(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 58: My Voyage to Italy, Pt. 2

At the beginning of each year I create two “Smart” playlists in Apple Music: one that holds every albums I check out in the current year, and one that is just metal releases for the current year. It helps a lot come EOY time, and there’s a huge joy in then deleting all the music I didn’t like or purchase from the library. It’s cleansing, and feel good for the short period of time before it bloats back up with the new year’s releases. So to wrap up my Holiday Hiatus™ playlists, we’re hitting Shuffle again on the 2025 Music Playlist and see what spits out from this year. I’ll leave it to you to see if any of these are to your liking – I can’t guarantee they’re all to mine.

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freckle - freckle

Freckle: Freckle (2025)

I’m still trying to figure out what it is that Ty Segall does that captures exactly what I’m looking for in a rock album. Despite his myriad incarnations and permutations, from the Sabbath stomp of bands like Fuzz to his Eno-esque limitations on albums like First Taste or his more out there collaborations with White Fence and Brian Chippendale 0f Lightning Bolt, there’s just something there that resonates in me. Nothing’s changed with Freckle, both the album and the new collaboration with Corey Madden of Color Green. Whether or not Freckle the band is a one-shot deal, I’m all in for its blend of psychedelic pop and guitar rock worship.

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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 35: The One With My First Great Album(s) of 2025

Used to be January was a bit of a dumping ground for music; smaller bands and releases living in the shadow of everyone’s year end lists and folks checking out all the stuff they may have missed. So I wasn’t expecting much, thinking I would just nestle down with some cozy 70s prog and 80s metal, hibernating until the “good stuff” starting poking out. Welp, that’s already started to happen, so we’re going to keep this trend of what’s been coming in the house and I’ve been listening to for the last week, and we’re kicking it off with an album I’ve fallen hard for, a surefire bet for my own end of year list. Or albums, I should say, because wouldn’t you know it? Yesterday Ty Segall had to go and release his third album in one 12-month cycle…

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