#devendra banhart

Devendra Banhart

I had the opportunity to write the one-sheet for Footings’ new album Worm Moon early in the year, and later that summer, a Brattleboro show with Mirah explored those songs in a very satisfying way. And then, after a 20-plus year break, I got to see Devendra Banhart again with Kath Bloom opening. The last time I saw Dev play was at one of those shows with Joanna Newsom and Vetiver—he played a lot of music from the first couple of albums in 2025, and it was lovely. Tropical Fuck Storm was another great night in an entirely different way (louder, more feedback), with local punkers Perennial tearing up the opening slot with volatile, stage leaping energy. Ruination Records/Adeline Hotel’s Dan Knishkowy made the trip up north in the fall, with one of my favorite new folk songwriters, Kristin Daelyn, and a big pile of vinyl in tow.

The highlight of a tough year, personally, came in October when my only son, Sean, got married in Chicago. For some reason, everything hurts less when you’re happy, and I was happy all weekend. (I convinced my husband to hit Constellation Chicago after the rehearsal dinner, and we saw a pretty good set from the Bad Plus there.) And finally, late in the year, I got to experience the mesmerizing Masma Dream World do her music/spiritual possession act, and that was pretty great, too.

I know what will happen next year. I hope to get better. If I don’t, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep Dusted going. I’m trying not to let go of the rope.

(Update: Late in December, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, likely treatable but still a very grim discovery. Many, many people have stepped up with love and support, and there will be some benefit concerts and recordings, more details to come. Bless you all, bless music and musicians and the people who love music. It’s given my life meaning.)

Meanwhile, I keep writing about music. I’m struck as I go back through the site for links by how many really good records I had the chance to write about, and how many of them didn’t make the list. But in any case, this year’s best, in my very subjective view, included (reviews linked where available):

Anika—The Abyss (Sacred Bones)

Circuit des Yeux—Halo on the Inside (Matador)

Orcutt Shelley Miller—S-T (Silver Current)

The Cords—S-T (Slumberland)

Hüsker Dü—1985: the Miracle Year (Numero Group)

Motorbike—Kick It Over (Feel It!)

Michael Hurley—Broken Homes and Gardens (No Quarter)

Michael Grigoni/Pan*American—New World, Lonely Ride (Kranky)

Modern Nature—The Heat Warps (Bella Union)

Jerry David DeCicca—Cardiac Country (Sophomore Lounge)

The New Eves—The New Eves Is Rising (Transgressive)

The Tubs—Cotton Crown (Trouble in Mind)

Ty Segall—Possession (Drag City)

Anna Tivel—Animal Poem (Fluff and Gravy)

SML—How You Been (Intl Anthem)

Gwenifer Raymond—Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark (We Are Busy Bodies)

Sir Richard Bishop—Hillbilly Ragas (Drag City)

Guided by Voices—Thick Rich and Delicious (GBV)

Natural Information Society and Bitchin’ Bajas—Totality (Drag City)

Salif Keita—So Kono (No Format)

The Mekons—Horror (Fire)

Ed Kuepper & Jim White—After the Flood (Drag City)

Mdou Moctar—Tears of Injustice (Matador)

Joan Shelley—Real Warmth (No Quarter)

The Ex—If Your Mirror Breaks (Ex)

Mulatu Astkatke—Mulatu Plays Mulatu (Strut)

Golden Brown—Patterner (Inner Islands)

Kinski—Stumbledown Terrace (Comedy Minus One)

Frog Eyes—The Open Up (Paper Bag)

Sharp Pins—Balloon Balloon Balloon (K)

Lucretia Dalt—A Danger to Ourselves (RVNG)

Prewn—System (Exploding in Sound)

Perennial—A Is for Abstract (Ernest Jennings)

The Nightingales—The Awful Truth (Fire)

The Red Pinks and Purples—The Past Is a Garden (Slumberland)

Superchunk—Songs in the Key of Yikes (Merge)

Gold Dust—In the Shade of the Living Light (Self-Release)

The Ohsees—Abomination Revealed at Last (Deathgod Corp)

The Beths—Straight Line Was a Lie (Anti-)