Billy F Gibbons

The Top EPs of 2025

Only because the rollout of his recent work was so aggravating, I disqualified Makaya McCraven for this exercise. I dispensed with the four excellent EPs released by the disruptive musician in 2025 by collectively placing them at #9 in this ranking. A few household names are interspersed with weirdos of all stripes in the following list of multi-song sets with run times of less than thirty minutes.

1. Gabriel Jacoby- gutta child
D’Angelo lives.

2. Nathy Peluso- Malportada
Dizzying salsa.

3. Prism Quartet- El Eco de un Tambor
My review.

4. Earl Sweatshirt- Live Laugh Love
More rap songs.

5. Maruja- Tir na nÓg
My review.

6. Adrian Younge- Something About April III
Orchestral MPB.

7. Billy F Gibbons- Cruising with Billy F Gibbons
Beer drinker and hell raiser.

8. Rafiq Bhatia- Each Dream, A Melting Door
Paint them black.

9. Xiao- Control
Swedish power violence.

10. Hyldon- JID023
The Brazilian octogenarian revived and refreshed.

11. Jack White- No Name Live
Back in the garage.

12. Mavi- The Pilot
Underground sobriety.

13. Himari- Himari
Child prodigy.

14. Squint- Drag
Heavier than the Gateway Arch.

15. Stakes Is High- Stakes Is High
KC punx.

16. Lizzie Berchie- Night Shift
Lush neo-soul.

17. Sam Gendel and James McAlister- Diamond Staircase
One of several new Gendel EPs.

18. RMW and Maadcxmmander- Pretty Boy Swag
This, right here.

19. Julius Asal- Siena Tapes
Ravel recital.

20. DJ Python- i was put on this earth
Downcast beats.

21. Anysia Kym- Purity
Beats by Tony Seltzer.

22. Lazerbeak- To Be Tubing
Gently down the (Doomtree) stream.

23. Matt Pryor- The Salton Sea
Adult emo.

24. Flooding- adult 1
Kansas City art-punk.

25. Vince Gill- 50 Years from Home: Secondhand Smoke
Tender mercies.

June 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Lili by There Stands the Glass.

Screenshot of the trailer of Lili by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in June)

1. Migos- Culture III

My post-vaccination party soundtrack, 1/2.

2. Billy F Gibbons- Hardware

My post-vaccination party soundtrack, 2/2.

3. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion- Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part

I love the elements I love more than I loathe the elements I loathe.

4. Anthony Braxton- 12 Comp (Zim)

My review.

5. Chris Thile- Laysongs

Anxious gospel.

6. Tyler, The Creator- Call Me If You Get Lost

Goblin grows up.

7. Julian Lage- Squint

A different type of power trio.

8. Wild Up- Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine

A vital conceptualization.

9. Mac Lethal- Winter Heartbreak II

My review.

10. Angel Bat Dawid- Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology

Ancient to the (lofi) future.


Top Ten Songs (released in June)

1. Megan Thee Stallion- “Thot Sh*t”

“Lit since brunch.”

2. Little Simz- "Rollin' Stone"

Quenched.

3. Rauw Alejandro and Anitta- "Brazilera"

Carnival.

4. Moor Mother- "Zami"

Traveling the spaceways.

5. Billie Eilish- "Lost Cause"

Dead flowers.

6. Petra Haden- "Silence"

Song for her father.

7. Becky G and El Alfa- “Fulanito”

Rhythm nation.

8. Jennifer Hudson- "Here I Am"

Aria for Aretha.

9. Bfd Da Packman- “Wendy Williams”

“Back to Walmart.”

10. Brittney Spencer- “Sober & Skinny”

You got a fast car.


Top Ten Concerts (first monthly ranking since March 2020!)

1. Irreversible Entanglements- Stephens Lake Park Amphitheatre (Columbia, Missouri)

My review.

2. Johnny Rawls- Gladstone Summertime Bluesfest 

My notes.

3. Bird Fleming and Bill Summers’ “Voyage of the Drum”- Dunbar Park

My review.

4. Second Nature Ensemble- Westport Coffee House

My review.

5. En Vogue- Hy-Vee Arena

My review.

6. Mike Dillon and Nikki Glaspie- 1900 Building

My review.

7. Adam Galblum Quartet- Market KC

Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli revived.

8. Kian Byrne- Second Presbyterian Church

A singer-songwriter sweats it out under the setting sun.

9. Roman Alexander- KC Live

My review.

10. The Kansas City Chorale- Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church

Docked several notches for a clergyman’s abhorrent mask-shaming.


Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in June)

1. Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Gesundheit!

2. Lili (1953)

A French twist on The Wizard of Oz.

3. La ciociara/Two Women (1960)

Sophia Loren and Eleonora Brown suffer unspeakable trauma.

4. Polish Wedding (1998)

Love in Hamtramck.

5. Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Psychotropic noir.

6. I Accuse! (1958)

Straightforward depiction of the Dreyfus affair.

7. Lisztomania (1975)

Richard Wagner is Satan in Ken Russell’s gonzo freakout. 

8. Terri (2011)

Teen cringe.

9. The Shadow on the Window (1957)

And Jerry Mathers as the murder witness.

10. Small Town Crime (2017)

Negligible noir.


May’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.