Daily Newsletter, January 5, 2025

The year’s most discourse-worthy records, according to our Senior Editor.

The final edition of Constellations explores the connection between artist, public, and marketplace.

Headed by Father Yod, the Source Family were a New Age cult in California in the late 1960s and '70s, and boy, did they also know how to rock.

A singular musician, Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis chose art over commerce and left a formidable musical legacy that’s still being unpacked.

T. Rex were a London rock band founded by singer and songwriter Marc Bolan, proving hugely influential on decades of bands that followed.

The 1980s were full of great music, and while these mid-1980s records were fantastic, they have also been forgotten.

In the 1950s and 1960s, a handful of rock 'n' roll bands, including Deep Purple, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and others, began incorporating orchestras.

Our guide to the year’s best jazz LPs.

The coming year sees the return of Superman, Avatar and Bridget Jones, along with new films from Bong Joon-ho, Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler.

Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)