Dispatches by Adrian Conoza

2025 was an eventful year, most of us will agree, with the shocking revelations from the investigation of flood control projects, the uneasing reality of rising costs, as well as the ever evolving media landscape. Likewise, this year was eventful personally, leaving me downcast after being clouded by exhaustion, anxiety, and uncertainty. Nonetheless, alongside God's firm hold; the reassuring and caring company of friends, colleagues, church, and family; and, perhaps, memes, it was great music that carried me through all the year's ordeals.  My Tracks of the Year for 2025 feature 100 handpicked songs that have chronicled the past twelve months for me. Out of these, I'm featuring ten songs that have made the most impact, either marking memorable moments or unfolding realizations to carry through the coming year. 1. All I Do - Stevie Wonder 2025 started very well when Trevor Nelson, after hosting a late night show on BBC Radio 2 , started presenting the afternoon show (late ev...

Answering the question " Kumusta ?" ("How are you?" in Filipino) can take a lot of time. Even when one can simply say " Okay lang " ("Just fine"), there's much to expound within those two words, often to find out things haven't really been "just fine." And likely it would take more than a few minutes to explain how one has been. Yet, with work consuming much of my (and my friends') time and energy, I've realized it has not been easy anymore to tell somebody how I've really been. It remains astounding to see that we have passed midway through this year, much more that I've reached another year in life personally, now two years short of marking my third decade (and becoming an older single). Yet, it seems that whenever I've tried to reflect on these spans of time, it's hard to pinpoint where to start. Thankfully, as I've started compiling playlists to mark each year and mid-year, I can now reflect on li...

In the adulting years, I realized, the Christmas and yearend season can get stressful and draining with the blended rush of remaining work, multiple parties, and numerous bouts of shopping and other errands (It's even hard to sneak in writing this piece). Nonetheless, what still gets me excited at this time is the chance to revisit the songs I discovered and enjoyed throughout the year, especially through Spotify Wrapped. More than the songs, I also like to reflect on the moments and thoughts soundtracked by these songs. This led me to a resolve to come up with a playlist of the songs that marked the year, which I call "My Tracks of the Year."  From my inaugural 60 or so tracks playlist last year, I've picked 100 this time. Many of these songs are new releases this year and new discoveries, yet highlights from this year also come from tracks I once heard in the past years but now have deeper meanings to me as they chronicle my musings in the past months.  It's dif...