26/12/2025
Emir Aksoy
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As we approach the final days of 2025, I got carried away and launched a full-scale email cleanup campaign, going through every single music-related, and sometimes not so music-related, email that landed in the Karşı Müzik inbox since the beginning of the year. As a result, I am finally returning to a music discovery journey I have truly missed but could not make time for lately, with this very Karşı Müzik 2025 Review. (Applause.) I hope that in 2026 I will continue right where I left off, actively using both this site and the Karşı Müzik Instagram page to keep you informed about the alternative side of our music scene, through quarterly and year-end reviews alike:
Karşı Müzik @ Instagram
I have prepared a packed 2025 selection featuring 143 songs. In this list, you will find tracks from singles and albums of various lengths. Of course, there were surely other great releases that slipped past my eyes or ears this year, but based on what reached me, I put together this selection according to my own taste and standards. No lies here, I am genuinely proud of this list. 🙂
Now, a few words on how the list was put together. I completely stopped using Spotify some time ago, so all of this year’s lists were curated exclusively on YouTube, and YouTube Music. To avoid repeating the same musicians back to back, or letting older or newer releases dominate the order unnecessarily, I opted for what I consider the fairest method possible, an alphabetical order based on song titles. To maintain balance between artists who tend to release songs one by one and those who released full albums, I made an effort to include only a few tracks from albums, sometimes just one, choosing the ones I personally liked the most. Naturally, if you enjoy music discovery as much as I do, you can continue this journey on a much broader scale by clicking through to the artists or albums of the songs that catch your attention.
Let’s get to the content. First and foremost, my favorite album of the year is Bir Ada by dear Gökçe Coşkun. For this album, I made an exception and included every single track in the list. This did come at the cost of disrupting the album’s internal flow, but you can of course listen to it separately as a whole. I have also prepared a short favorite albums list for beehy.pe, and I expect their annual world music roundup, which should include my Türkiye selection, to be published around these days. Personally, this compilation is one of the pieces of content I look forward to the most every year, not only as a contributor but also as a music lover. It filters and delivers beautiful music from all around the world, and I end up spending a great deal of time with it throughout the following year.
Back to the Karşı Müzik list. The list opens with “Affedemem Seni” by VAYT, and every release by VAYT made its way into this selection, simply because they are all outstanding. Beyond that, you will come across works by many musicians whose output excited me deeply this year, including Batuah Polat, Elif Çohaz, Can Güngör, Nuri Harun Ateş, Merc, Bade Nosa, Gevende, Bahar Çalışkan, Şenceylik, Nilipek., Melisa Karakurt, Siyah Tavşan, Hilal Kaya, Bîdar, Suat Armağan Koçak, Vera, Dilan Balkay, Seda Erciyes, Ayşe Köksal, Sedef Sebüktekin, Simge Pınar, Selin Sümbültepe, and many others producing equally compelling work.
(Update – 31.12.2025: Over the course of the year, I realized that I had unintentionally missed a few artists and works that I actually enjoyed a lot while preparing the list. These include Melda Bulut‘s Gökyüzünde, Spiral by Emine Bostancı and Franz von Chossy, Nova Norda‘s Aikido-Tekvando, the performances by Sıla, Birsen Tezer, Dilek Türkan & Tolgahan Çoğulu and Batuhan Polat from the mor ve ötesi Saygı1 concert album, Yaprak Sayar‘s interpretations of Eledim Eledim and Çalın Davulları from her EP Bir Yüreğin Türküsü, and finally Neval Yaşasın‘s single Ne Çok Çektim Hasretini. If I notice other omissions over time, I will add further updates.)
KARŞI MÜZİK 2025 REVIEW
In addition to this audio-focused list, I have also prepared a shorter Karşı Müzik 2025 Videos list, featuring music videos, short clips, and performance recordings of the same works, whenever available. Two performances are particularly special to me. The first is the Hakikat/Adalet performance by kahadirbartal and Siyah Tavşan, and the second is Denizdeyim, performed together by Gevende and Şebnem Hassanisoughi at the İrfan Alış memorial event. Beyond these, there are many other wonderful videos waiting for you. For those who enjoy watching as much as listening, let’s bring you over to that list as well:
KARŞI MÜZİK 2025 VIDEOS
In the past, I also used to send out a newsletter via Mailchimp to those who subscribed through the button below, but that part currently feels a bit overwhelming. If you have any suggestions for a simpler and more practical subscription platform, let me know. Maybe in 2026 I will find my way back into your inboxes through a different channel. Another development this year was the launch of my “Günlük Müzik Dozunuz Geldi,” or GMDG for short, channel on my personal Instagram account. I also designated the Karşı Müzik account as a secondary contributor there. In this channel, I share timeless music that comes to my mind under my own name, while fresher releases are shared under the Karşı Müzik banner. It would be great if you joined the channel too. Maybe I will bring it to life a bit more in 2026:
GÜNLÜK MÜZİK DOZUNUZ GELDİ | GMDG
There is also my regularly updated general Karşı Müzik playlist, where I add new discoveries and gradually remove older entries. I have now added this year’s selection there as well. As mentioned, it is a dynamic list, which probably makes it the one most worth following. I would like to share its link with you too.
karsimuzik.com | Karşı Müzik
Let me close with a slightly updated version of my classic but important farewell line, just to keep the tradition alive:
“My wish is that you listen to this music, recommend it to those you think might enjoy it, share it on social platforms, use it to enrich your own playlists, and in doing so, contribute to the spread of beautiful music…”
May 2026 bring better days for all of us. Stay cheerful and well.
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