Three straight hours of music released in 2025—the best of the best. Lots of my picks and lots of yours! Thanks to everyone that left a message on the In The Groove hotline with your picks; they were absolutely lovely and mixed right in with the show!

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for December 11, 2025

• “Save Me” – Emma-Jean Thackray

• “Si Chomphu” – Salin

• “SNC” – DARKSIDE

• “YUKON” – Justin Bieber

• “Found A Light (Beale Street)” – BADBADNOTGOOD & V.C.R

• “S.O.T.H.” – Sault

• “Be A Witness” – Lady Wray

• “Sad Makeup” – Yukimi

• “What It Gave Me” – Jordan Rakei & Jalen Ngonda

• “Constellation” – The Circling Sun

• “Puaj” – Salin

• “Alone (Four Tet Remix)” – The Cure

• “Angles Mortz” – Nightbus

• “Listen2me” – Foxwarren

• “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab (Daniel Avery Remix)” – English Teacher

• “Hit My Head All Day” – Dry Cleaning

• “Belong To You” – Cut Copy & Kate Bollinger

• “I’m Not Ready For The Change” – Nation of Language

• “Mercury” – Automatic

• “You got time and I got money” – Smerz

• “Lo Life” – Antibalas

• “Treat Yourself” – Franc Moody

• “Nobody New” – The Marias

• “Garden” – Maria Somerville

• “To Be A Rose” – Jenny Hval

• “Power of the Moon” – Ezra Furman

• “Sugar in the Tank” – Julien Baker & TORRES

• “Elderberry Wine” – Wednesday

• “..THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE )” – SAYA GRAY

• “It’s A Mirror” – Perfume Genius

• “Elegantly Wasted (feat. Leon Bridges)” – Hermanos Gutiérrez

• “Waves” – ISTA

• “Lecker Song” – Yin Yin

• “Stone Shadow” – Glyders

• “Take My Hand” – El Michels Affair & Rahsaan Roland Kirk 

Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

We played three more hours of your top songs and mine on Friday to officially kick off the “Best Of” week of listening. 

Follow along with what our hosts are highlighting as the defining tunes of this year and listen to all of our picks in one place on the Best Of 2025: The WDET Playlist page. 

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for December 12, 2025

• “GOOD LUCK” – KAYTRANADA

• “Another Baby!” – Dijon

• “Rush” – Gerald Clayton

• “Red Moon” – Tom Misch

• “Survivor” – Chronixx

• “Carry Me Away” – El Michels Affair & Norah Jones

• “Heaven” – Yeek

• “SPIDERS” – Lola Young

• “SOS” – Jadu Heart

• “Believer” – Annahstasia

• “Left For Tomorrow” – Perfume Genius

• “Better” – SPRINTS

• “Man Made Of Meat” – Viagra Boys

• “High Vibrations” – Theo Croker, Malaya & D’LEAU

• “Sad Piano House” – Daphni

• “Babystar” – Matthew Herbert & Momoko Gill

• “Eye To Eye (Live From The Royal Albert Hall)” – Jordan Rakei

• “The Seize” – Jordan Rakei

• “N8 Medley (Live at Audio Gold)” – Lawne

• “Nubian Lady” – Don Was

• “Dumb Feeling” – Mei Semones

• “Animaru” – Mei Semones

• “Need To Run” – Matthew Herbert & Momoko Gill

• “Invocation (feat. Onipa, Jupiter & Okwess, Otim Alpha, Damon Albarn & Joan as Police Woman)” – Africa Express

• “MISK” – Roundabout

• “DON’T LISTEN” – corto.alto

• “Coltrane (Crooked Man Remix)” – Cymande

• “Ibiza” – Butcher Brown

• “Road To Nowhere” – Roge

• “Boste” – Oreglo

• “Uno Punto Uno” – Women In Jazz & Rosa Brunello

• “SPOTTIEOTTIEDOPALISCIOUS” – Kassa Overall

• “2close2farr” – Momoko Gill

• “All That We Were” – Georgie Sweet

 

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

A very busy show today! Diving into a world of new music with Mac DeMarco, pôt-pot, Smerz, Glyders and more. 

We spent some time with Acoustic Cafe’s Rob Reinhart, who had the honor of interviewing Todd Snider over the years. The late singer-songwriter died on November 15 at the age of 59.

Plus, Detroit-based artist Via Mardot stops by to talk about her show at the Lager House on Friday. We play a handful of tracks from her album “Higher Higher Burning Fire,” which you can buy directly from the artist via Bandcamp.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for November 19, 2025

• “Moving Forward” – Bryony Jarman-Pinto
• “Day Dreaming” – Aretha Franklin
• “Cruisin’” – Smokey Robinson
• “I Want You” – Marvin Gaye
• “Parabéns (feat. Marcos Valle) [Quarantine Sessions]” – Tom Misch
• “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got (Live)” – Orgone
• “Holy” – Mac DeMarco
• “Hot Scene” – pôt-pot
• “One Tiny Flower” – Jeff Tweedy
• “Easy (Astrid Sonne EDIT)” – Smerz
• “Sleeping Without You Is a Dragg (feat. Justin Vernon & Jenny Lewis)” – Swamp Dogg
• “Count The Days (feat. Jenny Lewis)” – Swamp Dogg
• “Elderberry Wine” – Wednesday
• “Meet Me In The City” – Junior Kimbrough
• “How Can I Lose” – Shirley Ann Lee
• “Avant Gardener” – Courtney Barnett
• “Conservative, Christian, Right Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males” – Todd Snider
• “Better Than Ever Blues (Acoustic Cafe Session)” – Todd Snider
• “When I Get To Heaven” – John Prine
• “In Spite of Ourselves (feat. Amy Taylor)” – Viagra Boys
• “Got You” – Amyl and The Sniffers
• “This Is Who I Am” – Celeste
• “Pining” – Via Mardot
• “Flea” – St. Vincent
• “Crosseyed and Painless (feat. Money Mark)” – Chicano Batman
• “Once In A Lifetime” – WITCH
• “Queenless King” – WITCH
• “Stone Shadow” – Glyders
• “Mother’s Son” – Curtis Mayfield

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

Huge thank you to listener Dean for reminding me that today is Neil Young’s 80th birthday! Would’ve slipped right through my fingers otherwise, so a few Neil Young songs of course plus an excellent Pixies cover of “Winterlong” (a big time favorite around here). Plus new music from Joshua Idehen, Detroit’s own MRKT, Smerz and more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for November 12, 2025

• “It Always Was” – Joshua Idehen
• “Goatnoggin” – Goat & human language
• “Monotropa” – MRKT
• “Easy (Astrid Sonne EDIT)” – Smerz
• “Tie You Down” – HAIM & Bon Iver
• “Elderberry Wine” – Wednesday
• “Take It All” – Say She She
• “Love Hangover (12”)” – Diana Ross
• “Baby I’m Scared Of You” – Womack & Womack
• “Maureen” – Sade
• “Place in My Heart (feat. RYAT)” – Taylor McFerrin
• “Ibiza” – Butcher Brown
• “Wreck” – Neko Case
• “I Wish I Was The Moon” – Neko Case
• “Train Song” – Vashti Bunyan
• “My Love Mine All Mine” – Mitski
• “All Mirrors” – Angel Olsen
• “Transmission” – Joy Division
• “The Chills” – Peter Bjorn & John
• “Just Like Honey” – The Jesus and Mary Chain
• “All I Wanna Do” – Beach Boys
• “Play The Game” – Beach House
• “It Might Have To Be You” – Vulfmon & Evangeline
• “Hurts To Be Alone” – Norah Jones
• “Harvest Moon” – Neil Young
• “Winterlong” – Pixies
• “The Fool” – Steven Bamidele & Sly5thAve
• “Different Places” – Amber Mark & John The Blind
• “Nervous System” – Candi Carpenter
• “Good Ol’ Days” – Hayley Williams
• “Nice To Each Other” – Olivia Dean
• “The Ones We Loved” – Georgie Sweet
• “Constellation” – The Circling Sun
• “Sympathy Magic” – Florence + the Machine
• “Down By The River” – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
• “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)” – Neil Young

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.”