It’s almost unfair to the rest of y’all how good I am at finding new music.
Tonight, I listened to all or part of 322 new (to me) songs. I liked 21 of those.
Music
Hit Hit
Things went pretty well in the music mines tonight. I listened to all or part of 280 new (to me) songs. Of those, I liked 18. That’s a 6.4% success rate. Not bad.
Hash
Told my son I’m sad that D’Angelo died so young.
Son, “Wasn’t he 96 years old. Most of the music you like is 96 years old.”
These kids are villains.
— Natalia Antonova 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@NataliaAntonova) October 22, 2025
I listen to music that is 96 minutes old. It’s so much more fun than constantly rehashing the past.
Picky Picky
I listened to all or part of 961 new (to me) songs since 3AM today. Of those, I liked 47. This took approximately five hours.
That’s a success rate of approximately 4.89%. And that’s what you gotta do if you want to find new music.
Bridge
This line from Phoebe Bridgers’ “I Know the End” might be the best bit of poetry written in the last decade.
The billboard said, “The end is near”
I turned around; there was nothing there
Yeah, I guess the end is here
Dang lady you did not have to SHAME US ALL SO with your Tennyson-like succinctness and congruity. Ok, I’m glad you did. But still.
Chorded
God I love music so much.
I need to get back on the piano again. I used to be good.
AI Music
This is an AI song. It’s easy to recognize.
It’s completely predictable. Nothing unexpected ever happens. It’s so static that it might as well be a hunk of diorite buried under 100 meters of sediment. That said, it’s not a bad song. It’s just completely mediocre in every way possible.
Compare and contrast it with the song in the video below. That has life. It’s dynamic. It’s intentional in a way that AI music can never be.
Fakery
Yes, it is obviously pitch-corrected.
But his assessment for how this performance was done is not correct. It’s just booth recorded as separate tracks with reverb that matches the space. Much easier than his hypothesis.
And then they lip-sync in the kitchen. That’s it; that’s all.
Knows
That’s a great analysis. Such a difference when you watch someone who actually knows something about music.
Rick doesn’t usually talk about percussion, so I guess I will. The rhythm part of “God Only Knows” is just as interesting and as unusual as the rest of the song. It’s all completely intentional to achieve the ends of the song. It’s structured to highlight emotional beats rather than to “drive” the song as standard percussion does in most rock songs. Sometimes the percussion just disappears altogether and then resumes to highlight and elevate a phrase.
Sleigh bells in the intro and first verse make the song feel like stepping into a shimmery fantasy. The distinctive “clopping” sound in the song (perhaps coconut shells or wood blocks?) mimics a soft horse-hoof rhythm that makes one think of pastoral ease, of falling asleep in a meadow and awakening in a transformed world. Those sleigh bells I mentioned earlier make their return subtly during the instrumental interlude (just before the final chorus) and propel the fade-out, adding a soothing, ethereal sparkle. Sparse drum hits highlight repeated vocal phrases. Timpani rolls add drama and make the song feel orchestral rather than rock-like without overwhelming the progression and becoming overwrought.
Even drum phrases that might typically repeat do not. Instead, they shift and respond to the vocal lines. Check the end of the song particularly. Not one is precisely the same and all work exactly with the vocal part.
Most songs do not get better as you deconstruct them. “God Only Knows” does, though. There’s just so much in it. And it all fits perfectly.
Vocalize
This is ok, but Rick Beato doesn’t really like women artists all that much. Here’s a few women artists (in bands or alone) with songs that have good vocal intros.
“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry
“Down By the Water” by PJ Harvey
“Team” by Lorde (Really great vocal intro!)
Phonic Sonic
I was listening to this on YouTube and I noticed that there is what I think is a still taken from a video where Hope Sandoval some time back in the day is playing a vibraphone (that is in front of maybe a marimba?). What the fuck video does she play a vibraphone in? How have I never seen this?
I need to see that.
Song Stress
I don’t think this makes me superior to anyone1, but it’s a weird thought that I listen to more new songs in a day than most people listen to in years.
I just love music. And not performatively. It’s easy to do a lot of something you deeply enjoy and love to do, really.
Magic
She does a great job of learning a song in 40 minutes. And what a fun personality!
Kashmir
This is not to take anything away from Sina. She’s great. An amazing drummer. But there’s never been a pure rock drummer like John Bonham. Perhaps Karen Carpenter. And…that’s about it.
That’s a great cover. And there’s nothing wrong with this, but she’s not Bonham. She’s a little too on top of the rhythm. Bonham dances with the rhythm, he plays with it and brings it where he needs it to be before you know it needs to go there. He’s behind the next note when that’s what makes sense and emphasizes or drags out a few phrases to make the music better. And, mostly, Sina doesn’t do any of that. Because what Bonham does can’t be imitated and probably cannot be taught.
Sina’s cover is technically perfect. But it’s also a bit shallow. It just doesn’t have the same soul.
Sina is better than almost any drummer who has ever lived. But when you’re playing against Bonham that simply does not matter.
Now compare Sina’s version with the original.
That hurried little fills in Kashmir are so great. How you learn to do something like that I cannot even begin to imagine.
AI Music
This is how all AI-generated music sounds. Not knowing anything about it, I identified it as AI slop within the first two bars.
It’s very static and repetitive in a way that human music just never is. I am not sure if I could teach others to clock AI-created music, though. Most people have not listened to the absurdly-vast amount of tunes that I have. But to me AI music stands out like a flashing blue light in a moonless night.
It’s not a bad song. It’s not a good song. It’s a nothing song. It’s just completely soulless. And that is apparent quite quickly.