Hey everyone! It’s been a long way and I’m happy to wrap up this successful event. As is tradition, we’ve saved one last massive drop of music to ring in the New Year.
Before we dive into the tracks, one last massive Thank You to the authors who contributed so much great content! This event was so close to not happening at all, but you all stepped up on short notice and turned this event into something legendary. Before we begin, here’s a recap of all the releases to make sure you didn’t miss anything:
Day 1, Slot 1: Kickoff
Day 1, Slot 2: The Strokes 6-pack! by jphn & JIManji
Day 2, Slot 1: The Sundays Double Album Series! by Yaniv297
Day 2, Slot 2: “Insite + Aurum” (Bonus: “Valiente + Antonio Niram”) by Andrew etf
Day 3, Slot 1: Minutemen 6-pack! by Jphn
Day 3, Slot 2: Punk Rock Christmas! by MrPrez
Day 4, Slot 1: AIRHeads Do the Classics, part 1! (1954-1969) by AIRHeads
Day 4, Slot 2: Top of the Pops 2025 by JIManji
Day 5, Slot 1: Van Morrison! by Yaniv297 & BornGamerRob
Day 5, Slot 2: FLAVOR FOLEY by Emotional Flight
Day 6, Slot 1: Yaniv’s Heroes pack by Yaniv297
Day 6, Slot 2: Pick ‘n’ Mix Pack 03 by JIManji
Day 7, Slot 1: AIRHeads Do the Classics, part 2! (1970-1981) by AIRHeads
Day 7, Slot 2: Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (3-Pack) by TheFrisk
Day 8, Slot 1: Country Pack by SpinDoctor
Day 8, Slot 2: Men At Work Pack! by SomeOldGuys
Day 9, Slot 1: PJ Harvey’s “Dry” Album Series by jphn & Yaniv297
Day 9, Slot 2: Re-Dux, Re-Tool, Re-Do! by CapnKris
Day 10, Slot 1: David Bowie pack by jphn & Yaniv297
Day 10, Slot 2: Canada Day in December Pack by MrPrez
Now, let’s get into the final songs of 2025. Click any visualizer to download the songs!
SpinDoctor
Opening the finale is SpinDoctor, bringing two major rock cuts to keep the energy high. First up is Smokie’s “I’ll Meet You at Midnight,” followed by the driving energy of The Kinks’ “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman.”
AddyMills
AddyMills says:
Back in November when Sleeperwave was grinding the unreleased cover of “You Can’t Bring Me Down” in Rock Revolution, I jokingly said I should make a custom of the real version. Then, when egged on my Kira4Ever, I was convinced to actually do it. So here we are! It’s become one of my favourite songs to listen and I’ve not gotten sick of it since finishing the custom, a rarity for customs in my opinion! If you’re a music theory nerd, one interesting thing about this song is that the guitar accents its notes completely different to drums and bass, leading to some interesting sounding verses.
Fbs13
Dawn of Ages – Double bass version here
Take My Chance – Double bass version here
Happy New Year! Fbs13 here. This is my first contribution to “Custom Holiday Bash”. Initially, I planned to release a 10+ song pack intended for the daily release, but unfortunately got sick in early December and had to postpone the pack so that I could polish it for future release (maybe in February).
As for today’s release, as a metal author representative (lol), I decided to finish and finally release two Power Metal songs that have been sitting in my WIP folder for years. Enjoy!
Professor Bass
Professor Bass keeps things modern and high-energy with a trio of tracks. We have the heavy-hitting “HOES DEPRESSED” (double bass version here) and “Pound Cake” from THOT SQUAD, alongside the sleek sounds of Bershy’s “Radio.”
Ghostbyob
Aka: the Trololo song
jphn
jphn says:
A song that’s landed near the top of my Spotify Wrapped year after year, “Purity of Heart” is a math-pop masterpiece with a surprisingly thoughtful message about self-acceptance as a form of emotional resolution. Fans of noise-leaning indie bands like Pile and Ovlov will feel right at home — and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up on your Wrapped next year too!
MrPrez
CAGE THE ELEPHANT “NIGHT RUNNING (FT. BECK)” “NIGHT RUNNING”
features a driving bassline, funky guitar riffs and a pulsating rhythm, drawing influence in equal parts from Talking Heads and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frontman Matt Shultz and Beck trade off verses, and a call-and-response chorus, drawing a contrast between Beck’s relaxed, melodic delivery and Shultz’s raw and reverb-heavy performance. The song has been cited as a prime example of how Cage The Elephant evolved their sound from garage rock to atmospheric experimentation.
R.E.M. had several sonic transitions over their career, and in 1994 moved away from the mandolins and acoustic sounds of Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992) to embrace loud, distorted guitars. One of several tracks on the album to feature extensive tremolo, both on guitarist Peter Buck’s fuzzy distorted performance, and on vocalist Michael Stipe’s shaky and warped delivery. The song is a tribute to the glam rock aesthetics of the 1970’s, specifically New York Dolls. Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) appears on the track to provide backing vocals and backing guitar.
Referred to as a ‘spiritual successor to “Badfish”‘ and ‘the most authentic Sublime track since 1996’, “Ensenada” features the revived Sublime lineup of Bud Gaugh, Eric Wilson and Jakob Nowell (yes, Bradley Nowell’s son) on vocals and guitar. The first new song in three decades – the song is a wonderful return to form, a heartfelt blend of reggae, punk and California soul. It’s both an homage and an evolution, a modern and fresh sound for the band while steeped in the heart of Ensenada.
FujiSkunk
FujiSkunk says:
In 1968, the Beatles founded Apple Records to release not only their own output, but also to promote albums of artists they happened to like. One of the first artists they signed was a young American by the name of James Taylor. Once the contract was in place, Taylor flew to England to record at Trident Studios, home of the Beatles’ upcoming “White Album”, and where the Fab Four would be able to call in favors and surround Taylor with the talent he needed for his debut album. Taylor soon found himself homesick, but like any good artist, he channeled that emotion into his songwriting, and created “Carolina in My Mind”, one of his most enduring and most-covered songs. When it came time to release a greatest hits package in 1976, Taylor decided to rerecord two of his earlier tunes in the contemporary folk style he had since adopted. This new recording of “Carolina in My Mind” became even more popular than the original, and helped Greatest Hits go on to sell more than 11 million copies in the U.S. alone! Fun trivia: The original version of the other rerecord, “Something in the Way She Moves”, inspired George Harrison to write one of his most famous Beatles tunes, “Something”!
By 1988, Duran Duran was evolving, a necessary move after losing two of their founding members and realizing their signature New Wave sound wasn’t quite so “new” anymore. The evolution began in earnest with their 1986 album Notorious and then continued with 1988’s Big Thing, populated with experimental songwriting that often didn’t seem aimed at dominating the pop charts, but nevertheless made a respectable impact. Second single “All She Wants Is” became Duran Duran’s last top 10 U.K. hit in the ’80s, and remains the album’s most-remembered song. I was inspired to chart this tune after discovering mvsep.com and its newer AI-powered audio separation tools. I threw this song at one of the newest full-band algorithms, and the results were so surprisingly good that I just got to work and started charting!
So when RB3 authoring group Pixel Beat announced their third batch of video game music, I once again wanted to make sure ’80s arcade chiptunes got their proper share of the spotlight! The first time around I authored the theme to Space Harrier, composed by legendary Sega musician Hiroshi “Hiro” Kawaguchi. From OutRun to After Burner, Hiro is responsible for some of Sega’s most popular arcade music. I decided once again to shout Hiro’s praises, this time with my favorite tune from kart racing game Power Drift, “Like the Wind”. Just like the Space Harrier theme, “Like the Wind” is not ashamed of the technology, with drums far more involved than any mere mortal can play! I’ve charted what I think is a playable arrangement with a 2x-kick option, but again, be prepared for a workout!
Yaniv297
Finally, it’s my turn to close the show. Huge thanks again for all the participants! I wanted to end the event with a set of songs that capture that specific end-of-the-year feeling – a little bit of reflection, a little bit of melancholy, a bit of happiness and a lot of heart.
We’re starting with Wilco’s “Kamera,” a great track from their masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – which I actually didn’t touch since I authored 4 of their songs very early into my authoring career. Next up is The Lemonheads’ “My Drug Buddy” – one of Evan Dando’s most vulnerable and genuinely beautiful moments, a song that captures the blurred lines between friendship and drug dependency. From there, we hand things over to the masters: Radiohead, with the haunting atmosphere and layered tension of “Decks Dark” and it’s super beautiful arrangement.
To end the Customs Holiday Bash once and for all – we’re closing with The Pogues’ “Rainy Night in Soho.” It’s a song about the passage of time, the beauty of shared memories, and the people who stay with us. It feels like the perfect way to say goodbye to this event and hello to 2026.
Thanks again for all the participants – it was great!
Enjoy the many, many new songs in your library. And a happy new year to everyone!
