Here’s the problem with nearly all the playlists you’ve ever listened to: they’re run by agents with entire teams dedicated to making playlists filled with annoying songs you’ve heard 100 times; they are actual torture. They force feed you that one song you’ve already heard so many times that it gets trapped in your head. What first sounded bad to you begins to sound “good,” and you forget that you didn’t enjoy the song much to begin with.
Here’s the problem with nearly all the playlists you’ve ever listened to: they’re made not for the sake of art or artists; they’re designed to make money. There is nothing wrong making money from art, but when art takes a back seat to economics, every song begins to taste the same. Music becomes manufactured. It loses its organic nature, and everything about it that was genuine. It stops being about art, or the artists involved.
Here’s the problem with nearly all the playlists you’ve ever listened to: most popular artists do not write their own songs or compose their music. These artists have little control over their art. Instead, they have armies of business people who think only about what sells well. And what sells well are songs about sex, drugs, and pointless consumerism. Business people make these songs, not artists. If you think your favorite popular artist single-handedly made their songs, take a look at the production credits of any top 40 hit – you’ll see a different story
But here’s a playlist that isn’t about business. It’s about the art, and the artist – The Indie Music Feedback Community Playlist is chock full of the best music you’ve never heard! We publish a new list every month, made up of tracks that IMF members submit themselves – there’s no curation – all creators are invited to submit the thing they’re proudest of each month.
Indie Music Feedback is a community of like minded artists with the sole intent to make a wholesome, real, and raw playlist! From EDM to Folk, from Hip-Hop to Country, from Metal to Classical, someone at Indie Music Feedback is your new favorite artist – one who loves and creates their own music!
IMF was founded by Pax Libertas, a skilled and seasoned musician herself. IMF is by artists for artists. Pax is on a continuing mission is to help artists grow and improve their music. It costs nothing to join, and everyone is welcome… fans included!
If you’re interested in connecting with these artists in a personal, one-on-one way, it’s no problem! Just join us in the Indie Music Feedback group on Reddit and Discord and chat with your new favorite artists! They love connecting with their fans, and go above and beyond to make fans feel valued.
Give it a listen. It’s a good bet you’ll find something new that you love, regardless of your taste in music.
Hunter (aka HD)
– Dedicated Listener of the Playlist, IMF Artist
The Freeze (Worse in Person)
FROM THE ARTIST:
The Freeze is about the Seattle Freeze — a phenomenon where people from Seattle are reserved and hard to make real friends with. There’s also a fair amount of anti-consumerism themes, and some global warming undertones, plus a healthy shout out to native Seattleite Bill Nye the Science Guy. And it’s all packaged up in a neat little garage rock package.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A little pop-punk romp, really gets the blood pumping. Little chromatic unison licks between verses sound like they belong in a Yes song, in a good way. This is not your average three chords-and-out rocksong. I don’t have a lot of opinions about folks in Seattle, but I like this song.-popijininsky
Return of Suzy Diablo (Slackerman)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A funk song that’s inspired by J.G. Thirwells’s Venture bros. Soundtrack, and by The Seatbelts.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Maybe you are a casual music listener, or maybe you are a undercover spy looking for theme music; either way Slackerman will bring you unadulterated funk. Are you a fan of snappy Lo-Fi drums that pack a punch and basslines that give you a swagger in your step? If so, “Return of Suzy Diablo” delivers.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Fighting (ft. Rielle.Life) (Dreams of Lasers, Rielle.Life)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is a bluesy song about 2 people fighting and how love keeps them together.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A stripped back instrumental and some real smooth vocals make this one a little slice of extra special. Fighting is really no way to be – truer words are rarely sung.-popijininsky
Hold U (Bug)
FROM THE ARTIST:
All I want to do is hold you 🙂
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
This is a darker, more electro Bug, full of glitches and pumping bassery. It’s all smooth edges and the spaces between things that make this one stand out.-popijininsky
Peregrine (Bear Ley)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Peregrine is about being unable to escape pain. I wrote it after seeing a Peregrine falcon dive off of a mountain peak.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A Bob Ross landscape of a track, full of happy little trees and the tortured people they barely notice. Simple fingerpicked guitar and a little bit of harmonized vocal is all you need sometimes.-popijininsky
Add Time (Night Spyre)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A reflective piece about 2020
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Clocking in at 2:26, you must add time to your day for this track. Most of us are happy 2020 is over, but one positive of a year plagued with a pandemic is that it inspired this track. The delicate keys paired with guitar make for a track that develops with proficient subtlety.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Captive (Matt Dubrow & the Captives)
FROM THE ARTIST:
New Jersey’s favorite Outlaw Country band is back on the IMF playlist with their mysterious and salacious track “Captive” It’s a smooth groove that’s best experienced live. Dig those keys.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Jeering and sneering pop-eyed vocals like a less-pervy but just-as-campy Frank Zappa. A working man’s rock song.-popijininsky
Haunted World (Atlantic Canyons)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A dark electronic industrial confection of harmonized girl vocals, 1/2 cup EDM synths, a tsp of baroque instruments, mixed and baked at 70 bpm for 4 minutes.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Atlantic Canyons vocals start out like another layer of synth pads over this slowly-building piece, and end up in a duet with themselves, weaving between big crashing sounds in a piece of electronica that could have come straight from 1998.-popijininsky
Changes (KiNG RiZZ, Joseph William)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Changes is a song about bringing yourself out of a deep depression. A song about becoming a better person. I wrote it after my life went down in a spiral during 2019 and 2020.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Like being trapped inside a wet sack that makes everything feel dull and dim. Not sad music meant to make you feel better – it’s like documentary sad.-popijininsky
NENE the Galactic Chick (Dragan Kalinovic)
FROM THE ARTIST:
heavy metal crazy groove
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
This is a nonstop noodle factory – the licks just don’t stop from the first to the last second. You might need to take a breath after this one.-popijininsky
I Don’t Know You (HALAN)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This song is about a date I went on with a guy during which I was sad because I was missing another person.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
She might not know you, but you are going to want to know her. The instrumental comes packed with punchy drums, synths, and smooth bassline, yet can barely contain the beauty, passion, and fullness of HALAN’s vocals. Enjoy missing somone you still love while listening.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Away, out (hes.)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Combining piano, a 4×4 beat and organic percussion, the song turned into a happy ASMR experience to feel good to or dream away on.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Looking out the window on a cloudy winter day when the sun is breaking through the clouds from time to time. The 1960s-era space exploration vocal samples lend it an air of nostalgic optimism.-popijininsky
Stutter Neatly (Care Again)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Single off of Don Quixote, Care Again’s new album about embracing fantasy and rejecting reality.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
An overture, full of instrumental and vocal motifs that set a kind of indie folk/pop stage. It’s silly but not trite.-popijininsky
August (mx-mr)
FROM THE ARTIST:
The lyrics for this song sound like I’m in a relationship where I think the other person wants to leave: “I know whats on your mind, please don’t hesitate to find all you need to live your life with or without me.” However, it’s actually about me trying to figure out a way to live my own life without the constant pressure of anxiety holding me down: “I can’t get out of bed feels like someone’s holding me down on my chest.” It’s a sardonic romanticization of living in a relationship with anxiety.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Moody layered vocals over a slow instrumental – breaking up with anxiety is hard to do.-popijininsky
Walking Cringe Compilation (Jodaki)
FROM THE ARTIST:
none submitted
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Slowed down punk rock – a little off key, a little sneering…proud to not try to pretend to be something else.-popijininsky
SUBPEN (Laminar Flow)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Second single of three, a taste of our upcoming album
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
There is a great modal guitar solo in the bridge of this song – 70s prog rock goes modern. The rest of the song is also pretty good, but that bridge is special.-popijininsky
ghost (emeri.)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Acoustic Singer-Songwriter Indie/Folk
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Stripped back vocals and a couple guitars. Sometimes that’s enough.-popijininsky
Unforgettable (Lohm, Flora Lin)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Flora Lin lent her amazing talents to this genre bending banger that is heavy in both DnB and Hip Hop influences.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
All chewy and neuro. Big animated monsters with slavering jaws are snapping, but not quite able to get their teeth on Flora – her vocals are the only weapon that can keep them at bay.-popijininsky
Emerson (5PM to Nowhere, Cosmic Sleepovers)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Wrote this as part of a collab while alpha testing a new music site! Has naturalist vibes, reminds me of Adventure Time music a bit.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
The intro is a record that’s been sitting in a box next to the radiator – forgotten and warped. But then it’s clean and clear, and mathy – fantasy lyrics and arpegiatted synths.-popijininsky
Leaving the Party (Max Oakland)
FROM THE ARTIST:
I know I’ve been living on the road / I know I’ve been searching for a home / I know I’ve been looking down the lane / I know I’ve been walking in the rain
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Loping like a caravan. The phrases don’t really end – they flow into each other. Everything is surges and camels slipping on sand dunes.-popijininsky
Things That I Miss (DHXP)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This track combines lofi and chill elements with rock and metal. A new mix will be on my upcoming album (dropping 12th Feb.)
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
An indie pop song that got dragged through a room full of distortion pedals. The lyrics are straightforward – introspective, defiant, hopeful.-popijininsky
Quick Draw (Somewhat Incognito)
FROM THE ARTIST:
An atmospheric and quirky indietronica jam I made in early 2020. One of my personal favorite tracks from 2020 that I made.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
This is on the more new-wave end of the Somewhat Incognito spectrum – a period piece that reminds us why we all fell in love with pulsing synth crunch gated reverb. No parachute pants or hair mousse necessary.-popijininsky
Walk Away (Barabbas T. Jones)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A song from the perspective of someone who decided what they had was never enough. Not an apology, but a plea to understand that “sometimes it feels better when I lose”
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
The lyricism and wisdom T-Rex manages to jam into a mere 2 and half minutes is extraordinary; you will feel as though a novelist decided to learn how to make music to communicate with the core of your most thoughtful moments. Charmingly minimalistic, the instrumental allows you to absorb every syllable, and its intriguing development carries the words along like a afternoon stroll.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Bridge (Baaz)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is a track from my latest EP, Wave After Wave. The theme was to explore anxiety and how it manifests. This track in particular is a literal musical bridge between two aspects of my own anxiety. The bridge is meant to convey the build up and inner thought process.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A twisted soundscape – jarring sounds explode across the stereo field and keep me constantly off balance. I’m not sure if it describes anxiety or induces it. Maybe a bit of both.-popijininsky
Boys Don’t Cry (Shinyen)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Bob your head to a smooth and melancholic R&B jazz song about the toxic phrase young boys hear all the time!
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
This is a downtempo boy band song that could have been belted out by a young Justin Timberlake. I’m imagining the choreography – it works.-popijininsky
Money In My Tummy (Simulated Youth)
FROM THE ARTIST:
About greed around the world.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Tropic house beat under a moody layer of percussive synths – a dystopic billboard.-popijininsky
Alone Again (CalicoLoco)
FROM THE ARTIST:
have you ever been on a date with a dude and the dude tries to explain to you unprompted that pinkerton is the best weezer album? this is about that dude
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A little happy indie synthpop number about getting real when you’re kind of insufferable.-popijininsky
Driveway (bracelick)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A slow song recapping all the bad thoughts from a breakup
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Sometimes it’s hard to let go of an idea. This song puts me in that place – not just the lyrics, but the twisted up mental state I’ve been in more than once. Let’s not make this tragic.-popijininsky
Alien – Instrumental (Kane Beats)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Hip hop beat with a hot tropical sound, a female vocal sample and prominent drums
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Alien, a hip-hop instrumental, will give you the impression you are on a beach from Mars. The subtle addition of vocals intertwined with the banging 808s, drums, and earwormy guitar make for an impressive beat that any rapper can respect. Not only that, variation in production keeps the track feeling as new as can be.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Arc (avdrav)
FROM THE ARTIST:
One of my first tracks with vocals. Lyrics: The arc bends and the arp repeats.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A collage of driving synthloops and abstract layered vocals. A little bop develops and we end up in electro pogo.-popijininsky
The Bell Tower (aim radio)
FROM THE ARTIST:
none submitted
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A chillout sketch with lots of creative vocal chops. Music to gaze out a rainy window to.-popijininsky
Good Hair (B.A. Skritter, Michael McBurger, the Small Fries)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Good Hair is inspired by 90s G-Funk and 80s pop. It is a feel-good, braggadocious song that was made to make you feel good about yourself, and love the hair you were given- be it straight, curly, or balding. Life is awesome.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Wears its funk roots on its sleeve. Bootsy would be proud. Rhymes like De La Soul moved to LA in 1989 – feels good.-popijininsky
Find Yourself (The F-use)
FROM THE ARTIST:
The F-use is a one man band out of Nashville, Tennessee. This song was written for my friend who was going through a rough time and I wanted to show my support to her.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
There’s just nothing like some big crashing rock and roll to make a body feel a bit better about this crazy old world. This song is that feel good kind of rock, the whistle along, toe-tapping kind. Also, the bridge in this thing is really good. Listen to the bridge at least twice – it’ll stick to your ribs-popijininsky
Call Me Back (ALON)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This song is a personal anecdote of a desire for intimacy with a lover that won’t return my calls. With sounds inspired by Zayn/Bazzi, I embody a sexy but catchy aesthetic with the hope of connecting individuals romantically.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A hearthrob of a song. The lyrics are catchy, matched by the entrancingly dreamy soundscape of slick trap drums, pulsing synths, an effortless bassline, and gracefully crisp vocals. Sensual and pure, the blend of RnB and Pop will leave you breathless.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Couscous (Demo) (Sanchez Goodjoin)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is a demo from my upcoming Folk Rock album. This is the first fully live song I’ve recorded! All instruments performed by me too!! Hope you give a listen and a follow…love you!
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
I wouldn’t put this in the folk rock bin, but it’s in that neighborhood – kid of like The Band with John Legend in a late night session. Someone just pressed play and some magic happened-popijininsky
Beautiful Mistake (Ground Up To)
FROM THE ARTIST:
I wrote the music for this song in my senior year of high school in 2010. The song didn’t have lyrics until nine years later, when my collaborator uploaded a song on his soundcloud that contained these lyrics over some basic gutiar chords. The lyrics matched my music, and this happy accident is why we named the album “Beautiful Mistake”
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Someone put some ska and a mid-album Men at Work instrumental that never got released in a blender and added some nerdy vocals. It’s kind of impossible not to have fun listening to this.-popijininsky
Duct Tape and Red Wine (Waiting for Lightyears)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is one of my favorite tracks from the first album I released
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A piano and a pretty voice will get you far – this song is evidence. I couldn’t figure out whether it was about BDSM or emotional care for a bit. It’s about the second thing, but could have been about the first one and still been just as compelling, just as pretty, and just as intimate.-popijininsky
End Zone Dance (Girls With Depression)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is my end zone dance and I don’t care if it’s weird
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Sometimes a moment just needs to be celebrated and marked. End Zone Dance is the Eat Pray Love of 2021 indie music that we didn’t know we needed.-popijininsky
Sinistar (Star Smash)
FROM THE ARTIST:
For the old school video game lovers that like a little bump in their music
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A boppy collage of video game samples. A great soundtrack for a get-shit-done montage in an independent film, or the intro to a gaming documentary.-popijininsky
Stiefel Und Katzen (Neko Vader)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Cat based drum and bass
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Oh Euro cat, show us the way of the meow. It clearly involves lots of chasing of lasers and catnip-accented visions.-popijininsky
call me? (17 Letters)
FROM THE ARTIST:
none submitted
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Dial those speakers up for “Call Me?”. The vocals take turns every moment, but will never leave you behind when you get locked into the subtle security of the beat. When it’s over, you may need to *69 this track.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Wishing Song (Daphne Cerez, Televangeles)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is the first song I made after a decade off. Then it sat for a year until Daphne came along with this gorgeous vocal and turned it into this…
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Daphne’s vocal and the pedal steel accents of this track create an emotional space of near-desperation tinged with hope. A story of that kind of love, the fussing and fighting and soft moments kind.-popijininsky
Weekend Warrior (Feat. Anthony Kalabat) (Spaghetti Rodeo)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Dreamy, shimmery, summery pop song.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
This song sounds like wasted afternoons when I was too young to know or care about too much. how little I knew, and too. Dreamy and sunburned – alone on a hill in the reddening light.-popijininsky
Whisper Of A Dream (Felknia)
FROM THE ARTIST:
WOAD is arps, WOAD is melodies, WOAD is basslines. Let it take you to another side of the universe for an unexpected adventure.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A video game rock opera overture. 8 bit stagecraft, blinking laser show. It’s chunky and swirly and glidey, with little folksong turnarounds.-popijininsky
Sympatheia (PR)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This track combines natural and synthetic sounds in way that is both relaxing and unsettling
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Nothing relaxing here – every time I expect a moment of release, a new tension emerges. It’s spooky, fingerpicked and bloopy.-popijininsky
Letting Go (popijininsky, Porkboii, Somewhat Incognito)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This track was produced as part of Life’s Everyday Soundtrack #9, where five producers flipped a single set of samples from Somewhat Incognito. The inimitable Porkboii joined me on this track about time, and aging, and how every moment matters.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
With production straight from Andromeda Galaxy, be prepared to wait a few extra minutes in your driveway to finish this song when you pull home from work. The artful use of panning and gorgeous soundscape will leave you deeply contemplating life- and maybe motivate you to change it.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
The Fighter (Striped McCoy)
FROM THE ARTIST:
This is the closing track off my EP and i wanted to get a little wild with the distortion chains on this one including delays, harmonies and lotsa big fast drum! Enjoy
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A fitting end to a really special EP. Striped is a world builder, and makes huge sonic spaces that alternate between framing his vocals and just making it easy to close my eyes and just float away-popijininsky
Through my eyes (camoragi)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A conversation you have with yourself in the mirror
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
There’s a subbass rumble in this really pretty track that makes me think there’s a huge truck parked just outside my window. It’s unsettling – makes what would otherwise be soothing into something threatening and spooky. It builds to a smashing dissonant crescendo before subsiding back another odd space.-popijininsky
december (Cool Pictures)
FROM THE ARTIST:
none submitted
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
December is a song fit for every month of the year; this is meant for the chillest vibes- as the title would suggest. The ethereal vocals give the track an incredibly relaxed aura without losing any energy the instrumental brings.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Skinny Feels (Hope Dodge)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Skinny Feels is a song about an eating disorder. The song addresses the realities of what it feels like to become a stranger in your own body.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A theatrical waltz of a showtune – a monologue of the main character in the first act to help establish her motivations and struggles.-popijininsky
rn rn (hmmmmmm)
FROM THE ARTIST:
My blurb: This song has seen the light of day before, but I tweaked the mix a little bit. I don’t mind where it’s at, it’s okay. What do you think of the mix?
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A mellow song. The soundscape is complete and full with trap drums, sythesizer and sub bass. The lyrics and delivery are perfectly grooved with the beat, and you need to listen to this rn.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Somewhere Always (Disconnectica)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Harp, sitar and chipmunks in this epic concoction
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Beautifully composed, and an unlikely combination of fat drums, throaty vocals, and chipmunks make this song an ecletic addition to ANY playlist. The use of sampling and panning and intricate production will keep you on your toes. You have been warned: this is different- and awesome.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Sol (Momentvm)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Inspired by the jazzy side of the 90s era demoscene and videogame music. A final song on an album I’m working on.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
An intensely funky groove; be prepared for a track that progresses at JUST the right pace, never leaving you behind or keeping you in one place.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Prairie Boy Zero (FlukeyMcSwagger)
FROM THE ARTIST:
Newgrass electronica something something.
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
Ambitious in it’s scope, Prarie Boy Zero might best be called “neograss.” Losing yourself in the the forest of strumming, FlukeyMcSwagger will leave you speechlessly pleased.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
Jomamma (Invisible Jet)
FROM THE ARTIST:
A saucy little rock song about Jomamma
REVIEWER SOUNDBITE:
A categorically alt-rock song: An Invisible Jet has concocted a tasty recipe of crashing drums, tempo shifts, guitar solos, and dreamy vocals with their song Jomamma.-HD (HunterDutkiewicz)
“ Everything is surges and camels slipping on sand dunes.”
Now that’s what I call a creative metaphor