An embarrassment of riches. Whenever I think I’ve reached the edge of the pool musically, these lists humble me, shame me even. We are living in a time of abundance, which, in some ways, is more depressing when we speak of “where’s the good music” around these parts. It’s a death-of-monoculture/filter bubble/something issue we might all be suffering from, but the tunes are very much there. Thank you for reading and listening this year.I contributed some writing (Luomo’s Vocalcity) for Resident Advisor’s albums of the century list. They have done such a great job this year.Michael Cina sharing his faves of 2025:I shared some picks for Jacqui Devaney’s Dinner Music series: The prompt was: “What song hit you hard in 2025 (new or old)?”Some new names and faces below. See last week’s choosers/picks here.Picks (In No Order)Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick ( The Trend Report™) - Blawan - “SickElixir” or “Only Way I’m Seen” (strangely the same song with different names on DSPs)2025 was rough and, while alt-pop offered plenty of hope (Erika! FKA! Addison! Rosalía! Underscores! Oklou! Even Zara!!), no other music quite matched the constant feeling of eating shit while trying to maintain a bloody grin quite like Blawan. Fun but scary, mesmerizing and haunting, fascinating and fucked up, songs like “Only Way I’m Seen” offered a 2025 soundtrack that was needed more than wanted. Who wants pretty melodies to get through dark times? Not I! STUFF MY EARS WITH BROKEN NEON GLASS, DUDE!!!!Emilie Friedlander (The Culture Journalist) - Skrilla - “Words from Osun”Skrilla is the rapper from Kensington in Philadelphia who popularized the “6,7” meme that everybody was talking about this year. Maybe you knew that, but I feel like I have to say it, because my adopted home of Philly (mostly rightfully) has a chip on its shoulder about never getting credit for the stuff it pioneers. Anyway, while everybody was talking about “6,7” this year, I was listening on repeat to this Skrilla deep cut from 2024, w