed to behave like that. Something very low-key and something that requires direct attention to decipher.
One of my recent favs as of writing this, too.
(bonus conspiracy: he is the antagonist to Jacob Winans)
+++ TOP CONCERTS +++
I have seen some concerts and performances in 2025, but the ones I am listing were memorable in their own unique ways. I genuinely love experiencing live performances of all kinds, which is why this list reflects a variety of perspectives and observations. On top of that, organizing shows has given me the chance to see even more things, which has been equally inspiring and nourishing.
Seylee - Space as Instrument: Overstolzenhaus, Cologne
Sey and me started together studying in Cologne. He was always interested in sound but only started using it when he found his favorite instrument: the Metronome. Over the past years he developed a certain way of adapting his compositions (rule systems) in different spaces and places. Sonically and visually.
When he graduated in summer, he perform his yet biggest piece in one of the oldest building of Cologne and I was mesmerized by the way he came from the simple idea of sound-bits years ago to this three story high live performed composition. Truly remarkable and a special one to have lived through!
Here is his video documentation that at least gives an idea.
The Flying Luttenbachers @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne
Seeing the pure skill of memorizing such mathy and weird genre-bendings and being able to replicate alone is worth seeing live. And if the music is amazing too, then you have a Jackpot. Atonality forever!
Claus van Bebber @ reihe M
why it’s one of my highlights this year is the fact that you can see a musician being still active at such an age, going out, performing noisy collages and being extremly nice and interested in the people he shares the evening with. An impression I don’t wanna lose. Absolute legend.
Dolchstoß @ BWP
weird antifascist Black Metal band from Leipzig. Why I picked them is not the music itself, eventho I enjoyed their 90s Black Metal sound, but I chose them for their theatrical entrances, performances, props and way of performing. It was so over the top and dramatic, it could’ve been something between WWE wresting intermissions and some sort of LARP - just Imagine The Undertaker pouring Naziblood out of a steel helmet all over his head. We love dramarama.
Sumac @ Buman, Cologne
what can I say - a US-band consisting of already succesful and skilled musicians. Supported by Endon who were also good. Sumac rocks and would love to see them again!
Shuoxin Tan + Jun-Y Ciao @ 674FM, Cologne
they played together at soft rotation#9 alongside STRATEGIE V and Valeria Oggioni. This probably has been my fav night we organized last year and their concert especially had some unexpected tension between her Laptop and his Saxophon. It was a fight of friction, sine beatings, impersonated feedback and stamina.
A truly wonderful performance and also documented here.
Brainbombs @ Neue Zukunft, Berlin
Honestly, one of the most monotonous and dull rock bands, yet somehow packed with an endless supply of killer riffs. It’s absolutely comedic watching these older Swedish men (definitely drunk out of their minds) keeping it together on stage. Especially the trumpet player seemed to be battling either age or alcohol. Or both.
And yet, somehow, it all works in this bizarre way. I even saw people making out to this music, so I guess to some, it doesn’t really matter what the frontman is mumbling anyway. Quite fascinating how a Band like Brainbombs still exists.
That night we also saw Urin and Death Kneel whom I have been enjoying a lot but to be honest that venue and the big stage was not an ideal setting for his sometimes rather intricate noise gestures. Still an honorable mention tho!
+++ Topping the Top +++
Here’s also two things that accompanied my life in 2025. Still super obsessed with them. I recommend not skipping and letting them each do their hourlong thing.
So wrapping up: 2025 was quite amazing and I could’ve listed double the amount of things or do the Thurston Moore and list everything, but who has time for that! smh
Bonus:
Here I have a Buyer’s Music Club with releases of my friends in 2025.
I don’t know how much I will put onto this blog tho, I hope it’s more than yearly lists. But if it’s only an annual thing, then I am happy too. :)
Thanks for reading.
-d