Sometimes it feels like inspiration refuses to come, no matter how many bottles of vodka you pour down your throat in honor of the muses. But after awhile, the music slowly sneaks up on you, and suddenly this weird mixture of hip hop and hip pop and pop rock coalesces right before your eyes. Like a stream of light beating in the night, there it is.

Ghostface Killah - Jellyfish (Feat. Cappadonna, Shawn Wigs & Trife) - Look, I have no idea how to talk about rap. The whole genre is defined by its grit, speed, and pulsating rhythm, so all of that is out. What is left? The scenery? The community? Okay, fine, this song is four best friends freestyling around a case of beer; a three-act play about heartache and temptation; an ode to the oldest story in the book.

Devil’s Gun - Million Miles - This song is a trick. Underneath the uplifting dance beats is a melancholic reflection of a downward spiral. The music imbues the words with optimism, but suddenly the music drops out, and we’re left wondering how hopeful the singer really is: “I see the way you’re moving, and I worry about you. I can see you falling, and I want to catch you.”

Thrushes - Heartbeats (DtheNextLevel Mix)

Islands - Kids Don’t Know Shit - Continuing the peppy trend of deceptively sobering tunes, “Kids Don’t Know Shit” is the anti-anthem. It is the song you write after years of failure, when the cynicism finally gains a firm hold. “Kids don’t know shit,” Islands’ Nick Thorburn sings, “everything we learned is wrong. Deep down we knew it, we knew it all along.” But you have to wonder just how jaded Islands are when they wrap the words up in rock and catchiness.

Somone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - I Think I Wanna Die

Festival - Valentine - If all you knew about “Valentine” was that it is thirty seconds short of the perfect pop song, you might get a good understanding of the song. “Valentine” is, appropriately, for all intents and purposes, a tease. It starts slow, turns it up a notch a third of the way through (0:48), and then when another third passes (1:15) it turns it up a notch again. By this time you are primed for greatness, and the next 45 seconds are spent in anticipation. So when the fade-out starts at 2 minutes, all you can do is throw up your hands in disgust and hit play again.

Withered Hand - I Am Nothing

Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm - When Scott Hutchinson sings “you won’t find love in a hole,” the whole thing seems adolescent. But he keeps repeating it over and over again until the absurdity falls to pieces. What remains is this bare, honest song that wasn’t hiding in the first place, and you realize the candidness isn’t scary, it’s refreshing.

Astronautalis - Short Term Memory Loss

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