I’m back! And apparently, so are you.
I’ve got a new playlist project for 2026, but it needs a name. Got any ideas?
Basically it’s a playlist where a small collection of friends take turns choosing the next song in the playlist, based off of some association they form with the song preceding it. You could call it a Free Association Playlist, or FAP, for short. Wait, no, not that.
Date Added: 1/9/26
Song: Berlin TV Tower
Artist: Blondshell
Added by: Claire
Commentary: "More sad music with Berlin-related lyrics"
Date Added: 1/8/26
Song: Good Will Hunting
Artist: Black Country, New Road
Added by: Liz
Commentary: "Moving from sad girl music onto sad boy music with Black Country, New Road's ‘Good Will Hunting’. We have a sad connection, but we also have a lyrical connection"
Date Added: 1/5/26
Song: Samson
Artist: Regina Spektor
Added by: Jeff
Commentary: "I think the last song led me here both in the sound and themes. This song is also quiet and spacious and mostly driven by the female vocalist. Also the themes (loosely) of intimacy between a couple in bed, as well as the subject of the songs needing strength against enemies. (Although in Laura Marling’s song she’s defending her partner saying “you’ll have to go through me” while in the story of Samson she’s actually responsible for destroying his strength. Deep.)"
Date Added: 1/4/26
Song: Night Terror
Artist: Laura Marling
Added by: Liz
Commentary: "The connect: the off-beat tambourine that drives a lot of the forward momentum in the Spoon song, only now in a very laid back way, but very critical to this song’s feel"
Date Added: 1/3/26
Song: You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Artist: Spoon
Added by: Jeff
Commentary: "I love this song, especially the vintage sounding horns. The connection is that if I ever ran away, I’d be sure to bring a spoon in my bindle. Oh, and Cherry Bombs."
Date Added: 1/6/26
Song: Delilah
Artist: Florence + the Machine
Added by: Claire
Commentary: "I couldn’t NOT do a Samson and Delilah theme. I was going to add the Plain White T’s song, even though it would be the least cool song on the playlist by a mile. While I was looking it up, I found this Florence + the Machine track. I hadn’t heard it before today, but groove-wise, it fits much better with Marling and Spektor. I love when the snare comes in."
Date Added: 1/2/26
Song: Cherry Bomb
Artist: The Runaways
Added by: Claire
Commentary: "I chose 'Cherry Bomb' to follow 'Changes' because both songs have attached a "ch-ch-ch-" prefix to the songs' title lyrics."
Date Added: 1/13/26
Song: Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Artist: Sleigh Bells
Added by: Claire
Commentary: "There must be 1,000 different recorded versions of the folk classic, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” / “In the Pines”. I considered versions by Leadbelly, The Grateful Dead, and Loretta Lynn, but ultimately I’d rather push the playlist in the direction of Sleigh Bells."
Date Added: 1/11/26
Song: Unsatisfied
Artist: The Replacements
Added by: Jeff
Commentary: "Good choice John, I like the Cranberries a lot. But I’m also ready to get us out of our sad girl slump. In relistening to ‘Linger’, I noticed a detail I hadn’t paid much attention to before: the quiet musical prelude before the drums kick in and the song really picks up. It’s not an intro, per se, since it’s so different from the rest of the song, which feels like it then takes an abrupt turn as it “really” starts. It reminded me of the musical prelude to ‘Unsatisfied’ by the Replacements off of the 1984 album ‘Let it Be’. The prelude is fairly different from the whole rest of the song - a little teaser before the drums hit and the song takes a 90 degree turn."
Date Added: 1/7/26
Song: I Know The End
Artist: Phoebe Bridgers
Added by: John
Commentary: "I liked the way yesterday’s track built and built without solid resolution as it just got a bit more chaotic and loud. One track came to the forefront for me, and that’s “I Know the End” by Phoebe Bridgers. I know, we didn’t even make it until February before I shared a Phoebe Bridgers track. The song is really three songs in one, each one louder than the last until it explodes at the very end. And it doesn’t really have any resolution, similar to the Florence song, just tension, tension, tension."
Date Added: 1/1/26
Song: Changes
Artist: David Bowie
Added by: John
Commentary: "For the theme of New Years Day I’ve chosen David Bowie’s ‘Changes’, which isn’t so much about New Year’s resolutions changes, just that change is inevitable so turn and face the strain!"
Date Added: 1/12/26
Song: Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Artist: Nirvana
Added by: Liz
Commentary: "The guitar work and vocal stylings reminded me of Nirvana's Unplugged album and specifically the final song in the set: Where Did You Sleep Last Night. Especially the parts where Kurt really digs in and gives it his all. I always loved this song and would steal my brothers CD when we were kids."
Date Added: 1/10/26
Song: Linger
Artist: The Cranberries
Added by: John
Commentary: "True free association and no deep meaning for this one - listening to the Blondshell song made me think of The Cranberries - but not quite the darkness of ‘Zombies’ or the peaceful hopefulness of ‘Dreams’, so I’m sharing ‘Linger’."