As 2025 winds down, Friday Blend host Carlos Benjamin took to the airwaves last week to air selections from each of his top 47 albums of 2025. The mix of music in this year's list includes: indie rock, Americana, alt-country, folk, and blues. A few recordings are instrumental, and a few EPs are included alongside the full-length albums.
Find the full list below in no particular order.
1. Los Straitjackets - Somos Los Straitjackets Dreaming
2. The Youngers - Dreaming
3. The Wood Brothers - Puff of Smoke
4. Sun Bus - Tune In Turn Up Paddle Out EP
5. Gertrudus - Super Good Enough
6. Samantha Fish - Paper Doll
7. TajMo - Room on the Porch
8. I'm with Her (Sarah Jarosz • Aoife O'Donovan • Sara Watkins) - Wild and Clear and Blue
9. Alison Krauss & Union Station - Arcadia
10. Paul Thorn - Life Is Just a Vapor
11. Ramona and the Holy Smokes - Ramona and the Holy Smokes
12. Cristina Vane - Hear My Call
13. Brennen Leigh - Don't You Ever Give Upon Love
14. Sweet Megg - Never Been Home
15. Asleep at the Wheel - Riding High in Texas
16. Hayes Carll - We're Only Human
17. The Hens - Hen Sounds
18. Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts - Talkin to the Trees
19. Phil Pilorz & Sarah Ayers Band - Apocalypse Road
20. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers - Closer to the Bone
21. The BC Combo - Glass Half Full
22. Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
23. My Morning Jacket - is
24. Roberta Faceplant - Brisket & Cigarettes EP
25. Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives - Space Junk EP
26. Deke Dickerson & The Whippersnappers - Ridin' with the Devil (Goin' as Fast as I Can) EP
27. Molly Tuttle - So Long Little Miss Sunshine
28. Tommy Emmanuel - Living in the Light
29. Sierra Hull - A Tip Toe Highwire
30. Lucy Kaplansky - The Lucy Story (Unreleased & Rare Tracks, 1976-2023)
31. John Gorka - unentitled
32. Lili Anel - You Have a Visitor
33. Rosy Nolan - Main Attraction
34. Rosie Flores & The Talismen - Impossible Frontiers
35. Early James - Medium Raw
36. Wet Leg - moisturizer
37. Josh Ritter - I Believe in You, My Honeydew
38. David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra - Who Is the Sky?
39. James McMurtry - The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
40. Galactic & Irma Thomas - Audience with the Queen
41. Bruce Springsteen - Tracks II: The Lost Albums
42. Craig Finn - Always Been
43. The Beths - Straight Line Was a Lie
44. The Head and the Heart - Aperture
45. Franz Ferdinand - The Human Fear
46. Marshall Crenshaw - From the Hellhole
47. Kathleen Edwards - Billionaire
