{"id":7035930,"date":"2026-08-10T00:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T00:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/ambient-music\/reflection-on-2025-a-strangely-isolated-place\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T00:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T00:48:08","slug":"reflection-on-2025-a-strangely-isolated-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7035930","title":{"rendered":"Reflection on 2025 \u2014 A STRANGELY ISOLATED PLACE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/54f7ac3be4b029ca044cd2a6\/1766182326361-TAGXRLOFXPHJJT3FQA0Z\/Reflectionon2025.png?format=1500w\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-sqsp-text-block-content=\"\">\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>As with all my previous <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astrangelyisolatedplace.com\/blog\/category\/Reflection+Mixes\" target=\"_blank\"><em>\u2018Reflection\u2019 year-end mixes<\/em><\/a><em>, I begin with a collection of albums, EPs, and compilations that resonated with me over the past year. From there, I curate tracks to build the mix &#8211; a process that\u2019s as much about omission as inclusion. Inevitably, many of my favorite tracks and albums don\u2019t make the final cut, simply because they don\u2019t fit the flow of the mix or get lost along the way. There are plenty of albums I played on repeat that aren\u2019t included here, but I enjoy this process much more than creating lists. <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>As I remind myself each year, this isn\u2019t meant to be a definitive \u201cbest-of\u201d list. Instead, it\u2019s a snapshot of some of my favorite music from the year, distilled into one cohesive and listenable format. Compiling these mixes under self-imposed restrictions is my way of revisiting and celebrating the music I\u2019ve loved critically, while sharing it with you in a way that\u2019s both meaningful and accessible. For me, listening back to these mixes is like flipping through an audio photograph, capturing the essence of my year in music and invoking memories from special moments.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>I encourage you to use this mix as a jumping-off point\u2014dive into each artist, explore their albums in full, and check out the labels behind the music. You can find a Buy Music Club list linked below to help you dig deeper. If you\u2019re curious about the broader scope of music I\u2019ve supported this year, my <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/astrangelyisolatedplace\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Bandcamp collection<\/em><\/a><em> is always up to date. And for the ASIP year-end label compilation, that\u2019s coming very soon\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>~<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">2025 was nearly the year of breaking point with my time and effort spent on the label. A new job, a third child, and\u2026 well that\u2019s enough to do it I guess. So as the year-end drew closer, the idea of completing this mix became laughable in its scope and I thought it might be the first year in over a decade I haven\u2019t completed one. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">It\u2019s helped that I haven\u2019t done many mixes this year, so approaching it pulled on some much needed creativity, but even when looking back at what music I had supported on Bandcamp and the records on my shelves, it took me a long time to organize, make sure I had it downloaded, and even pull the trigger on items in my wishlist (my wishlist often revolves around vinyl I\u2019ve picked up with no BC download code offered &#8211; gripe). Those who go through this obsessive process know how much time it can take up. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Looking back at the mix now it\u2019s complete, I\u2019ve managed to include around 80% of what was in high rotation for me this year (there\u2019s always some that don\u2019t make it into mix form) and the styles are on point as usual in reflecting my taste over the year. We\u2019re starting with the deep ambient cuts, moving into more IDM and techno, and moving through a lot more energetic tracks towards the end &#8211; from Jungle to Trance\u2026 <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">One of the only live gigs I got to emerge from my family life to see was WNDFRM and Patricia Wolf in Seattle, so of course, Patricia\u2019s newest installment on Balmat (who also had another epic year as a label) is included. Related to that event, organizer Raica (Chloe Harris) made a return with two albums this year I believe &#8211; both worthy of praise, but her piece for (another relentless outpost) Quiet Details was the stand out. A regular on these reflection mixes, MPU101 on Ilian Tape gets another nod- a BoC-vibe regular who always manages to tickle the right part of my ears. Alex Kassian had about three tracks or remixes in my original shortlist (including the lush remix of Spooky) so I had to do my best to not over-indulge &#8211; his remix of a classic Pianoman melody will bring back the Global Communication \/ Tangerine Dream vibes. Skee Mask is still releasing archive material that defies expectations. In one of the most welcome moves of the year, finding All Possible Worlds on Bandcamp made many people ecstatic, not least because of the full release of Irini\u2019s odyssey, or the random track found on their profile. Light of Cacti got my Schnauss tastebuds tingling. Anushka Chkheidze has been on my radar for a long time now, so it was a treat to see her collabing with the much respected Robert Lippok across a very interesting record. OPN landed late in 2025, but arguably released one of his more welcomed albums by die-hard fans, hooking me right back into his unique worlds. Simon Littaeur came into my feed through his Instagram videos (normally something that doesn\u2019t always result in a quality album) but his production lived up to the visual hype. The album by jp on emerging label Theory Therapy was full of big tracks, and I did my best to make sure one was included on here. Talking of big, Djrum\u2019s latest didnt dissapoint, and he\u2019ll continue to be classed as an innovator with output like this years. I nearly stopped at the Barker track, as it doesn\u2019t get much bigger than that euphoric high, but something told me to bring it back down a little bit more, so into a slight trance we went with a superb debut by Alvar (Teo Bachs) and of course, the masters of hypnotizing techno, Voices from The Lake making a much needed return. The ending comes from vinyl selector Chee Shimizu, a unique piece of music that would bring the sun down on any horizon and one of two great tracks included in the mix from the ESP LA fundraiser. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As with all my previous \u2018Reflection\u2019 year-end mixes, I begin with a collection of albums, EPs, and compilations that resonated with me over the past year. From there, I curate tracks to build the mix &#8211; a process that\u2019s as much about omission as inclusion. Inevitably, many of my favorite tracks and albums don\u2019t make [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7035931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12031],"tags":[16826,7942,16824,16825],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7035930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambient-music","tag-isolated","tag-place","tag-reflection","tag-strangely"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reflection on 2025 \u2014 A STRANGELY ISOLATED PLACE - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7035930\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reflection on 2025 \u2014 A STRANGELY ISOLATED PLACE - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As with all my previous \u2018Reflection\u2019 year-end mixes, I begin with a collection of albums, EPs, and compilations that resonated with me over the past year. 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