Presto, another year is over before you even blinked – and as befits, the end of the year is not officially complete and is not considered complete until I have published my traditional music review on my blog. Of course, I would like to bow to this pressure from the street in 2025 and therefore let you share my thoughts, which are, as always, highly subjective.
In a way, I'm repeating what I've written for the last two years, because I've gotten to know an incredible amount of new music in 2025 – probably more than ever before in just 12 months. Since my focus shifted to the Japanese music scene and I completely immersed myself there, I have found the joy of new music again and have been amazed almost every day by how many great and interesting bands there are in Japan and how it is possible that I keep discovering new acts. This time there was so much that I sometimes lost track, which is why I had a bit of a hard time with the song charts, because I know that the following list left out countless hits that were simply left behind because the next banger was around the corner the next day. Luxury problems from music nerds. 🙂
As usual, last.fm was once again my loyal and reliable companion, always keeping track of my musical path – and so, as always, I'll start with my most listened to bands:
(#4 ist Sheena Ringo, #6 Ima Mulasaki, #9 Hararusaruhi, #16 Rosu, #18 Raisan, #19 suisoh)
Remarkable: for the first time since 2011, Lana Del Rey is not in my top 20, which is of course quite a cut. And for the first time since 2019, BABYMETAL cannot be found in the top regions either. For me, their “Song 3” with Slaughter To Prevail is the shittiest single of 2025. But I’ll come back to BM separately when it comes to the albums…
You can also find the most listened to songs on last.fm (HERE). Here, too, there is a clear dominance of Japanese songs, which for me have simply become more interesting, more varied and more surprising than the kind of indie music I used to listen to. Three metal songs at the top is also a novelty – especially since the most listened to song, HANABIE. “Spicy Queen” is really (for my standards) brutally hard and has a lot of screaming. Nevertheless, or because of that, it's cool (especially since the song also has its tongue-in-cheek moments). 🙂
Of course, the frequency of listening always reflects my goodwill towards a song, which is why my annual charts are not that terribly far away from the last.fm list. But there are certainly a few hundred titles missing that should have been included – so as not to miss anything, I recommend subscribing to my two Spotify playlists: the general CIC, which mainly contains Western tracks, and then my Japan-only, which has grown by an incredible 1,060 songs this year alone!
So these are the best songs of 2025 in my eyes and especially ears:
01. Ave Mujica «KiLLKiSS (live)»
02. chilldspot «die or feel»
03. HANABIE. «Spicy Queen»
04. FOR YOU! «rip-off»
05. Brandy Senki «My Sweetie (live)»
06. Hararusaruhi «echo-»
07. Haku «That's all I can say»
08. Rubens «Tsukinami-chan»
09. Ado «Egorock (long ver.)»
10. samayuzame “no aid(ea)”
11. Suichu Spica «MATHRHYTHM»
12. Raisan «Urameshia»
13. TAMIW «Deep’n’Shallow»
14. Ima Mulasaki «That Classmate»
15. Ai Higuchi «Aging»
16. ME! “zero-sum”
17. ano «Absolute Sanctuary (live)»
18. RAISE A SUILEN «Howling Ambition (live)»
19. Phantom Siita «Sokkuri-san/Doppelgänger»
20. Noa «1000 days»
21. Suzanne Vega “Last train from Mariupol”
22. Faulieu. «aiwazurai»
23. Genie High «That summer is becoming a habit»
24. Pulp «Got To Have Love»
25. PompadollS «悂食»
26. BAND-MAID «Ready to Rock»
27. I’m Malaski «femet A»
28. Tocotronic “A rock star dies for the second time”
AiNA THE END «On the way (live Tiny Desk Concerts)»
Market Shop Store «Bait»
Sheena Ringo – Experiment in progress
krage «Vortex»
The Biscats «Memories»
Sara Wakui «NOCTILUCA»
Love Shop «The Red Drops»
ReiRie – BaD=Doll
Internet Islands «Butterflies Make Me Sick»
AQ «SKUMSCAMSCUM»
Unquenchable thirst (Tomedonaku, kawaki) «charming and separation»
Natsuko Nisshoku «Yato no kami»
Sam Sauvage “People who dance (I love it)”
Yosugala «YOSUGAL伝説»
Machida Sandiego «Later UPDATE”feat.Sakaguchi Centaur»
Hélène Sio “The one I believe”
Raon «Lucifer»
Lan Muhammad Yays.
Moon in June «Dancing Monster»
DOGADOGA «Cannot be erased!»
Ichiko Aoba «Sonar»
Gong Wah «Hallowed Ground»
Hakubi «Another World (Alt ver.)»
Lou-Adriane Cassidy “Diary of a Werewolf”
Clan Queen «Guernica»
Stereolab «Aerial Troubles»
Ado «The Ten Commandments (1984)»
Children “Dying Star”
Togenashi Togeari “Fragile Violet”
Adèle Castillon “Oh no”
Rosu «There is no God»
Miki Berenyi Trio «Big I Am»
aisagasu eye shadow «ex;cuse room»
maj\ime «Sleepwalking»
Japanese Breakfast «Honey Water»
anewhite «Hyouka»
Kirai Sawamura «Scat Cat Neurosis»
Aooo «Crazzzy»
The Twilight Sad «Waiting For The Phone Call»
Mola Oddity «Half a Sadday Saving Time»
rillrail «Less loss»
Akane Yonezawa «Impression Operation»
uvm.
So this is a small selection of my highlights for 2025. As usual, I have again created a Spotify playlist with my top hits of the year (at least the ones that are available on Spotify; the live versions are missing):
Source: https://coast-is-clear.blogspot.com/2025/12/der-groe-coast-is-clear-jahresruckblick.html
