I wanted to listen to more music in 2025. So obviously I created a kanban board with 1 card per music genre from Rate Your Musics list of Genres and figured I can listen to the nr 1 rated album in each category. Then I should be able to say I gave most types of music a fair chance while figuring out what I like and don’t like.
So the first thing I noticed is that there were a few more genres than I initially thought. A lot more. And I didn’t even go deeper than 2 sub-levels of genras.
534 genres. As a friend said “So if you do 3 a day, it’ll only take you 2/3 of a year”.
Seems resonable. And if I don’t do it, take a break or take longer - who cares. This is ment to help me along one of my 2025 themes, “experience more art and culture” which has been really underprioritized in my life up until this point.
The rating system Link to heading
Adopted from Pitchforks old rating system (found in sidebar on this archived site) to work with RYMs 5 star with half star system.
| Star Rating | Description |
|---|---|
| ★★★★★ | Essential, Spectacular |
| ★★★★½ | Amazing, maybe a few very tiny flaws. Exceptional; will likely rank among my top ten albums of the year, Very good |
| ★★★★ | Very good |
| ★★★½ | Above average; enjoyable |
| ★★★ | Not brilliant, but nice enough |
| ★★½ | Has its moments, but isn’t strong |
| ★★ | Mediocre; not good, but not awful, Just below average; bad outweighs good by just a little bit |
| ★½ | Definitely below average, but a few redeeming qualities |
| ★ | Heard worse, but still pretty bad; Awful; not a single pleasant track |
| ½ | Breaks new ground for terrible |
Genres listened to Link to heading
Alright, here we go. The first batch of genres I listened to.
Ambient Americana Link to heading
Made using traditional Americana and Country instrumentation, typically to evoke a pastoral atmosphere.
Nr1 album Dick Slessig - Wichita Lineman / Guinnevere was not on Tidal so jumped to nr 2: Old Saw - Country Tropics
Weeds tumbling across the desert as we drive along some Arizona highway. Not my cup of tea but interesting. Ambient Americana, sounds exactly like I would have suspected I guess.
Solid two stars ★★
Ambient Link to heading
Combines the theory and atmosphere of Ambient with traditional instruments and sounds from around the globe.
Strange, but not to strange. Expected more strange. ”Bit”ish somehow. Not to memorable. Don’t know what makes this a masterpiece.
★★½ stars.
Blues Link to heading
Originated toward the end of the 19th century in African American communities in the United States, particularly the Deep South; drew on traditional Spirituals and Work Song; highly influential to the whole of Western popular music.
Nina Simone - Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1966)
Well. It was bluesy alright. Not really captivating me. Sensuality and strife. Probably made more sense in the 60s. Good time to reflect on that the world is actually better in a lot of ways than it was before, not everything is going the wrong way. Thanks Nina.
★★★ stars
Classical Music Link to heading
Part of a broad generalization about the structure and function of music throughout history across the globe, describing traditions distinct from Traditional Folk Music and popular music.
Steve Reich and Musicians - Music for 18 Musicians (1978)
Was ok as background music. Didn’t really say anything to me.
★★★ stars
Drift Phonk Link to heading
Busy, noisy production inspired by lo-fi Memphis Rap; frequently features 808 cowbell melodies and chopped, compressed samples.
Reminds me of ICP. Don’t know why I liked it but I do. A mix of metal growling and rap.
★★★½ stars
Funkot Link to heading
Fast-paced Indonesian form of Electronic Dance Music that combines Eurodance and Trance synths with the syncopated rhythm from Dangdut koplo.
First impression: “Wow. This sucks”.
Listening to this album makes me feel a bit racist and dismissive of Indonesian culture. Lots of high pitched singing, small ”tube trums” etc. Not my cup of tea.
★ star
Europop Link to heading
Emerged throughout mainland Europe in the early 1970s, referring to slick, highly commercial Pop songs that emphasize sugary melodies and light, bouncy instrumentation.
Yeah this should have stayed in the 80s. American Pshycho vibes for sure. Old ABBA era dance music - but worse.
★★ stars
Emo Link to heading
Focuses on emotional lyrics, expressive vocals, melodic songwriting, and dynamic song structures.
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
I just had to go with MCR even though it was nr 5 on the list of most highly rated Emo albums. When I think of Emo I think of MCR.
And no, no it’s not for me. Vocals doesn’t sound great, music sounds “sloppy” somehow. I guess never having been into it when young also helps kill some of the “glow” that can exist around music.
★½ stars
Mathcore Link to heading
Rhythmically complex, features unconventional time signatures, syncopated and dissonant riffs and erratic metric shifts.
What a f-n ride. Anger. Dissonance. Totally incomprehensible vocals even when reading the lyrics. Almost turned it off after 5 seconds. But … it grew on me. At the end I was kinda sad to see it go.
Perhaps need to listen to it just once more…
★★★★ stars
Thats all folks Link to heading
Alright, there we have it. I’ll try to post a roundup like this from time to time for record keeping. To see more what I listen to check out my profile on RYM.