There is a lot out there in the world again. While I was putting this mix together, it felt like some of the adjacent songs were fighting with each other. I guess it makes sense: everyone is fighting with each other these days. But even songs that were right next to each other seemed to be at conflict with each other!
Oddly, the more I thought about it, the more the mix felt right. I have spent a lot of time over my life -- and, well, especially this year -- trying to hold two or more different thoughts in my head at once. I suspect I have gotten a little bit better at it (though I have to confess that is not saying a whole lot!). Maybe that's why I was okay with -- or had to be okay with, anyway -- all of the ways that these songs go together.
Some of these songs feel like they are offering questions. Some of them feel like they are offering answers. Sometimes the answers match the questions, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I agree with the answers, sometimes I don't. Sometimes the answers agree with the other answers, sometimes they don't.
I don't know who's right, if anyone even is any more right than anyone else. But that's the beauty of it -- you get to choose! Maybe none of them are right, or maybe one of them is right, or maybe they're all right. They are each for us to hold as much or as little of as we want.
Please find below the soundtrack to my 2025.
This mix was cut together and edited using Ableton Live. I used to say how long it took me to put all the pieces together, but the answer is basically "this is why I'm not a DJ in a club".
Last year, I experimentally wrote a script to generate a bunch of these files. I had to update Python dependencies this year, but I think it probably did end up saving me time after all. If you want it, here's the source: mixgen.py (driver to generate the things); info.py (descriptor for this year in particular); index.html.tpl; readme.tpl.
If you liked this mix, you might also enjoy:
