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.

The main thing on the musical menu today is getting you ready for Sundance, the 3rd edition of Anthony Jasper and Scott Grooves’ end-of-summer dance party at the American Riad happening this Sunday, Sept. 14 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The American Riad is a community space at the corner of Euclid & Oakland in Detroit’s North End neighborhood (you can’t miss it). It’s free, open to the public and an excellent example of dance and music bringing the city together. To preview the event, Anthony Jasper stopped by to chat and I played tracks from Grooves including “E2E4” and “So Glad.”

On top of all that, new music discovery from Deep Sea Diver, JuliaWhy?, spill tab, Cut Copy, Nightbus; a music spotlight on El Michels Affair and their excellent album “24 Hr Sports”; and a track from Andrew Bird’s “The Mysterious Production of Eggs,” which turns 20 this year and will get a special reissue.

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 September 10, 2025

• “Skin Is, My” – Andrew Bird
• “Small Stakes” – Spoon
• “Moonshake” – Can
• “Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes” – Thievery Corporation
• “C.T.F.O” – Jose Junior
• “What Do I Know” – Deep Sea Diver
• “Pale Blue Dot” – JuliaWhy?
• “A Fragile Thing (Mark Saunders Heartbroken Remix)” – The Cure
• “Assis” – spill tab
• “Carry Me Away” – El Michels Affair & Norah Jones
• “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” – El Michels Affair
• “C.R.E.A.M.” – El Michels Affair
• “Once Around the Block” – Badly Drawn Boy
• “Moving Forward (Cosmodelica Remix)” – Bryony Jarman-Pinto
• “How Can We Mend a Broken Heart” – Kahil El’Zabar
• “Step In” – Jeb Loy Nichols & Cold Diamond & Mink
• “5 On A Joyride” – Cody ChesnuTT
• “Cathode Ray” – Folk Bitch Trio
• “Dollar Store (feat. Waxahatchee)” – Ben Kweller
• “Does This Song Sound Familiar? (7″ Version)” – Pearl Charles
• “Afraid” – Flock of Dimes
• “If Only I Could Wait (feat. Danielle Haim)” – Bon Iver
• “Thinkin Bout You” – Frank Ocean
• “All Night” – Romare
• “I’m Doing Fine (feat. Amp Dog Knight)” – Moodymann
• “E2E4” – Scott Grooves
• “So Glad” – Scott Grooves
• “The Ones We Loved” – Georgie Sweet
• “Angles Mortz” – Nightbus
• “Belong To You” – Cut Copy & Kate Bollinger
• “Weak In Your Light” – Nation of Language
• “Evertyhing Is Simple” – Widowspeak
• “Thank You” – Bonnie Raitt
• “I Just Want To Talk To You” – Charles Brown & Sleepy Creek

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.