The 75 FROM ’75 Countdown obviously dominated the second half of 2025, yet this did not prevent a steady influx of new records into the Vinyl Connection den of vinyl iniquity. Here are a few highlights.
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JANUARY
One of the first features for Discrepancy Records was the latest solo album from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Luck And Strange came out in September 2024 and to the delight of his many fans, was a strong, well constructed LP. Nice work from the veteran who turns 80 in March 2026.
FEBRUARY
La Sabateuse, the 2017 album from British-Bahraini trumpeter Yass Ahmed, was one of my favourite jazz albums of… well, ever. So ordering her 2025 release, A Paradise In The Hold, was a no-brainer. It’s good, very good. Perhaps the only noticeable difference is the absence of the ‘startle’ factor that can add lustre to the discovery of a ‘new’ artist.
MARCH
Almost at the end of the main game in liquidating my friend Steven’s record collection I discovered something really quite exciting. Many know and revere the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band LP released in late 1970, the bucolic cover shot so at odds with the primal screams within. What I’d never realised was that there was a companion Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band album released simultaneously. It is not an easy listen, but I am ridiculously thrilled to have the couple nestled together on the shelves.
APRIL
Doing a Fountains of Wayne feature to accompany and interview/review of a 2025 book on the band was the excuse I needed to get their excellent B-sides and Rarities album on ‘junkyard swirl’ vinyl. ‘Nuff said.
MAY
Although I often—though less often than I’d like—read and enjoy other music blogs, it is not common for me to translate this enjoyment into a vinyl purchase. However Joe Story’s review of Green Lung’s This Heathen Land [2023], in its superb Penguin-inspired jacket, druid-snot coloured vinyl and map of Britain’s ancient sites demanded attention. It’s heavier than my mean rock quotient (these days) but thoroughly entertaining and excellently played. Kind of the lovechild of Uriah Heep and a pagan Alice Cooper.
JULY
There was quite a buzz around a legit release of Pink Floyd’s live At Pompeii MCMLXXII. Having always loved the film and even gone to the ridiculous length of recording and editing the entire soundtrack to burn my own OST CD-R, I did not hesitate. Great package, nice restoration, all good… except I prefer my CD-R with the snippets of interviews and studio talk.
AUGUST
Having culled a couple of copies of my favourite Santana album, chancing across this numbered 2024 MOFI copy offered an opportunity to restock the Caravanserai shelf. I mean, the more you love an album the more copies you need, right?
SEPTEMBER
Been getting more and more into the minimalist avant-garde jazz of Australian trio The Necks. Bleed was released in 2024 and I missed the initial run of green swirly vinyl. Luckily, one turned up at my favourite secondhand record store.
OCTOBER
Stereolab came back from their extended sabbatical refreshed and re-energised. Released in May 2025, this 2LP set is a delight from stem to stern. If you don’t know this ludicrously cool retro outfit, Instant Holograms On Metal Film is—despite that unwieldy title—a fine entry point.
NOVEMBER
An unavoidable birthday (aren’t they all?) resulted in rumination on mortality, mild depression, and some additions to the record library. A pair of Popol Vuh LP re-issues makes the VC holding almost complete.
DECEMBER
A few days after the aforementioned birthday a lovely gift from Paul at Discrepancy, added to the already bulging Tangerine Dream section. An excellent archival release, its electronic waves washed away the disappointment of the live TD concert earlier in the year. And how pretty is that vinyl?
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Wishing all friends, colleagues and fellow music-lovers a safe New Year and a healthy and melodious 2026.
vinylconnection.com.au 
In the seventies I got glandular fever. Being too tired to cook, I ate at the Cleopatra Cafe nearly every night for two or three months. That’s where I got addicted to what a girlfriend was unkind enough to call Bee-in-a-bottle music. I guess she might say that Yass Ahmed adds jazzy Space Odyssey touches to the bees in that bottle. “Doesn’t madda” it’s great stuff, IMHO.
How are you with Sons of Kemet, whom Gaynor might have dismissed as putting big bees in the bottle?
Anyway, I’m pulling the plug before envy breaks through.
All the best for 2026.
DD
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Read that as Sons of Kermit initially, which sounded intriguing in an amphibious kind of way. Will investigate Kemet offspring too. Take care, DD.
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A search revealed “Sons of Kermit” to be a song by Josiah Soren.
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🤣
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I need to listen to Caravanserai, as my Santana collection is woefully small (three albums). And that Green Lung album art and title intrigue me, though I’m not much for Uriah Heep (one LP) nor Alice Cooper (no LPs).
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Pete, how can I put this nicely? Get Caravanserai, stat! You’ll love it. Santana’s jazz-rock period was fabulous and this is the key evidence.
I wasn’t really satisfied with the Heep-Cooper comparison, but my vocab for the heavier end of the periodic table of rock is a bit limited. Maybe an updated Atomic Rooster? Anyway, it’s a find album and great package.
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I recognize a few of your acquisitions, including “Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band”, “Pink Floyd at Pompeii” and “Caravanserai.” I hardly purchase any music these days. One exception this year was “Family,” the most recent album by Southern Avenue, a contemporary blues, soul, gospel and R&B group from Memphis, Tenn. who are among my favorite contemporary groups.
During my recent visit to Germany to spend Christmas with my dad, I also received an incredible gift from my dear long-time German music friend Gerd: a box-set by the recently deceased Chris Rea titled “(Blue Guitars”).
You may know the British singer, songwriter and guitarist from his sting of hits he had between the mid-’80s and early ’90s, such as “I Can Hear Your Heartbeat”, “Josephine”, “On the Beach”, “Auberge” and “Driving Home For Christmas,” but you really don’t know Rea completely until you’ve listened to the aforementioned box-set – a collection of 12 CDs, which are all blues songs in different styles like Chicago Blues, Country Blues and Texas Blues. And, from what I’ve seen thus far, all original songs – incredible!
Happy and Healthy New Year! 🙂
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I do find it difficult to envisage not buying physical versions of musical art, Christian, but can definitely see the space saving advantages!
Chris Rea was under-rated as a guitarist, I reckon. That sounds like an amazing package, one that will keep you going well into the new year. Enjoy!
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Happiest of New Year’s to you too, Bruce. 🙂
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Thanks Marty.
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Listening to Pink Floyd and David Gilmour is always good.
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Too true.
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I little envious but I busted out the old school Santana record. Yes it is special.
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The last cd that I bought last year was Curtis Mayfield – Super fly. I plan on buying more cds in the new year. Happy listening.
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Nice! I only have a couple of Curtis albums. Great artist. Happy CD hunting in ’26!
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The only physical media I bought last year was music I found on Bandcamp—stuff like Sean O’Hagan, Mild High Club, and Yani Martinelli. I ran out of room for things a long time ago, and they all remain in a pile on my desk, but I still love the thrill of opening new music far more than I do finding it on Apple.
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We’re tactile creatures, aren’t we?
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