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A year in music: Shoegaze, mathcore, and everything in-between

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Stuart Harland

04 December 2024

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If there’s one thing my listening habits scream, it’s beautiful noise. This year, Spotify Wrapped and Last.fm have delivered a colourful tapestry of my musical obsessions, showing that I really do treat music as life’s soundtrack.

With 71,456 minutes logged on Spotify alone, my playlists were a rollercoaster-ride through dreamy shoegaze, ferocious mathcore, soothing jazz, and everything in-between.

So here’s a peek into what a wonderful year in music revealed about me as a listener—and why I loved every minute of it. You can also jump the summary of my stats below.

Note: this has been updated with LastFM report details - 07/01/2025

My top artists and songs

last fm graph of my listening time for No Joy

Let’s start with the big names. No Joy claimed the top spot as my most-played artist for the third year running. With tracks like “Hare Tarot Lies” and “Lizard Kids” dominating, it’s no surprise I ranked in the top 0.001% of their listeners with how often I play their tunes. That fuzzy mix of shoegaze, noise, and pop is just perfect to me.

Second was Rolo Tomassi, a new discovery for me in 2024. I only stumbled across them in March or so, but they quickly became a massive fixation. “Prescience”, my most-played track of the year, is blissfully controlled chaos, syncopated rhythms, dense walls of sound, and an emotional outro that leaves me in awe every time. I’m now in the top 0.005% of their listeners, which shocked me, as I’m a total newb to their music with only eight or nine months under my belt!

Switching gears entirely, Belle and Sebastian added some much-needed indie charm to my year. Tracks like “Unnecessary Drama” and “The Blues Are Still Blue” offered pure pop relief from my noisier tendencies, confirming that sometimes I just want to bounce along to something catchy and fun.

And then there’s Depeche Mode, who have been a constant in my life since I was a kid (thanks to my brother), and Cardiacs, whose genre-defying madness somehow makes perfect sense to me.

Altogether, they round out a top five that’s as eclectic as it is reflective of me.

A journey through genres

Spotify claims my music journey this year went from goth, permanent wave, synthpop to atmospheric, noise, mathcore, and finally to psychedelic and shoegaze. Last.fm backs this up with a list of genres that spans shoegaze, dream pop, mathcore, hardcore punk, and even grindcore.

What does this all mean? Well, it’s clear I don’t have loyalty to a single sound — I know I’m drawn to anything that stirs the right emotion, whether it’s dreamy and introspective or turbulent and cathartic. Shoegaze and dream pop has always dominated my listening habits because that sound has been main comfort zone for a long time: the lush swirling guitars, effects-soaked vocals, and reverb-swamped beauty. But the raw aggression of grind or the experimental intensity of mathcore shows I still love music that challenges and surprises me.

last fm graph of genres showing Jazz, Punk, Showgaze, Dream Pop and Indie

Jazz really entered the picture around August. I’ve always like jazz-aligned rock like Allan Holdsworth, Cynic, Hatfield and the North , and bits of Weather Report etc., but I properly started late-night exploring when trying to have more quiet evenings tinkering with code or reading blogs.

Artists like Art Pepper, Betty Carter, and Chet Baker became regulars, and now jazz feels like it’s becoming a staple of my nightly routine - even if it’s just putting on public curated playlists. It’s is a new direction for me, there’s so much out there to research and delve into, but I can’t wait to get exploring more.

Musical anchors and falling hard

When I find a song or band I love, I don’t just listen — I obsess. So this year, “Prescience” and “Hare Tarot Lies” were practically on repeat for weeks, becoming emotional anchors I kept coming back to.

These periods of repeating songs aren’t just phases though, these songs eventually become permanent emotional fixtures, and I’ve built up this toolkit of songs I know can get out and endlessly repeat for a while to set myself right.

At the moment, I can’t stop playing “Give A Little Time” by Belle and Sebastian and “Late in the Day” by Supergrass — both are on repeat so often they’ve already earned a spot in my lifelong emotional anchor toolkit. “Give A Little Time” just makes me so happy!!

And then there’s “Halo” by Depeche Mode - which I found myself playing a lot this year, but it’s been an anchor since I was a kid - and never fails to hit just right.

What does it all mean?

So, what does this chaotic mix of shoegaze, indie pop, mathcore, extreme noise, and jazz say about me as a listener? For one, it’s clear I don’t like being stuck on one sound. I guess I thrive on contrast: gentle harmonies followed by raw intensity, or the blissful melancholy alongside the exhilarating complexity.

It could suggests I’m an emotional magpie, picking up songs and sounds that resonate with me and adding them to a growing, ever-evolving nest of favourites regardless of genre.

Looking ahead: 2025 goals

As much as I loved my musical journey this year, I want to push myself even further in 2025. I’d like to explore more experimental genres and dive deeper into jazz, while also giving classical music a proper chance. At the same time, I know I’ll still find myself revisiting the obsessions that never fade.

For now, I’m just grateful for the endless access to music that helps me enjoy the world.

What about you? What did your year in music look like? Any surprises or new obsessions? Let’s compare notes—I’m always up for new recommendations!

Anyway, here’s to another year of beautiful noise!

The Stats and Figures

My Spotify top 5 artists:

  1. No Joy
  2. Rolo Tomassi
  3. Belle and Sebastian
  4. Depeche Mode
  5. Cardiacs

My Spotify top 5 songs:

  1. Prescience by Rolo Tomassi
  2. Unnecessary Drama by Belle and Sebastian
  3. The Blues Are Still Blue by Belle and Sebastian
  4. Hare Tarot Lies by No Joy
  5. Mutual Ruin by Rolo Tomassi

My Last.fm top 10 artists:

  1. No Joy
  2. Rolo Tomassi
  3. Cardiacs
  4. Belle and Sebastian
  5. Ringo Deathstarr
  6. Napalm Death
  7. Depeche Mode
  8. Sobs
  9. Discharge
  10. Anti Cimex

My Last.fm top 10 albums (by unique artists):

  1. Where Myth Becomes Memory by Rolo Tomassi
  2. Wait To Pleasure by No Joy
  3. The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian
  4. Scum by Napalm Death
  5. Sing to God by Cardiacs
  6. Why? by Discharge
  7. The Enduring Spirit by Tomb Mold
  8. Telltale Signs by Sobs
  9. God Help The Girl by God Help the Girl
  10. Colour Trip by Ringo Deathstarr

My Last.fm top 10 songs:

  1. Prescience by Rolo Tomassi
  2. Hare Tarot Lies by No Joy
  3. Unnecessary Drama by Belle and Sebastian
  4. The Blues Are Still Blue by Belle and Sebastian
  5. Lizard Kids by No Joy
  6. Hellhole by No Joy
  7. Mutual Ruin by Rolo Tomassi
  8. Cloaked by Rolo Tomassi
  9. Give A Little Time by Belle and Sebastian
  10. Baby Heart Dirt by Cardiacs

My top genres (tags):

  1. Shoegaze
  2. Dream pop
  3. Indie pop
  4. Indie
  5. Jazz
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