If you use Spotify, there’s a chance that you’ve seen your daylist, an automatically generated playlist inspired by the time of day and genres you frequently listen to. Right now, mine is Boogie Post-Punk Revival Wednesday Afternoon. However, one of my friends was recommended a Doof Doof Tennis playlist. You may be thinking, what is Doof Doof? What is Tennis, in the sense of a musical genre?
These are normal questions to be asking. I don’t know, either.
In addition to using a whole bunch of genres you’ve probably never heard of before, Spotify has created a whole bunch of microgenres in order to best categorize music to aid their algorithm in recommending your music. A lot of them have silly names. I will be attempting to figure out what some of them actually mean, with the help of the mixes Spotify generates for you for each of these genres.
Doof Doof
To answer my own question, Doof Doof is actually a legitimate genre that Spotify didn’t even create. According to its Wikipedia page, it gets its name from the doof doof of kick drum beats in this style of electronic dance music.
Doof Doof songs Spotify thinks the author would like and the author thinks the reader might like: I Fink U Freeky by Die Antwoord, Da Funk by Daft Punk, and Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys) by Rina Sawayama.
Tennis
The Tennis microgenre is a little more complicated. The artists Spotify put on my Tennis Mix ranged from Charli XCX to AC/DC to Neon Trees. From what I can put together, the main thing linking the songs on this playlist is that they’re of a moderate tempo with a solid beat behind them, like a rally in a tennis match.
Tennis songs Spotify thinks the author would like and the author thinks the reader might like: I THINK by Tyler, The Creator, New Sensation by INXS, and Makeba by Jain.
Egg Punk
This one is also a legitimate music genre, first pioneered in the 2010s. The Wikipedia page says it’s greatly influenced by the band DEVO, with a lo-fi style and DIY influences. I don’t actually recognize any of the egg punk songs Spotify has recommended to me, but after skipping through some of the songs, I could definitely jam to them.
Egg Punk songs Spotify thinks the author would like and the author thinks the reader might like: U Should Not Be Doing That by Amyl and the Sniffers, Slow Learner by Viagra Boys, and Tidal Wave by Thee Oh Sees.
Bed Rotting
Another Spotify-devised microgenre, this one is a bit more cohesive feeling than Tennis. Generally, a lot of slower, depressed songs, ranging from grunge to indie pop. They’re right when they say these are songs you would rot in bed too. I might even go so far as to say many of them fit the vibe I try to achieve on Nighthawks. Not headbangers by any means, but great to listen to when you want to chill out.
Bed Rotting songs Spotify thinks the author would like and the author thinks the reader might like: Nutshell by Alice in Chains, I Know the End by Phoebe Bridgers and Lover, You Should’ve Come Over by Jeff Buckley.
Battle Royale
How Bad Can I Be from The Lorax is on this playlist. I don’t know if that says more about me or Spotify. Anyways, there’s an incredible amount of variety here, and a solid three-fourths of them are songs I could visualize a fight scene in a movie to. Or winning a Fortnite Victory Royale too, but I have no experience in that matter and thus cannot say for sure. They’re all pretty high energy, some having that little aggressive edge that I always enjoy in my music, but certainly all very fun to listen to.
Battle Royale songs Spotify thinks the author would like and the author thinks the reader might like: Shakira! by 1nonly and EGOVERT, Shadow by Livingston, and Elevate from the Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse soundtrack.
Angry Whistling
All of these songs are angry, but astonishingly not all of them feature whistling. The effects in the background of some of them are perhaps whistle-adjacent, one could argue, but if they’re not all angry and feature whistling, I’m not quite sure what the point of this microgenre is. However, the songs are still good, despite the lack of whistling.
Angry Whistling songs Spotify thinks the author would like and the author thinks the reader might like: Where Is the Line by Björk, Personal Space Invader by AJJ, and Leader of the Pack by Wunderhorse.
Of course, there are many more microgenres that Spotify has created. Perhaps next time I’ll try to parse the difference between Gyat and Rizz music, which feels like they should be the same, but what do I know?
Howdy, I’m Oiseau! You pronounce Oiseau like wah-zoh! Oiseau means bird in French, and Nighthawks is a painting and also my radio show. In an ideal world, we have fun and chill times. In the real world, we have fun and chill times, but we also occasionally go a little insane from life’s inevitable longing and melancholy. If this is a surprise, you should go to the Art Institute of Chicago and stand in front of Nighthawks for a little while; perhaps then you’ll understand. Also I talk about birds, because my greatest goal in life is to be a bird. Music happens also.