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Saturday, 17 January 2026

I Don't Hear A Single Best 100 Albums Of 2025 : 61- 70


 

Today we reach Numbers 61-70 in our Best Albums Of 2025. It has been really pleasing to see followers visit the albums thus far. 2025 was a great year for the type of music we cover and it is very competitive for the remaining 60 albums in the countdown.

With it being our 10th year we thought that we could back to the old images that were posted as a bit of fun with the Audio Extravaganzas. A reminder of the old, much quieter, days for us and hopefully a bit of fun for newcomers. 

61 The Len Price 3 - Misty Medway Magick      IDHAS Review



62 Jumbo Chords - Throw Away (Buy Another One)      IDHAS Review




63 Nick Frater - OH CONTRAIRE!      IDHAS Review



64 Lolas - Big Hits And Freak Disasters      IDHAS Review



65 Girl For Samson - Blend All The Seasons      IDHAS Review



66 Cherry Fez - SUPEREXCITED     IDHAS Review



67 He's Dead Jim - Head Like A Toyshop    IDHAS Review



68   Them Elephants - Quattro    IDHAS Review



69 The Elbow Patches - Achingly Familiar     IDHAS Review



70 Drugs In Sport - If Only We Could Use These Powers For Good     IDHAS Review



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Reviews And The Best Of 2025


I've had a few questions about 2026 Reviews and when they will appear on here. They are being written in down time, but none will appear until the end of the Best Of 2025 posts. There are a lot to come. We carried over 20 odd 2026 releases from last year and loads more albums are coming in.

The reason for this is two fold. It allows us to concentrate time on completing 2025 and gives followers time to discover the albums. But most importantly, we don't want any new review to get lost in the melee of the Best Of Posts. It does mean that there is a delay in people leaning about and listening to the latest albums. But you know they will be coming.

We changed the way the Best Of Year is posted this time round. It is the most popular thing we do and takes up the most time. We don't ever want to so a list with no signposts, because not every album gets the attention it deserves, particularly albums further down the countdown. Posting 10 rather than 20 a day allowed greater focus on all the albums and you know that we post the full list at the end.

71 - 80 yesterday was up later due to a much later shift in my real life work. I knew this was going to happen, so I thought I'd look at how the new format was working. There was only 20 albums posted at that time. Being in an office without any streaming allowed due to work set online restrictions allowed me to dig further.

The early indications are that the posts are working exactly as we wanted and why we made the change. It is too much to do it across all posts, but circumstances meant it was a good time to do it. The early indications are really good.

There seems to be much less action than the past on the two individual posts. But a massive increase on the 20 Reviews. This is exactly what we wanted and why the reviews have a separate link rather than a summary. It also stops the posts from becoming too long and unwieldy. The overall affect is that site numbers for the two posts are massively up. Over 500% up on last year. Followers viewing all the albums was the main aim and that is the reason why the links open to another window.

Thanks as always for the support. I know that uninterested social media readers may get a little irritated by the daily posts, but it is normally much less social media wise from us. Four Listening To This Week posts and two Review summaries per month and this only lasts for a fortnight. Today's Best Of features Numbers 61-70 and will be up this evening.


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Friday, 16 January 2026

I Don't Hear A Single Best 100 Albums Of 2025 : 71- 80



The Countdown continues. Here are numbers 71 - 80, a little later than usual. Numbers 61 - 70 will be up at an earlier UK time tomorrow.

With it being our 10th year we thought that we could back to the old images that were posted as a bit of fun with the Audio Extravaganzas. A reminder of the old, much quieter, days for us and hopefully a bit of fun for newcomers. 

71 Daily Worker - Field Holler      IDHAS Review



72 The Grip Weeds - Soul Bender      IDHAS Review




73 Press Club - To All The Ones That I Love      IDHAS Review



74 Tristan Armstrong - The Lonely Avenue      IDHAS Review



75 Brass Camel - Camel      IDHAS Review



76 Skeleton Staff - HEPTO-ALTRUISM      IDHAS Review



77 Sector Frontier - Sector Frontier    IDHAS Review



78   The Radio Field - Air And Sunlight     IDHAS Review



79 Push Puppets - Tethered Together      IDHAS Review



80 Sweet Nobody - Driving Off To Nowhere     IDHAS Review



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Thursday, 15 January 2026

I Don't Hear A Single Best 100 Albums Of 2025 : 81- 90




The Countdown continues. With it being our 10th year we thought that we could back to the old images that were posted as a bit of fun with the Audio Extravaganzas. A reminder of the old, much quieter, days for us and hopefully a bit of fun for newcomers. 


81 The Shipbuilders - This Blue Earth      IDHAS Review



82 Soot Sprite - Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon      IDHAS Review


 

83 Shapes Like People - Ticking Haze      IDHAS Review



84 The Spindles - Wavelength      IDHAS Review



85 Shaw's Trailer Park - I Thought I Saw You      IDHAS Review



86 Foxy - Tonight Tonight      IDHAS Review



87 Feedbacks - Bring Back The Light     IDHAS Review



88   The Webstirs - High Up In The Trees     IDHAS Review



89 The Four Chords - First Idea / Best Idea      IDHAS Review




90 Lone Wolf - Dark Thoughts     IDHAS Review



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Wednesday, 14 January 2026

I Don't Hear A Single Best 100 Albums Of 2025 : 91-100



For the last 9 years, we have compiled annual Best Of Years because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists. A reminder that anything reviewed on I Don't Hear A Single is highly recommended and that only new albums are included  and the album must have been reviewed by us.

Narrowing things down to this 100 has been really tricky in what has been an exceptional year. The countdown is posted daily in reverse batches of 10. For each album, A song is embedded from the album and a link is provided to the IDHAS Review where you can find further details and how to listen or buy the album.

As a change this time, we decided that it would be nice to have individual images for each of the 10 posts. With it being our 10th year we thought that we could back to the old images that were posted as a bit of fun with the Audio Extravaganzas. A reminder of the old, much quieter, days for us and hopefully a bit of fun for newcomers. The first is up today,


91 The Velvoids - Jersey Cotton      IDHAS Review



92 Guerilla Toss - You're Weird Now     IDHAS Review


 

93 rincs - Swimming Pool Disco      IDHAS Review



94 Hamlet - Light Under Repair      IDHAS Review



95 Weird Bloom - Stargate      IDHAS Review



96 The Friends - Daydreaming      IDHAS Review



97 Greer - Big Smile      IDHAS Review



98 doublevee - Periscope At Midnight     IDHAS Review



99 Sura Laynes - Sura Laynes      IDHAS Review




100 Magic Fig - Magic Fig     IDHAS Review


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Tuesday, 13 January 2026

3 Million


Amazingly, we have had another million views in only 7 months. 

Our first million took us six and a half years, the second, too and a half, so the current growth is so exciting. We don't go for self celebration, we don't put ourselves about in the supposed right places and we don't entertain the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. We dallied with Spotify for a short period for the Listening To This Week Playlist and learned that we had been right to ignore it for so long. It does nothing for the type of artists that we cover. Great music goes down a big black hole.

To think that this place started from the ashes of Anything Should Happen as a reaction to so many people in our orbit saying all new music was crap. It was only ever planned to be a small thing, but it grew and grew. The LTTW playlist has helped, but that wasn't meant to be big either, just a way to cover great artists that didn't release EPs or Albums and to discover those that we may have missed or were planning to go in that direction.

We are always primarily about the artist. Wanting people to discover new and under appreciated artists and their albums. We still are a longer format Review site. Door openers if you like and we have a loyal engaged audience that is happy to be the word of mouth for many of these musicians and labels. We listen to so much music that we don't cover to get to the stuff that we, and hope you will, like. We get caught between two stools at times. 

We have little interest in the streamers, but use Bandcamp, Soundcloud and You Tube. The former is particular liked by us because it allows listeners to hear more of an artist's work and hopefully buy it. We are not one to bang the drum for Physical Releases, although we understand those that do. Most musicians have other main jobs, money is tight, the cost of living is horrendous, so we believe all should be treated equally. We do, though, think that the demise of the CD is really sad and believe that its time will come again.

We don't believer that artists should be cajoled to releasing music physically, but are happy if they do. Not releasing physical product should not be a barrier for a splendid album. Indeed we get offered a lot of physical albums, particularly from abroad, and decline because we don't want them to spend the little money they have on ridiculous postage charges. I say that as someone who has a massive physical collection, largely paid for over 50 years. A lot of it that I will rarely listen to because I am playing the latest new album that needs the attention. 

That's why we don't do many Best Of lists. Because we rarely cover or listen to the old. Talking of Best Ofs, our 100 Best Albums Of 2025 begins tomorrow. There will be an introduction in the morning then 10 posted each evening over the next 10 days as a countdown. There will also be a Best 20 EPs before we return to reviewing for the rest of the month and January has been really busy with 2026 releases and a few later 2025 ones that we hadn't had time for.

We are absolutely chuffed that there is still such an interest in new music. So thank you to all who listen, read and submit. The labels, The PR and the artists for making this such a happy place for us to curate.


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Monday, 12 January 2026

Future Clouds And Radar - Big Weather

 


Fantastic album though it is, almost three decades on, every Robert Harrison review since has to mention it. He must get a little fed up of it. Kontiki hit a perfect spot of Brit Pop height and the again growing following of Psych Pop.

But Cotton Mather had released great albums before it and albums after it have been every bit as great. Indeed, 2001's The Big Picture is a storming album and contains one of my favourite songs ever in 40 Watt Solution when that Psych Pop twin Guitar attack of Harrison and Whit Williams continued to be such a force. 

Future Clouds And Radar was a bit of a reaction to move away from the traditional four piece format, but just as interesting. As it has been 16 years since the last album, it is really interesting to hear the new take, although Harrison is never involved in anything that isn't incredibly interesting. 



Indeed, contained within, is a song that would grace any Cotton Mather album. The Man Who Would Be King is magnificent, a cross between Brit Pop and Psych Pop again with an absolute blast of Guitar Heaven. One of the best songs of 2025.

Chicken Out underlines the fact that when Harrison treads into Power Pop, there are few better. A lot in common with the new breed of youngsters, but something unmistakably Not Lame, with more absolute killer Guitar.

Yet Cabbage Town has a real Americana feel and a hypnotic twang and Brass Tacks is more funky, a little 80s, a little New Wave with a driving bassline.  The Hype moves at pace with a more Classic Rock feel to the Psych Pop. 



Going To Meet The Big Man has a wonderful arrangement surrounding a more Acoustic feel. It build and builds, great Singer Songwriter territory. That leaves the closer, The Copy Cat and what a song. Psych Pop of the highest order with a comforting Twang, loser than what's gone before, but hypnotic and an absolutely jaw dropping Guitar solo. 

Harrison remains as lyrically adept as ever. My one observation, is that the 7 songs feel more Cotton Mather than Future Clouds And Radar. But I will always take either. 34 years on from that Cotton Mather debut, the man is as essential as he ever has been. Absolutely Recommended!



You can listen to and buy the album here. You can order the Vinyl here.


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