That’s what I asked Bandwidth’s contributors to help me do last month. Our writers sent me their picks for their favorite D.C. music of 2015 thus far, and the result was this extremely awesome playlist (stream it below).

One limitation, though: I had to pick songs that have been uploaded to Soundcloud. As it turns out, not everybody puts their music on the service. A lot of rock and punk bands, in particular, use Bandcamp, and some artists — for reasons my under-30 brain is still struggling to understand — don’t even put their songs on the Internet for free.

So this playlist still isn’t as exhaustive as I wanted it to be, but it’s still pretty freaking great. Give it a listen on your computer or chosen mobile device, and be sure to chide us in the comments, on Twitter or via email for missing your favorite D.C. music of the year. (Seriously! Send me your nominations — we want to hear it all.)

For more coverage of D.C. music, follow Bandwidth’s Track Work series.

Warning: Explicit lyrics.

Image, clockwise from top left: April + VISTA, Kali Uchis, Young Rapids (partial image), Ras Nebyu, Prinze George (partial image), Visto.

Atlanta indie-rock outfit Semicircle joined the lineup late after a cancelled gig at DC9. They shared the bill with a solid lineup of locals, including post-rock ensemble Polyon, a new band from Typefighter and Joy Buttons member Ryan McLaughlin; Witch Coast, which released one of the best D.C. EPs of 2014; pop-punkers Qualms, featuring members of Big Hush, Sad Bones and The Bowlcuts; and headliners The Obsessives, a two-piece indie-rock band worth paying attention to this year.

Despite blistering cold weather, eventual snow and a Super Bowl halftime performance from the talented Katy Perry, more than 50 people came out for the Dougout’s birthday. Maybe this time next year, they’ll be celebrating another one.

Semicircle

Polyon

Witch Coast

Qualms

The Obsessives