e are like roaches, because we're still obsessed with music, despite what's happening all around us. Evil is winning. Our world is burning, literally. But the music plays on. It's certainly one of the reasons that keep us going. So without further ado, welcome to the Kiwi-inspired edition of these annual surveys. We had a great time down there this year, and we'd like to bring back a wee bit of the good vibes we found over there.


Taking the path of least resistance, we figure that this is a fair excuse to yet again include an old classic from the Flight of the Conchords, our favourite Kiwis. This year we're also bringing back the bonus track at the end of the mix. It just feels tight, and it's also from the Flight of the Conchords, because we miss them so much. We think about Bret and Jemaine and Murray and Mel every single day, just like we think about Bowie, MCA, and Sean Lock. Those are the dear ones who made us happy and still haunt us.


Speaking of loss, we've lost someone quite dear to us from cancer during November 2024. Like the aforementioned personages who occupy our consciousness, we also think of him every single day. It still hurts, but there's no regret. During this calendar year of 2025, we've also reached a personal milestone— the number of acts in our digital music library has finally surpassed over 6000 different curated artists, as defined by Apple itunes. This number is significant, because we were planning to gift our departed friend a copy of this music library on his birthday or on Christmas, right after whenever we have achieved this 6K milestone. It would have brought us not an insignificant amount of joy to share our library with him, as he was also an avid music lover and collector of physical (vinyl) media. He was just about to dip his toes into digital music, as streaming wasn't his thing. Alas, that day would never come, due to his way more potent adversary who took him away from us before we had the chance.

n terms of the zeitgeist that's driving this year's mix, we can discern an intriguing mixing of genres. Trancey dancey disco continue to fight with country music in order to dominate our attention. Sometimes the country comes from some rather unexpected sources, and we're not talking about A.I. (more on that later). Following the footsteps of Posty and Sabrina and others, several prominent non-twangy artists like Calvin Harris (represented by his first track here solely credited to himself since 2007) and the ubiquitous Thomas Wesley Pentz (no less than four appearances in this mix) are dipping their toes in country music. At the same time, twangy artists like Sturgill and Tyler Childers are diving into leftfield pop music. And of course, nice folks who have always been twangy and stayed twangy are also represented here, such as the long-awaited return of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings.


Because it's 2025, it's inevitable that A.I. slop gets thrown into our feeds, but as far as slop goes, the ones we're sampling here are pretty catchy. In our specific case, the algorithms have fed us a steady diet of comedic, porno-adjacent country music with loads of homosexual shenanigans and cock sucking and butt fucking. These tracks made us laugh and sing along, even though one track is about sexual assault and gang rape. We've noticed that A.I. slop have also evolved during the course of the year in terms of complexity, sophistication, and song structure. The frantic pace of development forward (or downward) takes our breath away. We're now even getting bridges in these unholy musical creations.


To balance the impersonal nature of A.I., the survey does feature very confessional music. With a song titled 'Pussy palace,' it's inevitable that it would be included in this year's mix, and fortunately, it comes courtesy of survey veteran Lily Allen. Other longtime musical visitors returning this year after lengthy absences away include Annie and Lady Gaga. Our slate of regulars this year includes the Pet Shop Boys, David Guetta, Teenage Fanclub, and Bon Iver.

his year's graphic identity is inspired by British Rail's branding campaign for the Home Counties' Network Southwest services from the late 1980s. We've also flavoured it with some hues from the South Pacific. Kia ora to everyone.

1. NATION OF LANGUAGE - Inept Apollo (04.02)
2. Lily ALLEN - Pussy palace (04.02)
3. BON IVER - Short story (01.56)
4. AMTRAC - Digital response (03.42)
5. KESHA (featuring T-Pain) - Yippee-ki-yay (03.32)
6. YUNG GRAVY (with Dillon Francis and T-Pain) - Hot tub (02.39)
7. GALANTIS - Damn (you've got me saying) (03.15)
8. DIPLO (with bbno$) - Pogo (03.28)
9. SIGALA (with David Guetta and Sam Ryder) - Living without you (03.04)
10. ELDERBROOK - I need you (Adriatique remix) (04.51)
11. Sabrina CARPENTER - Tears (02.40)
12. TIERRA WHACK - Moovies (02.55)
13. Calvin HARRIS - Smoke the pain away (02.44)
14. DIPLO (with Ernest) - Bottle's bout dead (02.31)
15. Gillian WELCH - City girl (03.01)
16. 2DUOS - Braw sailing (04.20)
17. FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS - Sugalumps (02.12)
18. The KNOCKS and DRAGONETTE - Let my love open the door (03.02)
19. BISCUIT BEATS - The things I do (03.05)
20. DIPLO (with Paul Cauthen and Sierra Ferrell) - Rain on my mind (02.18)
21. Gillian WELCH and David RAWLINGS – Lawman (04.32)
22. Dua LIPA - Cool (03.30)
23. SIA (with Paris Hilton) - Fame won't love you (03.20)
24. Taylor SWIFT - The Fate of Ophelia (03.50)
25. OGI - IKYK (03.13)
26. Tyler CHILDERS - Tirtha yatra (04.44)
27. FANTASTIC CAT - Nobody's coming to get you (03.46)
28. The JAPANESE HOUSE - Touching yourself (03.02)
29. JOHNNY BLUE SKIES (Sturgill Simpson) - Right kind of dream (05.17)
30. TEN FÉ - Any time soon (03.51)
31. DIPLO and Bailey ZIMMERMAN - Ashes (03.02)
32. PETEY - Lean into life (05.29)
33. BISCUIT BEATS - Diddled at Diddy's (02.30)
34. JONNY - You was me (03.09)
35. TEENAGE FANCLUB - Back to the light (03.07)
36. David GUETTA (with Jason Derulo featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William) – Goodbye (03.16)
37. EAGLES & BUTTERFLIES (with Annie) - Next 2 U (03.38)
38. Sabrina CARPENTER - My man on willpower (03.18)
39. PET SHOP BOYS - Dancing star (Solomun remix) (03.32)
40. LADY GAGA - Abracadabra (03.43)

ou can now explore other years' pop survey compilations and their respective liner notes and artwork by hovering over the artwork displayed to the left-- this will identify the year of the compilation of each corresponding image. Clicking on each image will take you to that year's dedicated page. The JR East Suica Penguin is just a convenient placeholder icon.

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