Steven Wilson's year-end list: 20 albums to listen to on physical formats

Steven Wilson is one of the most authoritative figures in contemporary rock, not only for his artistic path as a solo artist and with Porcupine Tree, but also for his work as producer and sonic restorer, which has given renewed centrality and depth to numerous classics through remixes and immersive-audio reworkings, not least the historic “Live At Pompeii” by Pink Floyd. On top of this, he has taken on an increasingly prominent role as a music commentator, able to connect past and present with expertise and unconventional curiosity. For these reasons, any listening list he puts together holds a particular interest.

Steven Wilson's “20 records of 2025” are not, in fact, all released in 2025. The criterion isn't chronological but experiential: these are records he listened to intensely over the course of the year, strictly in physical format, while most of the public was busy sharing algorithm-generated statistics and playlists. The range of listening is broad and wide-ranging: it goes from Tom Waits to Jeff Buckley, from Neil Young to the recent solo debut by Cameron Winter of Geese.

Wilson introduces his selection like this: “These days a lot of people are posting their Spotify Wrapped 2025 stats and artists are thanking listeners for streaming their music, so I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who this year actually bought a physical copy of any of my records. In fact, a huge thumbs up to anyone who bought a physical copy of anyone's record this year, helping keep the art of the album alive. I'm not so naive as to think that streaming isn't, by a wide margin, the dominant platform for listening to music in the 21st century, but I also believe that the relationship between a listener and a physical piece of art is still something magical and special, one that will never be replaced by ones and zeros streamed in from a server. So here is the Steven Wrapped: 20 physical releases I listened to a lot this year (mostly things released or reissued in 2025, but not only).”

Below is the full list of the twenty records mentioned by Steven Wilson:

• Squarepusher – “Stereotype”
• Natural Information Society – “Perseverance Flow”
• Soviet France – “Chasse”
• Deathpile – “GR”
• Paul Schutze – “New Maps of Hell”
• Matt Berry – “Heard Noises”
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – “Dirt Silver and Gold”
• Dissecting Table – “Ultra Point of Intersection Exist”
• Mike Ratledge – “Riddles of the Sphinx”
• The John Cameron Quartet – “Off Centre”
• Orbital – “The Brown Album”
• Tom Waits – “Heartattack and Vine”
• Merzbow – “Collection: 010”
• Polygon Window – “Surfing on Sine Waves”
• Cardiacs – “LSD”
• Jeff Buckley – “Grace”
• Anthony Braxton – “Five Pieces”
• Neil Young – “Oceanside Countryside”
• Cameron Winter – “Heavy Metal”
• Charles Rouse – “Two Is One”

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