Inspired by this, here's when I discovered my #THETENX5 picks and HMs - a lot more of my picks came during shortlisting and almost all my HMs were discovered during the challenge.

#THETENX5 Just sent my HMs to Arron. I almost managed to make them all *targeted*, but I felt that there were some tracks I had to vote for or I wouldn't be true to myself, even if they are no hopers or don't need the votes.

#THETENX5 Day 50/50 Every Single Night - Fiona Apple (2012) A vivid picture of nocturnal mental turmoil with a music-box minimalist arrangement earns my 12-points. youtu.be/bIlLq4BqGdg?...

#THETENX5 Day 49/50 Venom - Little Simz (2019) A defiant, rapid-fire antidote to toxic negativity. youtu.be/Kh8Q2iytzns?...

#THETENX5 Day 48/50 The Barrel - Aldous Harding (2019) Charming inscrutable ferret-based oddness. youtu.be/QyZeJr5ppm8?...

#THETENX5 Day 47/50 Cranes in the Sky - Solange (2016) Such a beautiful song; the lyrics resonate deeply. youtu.be/S0qrinhNnOM?...

#THETENX5 Day 46/50 Nobody - Mitski (2018) I am giving this track, with its gleeful duality between lyrics and music, and wonderful transitions, a bonus because of the memories of sharing it with my late wife. youtu.be/qooWnw5rEcI?...

#THETENX5 Day 45/50 Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen (2011) On bonus eve, it's time for some superlative pop perfection. youtu.be/fWNaR-rxAic?...

#THETENX5 Day 44/50 I Love It - Icona Pop ft Charli xcx (2013) Surely the bangiest of all bangers. youtu.be/UxxajLWwzqY?...

#THETENX5 Day 43/50 Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe (2018) And now the first of three songs that do not need the votes. youtu.be/tGRzz0oqgUE?...

#THETENX5 Day 42/50 Freedom - Beyoncé ft. Kendrick Lamar (2016) When deciding which Beyoncé track to pick I settled on this empowering anthem of perseverance linking historic slavery and modern-day police brutality. youtu.be/7FWF9375hUA?...

#THETENX5 Day 41/50 BIPP - SOPHIE (2013) When deciding which SOPHIE track to pick I settled on this single with its insistent vocals and sound design that manages to be both minimalist and packed full at the same time. youtu.be/MVc3Z-bG6Eo?...

#THETENX5 Day 40/50 Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem (2010) Towering over the rest of the album. I was quite obsessed with LCD Soundsystem for years. I almost picked some Nancy Whang side-projects for #THETENX5. I will likely pick two songs for #THEN0UGHTIE5 youtu.be/9ZNkPA_zUd4?...

#THETENX5 Day 39/50 GMF - John Grant ft. Sinéad O'Connor This track is a bit of an outlier in my top 20 but Michelle and I listened to Pale Green Ghosts a lot at the time, so here it is, with its crooning, heartfelt, self deprecating, and mordantly funny lyrics. youtu.be/ekFWPsXXcg0?...

#THETENX5 Day 38/50 Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man (2017) Just for kicks here's a hit song with infectious bassline, triumphant horn section and ultimate earworm vocal hook. youtu.be/pBkHHoOIIn8?...

#THETENX5 Day 37/50 Wait for it ... Do It Again - Röyksopp & Robyn (2014) It may be simple, but it sounds so good, with slippery and squelchy Röyksopp noises and a breakdown that arrives with mmm-mmm anticipation. youtu.be/btBSxtKzF6Q?...

#THETENX5 Day 36/50 Acapella - Kelis (2010) Majestic soaring dancefloor anthem evoking Donna Summer. youtu.be/U8D9xCBcfzw?...

#THETENX5 Day 35/50 See You Again - Tyler, The Creator ft. Kali Uchis (2017) Dreamy arrangement for lyrics about a dream relationship. Sorry I have run out of good segues between tracks. Sorry I am a day late. Will catch up at the weekend. youtu.be/TGgcC5xg9YI?...

#THETENX5 Day 34/50 We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift (2012) A confident, sassy, celebratory, breakup anthem. youtu.be/WA4iX5D9Z64?...

#THETENX5 Day 33/50 Shut Up Kiss Me - Angel Olsen (2016) Robust and punchy instrumentation paired with confident, commanding vocals. youtu.be/nleRCBhLr3k?...

#THETENX5 Day 32/50 Future Me Hates Me - The Beths (2018) More fondly remembered New Zealand hits. Hook filled power pop with wordsmith lyrics and an infectious energy that takes them beyond simple buzz rock arrangements to something more special. youtu.be/iVImwSb4EYU?...

#THETENX5 Day 31/50 Green Light - Lorde (2017) (Continuing with mononymous Kiwi women) Transfixing euphoric neon pop excellence. youtu.be/dMK_npDG12Q?...

#THETENX5 Day 30/50 Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra (2011) (Staying in Melbourne). Hmmm, so I don't really like this song, but I am voting for it because it is a track that my daughter and my late wife bonded over and it has memories. youtu.be/8UVNT4wvIGY?...

#THETENX5 Day 29/50 Avant Gardener - Courtney Barnett (2013) Another laid back woman on drugs who appreciates flowers. And paramedics. youtu.be/bcnIhzaDTd0?...

#THETENX5 Day 28/50 Slow Burn - Kacey Musgraves (2018) Embracing a laid back and mindful lifestyle, taking time to look at the flowers, with LSD contributing to the creative process. youtu.be/NC7cmWkBoz4?...

#THETENX5 Day 27/50 Soothing - Laura Marling (2017) Sultry and intimate study of a deliberate, calm and empowered end to a relationship with a wonderful bass-heavy arrangement. youtu.be/eCS4OTgaHeM?...

#THETENX5 Day 26/50 Bags - Clairo (2019) From one very young singer to another. Sparkling bedroom indie-pop about anxiety with confessing an attraction in case it is unrequited. youtu.be/L9HYJbe9Y18?...

#THETENX5 HM 5/5 Nont for Sale - Sudan Archives (2018) My strings propagate through space and time. youtu.be/3kRlBLPSgY8?...

#THETENX5 HM 4/5 Hello - Martin Solveig & Dragonette (2011) It's okay with me if you don't have that much to say. youtu.be/LnET4RKXx5k?...

#THETENX5 HM 3/5 Wile Out - DJ Zinc feat. Ms Dynamite (2010) I wanna know where this crazy cool is about to go. youtu.be/OKB3hJBvAZY?...

#THETENX5 HM 2/5 Fake ID - Riton & Kah-Lo (2019) I gotta get loose with the Henny and the Coke. youtu.be/Lp__a8p0xCY?...

#THETENX5 HM 1/5 Gold Dust - DJ Fresh (2010) I can't get enough of that sound. youtu.be/RNuUgbUzM8U?...

#THETENX5 Day 25/50 On the Regular - Shamir (2014) Wonderful exuberant colourful bubblegum hip-hop with catchy boastful lyrics and androgynous countertenor vocals. He was only nineteen when he released this. youtu.be/Lp9GgdCgMXk?...

#THETENX5 Day 24/50 Fuck You - CeeLo Green (2010) Irresistible, feel-good, buoyant and joyful Motown-channeling epic. Impossible not to smile and sing along. The MVP of my Fuck You playlist (along with Lily Allen of course). youtu.be/pc0mxOXbWIU?...

#THETENX5 Day 23/50 You Ain't The Problem - Michael Kiwanuka (2019) Enough of this self-deprecating attitude - its time for some triumphant joyful self-belief. youtu.be/ivvs_qL6t_c?...

#THETENX5 Day 22/50 New York Is Killing Me - Gil Scott-Heron (2010) Coda to a career with sparse finger-popping arrangement and raw and ravaged vocals. My votes for the normal track but here is a dark ambient remix that loses the finger-popping and adds ominous visuals. youtu.be/c84Wu3NBOQk?...

#THETENX5 Day 21/50 New York - St. Vincent (2017) Sticking with the melancholy, this time for the end of a relationship or is it a eulogy for the soul of NYC itself? More Annie Clark vote-splitting but this is my favourite for the personal memories it brings. youtu.be/4TPqUvy1vYU?...

#THETENX5 Day 20/50 Goose Snow Cone - Aimee Mann (2017) Inspired by a cat called Goose, this acoustic charmer may be a melancholic rumination on loneliness and isolation from an album called Mental Illness but it's not depressing. youtu.be/fhThS-PJOFE?...

#THETENX5 Day 19/50 Mythological Beauty - Big Thief (2017) A fragile and tender meditation on young parenthood. I never realised it was a photo of Adrienne's mother on the cover of Capacity, holding her new born, and it's her in this video too. youtu.be/ejzzO51e4xI?...

#THETENX5 Day 18/50 My Silver Lining - First Aid Kit (2014) No hidden meanings here. When life brings you pain, you've got to keep on keeping on and find your own glimmer of optimism in the gloom. youtu.be/DKL4X0PZz7M?...

#THETENX5 Day 17/50 Baby Luv - Nilüfer Yanya (2018) Do you like pain? Lushly effervescent, building layer upon layer with lyrics about detachment and suppressing emotions apparently. youtu.be/lmmQuNl_8xc?...

#THETENX5 Day 16/50 Better Sit Down Boy - Confidence Man (2017) Continuing the uptempo party but it is time for the men to take a back seat for a week. youtu.be/KSCELqWCXe0?...

#THETENX5 Day 15/50 Dreams - Beck (2015) A big bold poptastic funky summer jam inspired by MGMT and mixed to be Top 40 radio-friendly but still with some psych-oddness along the way. youtu.be/oTM3YPTYNo0?...

#THETENX5 Day 14/50 Them Changes - Thundercat (2017) Let's have a love song for Valentine's Day. He gave his heart to you and now he's drowning in pain with a broken heart because you threw it away. Oh maybe not then. youtu.be/GNCd_ERZvZM?...

#THETENX5 Day 13/50 We The People.... - A Tribe Called Quest (2016) Continuing with ferocious politically-charged hip-hop: it felt right to place them together. I only just released the lyric is "the ramen noodle". I always thought it was "the rhyming noodle". 🥴 youtu.be/vO2Su3erRIA?...

#THETENX5 Day 12/50 Reagan - Killer Mike (2012) Of course I am going to vote for this hard-hitting critique of decades of neoliberal pitchmen promoting the war on drugs and the prison-industrial complex. youtu.be/6lIqNjC1RKU?...

#THETENX5 Day 11/50 Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) ft. Zack De La Rocha - Run The Jewels (2014) This absolute sledgehammer of a track is the obvious RTJ pick. youtu.be/PkGwI7nGehA?...

#THETENX5 Day 10/50 Nothing is Safe - clipping. (2019) Inspired by John Carpenter’s film scores, the intro to their horrorcore hip-hop concept album with 70's horror movie credits video. clipping. is one of the other bands that my teenage son introduced me to. youtu.be/fIrpLBShe1A?...

#THETENX5 Day 9/50 Fool - Nadine Shah (2015) More stellar post-punk, with a scathing critique of a shallow and pretentious literary poseur lover over a wonderful angular guitar line. youtu.be/XvNH9byrPpo?...

#THETENX5 Day 8/50 Crab Day - Cate Le Bon (2016) I am obsessed with this post-punk art-pop track about embracing absurdity and inventing rituals; so much so that I will use up one of my precious non-single picks on my most indulgent singleton pick of the challenge. youtu.be/y7249oqQO7A?...