the game is simple:

• shuffle your music player and post five songs that show up
• the next person picks one of those songs, gives it an earnest listen, gives it a short review in their post, then repeats step 1
• continue forever

i anticipate this lasting for all of four minutes, let's rock

my list:

• Aesop Rock - Vititus
• NF - Wake Up
• The Algorithm, Igorrr - deadlock
• Weekend Money - Hol' Up
• Vildhjarta - kaos2

I love me some new music & analyzing songs.

1. Don't get me wrong. I usually like Aesop Rock. But this track doesn't have a strong enough beat to back him up. (I'd rather listen to anything from his prior two albums.) It just doesn't stick with me lyrically either. 4.5/10

2. This one's probably one of my favorite tracks from NF's first album. He just does emotional gut punches well. (My pointless nitpick is that he enunciates "Wake Up" like Wake Kahhhup & it always sounded a little funny to me.) 7/10 (Only because he's improved with time.)

3. I enjoy this album a lot. But this one feels like an interlude track. Listening to this one on its own would be a bad choice. For either of their discographies. 3.5/10

4. It started as a 'fun enough' listen. But the beat turns into a dying phone and it feels 'experimental' in an obnoxious way. So I ended up not liking it by the end. 3/10

5. My bias towards metal might be showing. But 7.5/10 Solid track. Good atmosphere. No complaints. (Maybe aside from not understanding the lyrics/lacking a hook that makes me want to sing/scream it anyway.)

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Here's a few from mine. Because Spotify sounds better than Youtube. (Feel free to be mean to Taylor Swift.)

1. Quiet Little Voices - We Were Promised Jetpacks
2. Skeletons - Brothers Osborne
3. Come What May - Imminence
4. The Ballad of Love and Hate - The Avett Brothers
5. Exile - Taylor Swift, Bon Iver

Alright, I chose 'Quiet Little Voices' by We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Overall, I think I get the emotion of the song. The lyrical content felt a little bare, and there wasn't enough to the instrumentation that really scratched the weird itch I get in my brain, but if this song were to come on while I was playing Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, I wouldn't skip it.

Score: 6/10.

My next five songs:

• Plini - Sunhead
• ten56. - Pig
• Twelve Foot Ninja - One Hand Killing
• Poh Hock - I Don't
• Weston Super Maim - Bad Infinitum

For the track I listened to first...

Review of "Pig - ten56" (6/10) Ah. Immature angry metalcore. Stuff that I would've listened to on repeat as a teenager. My junk food of choice. I can't exactly say the "rapped" lyrics aren't corny. I'd only argue I'd wish it stuck to one topic/line like (the band) Dope. Would've made a better hook/chorus. Also, goddamn. This song sounds like it's about his sister and that he wishes she'd get aborted? Talk about a sibling rivalry. But it has a solid production and vocalist. So it has what it needs.

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Five songs & their genre too. (Something that might persuade someone to click one over another.)

1. Howl - The Family Crest (Indie Rock)
2. Recovery - Frank Turner (Folk)
3. Ambiramus - Eluveitie (Folk Metal)
4. Summon The Fire - The Comet Is Coming (Electronica/Jazz)
5. Searching for Tomorrow - Coheed and Cambria (Prog Rock)

I chose 'Summon the Fire' by The Comet is Coming. There is a solid base throughout the song, but there's not much going on beyond that. I was hoping for some wild experimentation considering the jazz undertones, but nothing really came through. It's somewhat of a vibe.

Score: 6/10

Next five:

• clipping. - Air 'Em Out
• Nils Frahm - Brainwash
• Jakub Zytecki - Necluda
• Unprocessed - Berlin (English Version)
• ATMOSPHRS - Time II

I waited for a bit. But I have a sneaking suspicion this might just be a back-and-forth between us. Not that I mind. Anything to get me to listen to new music.

So here's a review for Berlin (English ver.) - Unprocessed. This song was interesting. There's some things that work for me, and a few more things that don't. But I won't deny the lyrical effort (has decent lines) & that the chorus works for me. (Gets in your head well enough.) The acoustic part at the last third is the instrumental section that I enjoy. The chorus instrumental sounds a lot like Innerpartysystem & the "club hardcore" bits w. "Berlin" are less successful bits of experimentation. So the song as a whole feels a little disjointed? (If that makes sense.) 5/10

And out of curiosity, I listened to their most popular track on Spotify too. It had the acoustic instrumentation throughout/more coherent sound. But the song sounds like it might be fitting for a YA movie soundtrack. (And looking into things even further, I also liked one of their older songs Abandoned on Youtube. So the band has certainly made better. In my opinion, anyway.)

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Here's more songs & genres.

1. The River, The Woods - Astronautlis (Alt-Rap)
2. Grapes - James Marriott (Indie Rock)
3. Red Hands - The Dear Hunter (Prog Rock)
4. One Last Drink - Enter The Haggis (Celtic Rock)
5. Flight Of The Crows - Jhariah (Emo-Pop/Experimental)

If it's just a trade, it is what it is. Others will participate, eventually.

Though I listened to all of them and already knew of The Dear Hunter, I decided to review "One Last Drink" by Enter the Haggis.

It is, at its core, a purely jovial song. Though the theme is centered around death, it's more so about celebrating the lives of those who once lived, rather than mourning the loss of them. It also seems to announce that the subject of the song is going to live their life to the fullest, which is a nice proclamation to live by. The song itself is very upbeat and lends itself even more to the central theme, plus it's Celtic, so it's just kinda fun by default.

Score: 7.5/10

Next five songs:

• Limp Bizkit - Dad Vibes
• Their Dogs Were Astronauts - Panopticon
• Sungazer, Josh de la Victoria - Perihelion
• Voyager, Katomo - Dreamer (Katomo Remix)
• clipping. - Blood of the Fang

I might’ve listened to/reviewed this many days ago.

Review of Perihelion - “Sungazer, Josh de la Victoria”: 7/10 I’m not the biggest “vibe” music guy. So I couldn’t tell you what makes a good or bad one of those songs. But I think this track works well enough. (I’m giving it a +1 for style.) Sort of reminds me of a Pogo track. (Plus math rock.)

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I realized that finding new music is hard. Especially as Spotify only gets worse with its discovery tools. But here’s a few actual tracks from 2026. (Be in a mood for heavy.)

1. Suicide Note 1 - Dysmn (Vocaloid-Metal/Experimental)
2. Nightmare Tripping - Don Broco (Feat. Nickleback) (Alternative Rock)
3. Hive Mind - Knocked Loose (Feat. Denzel Curry) (Hardcore)
4. Dying To Forget - Poppy (Pop Metal)
5. Gasoline (All Rage Still Only Numb) - Story Of The Year (Pop Punk)

Gasoline is a nice heavy track. I could see it being used in an AMV or action sequence in a show/movie. It lacked a certain vague something that would make me obsessed with it, however, it would be nice as what I would call "radio ambience". IF I had a radio or playlist shuffled and this song came on, I'd probably bop along with it.

1. One in a Million - Technogasm
2. Playground - Unlike Pluto
3. When Your Heart Stops Beating - +44
4. affection - BETWEEN FRIENDS
5. My Own Hell - The Last Element

I listened to every track. (I've certainly liked a fair share of Unlike Pluto's songs.) But here's a review of 'Affection - BETWEEN FRIENDS'; It's a very low-key/vibe-y track. I'm usually fond of duel/multiple vocals. So I have a bias in this song's favor. But there's not a lot of instrumental flair, nor 'song-writerly' lyrical detail to get attached to. But I totally get the appeal after a few listens. (As I have several pop songs with similar vibes in my playlist. Reminds me a lot of "Boring People" by L Devine. Because it's another minimalist pop track that talks about being bored & has a girl laughing on the track.) I just find this song a little slow for my personal taste. 5/10

Here's five more songs from my Spotify playlist. Softer and slower this time.
1. Forget - Marina And The Diamonds (Pop)
2. The Invisible Parade - Scratch21 (Pop-Punk/Acoustic Cover)
3. Everytime You Run - Manafest Ft. Trevor McNevan (Christian Pop Rap)
4. Cascades - Denai Moore (R&B)
5. The Voice - Celtic Woman (Celtic Folk)

Scratch did a pretty good job on that Invisible Parade cover. Not as good a job as their Big Balls cover, mind you, but a good job none the less.

1. A French Lullaby - Baby Jerry
2. Look This Way, Baby - Hatsune Miku
3. Bold Sir Rylas - Ninebarrow
4. Back Home - The Cold That Lasts All Winter
5. Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 - Strauss

A French Lullaby opens with a common enough chord progression that I still love - D to Dmaj7 to D7 to G. I don't know a word of French (other than the j'etaime at the end, haha), but I love the calmth of it and how concise it is. Also, that trumpet melody in the fifth tune? A classic for a reason! If you know, you know.

1. Kenny Loggins - Love Will Follow
2. Santana - Deeper, Dig Deeper
3. Michael Buble - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
4. Spyro Gyra - Cachaca
5. Richard Elliot - Mystique

I chose number five: Cachaca and I love it! I feel... I feel... I fee-eel, like, a sexy Spanish NPC in a video game all about law, "Objection, por favor!"

I only listen to soundtracks, sorry! Oh my dog, I'm so boring.

Uno: Jed Kurzel - Rupert's Death
Dos: Camilo Sanabria - Mariposas
Tres: Bonobo - Black Sands
Quatro: The Newton Brothers - The Haunting of Bly Manor
Cinco: Lorne Balfe - Into The Abyss

Glad you liked it!

The Haunting of Bly Manor opening theme seems interesting - it's nothing groundbreaking, but it does modulate enough times to have motion and evolution. A lot of modern music, regardless of genre, tends to be repetitive.

1. George Benson - No One Emotion
2. Kip Winger - Everything You Need
3. Richard Marx - Ride With the Idol
4. Santana - Bella
5. Steely Dan - Throw Back the Little Ones