Best of 2026

one of the great late-career albums from a major artist, far far better than I anticipated

"In a time where music journalism is increasingly obsessed with what sounds clean, exportable and ready for a Spotify editorial playlist, Maramfa Musick Pro is a necessary disruption. Serokolo 7 has produced an album that acts as a living museum of Bapedi culture, translated through the uncompromising language of DIY electronic music. By refusing to clean up the mix, refusing to dilute the traditional whistles, and refusing to abandon the chaotic, 90s-era sound system aesthetic, he has created a piece of art that is fundamentally resistant to gentrification."

bit jazzy, bit dubby, bit improv, bit krautrock - lots of grooves, great record

old GAS tracks, possibly more drone-orientated but still has that organic feel

dubby, bubbling techno - harder than I anticipated but all the better for it, one to play loud this summer

reminds me a bit of Tortoise at points, need to dig more into their intimidatingly large discography

Maximalist Minimalism, somewhat exhausting but so ecstatic - makes one glad to be alive

bubbling jazz improvisation, a blast to listen to - the tracks are 20 minutes long each but still feel too short

osees-ish psych/garage rock - in the red and raging

rip-roaring death metal, absolutely brutal but enough riffs to keep the interest

great grooves

beautiful trombone jazz

Smoooth jazzy ambient-ish sophisti-pop, nice vibes

one of the best live shows of 2026, a touching celebration of and goodbye to Perry

grungy noise-rock, this band rules

still pumping out great classic death metal albums 40 years into their career, keep coming back to this one

this dude is so consistent

It's The Field - wish every song was about 10 minutes longer tho

bedroom/dubby/post-punk/lofi pop - lovely stuff

The Latin megapowers combine with predictably brilliant results

cool post-rockish/jazzy album, hard to pigeonhole but it all works

beautifully odd ambient using classic Simpsons as it's bedrock

some deep grooves here, shaabi meets psych-jazz meets swirling electronica ; get locked in

Two of the best bands to ever do it still doing it the best, exceptional throughout

DePlume is far far better when he lets the music do the talking. One of the best jazz releases of the year so far

Excellent 'lost' psych-rock album

"eight tracks by Yassine Nana and his group, recorded between 1984 and 1989, during a key moment in Mauritania’s musical history...Influenced by reggae, soul and new wave, these songs integrate drum machines, synthesizers and electric guitars into Saharan musical structures"

Mel C releasing one of the best pop albums of the year wasn't on my 2026 bingo card. Pretty much all dancefloor bangers, lot of fun

Beautiful ambient/sound-art/percussion - feels very intimate, almost like a field recording

love the energy of these guys

"Lucia Kagramanyan brings together an 80 minute Armenian music special, tracing a path from archival folk recordings and sacred hymns to outsider pop, tape warped disco and contemporary underground sounds."

German thrash/speed metal, you'll probably know if it's for you before going in but man this pushes all the right buttons

Techno meets Sun Ra, not as pretentious as that maybe sounds

Game of Thrones(!) influenced melodic Black Metal, clearly not reinventing the wheel but goes hard

Fun album, punky garage rock - lots of energy, what's not to like

Experimental noisy doom jazz fusion, essentially the members of Refused with Mats Gustafsson skronking his saxophone over the top

Everything this guy touches is great, brings new life to minimalist masterpieces

Qobuz exclusive!

nice dronez

Talking Heads songs covered by a whole range of artists from various genres, surprisingly high hit rate

Crushing, metal album of the year so far

The big men are back and haven't missed a step

Hard-edged alt-rap straight out of the 90s/early 00s - not a criticism

Hurdy-Gurdy drone, better than it sounds