Well here we are. We made it through another year, and it was a challenging one. Before we get to the list I want to thank our listeners. It’s been a great year for Mornings With, and it’s been so nice to see so many regulars on the live shows.

Back in November we passed the milestone of 100 shows. And along the way we’ve been able to share some truly awesome music, from a wider pool than what we put together for episodes of Mantis.

The publish schedule for Mantis Radio was up and down last year. Which relates to some of the challenges we faced in 2025. That said, we did produce 8 new episodes, packing some absolutely incredible guest mixes. And if you’ve missed any of them, find them all here.

In the background we’ve continued working on some of the legacy aspects of the show. Over the years of producing Mantis many changes and developments have happened to tech, podcasts, and the digital admin side of things. And that’s meant that lots of things need attention and maintenance and  we are on a massive catch up, revision, and update backlog. In the last few weeks we’ve added over 70 archive episodes to SoundCloud and we’ll be continuing to add more as we trundle into 2026. The podcast too has been slowly upgraded to the modern spec, which takes time. More legacy episodes will be added to the feed as we find the time to do so.

And there are more changes to happen in 2026 — including an overhaul of this website, a major new project, a return to broadcasting DSR (Darkfloor Sound Radio), and local community plans here in Liverpool. Plus, the continued aim of getting regular episodes of Mantis Radio out.

So, stay tuned.

Right then, here’s what you came for, my list of 50 favourite releases from 2025. As usual it’s a diverse selection, reflecting my taste. Some of these you’ll know, love, and have probably already had some serious rotation in your space. Others, maybe not. And a few, probably, you might not like. But that’s OK. That’s the beauty of music. Let us know which releases from last year you loved, drop a comment.

The list comes complete with a brief rundown of what the release sounds like, and each pick comes with a link where you can listen. Mostly that means direct to the artist/label on their Bandcamp.

What releases did we miss?

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Aicher – Defensive Acoustics [Downwards]
murky, dank, industrial debut solo record from My Disco’s Liam Andrews

Anthony Naples – Scanners [ANS]
lush, deep. dub chord rich pad house

Barker – Stochastic Drift [Smalltown Supersound]
beautiful rhythm twink flutter – electronics that breathe

Blawan – SickElixir [XL Recordings]
weirdo gnarled filth beats that hit like steel bricks

The Bug vs Ghost Dubs – Implosion [Pressure]
bass weight dub blankets wrapped in thick sub warmth

Burial – Comafields [Hyperdub]
straight up beautiful, amongst Burial’s best work to date

Carrier – Rhythm Immortal [Modern Love]
Guy Brewer cements his 3rd era w/ this abstract dub n bass illbient machination LP

Clark – Steep Stims [Throttle Records]
returning to the dancefloor, Clark shows off w/ synth stab melodic spectral IDM bangers

Council Estate Electronics – MIRFIELD [Avalanche Recordings]
Jesu’s JK Broadrick & Diarmuid Dalton continue their industrial crawl dub project

dälek & Charles Hayward – HAYWARDxDÄLEK [Relapse Records]
This Heat’s drummer extraordinaire Charles Hayward meets dälek’s MC Will Brooks – truly stunning

deafheaven – Lonely People With Power [Roadrunner Records]
further defining their blackgaze sound w/ a basically perfect record – ferociously lush

deftones – private music [reprise records]
a stunning record that delivers exactly what fans of the band crave – 10/10

DJ Flea – LI4 [OPAL]
lofi techno throb crunch step

DJ Haram – Beside Myself [Hyperdub]
Jersey Club meets the Middle East w/ a weighty, oddball, collab heavy suite

Drumcorps – For Everything [Morning Under Leaves]
intense breakcore grind crust electronic filth from one of the best to do it, Aaron Spectre

Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo [Brownswood Recordings]
smooth cathartic resonance exploring selfhood, grief, + gratitude in a contemp. jazz space

emptyset – Dissever [Thrill Jockey]
fantastic rhythmic shadow sonics

Eusebeia – Undertones [Samurai Music]
atmospheric rolling jungle dread

Ganser – Animal Hospital [felte]
art rock no wave head nodding groove fuzz – immensely listenable

GoGo Penguin – Necessary Fictions [XXIM Records]
career best record from the jazz n breaks Manchester trio – sublime from tip to tail

Hybrid – Siren Of The Storm [self released]
epic, goosebump’ing progressive breakbeat masterpiece

James Holden & Waclaw Zimpel – The Universe Will Take Care Of You [Border Community]
gorgeous transcendent sound from British synth don Holden + Polish clarinettist Zimpel

james K – Friend [AD 93]
sonic diazepam dream pop breakbeat joy

Jonny Nash – Once Was Ours Forever [Melody As Truth]
the pastoral countryside drifts by in a warm haze on Jonny’s ambient guitar folk jazz blanket

K-Lone – sorry i thought you were someone else [Incienso]
crystal shimmer subtle house that sedates

La BOA Meets Tony Allen – La BOA Meets Tony Allen [Comet Records]
La Bogotá Orquesta Afrobeat (La BOA) pay tribute to the Afrobeat pioneer w/ an exceptional + vibrant record

Llyn Y Cwn – Megaliths In Dub [Cold Spring Records]
expanding the dark ambience of last year’s Megaliths with exploratory dub rumbles

Loscil – Lake Fire [kranky]
stunning ambient pulses from a master reflecting on getting older

Lukid – Underloop [Death Is Not The End]
hazy, lofi, flutter pieces of looping dreams

Malibu – Vanities [Year0001]
breathless mediative beauty that washes over you like an ocean of serene calm

Marc Faenger – Juggernaut [Nachtstrom Schallplatten]
dark dank techno tunnel thud cuts

The Mars Volta – Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio [Clouds Hill]
unexpected art pop dream music, rich in harmonies

MICROCORPS – CLEAR VORTEX CHAMBER [Downwards]
mutating otherworldly industrial

Millsart – Star Child [Axis Records]
lush synth melodic tech flexing from the Detroit techno wizard, Jeff Mills

Nick Breinich – Nothing Left To Dissolve [Old Technology]
high grade beautiful Kosmische channelling ambient – part mediation, part sonic cleanse

No Joy – Bugland [Hand Drawn Dracula]
woozy shoegaze grunge channelling psych tinged rock

Nørbak – Suave [NRBK]
sharpened techno perfection

Nourished by Time – The Passionate Ones [XL Recordings]
hip hop pop – but, so much more – a future classic

Oneohtrix Point Never – Tranquilizer [Warp Records]
deeply pleasing electronic shards of bright synthwave clouds

Paul St. Hilaire – w/ The Producers [Kynant Records]
proper dub tech mastery stuffed w/ seriously good collabs

Raz & Afla – Windowlicker / Going Back To My Roots [self released]
Afrobeat rework from the ground up of the Aphex classic – platinum level material

Shrunken Elvis – Shrunken Elvis [Western Vinyl]
ambient instrumental Country from Nashville, resplendent in slide guitar

Skullcrusher – And Your Song Is Like a Circle [Dirty Hit]
ethereal ambient folk gold

Slikback – Attrition [Planet Mu]
immense abstracted cinematic bass shards of reflective rhythm

Stave & Karim Maas – Into Eternity [Standards & Practices]
dripping in mood and low end rumbles – akin to a nightmarish version of Massive Attack

Stenny – Sharp Fragments [Ilian Tape]
excellent dusty breaky techno meditations from the low profile but ever reliable producer

Swarm Intelligence – Radiance [Natural Selection]
full throttle dark-side industrially hard, techno slabs

T. Gowdy – Trill Scan [Constellation]
captivating melding of choral + medieval music with Gowdy’s analogue electronics

Various Artists – Women In Jazz [New Soil]
incredible showcase compilation of contemporary female jazz musicians + producers

Voices from the Lake – II [Spazio Disponibile]
Donato Dozzy + Neel return to their ambient techno project, delivering an epic sequel of subtle rhythm