I can't say I'm much of a Nintendo fan, but one time in 2014 I was waiting, for some reason, for one of their Direct streams to start on Youtube, and they had some music playing on the stream before the event started. This song came up, and I was instantly charmed by the groovy bass and magical vocals. Some time later, I started learning to play the bass and this was one of the first songs I wanted to learn; it's quite simple, but incredibly catchy and fun to listen to and jam to.

That's where my contact with Deadmau5 ended until a year later, when I met the guy from London whom I dated for a little while. He was a big fan of the artist, and through his influence I went on to discover a few more tracks I enjoyed, totalling 6 tracks = 2 from 3 different albums, being one instrumental and one with vocals. It's a neat kind of symmetry!

Sadly, it's a well-known fact that this artist is a dick. This knowledge kind of spoils the music, but sometimes I still allow myself to vibe to it. I probably had Superliminal on the background for a while during my weed-fuelled website building frenzy!

A couple of weeks ago I talked about Megaherz, so now it's time to present the other group I discovered through those Hetalia videos. The song used was Exitus, which is still one of my faves due to its ambiance and exquisitely neocore lyrics; but it was Mitternacht, the first track in the album Finsternis and one of their most popular songs, that really got my attention.

E Nomine has a pretty unique concept, using dark-sounding trance music, Gregorian chants (in sometimes broken Latin) and German vocals by famous synchros to bring the occult, the supernatural and the unholy to life. Over the years since I first discovered them in 2010, I've had a few moments where I revisited the group's repertoire, each time finding more and more tracks to save to my library.

The last time I did, I ended up giving the whole album Finsternis a listen through from start to finish. Each track is preceded by an introduction, creating a more or less seamless, almost cinematic experience! Some songs are livelier while others are more somber, so there's something for everyone!

Even as a big admirer of all things Ireland, I somehow never heard this huge hit until a few years ago, when I was hanging out in a major city in FFXIV and heard a bard play a tune that really caught my ear; I sent them a PM asking what was the song they just played, and it was this one.

Although the circumstances of this discovery were light-hearted, the weight of the song was never lost on me. It laments the deaths of innocent people, especially children, as a result of attacks perpetrated by the paramilitaries during the Troubles; and the sadness and outrage at such tragedies are perfectly distilled into the poignant lyrics, the distorted instruments, and the stunning vocals by O'Riordan. From what I read on Wikipedia, I'm not sure I've ever encountered a song that was written "from the heart" as much as Zombie.

One of the most striking details about the song that always tugs at my heartstrings is the riff played before the verses, which resolves down to an unexpected, devastating B (shout out to 12tone on Youtube's brilliant analysis). That plus the pre-choruses never fail to make me cry.

Along with Les Cowboys Fringants, Les Colocs were among the first artists from Québec I heard, on a playlist of Québécois music that my partner's friend created for me for my birthday. Even though it wasn't of a genre I listened to, Tassez-vous de d'là stood out to me and made me curious to listen to the rest of the album.

Over time the more I listened to the album's last and title track, the more it grew on me. As I've said in the past, I've been really enjoying music with some sort of monotone vocal line or droning instruments that build up, and this song has all of that. Unlike their most popular track, which has depressing lyrics set to a relatively upbeat tone, this one is just depressing all around. The repeating guitar riff and bassline, the elegant clarinet and harmonica, and the mesmerising percussion provide a dark ambiance perfect for the lyrics' heavy subject.

It's honestly hard not to get chills, knowing the singer Dédé's fate. I knew when I discovered the group that he had taken his own life, but it wasn't until some time later that I learned how he did it, and that made this song go up several levels in the tragic scale.

While I am known for being a massive Rammstein fan to this day, I believe this song by Megaherz was the first song in German that I liked! I began writing a blog post about how I came to know Rammstein, but since that's still nowhere close to being done, I'll say it now that it was indirectly through fanvideos of characters from Hetalia: while looking up a couple of artists featured in some videos, I eventually arrived at my all-time favourite band.

Megaherz was one of those bands whose music served as background to a slideshow video of (uncredited) fanart of Prussia, a fan-favourite character from that problematic series. At a time when I was starting to get into heavier music, it was love at first listen: the first 15 seconds, with drowned-out intruments, prepare the stage for a super high-energy intro that instantly lets you know you're about to hear a banger. After a subdued verse and bridge where the vocals take the forefront, both singer and instruments come together in the chorus with full strength, completing what is one of my favourite ever sets of lyrics + arrangement.

In fact, I've always been such a fan of the lyrics in this song that I would often be singing them under my breath, and I seriously cannot understate how much this song (and others) helped me in my German learning journey!

I've said that I normally don't put music I've very recently discovered in here, but for the past week I've been pretty into Deftones, after hearing this song for the first time in one of my "2000's rock" playlists. The band's name was not unknown to me, but I somehow have gone my entire life without hearing a single song by them, not even their most popular one!

I was playing some Fallout 76 with Jim & Athena when it came up. Being a bit high, I was absolutely enthralled by everything about this song: the intro with that incredibly atmospheric sample; the singer's breathy and dreamlike vocals accompanied by the bass; the explosive chorus; the chilling third verse; the bridge and the outro and just every part of it all. Nothing is wasted in this song, it is simply perfect and I couldn't believe I'd never heard it before. For the rest of the evening I could only listen to this track over and over, absorbing every detail, every sound.

It made me want to seek out more of this band and discover their flavour of metal music. I haven't finished listening through all their albums yet, but I'm enjoying what I've heard so far, especially White Pony. It's always exciting to find a new artist to like and I haven't felt this curious about a band in a long time.

Much like Muse, RHCP is a band I've had increasing exposure to in recent years thanks to my partner. I still remember being 12 years old and hearing Californication for the first time at a cousin's house, having to quickly pull out my iPod Touch to look it up and save it for later. For a long time, it was the only song by the band I knew or cared about.

Then last year me and my partner were driving to the beach and Dani California came up on a playlist of "2000's rock anthems"; with its funky verse and explosive chorus, it became the second song by the band that I liked. And finally, on my last holiday trip to Canada, I discovered this song through my partner's father, who's a big RHCP fan and often plays their music in the car.

As a bassist I'm always drawn to music with prominent basslines, and this song is clearly defined by its bass. Even though I'm not big on slap, I think it has a really nice sound and groove in this track and I can never help air-playing along whenever I listen to it. The only bit that takes me out of the song is the bridge; I feel like a lot of RHCP songs lose me on the chorus or bridge, but undoubtedly Dark Necessities is my favourite of my 3 RHCP songs that I like.

Gojira were trending recently thanks to their jaw-dropping appearance at the Olympics opening ceremony (please release the full track!), which made me very happy as somewhat of a long-time minor fan. This song was the first of theirs that I heard, back in 2013 on a music discovery app that no longer exists, and I came to learn more of their discography in 2016, by influence of the same guy who introduced me to Mastodon, Baroness and some others. (Yes, I had a crush on him.)

On that year they released a brand new album in the midst of me discovering their music, so for a time I was pretty into Gojira — about as much as Mastodon, so you see I hold them in quite high regard despite not actively listening to nearly as many tracks. Fun fact, those two bands often tour together, as metal's monster giants! They played here last year, but I only found out... the day after the show. I really would have liked to see them!

I considered some other tracks for this section, but in the end I chose my first. Listening to it again fills me with nostalgia, reminding me of a time I unknowingly stumbled upon one of metal's finest bands as a kid, and a time when I was so eager to impress someone I liked that I learned it on the bass!

I'm somewhat of an Eurovision fan, watching it every few years and each time discovering one or two songs that I really enjoy. I know this year's event was contentious given the presence of a certain country (which I very much oppose) and at first I wasn't even going to watch it (in fact, I skipped the year said country hosted the contest), but eventually I decided I could follow it critically, if only to support the talented artists that gave it their all and spoke out against the country in question.

I was only half-listening to the show on the side as I played some games, looking forward to a few performances I had seen the previous days, but I was unexpectedly and completely blown away by Norway's Gåte. While a lot of ESC artists are newcomers trying to launch their careers, I knew that this band was an established group because I had already heard of them, a whole decade ago! Even though I only knew one song by them (from their very first album), this blast from the past made me instantly favour them and hope they would get a lot of points for bringing a powerful folk-rock song into the contest, with lyrics in their own language telling a thousand-year story, a vocalisation technique honouring their country's traditions, and just in general a very original sound not commonly found in most ESC entries of late. As an occasional fan of folk-metal, this song was made for me.

Of course, well... Norway's incredible entry went totally unappreciated by the jury and public, finishing in last place. But it's their loss: Gåte have a new fan and I'll certainly be coming back to them to check out more of their music.

SOAD always reminds me of the fun times back in 2016-2017 when I was doing Karate with the group from my Engineering school. One of the guys there, a fellow freshman, had a car and would most days give us a lift to our "dojo" (a kind of basement under the Chemistry complex's restaurant), and the short ride would often have System of a Down for a soundtrack, tons of their songs stored in a USB drive.

Of course, as a 2000's kid, I've been acquainted with the band since my childhood through Chop Suey!, undoubtedly their most popular track, but I somehow never made a conscious effort to get into them. All the other music by them that I like came to me either during this friend's car rides or by serendipity. At one point, however, I realised I had enough tracks saved on my Spotify (historically for one-off songs I enjoyed by artists) that they gained the rare "upgrade" to a spot in my iTunes Library! It was then that I decided that, after all, I might like SOAD quite a bit.

I thought of a couple other tracks I wanted to feature in here, but ultimately I picked the one that most people are familiar with, and the one that started it all. It's funny how I keep accidentally stumbling into these guys from time to time and finding more music I like!

I can't believe I haven't yet featured Bastille in here, but maybe it's because I talked briefly about them on a blog post about my long-running playlist. So here they are finally! I discovered Bastille a decade ago, when I was in high school and my music taste was thus far basically just metal and metalcore. Though I had probably heard Pompeii at some point, it was their new single bad news that got me hooked, and me and my best friend were positively obsessed with the band.

I consider All This Bad Blood, the extended edition of their first album, a masterpiece. While the base album is already really good, the extra tracks contain some brilliant lesser-known gems, and this song is one of them, a track that is rarely talked about and performed live. Fun fact, I saw them at Lollapalooza 2015, and it was my first music festival!

Back then, Bastille's music was a lot more indie and had, in my opinion, more soul than their more recent releases. Their lyrics were filled with references and poetic allusions, and the instrumental + vocals weren't as overproduced and catered to mainstream radio play. I've been listening to their old stuff from nostalgia and their status as one of my big fave bands at the time was completely justified.

Muse is another one of those bands that's always been present in my life, ever since I discovered them through, you guessed it, the first Twilight film. Over the years I would occasionally discover a few more tracks by them, but I never succeeded in becoming a Muse fan as I tried at one point in my teenage years.

My partner, on the other hand, would probably consider himself a big fan of the band and has made me listen to a lot of their music, and it's kind of 50/50 whether I like it or not. But this song was a pleasant surprise: I heard it the first time while we were driving back from our first trip to Québec City on a rainy afternoon. It's written and sung by the band's bassist (a welcome departure from Matt's vocals that, while generally great, can be sometimes overbearing), and the repetitive, monotone vocals and bassline are another example of this newfound appreciation of mine.

Even though it is a way more recent find than most of the Muse music in my library, it very quickly became one of my favourites. I still don't find all of their music that appealing to me, but I'm glad I found this charming little outlier.

Admitting that I was once a fan of TOP feels weird considering they're so big now. At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I discovered them in 2015, through a friend in high school who asked one day if anyone wanted to go with him to a show by this band. I hadn't heard of them so I listened through their "first" album Vessel (their first 2 were self-released and not as well-known) and found I quite enjoyed it. (In the end I didn't go to the show.)

I found TOP around the time they were promoting their upcoming album, Blurryface. When the album released I promptly bought it on digital, and I was so enamoured with them and the album that I actually also ordered on eBay a signed deluxe copy! The packaging is very nice.

I believe they were still pretty indie at that time, but they really blew up with the track Stressed Out, which I went on to dislike lol. I didn't keep up with them after Blurryface, but I can say I liked them before they were cool!

Believe it or not, the channel MTV was still a thing when I was younger and I remember it showed music videos with some frequency, because every so often they would do an "artist marathon" and only play music videos from a specific artist for a number of hours. That's how I got to know Eminem and Green Day, although only a few songs from both of those stuck with me.

One of them is Boulevard, one of this band's most iconic songs and deservedly so. From catchy lyrics to an instrumental progression with surprisingly (for the genre?) deep twists that enhance the song's meaning, all carried by a memorable, instantly recognisable tremolo effect on the guitar. Wikipedia has a whole paragraph on the song's chord progressions, and there's also the interesting analysis by 12Tone on Youtube, speaking to the track's brilliant composition, especially the outro.

Considering other 2000's songs I've featured here that kind of have a similar sound, I'm beginning to think I quite like this type of emo music.

As this website hits 3 months since its inception, I thought I'd finally feature the song that served as my constant soundtrack throughout the whole time I spent setting it up! I say "finally" because I was refraining from featuring music that I'd just discovered, preferring significant tracks with a longer history, but this song's impact is far from lessened by its recency.

I started this website the week before a week-long holiday/school break meaning I spent a fortnight in a weed-fuelled trance, working on my new hobby for hours every day. Having watched the first Twilight movie some time before and rejoiced in its cringe nostalgia, a few days into my frenzy I put on New Moon to watch on the side as I worked, and a certain scene really caught my attention: the scene where the werewolves are chasing Victoria. It's a mesmerising piece of cinema in an otherwise questionable movie, and this song is a major reason why.

While chase scenes usually have exciting soundtracks to raise the adrenaline, this one has a droning bass, a dizzying drumbeat and a monotone vocal line (all of which have a uniquely appealing sound to me); you can even excuse the wacky acrobatics thanks to the fascinating cinematography and of course the music.

During my two or so weeks setting up this website, this song quickly cemented itself as my ultimate stoner song.

Considering I first heard this song (this version) at maybe 11 years old and that it's always stuck around in my library, it's a mystery how I never got into Tool or the superband A Perfect Circle (although I do know a few other of their songs).

The year was 2010, there was going to be a new Resident Evil movie and this song was in the trailer. I saw it for some reason despite not being interested in the series, and my young edgy mind that was already developing a liking for alternative rock/metal very quickly latched onto the soundtrack and claimed it as one of my favourite songs. I prefer this "Apocalypse Mix" much more than the original!

In contrast, around the same time I discovered another remix of an APC song: Counting Bodies Like Sheep (...). It is a pretty edgy song as well, but I prefer the original version of that one, Pet.

I have a long and complex history with Kingdom Hearts: while I only fully got into this series in 2018, it has been present in my life in some way or another since my childhood. I couldn't find the opening version of Passion, the Japanese theme song of KH2, on Spotify, so I settled for the single version. Although the site does have the opening of Sanctuary (the English-language theme), it is the Japanese one that's accompanied me for around 15 years now.

I didn't know Hikari/Simple and Clean back then, so this song has always had my preference and I definitely find it the best opening song in KH. Everything about it is so perfect, I get so lost in its ethereal-sounding verses and the choruses with a hypnotising drumbeat and bassline. I really prefer its more somber tone to Hikari's bubbly-sweet sound; and the fact that I discovered it so young and have loved it since then makes perfect sense considering the music taste I went on to develop.

I haven't been into KH for a while and I lost some of the people that made that hyperfixation possible, but I consider it an interest that is simply lying dormant until the next big thing comes out. It completely took over my life for a good period and I had such a genuine love for its characters, the world, and of course the music that gave it all so much life!

I know I was very late to the DmC5 train, but upon hearing Bury the Light for the first time during some guy's stream on Twitch, back in 2021, I went from never having cared about the franchise to playing it and adopting it as a new obsession in the span of like 2 days. It's no wonder the song is considered a gateway drug into the series.

Many things about DmC5 and specifically Vergil appealed to me greatly, so I played through the game (even while not being super good at it) and sought out as much info about this iconic character as I could. In lieu of playing the older games I watched the cutscenes of the 3rd and 4th games; I also read the manga centering on V (or the chapters that were available so far), another character that was very neocore, and watched several youtube videos about the series and the characters.

Bury the Light is an amazing song not just as a dynamic soundtrack to the game, but also in its own merit as something of a prog metal track. The composer has a whole video on its production and it's a really interesting view into all the little layers and details that make it a fuckin' banger of a song, as well as how the lyrics relate to Vergil, universally considered one of the coolest characters in videogames!

I've never been a big fan of Brazilian music even though, growing up, the classic artists were a more or less constant presence. Out of the songs I do like, old or new, this oldie has been one of my favourites ever since my childhood.

The lyrics are inspired by sacred texts in hinduism, and this mystical influence is very apparent in the song's composition, with the minor key, prominent bassline, bells, background vocals and strings all giving it a kind of spiritual atmosphere that always makes me emotional.

I never really vibed with most of this guy's music, yet something about Gita has fascinated me since the first time I heard it, reaching deep inside my soul and stirring a lot of emotions.

I've talked about the time in my life I was big into metalcore, but I left out a band that I at one point considered the best out of my list of favourite groups. That is because, like a few other bands I loved, BMTH have steadily drifted away from my musical interests, not to mention a few controversies surrounding Oli.

But 2013 was such a fun year! I had just discovered this band and they had a new album on the way, which I quickly pre-ordered the deluxe edition of via a website called PledgeMusic. I remember having some trouble with payment and delayed shipment, but I eventually received the album and it is stil one of my favourite items in my collection!

Although I've sort of grown out of their old stuff, and haven't really enjoyed their newer releases, Sempiternal still has several solid tracks and I remember its release very fondly.

Another classic from my childhood, this song evokes a sense of nostalgia like few others. There is something about the instruments and the vocals that is laced with the most 2000's sounding drug.

It has come and gone from my usual listens over the years, but every time I revisit it, I grow fonder of it. The iconic guitar intro, the guitar tone, the drumming pattern, the vocals and backing vocals (in the last chorus... so good), it all just comes together so perfectly (pun intended). The lyrics also hit home and hard; although they don't 100% match my life experiences, I also have struggled with a rough relationship with my father for a long time, so if I think too hard about them I get a little emo.

Did you know Simple Plan are Québécois? I never really listened to their music apart from this and a couple other tracks, but it's nice knowing a band from QC were part of my childhood all along.

I came to know this relatively obscure group through a guy I liked, and although "Fuck U" is a great song, when I checked out a bit more of their discography and stumbled upon Controlling Crowds, the title track simply blew me away.

A 10-minute trip-hop epic (a genre I was not at all familiar with), I like to think of this song as a game with several levels that each build on the previous: an intro with a meandering synth line and repeating low note, then a drumbeat, then a new synth track; after a pause, the main riff begins and soon the vocals enter, going from a hypnotic monotone spoken-word section to an ethereal bridge and finally a soft singing voice accompanied only by an acoustic guitar wraps up the first half of the song. The next level begins much like the previous, but then a (real) bass kicks in with what is one of my favourite basslines ever, giving the track so much weight, momentum and energy. I could listen forever to the repeated line "killing my heart, I can't face, I can't face no more". The acoustic guitar returns to finish this section too, and the last part continues with a new drumtrack and the monotone vocals being drowned in background noise, until it all abruptly ends with a ringing sound, leading into the album's second track.

Honestly, there is too much to love about this song in my opinion. It is also an excellent music to vibe to while high!

As is well-known, Rammstein are my favourite band of all time, but back when I cared to keep a list of my "top 5" or so bands, another German group shared the ranks: Oomph!. Considered the pioneers of the NDH genre yet always reinventing their sound with each new release, it was the perfect side dish to the main course that was Rammstein.

This song out of their 2015 release represents everything I loved about the band: powerful vocals, a strong arrangement, interesting lyrics that tell a story. I was at the time especially entranced by the bassline that features in full force during the verses, accompanied by a little piano interlude and a melodic synth during the chorus that have an equally memorable presence. This is truly one of their best tracks in my opinion. I had it playing on loop when I first discovered it.

They released one more album after this one with their original singer. While I used to regard him highly, he unfortunately ended up descending into a rabbit hole of alt-right politics, religion, conspiracies and bigotry. Ironic and sad, given the themes of much of the band's work. He was removed from the band and replaced; they have already released a new album and found their footing again. Dero, on the other hand, has hopefully fallen into obscurity, a disgusting person.

Around the same time I discovered that song from A7X that I featured previously, I also found one of BFMV's most popular tracks, "Your Betrayal". It was the only one I knew from them, but it was enough to let me bond with the girl from the school trip in 2012 (she was from a different school in another city which was having their own middle-school "graduation" trip at the same resort).

We talked about Rammstein, Oomph! and other things, and in turn she gave me a handwritten list of BFMV songs to check out. BFMV was to her what Rammstein was to me. I returned to my cottage and listened to all of them and more. At the time I was already starting to get into more metal bands, so the new recommendations suited me perfectly. Upon coming back home from the trip, I bought all of their albums and eventually pre-ordered their upcoming release. This track from Fever always stood out to me, even though it was always one of the more underappreciated ones.

I really wanted to meet the girl again, but no opportunity came. We kept in touch, lost contact, found each other again, and now it's been several years since we last talked. Life goes on. It's been, gasp, 12 years since that fateful meeting, but in the span of only a few days she left a permanent mark in my history.

It would be hard to find anyone my age who didn't grow up on Linkin Park. Even if I never properly got into them, as in taking the time to listen to the full albums and watch live performances and such, my childhood was marked by their most well-known tracks and over the years every so often I'd discover a couple more tracks I enjoyed.

It's safe to say this band has one of the most recognisable sounds of the 2000's, they were everywhere, from mainstream music TV channels to early youtube Dragon Ball Z AMV's! I can recall how I originally came about some of their tracks, but In the End and Numb, I have no idea. It feels like they've always just been there in my life, a constant presence in my music libraries for nearly 20 years! I was devastated when Chester died...

I think LP is a band whose songs are greater than the sum of their parts; simple but effective instrumental components elevated by the exceptional vocals of Mike and Chester in perfect synergy, creating a timeless sound that has captivated generations.

I discovered Baroness around the same time as Mastodon and through the same influence. It was a time when metal was making a comeback in my music taste although in more, let's say, sophisticated genres than what I had previously been into, namely progressive and sludge. As it happens, this band didn't end up becoming as much of a mainstay as a whole, but this song in particular very quickly earned a place among my favourites.

This is, to me, a perfect song: both technically, with a crisp mixing that lets clean guitars shine and rich bassline rumble, and artistically, with the singer's soulful voice going from a mellow lullaby to a powerful roar as the instruments come out more intensely, the lyrics some of the most poetic, poignant I've heard in metal. "Oh, this apple makes me sick/Cries the pig upon his stick/It's my own blood" has to be my favourite!

I wouldn't consider myself a fan of Eminem since I only know a small fraction of his vast discography, but among the music that I do know is the iconic Lose Yourself, which was my introduction to this artist, to rap in general, and remains one of my favourite songs to this day.

The rock instrumentation in a minor key and medium tempo complement Em's expert vocal delivery excellently, giving this song an unmistakable adrenaline-filled sound. Although fans would probably claim it is overrated or overplayed, with me being someone who doesn't usually listen to or enjoy hip hop, its almost rock vibe makes it very appealing to me. Love him or hate him, it's at least undeniable that this is one of his most memorable tracks.

I did watch 8 Mile too, where this song appears in snippets throughout the film; I found it enjoyable, a glimpse into a universe I was not at all familiar with.

In my early teenage years, I put several points into my "edgy" skill tree after meeting someone on tumblr in 2011 who would greatly shape me for the following few years. Through their influence I got into the sort of gory, macabre aesthetic cultivated by edgy kids on that site, illustrated by black and white gifs of horror films and music with lyrics speaking of violence and evil.

This song was at the genesis of this phase in my life. At that time I even had a playlist of music associated with that tumblr friend and this was one of its pillars. When a year later, during a school trip at the end of 2012, I met a girl who also shared an interest in the macabre aesthetic and in heavy metal, the song was one of the things we bonded over and allowed us to become, for that brief period, like soulmates. (We bonded over other bands too, and I returned from that trip with a bigger appreciation for my own preferred groups and a promise to get into metalcore.)

I'm not actually a fan of A7X's music, but this track will always be a little special for that association with a defining moment in my life.

A few weeks ago I featured a song I had associated with the movie Twilight, so now I bring its twin, a track that was actually in the film! I've loved this song since the first time I heard it as a kid, and I still consider it one of my all-time favourites.

There's many reasons to dislike and criticise those movies, of course, but the soundtrack at least was a banger. Decode, made specifically for the film, is simply a timeless masterpiece: I find it so well-produced, the singer's vocals have such a strong presence (I just learned how young she was when this was released) and the uneven drumming pattern combined with a delay-tinted guitar make the whole track so perfectly moody.

In recent times I've embraced my sense of edge and emo, so this song along with The Kill, which I mentioned earlier, had a resurgence in my usual listens.

Back in early 2020 I got to know a bunch of Japanese music through fanartists I followed on twitter. It was interesting to see how much of their own music they listened to, a whole microcosmos in itself. Of all tracks I discovered, this one stuck with me the most; well that is a bit of an understatement, as I became in fact completely obsessed with it, listening to it exclusively on loop for several days.

As a (not very experienced) bassist, the bassline in particular really had me in a chokehold. I wasn't just listening to the song over and over, I also had it at very high volumes so I could try and decipher the instrumental. I even ran it through some filters on Logic Pro to make the bass jump out as much as possible. Ultimately, I brought it to my music teacher and we had a fun time figuring out the addictive bassline.

That was a time when I was putting my Japanese into practice a lot, so I tried my best to translate the lyrics, to no success unfortunately. That became a recurring issue: being able to sort of understand the text in Japanese, but drawing a total blank when translating it. Its meaning may thus remain a mystery, but it's grooviness is undeniable!

Everyone who has known me for any length of time will know that Rammstein is my absolute favourite band. Before the special Rammstein article I'm writing goes up, I wanted to share at least one of their songs. I had a good think about which song that would be, and ultimately decided on Wilder Wein. I never counted it amongst my favourites, but now the more I listen to it, the more fascinating it becomes.

This song always had an air of mystery to it; it was never released on a studio album, being a demo that was famously performed on their legendary 1998 Live aus Berlin concert — according to a fansite, its last live performance. Even among their softer songs this version has a unique sound and texture, thanks to the acoustic guitars that fill the latter half, lifting the solemn tone established in the beginning, and the synthesised violin carefully sprinkled about that tugs at the heartstrings.

The lyrics are a tad more poetic than their usual stuff, but apparently they're about sex. Typical for Rammstein, haha!

It's not rare in my musical tastes that a band goes into hibernation for a while only to resurface with renewed strength later, and the Japanese giants are this times, like, five. I've listened to their music on and off for over a decade, but late 2016 was when I got really into them, diving into full albums when previously I'd only heard some loose tracks.

I was a freshman in Engineering and had got into the habit of chilling/napping on a sofa at the student lounge before my afternoon class. According to my twitter, it was on one of those days that I randomly put on the full Dum Spiro Spero album, which led me to discover a lot of great tracks from that and other albums. This song is the first in the album (after the intro) and it immediately got me hooked, making DEG my main soundtrack for several months.

I respect all their work, but I'm a bigger fan of the heavier releases. Fun fact: the bassist, Toshiya, is one of my biggest musician inspirations; I've even cosplayed as him!

Last year, on my 2nd visit to Québec, I saw Les Cowboys Fringants in concert. My partner's mom offered to get us tickets for the show that would happen later that same day, as an early birthday gift for me. Even though at that point I didn't know a lot of their songs, I thought it was a unique opportunity to see a beloved band from my new favourite place live, so we went.

This song immediately stood out to me when they played; I hadn't heard it before, but after the concert I had it on loop. This is the studio version, but the live rendition was something else: a way more somber tone befitting the song's bleak message, with more assertive vocals and a stunning instrumental outro that absolutely shook me to the core. You can watch it here!

I went on to discover more music by the band. Most of the tracks I took a liking to were depressing, cynical, or bittersweet. But they captivated me with messages of environmentalism, anti-capitalism, sovereignity, justice and hope — themes that, from what I've seen, are very dear to Québécois people.

The singer Karl died of cancer late last year. Now, I cannot listen to their music without collapsing into tears.

My history with Enter Shikari has ups and downs; not all of their releases have appealed to me, but when I gave their 2020 album a listen through, this track left an impression so strong I almost couldn't finish the album. Stoned as hell on a middle-of-pandemic evening, I got addicted to this song. I showed it to my bass teacher, who often based his lessons on my own music suggestions, and he was also very intrigued by it, bringing it up on more than a few meetings.

Accompanying some chilling sarcastic lyrics about current society is a frankly bonkers arrangement of orchestra instruments in a progression that seems almost tongue-in-cheek at the beginning, but quickly descends into chaotic, loud madness. The layers of vocals chanting "nothing is true/and everything is possible" amid dizzying drum fills are like my own personal drug I can never get enough of.

A couple of years later I read the book that Rou wrote as a company piece to the album. It is an eye-opening read about modern society, our struggles and our future.

Out of all songs I'll bring to this section, this may be one of the tracks that has stuck with me the longest; it was about 15 years ago that I first heard it, on the little TV in a coach bus bringing us schoolkids back from a day at a far-away amusement park. Said TV had a few movies and clips playing on loop, among which were the videoclip of this song and the first Twilight movie — a reason why both of these things remain so nostalgic to me.

As a kid who only ever listened to loose songs without thinking of who made them, discovering this song and then a couple of others by 30STM pushed me to classify them as my "first fave band" (despite only knowing like 3 tracks haha). I wouldn't agree with that assessment now, but this song remains really special.

This song encapsulates the delightful edginess that I've come to fully embrace about myself. The music video, Shining-inspired and with some delicious homoerotic selfcest between two Jareds in wonderfully 2000's emo makeup, definitely changed my brain chemistry forever.

Remember 8tracks? Basically any fandom you could think of had at least a few fanmade playlists of songs that related to a specific character or ship. I discovered a lot of great music on that website; including this one, on a playlist dedicated to Ichimatsu, the introverted cat-loving twin in Osomatsu-san.

I was obsessed with that show at the beginning of 2016, and when a traumatic event happened in my life, the anime seemed like it was the only thing able to give me some genuine laughs and a distraction from the sorrow I felt. This song, which had quickly become a soundtrack to my days, likewise became something of an emotional support. Regardless of that attachment though, it's just a great song (and has a very cool acoustic live version which only grew on me with time).

As a fun fact, it contains a single chords entry on Ultimate-Guitar, which I submitted! I thought the bass synth was especially captivating, perfectly accompanying the vocals.

Some songs are permanently attached to a memory, and Sans Soleil always reminds me of the period between Dec 2022-Feb 2023. I first heard it when my mum was driving me to some place I needed to go for renewing documents, and this song played in the radio. The next day, she left for her Switzerland trip, while my Québec trip was a few days later. Since I was going to be away for about a month, I was overcome with emotion and basically cried the entire day, already missing her.

Over the course of my trip, the song took on an additional meaning, relating to my relationship with my boyfriend. We had been dating (long distance) for a year and it was the 3rd time we were physically together. 2022 was a rough year for me, with many moments of self-doubt, but he was there to support me through it all. "You loved me when I couldn't love myself".

To me, this song symbolises the strengthening of my relation both with my mum and my partner, so it always makes me emotional.

Mastodon have been among my fave bands since 2016. Hushed and Grim grew on me gradually but when I finally gave it a dedicated listen (of course, intoxicated) it quickly became one of my favourite releases by them. Other tracks caught my attention before this one, yet the more I listened to it, the more it overshadowed the rest.

I am a sucker for low, droning riffs set to a strong beat, and this song's first half with its chugs and licks sets an irresistible banging pace. Now when a song changes direction abruptly, I usually lose interest in the rest of it, but not with this one. After the moody interlude, the outro brings a captivating riff punctuated by cymbals, and soaring vocals repeating a soulful mantra that I can never help but sing along to.

Also, it is imo a perfect character song for the Warrior of Light in FF14. In my head I can picture an entire videoclip of their journey set to this track.

2019 was a turning point in my life, and it had a banger of a start: the day before my trip to Buenos Aires, I discovered the album Altered State after hearing Nocturne on a playlist. But it was Resist, the finale of the first track, that caught my attention as I sat in a taxi on the way to the airport. I'm pretty sure I teared up as I soaked it in.

It became the soundtrack of that trip and then of many other memories. It's a shame the singer only recorded this album with the band, as the combo of clean, melodic vocals with a heavy djent instrumentation really appealed to me. Despite being short and not as technically complex as other tracks in the album, it is the one I keep coming back to, in particular the cathartic chorus after 1:40.

The line "Spend the rest of my life wishing I'm enough" always hits home. The more time that passes, the more I realise all the opportunities I missed, the decisions I took that led nowhere, the people I lost touch with, the expectations I disappointed. No other lyric summarises better the feelings of regret that have come to permeate my spirit.

The first time I heard this song was like early 2021; I was playing FFXIV and waiting for the start of a new session of the ill-fated "Drunker Bunker", an event where 24 people played through a "raid" while smashed. I pressed play on a playlist of "songs to listen to while high", and this quickly came up.

I was immediately entranced by the synths and guitar, but when the drums and bass kicked in, setting a steady rhythm punctuated by claps, it was like the most mind-bending music I had ever heard. True to its title and lyrics, this song took me on a trip I still haven't got off of.

Listening to this song with a good pair of headphones and losing myself in the hypnotising rhythm makes for a psychedelic experience like few other songs I've heard. It is one of the rare songs that really enhances a trip when I'm stoned, and almost makes me feel high when I'm not.