1. The A Team - Ed Sheeran:

Oh ok what a start, this might be one of the first albums I saved to my library back in 2014.

I apologize but I am absolutely an Ed Sheeran defender to a certain point, I can't explain but discovering his music as a kid back when Jango radio was a thing (is it still? was a free Internet radio), changed everything for me. I'll try not to give ya'll an Ed Sheeran crash course but I have to say this isn't the original version of the song & how much he has had to change/censor has definitely done damage.

The original track was from an old very unknown album of his, No. 5 Collaborations Project (idk about the first four but I think 6 was a shitshow anyway I digress...). The song is called Little Lady & it was my "dance with the devil - immortal technique" I would pull out (and still do!) when people want to talk about tragic/horrifying songs. It features UK rapper Mikill Pane & major TW for drugs/SA/abuse here but it hits way too close to home for me.

I don't want to spoil the story/tell it for him but the song wasn't just about a lady he knew on heroin, it was about a very young teenage girl from government flats getting pimped out by her uncle. I won't say much more but I urge you to give it a listen, like I said it hits far too close to home as this happens in the government flats all the way here in the AU as well, people I have known and loved. Her story deserves to be heard. I can see why the labels that sanitized him to absolute hell wanted him to change the narrative when he talks about it now especially. I'll drop the original here.

2. Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac

Geez my first entry was quite intense, luckily I'm not going to lecture you all on one of the most iconic songs/albums of all time. I could never get sick of any of these classics, although I'm definitely in more of a "The Chain (live in Burbank, CA May '97)" mood right now, ha. But Rhiannon is just so calming out of the chaos that the band brought, paired with Dreams and I'm back on a skateboard sippin' on some cranberry juice. Also I share a birthday with Stevie Nicks, Miles Davis & Ms Lauryn Hill and I think that's very cool as they all are huge inspirations to me!!

3. Beautiful Disaster - 311

Oh fuck yeah, we get to finally investigate 311 on here?? This was my top song of '24! I genuinely found this band through an Eric Andre interview, being a huge fan of the comedian and it totally flew over my head that: 1. The original investigate 311 joke came from the iconic Tyler, The Creator interview, & 2. That 311 actually did appear on the show, getting tortured to shit by Eric while T Pain comes out to investigate "T/11" as an end of season special he teased in said interview.

I cannot stress how much I fell in love with this band, they're criminally underrated and unlike our previous entry, a very functional & friendly band. I hate to say "just straight up good vibes" because there's a lot more spiritual & meaningful takeaways this band has given me, but after seeing them live twice (a festival & a side show), I've never smiled and felt so incredibly happy at a show. This is their opener to every set they play, I can't believe I caught them here for their first tour here in like 20 years?? It's a very great cautionary tale & quite fun to hear how they helped pioneer the Nu Metal sound! Anyway, INVESTIGATE 311, for real, they're on another level.

4. We Were Doomed From The Start (The King Is Dead) - Fall Out Boy

Speaking of criminally underrated releases, we got the opener to Fall Out Boy's EP; PAX AM Days. I love love love this EP, it has had a huge influence on what I'd want to do with a band if I had one (and hey I sorta do...). The hooks on this album get stuck in my head randomly all the time, I just hate that it isn't longer or more appreciated!

5. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker - D'Angelo

Oh we are bringing out some legends tonight! I am still very much mourning the passing of our beloved neo soul king, and I'm sure most of us are. However music is what keeps going, and the creators behind it are immortalized forever.

Holy shit, damn, motherfucker, this song is one of his best IMO next to Devil's Pie. I love how his smooth as silk vocals over the classic jazzy instrumentals paint a very gruesome image of what cheating does to a MF, and I can't say I blame his intense anger in this situation, it takes two to tango & this is an extremely foul move on both parties! I know what that's like, ooh-wee...

This is a wonderful expression as I definitely cannot imagine D'Angelo doing anything he describes in this song. I love how much passion are filled in his vocal runs in particular, you could totally have people vibing to this in a group setting not realizing they're listening to the plot of a brutal murder.

Rest in paradise to a legend I will never ever forget 🥺🌹❤️🕊️

6. Waterway - optic core ft. sv1

I'll be honest & say I know nothing of either of these artists but I stumbled across this song somehow, now it's one of my most favourite "brain itchers" I've ever heard. It sounds nostalgic and futuristic to me, I think fans of early 00s/Y2K/fruitiger aero type aesthetics would adore this track. It also reminds me a lot of playing my Nintendo DS back in the day!

Every single sound effect sounds like pure magic to me, it's what I envision every time people post that damn symphony dolphin pic. Truly an adorable little electronic masterpiece to me :]

7. Get a New Daddy - The Whitest Kids U' Know

Hahahahaha now we are getting into the more fun territory of my music taste, this absolute banger is from one of my favorite sketch comedy groups & comedian Trevor Moore (another artist we have tragically lost, goddammit RIP 💔💔).

The subject matter of the song is pretty edgy, if you don't know of these guys think of this as an edgier but chiller sounding predecessor to The Lonely Island. The subject matter includes giving children a list of horrific things to do in order to get what the title says, a new daddy!!

I think the execution of these songs is just so fun and well done for dark comedy. Obviously they aren't being serious, but you could probably fool your grandma into listening to it for a good minute before she realizes what they're singing about, and definitely anyone you don't preface the song title or artist with.

Actually I have pitched this song to people and they still end up laughing at how wild the tale goes, if you love dark humour in music then you know what to do. I'm surprised that not more people know of these guys & Trevor, they were tiny bit ahead of their time but also a perfect time capsule? It's hard to explain but I think that most of their humour holds up pretty well considering what the 00s were like.

My other favourite of theirs is Old Folks Home, which has a low-key heartwarming message about getting doped up with old people and appreciating your loved ones while they're still around, hearing that from Trevor in particular makes that really special to me. Here's to good music & particularly humour in music, forever!

8. Ascension - Gorillaz ft. Vince Staples

Man I love Vince Staples, my heart goes out to him 100%, there's been a lot of talk of loss in this collection of rambles about my music taste but please protect my man at all costs. ❤️

This is from Humanz, the Gorillaz album I STILL can't quite form an opinion on, it's definitely not my favorite from Gorillaz but the features absolutely carry the entire album, and it was so nice to get to see their comeback after their music videos being some of my earliest memories of music played on TV.

Vince's verse is super fun & he just never misses when it comes to working with other artists. He understands the assignment & delivers passionately every damn time!

I have been writing this post for like, 2-3 hours now so I gotta chill a bit. Bare with me anyone who could possibly want to read all of what I have to say, but I've been proven very wrong in thinking my thoughts would flop into the void before so I won't be so harsh on myself here.

9. Slowing Down (Long Time Coming) - Anthony Green

Okay wow fuck you shuffle feature, you really wanna twist the knife in my chest right now :"))

For a long time I only listened to Anthony through the Circa Survive demos (don't know why, I just liked them so much more) & genuinely thought he was a very cool female vocalist that I could relate to heavily lyric wise. Turns out he is a very cool male vocalist that I can relate to heavily lyric wise, and we happen to naturally sing in the exact same keys/range!

This song came up for me at a time where I needed to hear it, think it was my daily mix of Swancore and friends™ type bands mix of the day & it describes the desecration of a relationship simply to the core. I was singing this around my ex to practice/perform for friends in pure denial, oh the irony!

But otherwise this is just a 10/10 little indie/emo breakup anthem that has helped mature me & heal from my own personal situation. It's still one of my favorite songs to belt at the top of my lungs, thank you Anthony Green!

Now let's do the last one & try to get to bed before it hits tomorrow, I started writing this at like 9:35ish & it's 11:30 now 💀 Don't ever ask me to talk about music I will NOT stop, unless you're into that? 😏😏

10. RUNNING IN THE 90'S - Max Coveri

Well thank the shuffle gods, we got the most fun & iconic eurobeat/dance song to end this crazy emotional rollercoaster journey with! Everyone knows this one, I think it plays such a key part in internet culture as a whole.

I live for eurodance & eurobeat in particular, I had a huge phase while I was wracking up my 1000+ hours on Mario Kart for the current Switch I have alone during a very dissociated time in my life. I do remember it being extremely fun though, I have held deeply onto my favorites and this is a song I can almost never skip. It's just pure energy, happiness and fun, I can see why it's impact has lastest this long.

I actually didn't know a damn thing about the artist, reading the spotify bio alone has me extremely curious, I need to research more artists from this genre for sure!!