AMF Music | September '25

w33kly #30

New w33kly is in - listen, follow, share! 🎧

Featured Playlist:

For this feature, Spotify’s in-house playlist felt like the right starting point for me. Many of these artists are also featured on playlists from all sorts of platforms and curators. This playlist comes customized, so you may get some recommendations that already fit your listening habits! Here’s one on Apple Music.

This month, I got into a new rabbit hole, a genre that’s probably familiar to you in some way, even if you haven’t sought it out. It’s called slowcore, a genre whose true name I learned from mal sounds as he told me about some of his inspirations recently. He just released a single, “4Head Kisses,” that gels with this sound and speaks to some of his upcoming music in that vein. I read an article (linked below) about how Gen-Z has been the latest champion of this genre, though it’s been around for years, with OGs like Duster influencing the popular aesthetic since the shoegaze of the 90s. I have an old Alex G vinyl, but little did I know he’s one of the genre’s key reference points as well. Chances are, if you’re sure it’s not for you, then it’s probably not for you; but if you’re open, or anything like me when it comes to the seasons, this may be a welcome change of pace to start the fall.

The article below, written by Michelle Hyun Kim for Chartmetric, is a really nice examination of this genre and its current moment. She uses plenty of examples, embedded tracks to listen to while you read, and charts to compare and contextualize what you may or may not already know. This topic fascinated me, and understanding its arc over the past couple of decades helped me appreciate why it feels so familiar yet completely off my radar. New terms, new fans, new media - same good music just making the cultural, generational rounds 🔂

Featured Mix

This Fred again.. mix is just dope. His post about it popped up on my IG, and he included a heartfelt note about doing this set backstage with a handful (big hands?) of fans who had supported him through the years. One of them was celebrating a birthday, so the set was basically dedicated to him. I don’t think anyone is throwing big shade at electronic and dance music culture these days, but it is really great to see a positive show of love like this from a big star rather than something about a slur or a riot. For example, nobody was happy to see Yves Tumor get booed off the stage at the US Open this month, but we should also wonder who expected a crowd of tennis fans to listen to a set of industrial electronic music by an artist whose most recent single is “WE DONT COUNT.” Pretty sure that’s half of what tennis even is, Yves.

If the slowcore was too slow for you, this is what you need - I got you 🫡