Something about the words “Fust Live” doesn’t quite scream video arcade.
That’s what happened in Salt Lake City, though. Wednesday was my first step inside Salt Lake’s Quarters Arcade Bar. Not to play Ms. Pac Man but to see Fust and Merce Lemon on their co-headlining national tour. More later on my Child of the 80’s review of the arcade itself. Let’s focus first, as we should, on the music.
Click for my review and pics of the Fust show!!
25 Outstanding 2025 Alternative Albums
Every year, but moreso in 2025 than recently, I feel like I’m not going to be able to identify truly great albums. This is an ongoing neurosis, I guess, because it wasn’t hard to find a selection of really outstanding 2025 alternative albums.
Nevertheless, I’m not saying 2025 was a great music year. For the first time in awhile, I thought, “this year was a bit off.” Normally I’m the You’re Just Not Listening Enough guy. Generally I think rock and roll improves every year. But it’s not a straight line and 2025 was definitely a strange year for alternative music.
These 25 records, and a dozen or so honorable mentions, were the exception. So let’s have a listen!
Click for my choices for the best 25 alternative albums!
How does anyone chose literally the BEST alternative songs in 2025?
Only a professional rock music writer, record store employee or avowed masochist should actually rank the literal best songs in a year. I mean what does that even mean, “Best Song?” There are approximately fourteen billion songs written in year and I’ve only listened to half of them (joke). So I don’t attempt the hubris of canonizing the best songs in a year. These are some of my favorites. I hope you like them enough that you buy from the artists and find something new to love.
I pick my favorite songs for this list from albums that I specifically DO NOT expect to be on my favorite records list for 2025. This is a completely arbitrary and irrational way to assemble two dozen plus of the coolest songs for you to hear, but stick with me for a second. My top albums list features a couple of songs from each of those records already. If I didn’t choose from a different pool of songs, you’d be missing out on a ton of great music. So here they are.
Click for short reviews and streams to 25 alternative songs
The Big Thief Salt Lake City show on September 22, the third in their US tour for Double Infinity, treated the audience to an hour and 40 minutes of hits from past to present. It also included a rollicking new song I am dying to hear again.
Yes it took a month for show deets and photos, but here they are!
Keep reading for the albums Big Thief played from
essential
2024
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I had two or three 2024 alternative albums in mind all year and I was SURE one of them was going to be my #1. But no! I ultimately surprised myself with my top choice this year. Still, I’ve never been more persuaded in my favorite record of 2024.
Every year it seems I can inevitably conjure just one or two records that I think will be worth writing about. Then I spend two weeks in rapturous review — oh that was so good! and wow that one was amazing! Canonizing my favorite 2024 alternative albums is really more for me than for you.
Keep reading for 20 super albums from 2024!
These 24 remarkable alternative songs from 2024 are a kind of a soundtrack of the year.
The songs range from post punk to dream pop to alternative country. I’ve been adding to this list of tunes all year from hundreds of album and song downloads. A few of the songs may be a teeny bit obscure. But all of them were written with infectious hooks. They are immediate and super easy to fall in love with.
A quick preface that these aren’t the biggest alternative singles of the year.
In fact, most come from records that WON’T make my Top 20 Albums list for 2024. So Pom Poko’s “Champion” isn’t on this list and none of the one billion songs on Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee are here. Those bands released records that are almost certain to be among my favorite albums. So I’m cherry picking songs that both easy to love but NOT on my favorite albums list. Although the albums list is still an undefined mental catalogue. STOP WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS.
Let’s start with the catchiest alternative songs from 2024. Ready?
Keep reading for 24 standout alternative songs from 2024!
No matter who you were hoping to see in the Kilby Block Party lineup for 2025, you were bound to find some terrific bands along with a few headscratchers. It’s the nature of booking music. Kilby isn’t curating a personal playlist for you. They’re trying to draw 30,000 people to the Utah State Fairgrounds next May 15-18. They’re also trying to turn a profit in the process.
Some of the down ballot candidates here are going to be the big hits for me. Headliners tend to have a Dad Rock appeal. Let’s have a look at the music planned for Kilby’s 2025 event and possibly a few of the bands you may have overlooked but shouldn’t! Let’s have a look.
Keep reading for the Kilby 2025 highlights
Stop your blog buzz – even if deserved – about Adrianne Lenker. The Waxahatchee Tigers Blood album is hitting on every level as a Top 10 album of 2024. Both Lenker and Katie Crutchfield play Salt Lake City in the next 75 days, so we can compare their live shows side-by-side. But I’ve compared their studio releases and Tigers Blood is top shelf. This is what I love about it.
Keep reading for what influenced Waxahatchee’s new record
Would I have preferred to post my best indie albums 2023 list four or five weeks ago. Yes. Yes, I would. Am I losing sleep over it? No. It simply has low cultural relevance now.
I had most of these 20 records scratched onto a cute, pink “Mom’s To Do List” note pad at the end of the year. But one distraction lead to another and I didn’t sit down to start writing until February 1st. But get off my back already — this is the best 2023 album list you’ll read the entire month of February!
Keep reading for 20 albums from 2023 you need to buy!
The Kilby Block Party 2024 fired next year’s lineup announcement like a cannon shot. The May 10-12 festival will celebrate Kilby’s 25th anniversary and they’re already stacked.
Organizers S&S Presents have nailed their biggest act ever to headline, LCD Soundsystem. They’ve also secured legends like Dinosaur Jr., Belle and Sebastian and Ty Segall. Current acts will include Alvvays, Yves Tumor and Blondshell. And local rising star Little Moon makes the bill.
A representative for S&S tells KSL NewsRadio, they hope to attract close to 30,000 fans per day.
We don’t have the day by day lineup, which means no sense yet which bands play opposite each other and the hard choices you may have to make. But here is what we can expect.
Keep reading for the top Kilby headliners and supporting bands