The Zaw Towers Review of 2025

2025 was definitely a year of change. Work became part of a much larger corporate company and having to adjust to that was definitely a challenge. And following a good friend passing away, I've made conscious decisions to look after my health a lot more which has resulted in some changes there too. However, plenty did keep me occupied and as a welcome distraction during the year, which was always welcome. So what did the business for me this year?

Best Single/Track of 2025 - "Fallowfield Loops" - GoGo Penguin
Somehow, the whole track reminds me of a film soundtrack, and one that would be particularly apt for me, especially with its accompanying video. The Fallowfield Loop Line was a former rail line turned path I used to walk a lot, especially with The Love In My Heart, and the track also features the former Toastrack building at MMU Hollings campus where a friend of mine used to work, and indeed the Ashton Canal at Ancoats and old warehouses which today we pass when walking down there. So definitely evocative but also sense of emotion and delivered beautifully with the piano especially driving the whole track wonderfully forward. A pleasure to see this performed live at the Barbican too.

Also recommended:
"Torus" - Iona Lane - The folklore and ecology of the islands where her album Swilkie was recorded is woven beautifully into the storytelling, especially here, with a beautiful soft folk feel and a final crescendo that makes you want to sit by the sea and just listen to the voices coming across the waves. A beautiful and surprising song that just grows and rises as you listen.
"Just Enough" - Rachael Sage and the Sequins - This is all about love and how all the little things you all do makes someone feel love, and how all that fills your cup just enough. The video too is hugely positive and shows that love is love, no matter who with and what that may be, which is an important life lesson for us all, I think. It just gives you all the feel good vibes about how nice it is to be happy and together, and is a perfect showcase for Rachael's music too.
"Tangerine Scaffolding" - Sunmachine - It's so good to have Rus Harrison back what he does best, recording great intelligent songs that brightness and sunshine along the way. This for me was the highlight of the Nu Psychology album and the deserved single - with lovely acoustic guitars accompanying the vocals and giving everything room to breathe and flow before the electrics kick in. It grows with every listen.
"As Alive As You Need Me To Be" - Nine Inch Nails - The Tron:Ares film was bobbins, the soundtrack was definitely not. And this lead off single was beautifully pure NIN at their finest, with lots of electronica happening during the introduction and verses, with Trent Reznor's voice sounding in very fine fettle. And in true loud and then louder bit tradition, the chorus rocks very very hard as it should. More of this classic style please NIN!

Best Album of 2025 - "Parasomnia" - Dream Theater
Having the band back to its classic line up, complete with Mike Portnoy on drums, just gave fans a sense of anticipation that the album was going to be good. And it did not disappoint one bit, from the driving progressions of Night Terror to the pounding heartbeat of Midnight Messiah and the lengthy album closer complete with its musical box gentle introduction, The Shadow Man Incident, the feeling of night, sleep (or lack of) and dreams just emnated throughout the whole thing, giving the whole album a sense of purpose, and played with both gusto and passion that was clear to see. Epic progressive metal at its finest and shows just how sometimes having a band's classic line-up can make things happen the right way.

Also recommended:
"House of Stories"- Penfriend - I very nearly made this a joint winner, purely because Laura Kidd's songwriting here has become more reflective and yet sways between gentle, such as The Life of the Party and In The Light Sometimes, to the full on controlled anger of Emotional Tourist. There is also perhaps the loveliest surprise of all, Seasons, a gorgeous alternative love song that really does hit the heart with aplomb and gives you those feeling of crying happy tears at its waltz-like chorus palcement, absolutely beautiful. Disco Loadout just ends things with a sense of turning all the lights out and closing things with a sense of more reflection that really shines. A lovely, lovely album.
"Delete Everything" - Pop Will Eat Itself - The first PWEI album in over ten years, and it was well worth the wait. Brutal and uncompromising as ever, from their co-written original remade - Their Law (Ain't Our Law) - to the funky feel of walking around Birmingham for Built For Fun, there's a groove here for everyone. The fast pace of Disco Misfits and the aptly named Play A Fast'Un really arms you with power, and contrasted wonderfully well with Where There's Hope, all slowed down and reflective.
"Moonlight Concessions" - Throwing Muses - I did wonder whether this may have been better as a Kristin Hersh solo album, but nonetheles, her incisive songwriting and a real vicious barb are all present here, notably in the title track as well as Summer of Love. There is also the beautiful strings that haunt the whole feeling of mood during Sally's Beauty, with Kristin's vocal lower in the mix to give it that sense of darkness too. South Coast just takes you there with a real sense of foreboding and mood along the way, and certainly not a long album but one that delivers by the bucket load.
"Utopia" - Gwenno - Switching to have an album mostly in English may have been a bold move for Gwenno, but one that was pulled off with such gorgeous moods. The shifting late night feel of 73 sets the scene beautifully (which number 73 bus is it I wonder?) - and a stark contrast to the more beautiful night darkness of Y Gath, all about the cat, all in Welsh, and the beautiful soulful pop sensibilities of Dancing on Volcanoes, where Gwenno's vocal really soars gorgeously. The title track also soars and rises with reflection and hope all at the same time. Simply stunning, and grows with every listen.

Reissue Album of 2025 - Buckingham Nicks
Often overlooked is when an album is reissued, particularly for the first time on CD, and gives it a whole new audience of listeners. My father had the original album back in 1973, and its importance in the history of Fleetwood Mac shouldn't be underestimated. The original version of Crystal features here, and the album closer Frozen Love is what convinced Mick Fleetwood to get both of them onboard too. There's also some gorgeous tracks such as the rocking Don't Let Me Down Again and the softer feel of Crying in the Night and harmonies on Races Are Run too. Long bootlegged, but now within reach, and more beautiful than you may think.

Best Concert of 2025 - Nine Inch Nails, Co-Op Live, Manchester
A great way of experiencing the first Co-Op Live gig for me with one of my good friends, and possibly a final NIN tour, so wanted to make sure we got the most of that. The sound engineer was spot on and knew his stuff, so that meant a gorgeous sound throughout as plenty of fan favourites as well as classics were played amongst the set list. This included That's What I Get for the first time since 1991, the live debut of A Minute To Breathe and a run through of the likes of Wish, March of the Pigs and Reptile back to back. Having two distinct stages and doing the sets in between was a nice move, and we had prime position for both. So many great tracks that were on my wish list got played, and it was a memorable performance from a live act at the top of their game.

Other Concerts I Enjoyed:
Gary Numan, Brighton Centre, Brighton - Although mostly playing all of the Telekon album and its associated tracks and B-sides, it had to also be put into context with the loss of Gary's brother a week before and how that will to carry on for his honour felt a rather emotional evening all round. The sense of reflective mood Telekon has meant that tracks like Remember I Was Vapour and especially Please Push No More had even more added feeling. It was of course great to hear such good renditions of I Die You Die and We Are Glass as part of the set too, and I felt that emotion throughout.
Penfriend, The Grace, London - As it was Penfriend's first tour as Penfriend (and the first time Laura had toured in ages) it was already feeling special just to be there. And on the night it just was a beauiful evening, with Carol Hodge on accompaniment as well as her own set first, and bringing to life some new classics such as Seasons and Emotional Tourist, but also delving into the She Makes War back catalogue for Scared to Capsize and Delete too. A really enjoyable evening that showed maybe that being more special and intimate in a small venue can really work wonders.
Toyah, Union Chapel, London - A real surprise but such an enjoyable one too. Having Rachael Sage on as support was lovely (do check her out) but Toyah was on tip top form, performing a wide range of fan favourites and indeed classics from her back catalogue, and with proper sound engineering giving her and the band suitable gusto. Thunder in the Mountains was particularly superb, as was I Want To Be Free, but perhaps the likes of Rebel Run, Danced, Neon Run and We Are gave it all good balance to please everyone. Excellent!
Kristin Hersh, Signature Brew, London - Having a small intimate gig under a railway arch with the promise of good beer sounded a great combination. Kristin had had to cancel a few dates before this, so was pleased it went ahead, and she delviered a great cross section of songs from her impressive back catalogue, so Throwing Muses songs such as Sunray Venus and City of the Dead had an airing, but also a superb version of Your Ghost as well as a beautiful Flooding and powerful Mississippi Kite too. Thoroughly enjoyable and intimate.

Best TV Programme of 2025 - The Celebrity Traitors
Although the standard Traitors series was its usual excellent self, I did have initial reservations about how a celebrity one would play out, particularly seeing how the reality-star based US one did. However, from the get go the intriguing mix of personalities and intelligence meant at times they were often out-thinking each other rather than seeing the obvious, which was a very different dynamic indeed. Some had it sussed and needed to be listened to more often, but the drama brought about by each round table and murder, all delivered with the soft and brutal words of Claudia Winkleman really did make it much more of a mystery. No spoilers if you have not as yet seen it, but certainly lots of unexpected surprises along the way and some really harsh challenges, including a now iconic farting moment along the way...

Best Sporting Moment of 2025 - England's Women Win The Euros, Back to Back
The Lionesses had a European championship to defend, and they were not for giving it up easily. Despite losing the opening game to France, they bounced back and trounced the Netherlands in a superb performance before thrashing Wales. The quarter final against Sweden was a taste of things to come with the never say die attitude, coming back from 2-0 down with two goals in the last ten minutes to win on penalties. Then the semi-final against Italy, where Michelle Aygemang scored at the death to force extra time and then Chloe Kelly scored at the death in extra time to win it. Spain were the World Champions and so became a final everyone expected, and tense. 1-1 after full time and extra time with England hanging on, yet they overcame the nerves to win on penalties. A superb performance all round and shows what you can do if you keep going and never ever give up - something we should all learn from.

Best male of 2025 - Lando Norris
In what had been a topsy turvy Formula 1 season, you needed to keep your wits about you and to be able to seize the moment. From what had not been the best start to a win in Monaco followed by some mid-season mishaps, the will and determination to keep going but also to stop and take the time to reflect and get better showed by some mature performances towards the back end of the season, and resisting (just about) the final challenges from Max Verstappen. It may not have been an ideal or perfect season per se, but Lando being so open and honest about things such as mental health and engaging with people over it perhaps may be an even greater win than his first title, encouraging people to be open and upfront rather than keep it all in and suffer in silence. A champion leads by example and he certainly has done that in spades this year.

Best female of 2025 - Kerstin Casparij
So there's a court judgement which changes effectively the way that transgender people are treated in this country. What do you do? Stand back and let things happen, or show solidarity? Manchester City and Netherlands football player Kerstin Casparij made her own powerful statement a few days later, wearing the colours of the transgender community on her wristband, and kissed it when she scored against Everton. Since then, she's become an even more active ally, promoting that love is love, and a patron of the Manchester-based LGBT Foundation charity, plus will help fundraising for safe spaces for all within the community. Actions speak louder than words and her leadership off the pitch is now matched by it on, being an important factor in Manchester City Women's current lead in the WSL (at the time of writing.) A player well-liked by everyone, and rightly so.

Personal Moments of 2025 - Health, Reflection and Reviews
In a year of change at work, due to the takeover late last year, still being in a job at present is something to celebrate. I've had to dive into different sections and try and take a hold on some of the migration tasks still needed to be done, being a more approachable face to some and ensuring that I am out there getting noticed, which is way beyond my comfort zone as I am a much better person being someone in the background getting the job done. However, my health has been suffering a little, and after the passing away of a friend this year, I decided to take it upon myself to be on top of some health concerns and look after myself a lot more, which has meant diet and exercise changes as well as the right medication.

Being able to get on top of that might mean I live longer, which is a big positive to take and one that meant I could enjoy lovely times away such as being in Donostia / San Sebastián with The Love In My Heart. I have also been keeping up my writing a lot with game reviews of Commodore 16 and Plus/4 and Commodore 64 games over at the Mastertronic Collectors' Archive, and the 200th game review was by me (also the 64th for the Commodore 64 too.) That has been entertaining to do and certainly has been a real boost for my confidence.