Posted on by gail

the chickfactor best of 2025 lists: round two

Bridget St. John playing at chickfactor’s Mon Gala Papillons at London’s Bush Hall, 2004. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Bridget St. John: many things I adore 2025

• my three cats – ever loving ever grateful

• the 30+ sparrows who gather beneath my window every morning for black sunflower seeds – ever thankful

• recording and then performing with Wilie Aron, Emily Wittbrodt & David Nagler at The Bitter End

• the FolkEast Festival – such a generous vibe…meeting Sandy Denny’s daughter, Georgia…playing with Jon Wilks… hanging with Diana Matheou… and in the company of my daughter and niece

• attending a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game

• playing The Chapel, SF, and McCabes, Santa Monica, during the April tour with Evie Sands and her stellar band

Jim + cat

Jim Ruiz

The 7 foster kittens and their mother who tore up both our house, and our hearts, last summer. 

Bunty – mother (née Lee Wiley)

Louis Armstrong (pictured)

Frank Sinatra

Gladys (née Blossom Dearie)

Chet Baker

Billie Holiday

Hoagy Carmichael

Bing Crosby

John Jervis – WIAIWYA

Sarah Cronin – Sarah’s death cast a large shadow over an already shadowy year, terrible and unfair and a huge loss… I suspect this won’t be the only time she is mentioned in this year’s lists, as is only right and proper.

Poker Face – Columbo meets the Littlest Hobo starring a live action version of the girl from Brave, and who could ask for anything more. It’s great!

Italian exploitation soundtracks- Still banging on about these, especially those that live in the creepy house between disco and krautrock, with Edda Dell’Orso preempting Liz Fraser in the flat upstairs – there’s a massive (it’s about 8 hours at the moment) playlist here for anyone interested (sorry for big green music machine link)

New music from old bands – Pulp! Stereolab! Allo Darlin! All still wonderful and so much easier than hunting down new bands that sound a bit like them… and new Heavenly next year too!

True Grit Texture Supply – essential and ubiquitous brushes, tools and effects for your graphics package – have spent a LOT of fun hours playing in that sandpit this year

Plumbers- this year I found a good, reliable, affordable plumber and heating engineer- cannot be overstated.

Sade – I love Sade.

Biscuits – yes, biscuits – they are brilliant, especially the cheap own brand ones – what are your favourites? Drop a couple of packs into your basket next time you go for a big shop, and treat yourself when you get home – you deserve it (unless you are a fascist, a billionaire, or a POS PUSA – then you don’t)

Mike Slumberland: Here’s my top ten listens of 2025

Dead Famous People – Wild Young Ways (Tiny Global Productions)

Galore – Dirt (Speakeasy Studios)

Makaya McCraven – Off The Record (International Anthem)

Mitch Murder X Pizza Hotline – Anti Gravity Tournament (WRWTFWW)

Natural Information Society – Perseverance Flow (Eremite)

Paper Jam – This And That (self-released)

Saint Etienne – International (Heavenly)

Sault – 10 (Forever Living Originals)

Satoshi Tomiie & Tuccillo – Delta Dubs (20:20 Vision)

Viola Klein – New Chapter (Meakusma)

Brian Nelson (Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl) 

Graphic Novels, Comics, & Books of 2025 (with no particular order or emphasis)

Gilmore Tamny (Weather Weapon, The Mystery, The Yips) 
These are things that interested and engaged me this year, which I’d recommendo. Some of them came out in 2025, some of them I just discovered this year. No particular order.

TV

  • Who Hired the Hitman
  • The Lowdown
  • Hacks
  • The Diplomat
  • Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
  • Heated Rivalry
  • An Update on Our Family
  • Pokerface
  • Mo
  • The Task
  • The Righteous Gemstones
  • Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke
  • The Pitt

MOVIES/SPECIALS

  • The Perfect Neighbor
  • Deaf President Now!
  • Taurasi
  • Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery
  • Fairyland
  • The Wedding Banquet
  • Come See Me in the Good Light
  • The Baltimorons
  • PostMortem, Sarah Silverman
  • Why Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Is America, Josh Johnson
  • Happy Gilmore II
  • Sorry Baby
  • The Secret Agent

MUSIC/LIVE PERFORMANCE
oof I need to listen to more music, BUT songs I found and liked very much this year and a few live shows:

  • Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter
  • Hold On, Ngozi Family
  • Denial is a River, Doechii
  • Chappell Roan generally
  • Ben Hersey, Non-Event show
  • Major Stars release show for More Colors of Sound
  • Ravon Chacon performance, ICA

SOCIALS

TIKTOK

·      abbey.joselyn

·      doggystylinguk

·      kobimcnutt

·      nicoleolived

·      noodyxbums

·      ship_spotting_

·      journeyofjackson

·      yoleendadong

·      dpeezy2099

·      oceanscary4K

·      notoriouscree

INSTA

  • koreydior_
  • olya_with_squirrel
  • african_brutalism

PATREON

  • Christine Mcconells
  • The Cottage Fairy

YOUTUBIO

  • Broadway Barbara
  • That Practical Mom
  • Red Squirrel Studios (for cat enrichment–top notch)

BOOKS (all audiobooks FWIW)

  • The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, Richard Ayoade
  • Spent a Comic Novel, Alison Bechdel
  • The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures, Sarah Clegg
  • Birnam Wood, A Novel, Eleanor Catton
  • History Lessons, Zoe B. Wallbrook
  • We Solve Murders, Richard Osman
  • Heartwood, Amity Gage
  • Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), Jesse Q. Sutanto
  • Generation Darkness, Elizabeth Hand
  • King of Ashes, S.A. Cosby
  • Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe
  • Sociopath, Patric Gagne
  • Rental House, Weike Wang
  • Havoc, Christpoher Bollen
  • Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner
  • Perfume and Pain, Anna Dorn
  • Glory Daze, Danielle Arceneaux

PODCAST

  • The Rest is Entertainment (I listened to nearly every single episode)
  • The White Pube
  • Crissle’s Couch
  • The Art Angle
  • Waldy and Bendy
  • Grits and Eggs Podcast (have not kept up but love what I heard)
  • Darknet Diary (selective listening but some NUTS stories)
  • Wisecrack
  • Scamanda
  • The Read
  • I need to listen to AudioFlux