All the albums I've listened to in 2026:

(01/26/2026) It's really good, unsurprisingly! Knew a lot of the big hits from this record, but the whole thing is great as a package. Some really great ear-grabbing bass lines, I love how far up in the mix they are! And Julian Casablancas' voice is just perfect for the sound of this album. Great record!

(01/22/2026) My local library has a public use vinyl station, and I listened to the entirety of this record via vinyl while I journaled for an hour and change! So many interesting textures and instrumentals on this, its such a vibe. Lots of little moments that caught my attention as I wrote, but still perfect as a background piece to work to! Will absolutely be coming back to this.

(01/22/2026) This is one of those albums that should be totally my shit on paper - loud, emotional, abrasive with messy and raw production - but no matter how many listens I give it, I just can't totally connect with it. I do like it quite a bit, and songs like the opener, My Sputnik Sweetheart, and Porcelain Hands are stellar. There's so much good on here! And I want to totally love it! But I just don't mesh with it in the way I wish I did. I still would love to check out Hornet Disaster sometime this year to see if that connects with me more.

(01/21/2026) This album helped me realize more of what I value in albums, and why I didn't really connect with this one. I think it's several things - the pacing, the lack of variety in structure and lyrical themes, and the lack of cohesion within the tracklist.

My favorite album of all time, plastic death by glass beach, has all of those things in spades. It's a perfectly paced, beautifully crafted piece of work that feels less like disparate songs and more like a grand musical journey touching on bodily autonomy, being queer and trans in an abstract sense, lack of connection, etc. It's amazing, and I always find something new to appreciate on each subsequent listen.

But this just doesn't really bring any of that for me. This album knows what it wants to be - a very fun, punchy, cute record about love and the woes of romantic relationships - and I don't mind that on it's own! I just wish it got more strange and playful with it's sound and lyrics. It's very in one ear, out the other for me. I appreciate when an album surprises me, but I felt like I knew each song's trajectory in the first few seconds. I respect this album, but it's just not my thing.

(01/17/2026) Fun and funkier than I was expecting! Will listen to it again at some point when I'm not on a 13 hour split shift and can give it my full undivided attention - even in my stupor it's a fun ass album!

(01/17/2026) I've spent enough time going insane trying to decrypt this puzzle box of a game that I would be doing myself a disservice to not throw this on here. What a stellar soundtrack for an utterly entrancing, maddening game! The fluttery, quiet synths and pianos throughout the soundtrack will be sticking with me for a long time.

(01/16/2026) I had no expectations for this - I found this record through my regular library CD scrounging and thought the cover was pretty - but man what a beautiful little EP! Some beautiful instrumentals, (specifically the guitar work, and just all of Milkweed god damn) wonderful lyricism and phenomenal production. This is one I will absolutely be returning to - I'll have to check out more of Iron & Wine's discography too!

(01/15/2026) It's pretty, but it is BEGGING for some more grand and lush instrumentation. Not bad - the vocals are wonderful, and some songs do go the distance instrumentally - but not something I'm likely to return to.

(01/14/2026) This is really good, but wow it hits uncomfortably close to home. A hard listen just with how pertinent and emotional the lyricism is - I'll definitely be sitting with this one a lot more this year when I'm in the headspace for it. The title track, and Dead Friend are particular highlights - the latter is brutally sad, but so so good.

(01/12/2026) I was introduced to Bon Iver through SABLE, fABLE, so going back through his older works has been fascinating. This one in particular feels like a very interesting middle ground between the electronic experimentation on SABLE, fABLE, and the gorgeous, understated acoustic balladry on his self-titled. I don't know if it all works for me - some of it felt a little too loose and meandering to really keep my attention - but it's still characteristically gorgeous, and was a pleasant listen the whole way through. Salem is particularly great, and the sax solo at the end of Sh'Diah is stunning. I think this could be a huge grower of an album for me this year!

(01/09/2025) Of course I had to check out the other music from Iglooghost's Neō Wax Bloom era! This feels like a more brash and moody take on the sound of the main album, and it is stupidly fun and head-spinning. Excited to check out Clear Tamei soon! Also, I love the weird storylines these projects are tied up in - Iglooghost has such a great visual/narrative flair about his work.

(01/09/2026) Absolutely spellbinding. God Turn Me Into a Flower is particularly, unbelievably gorgeous. Making me have a transcedental, out of body experience at the DMV is a testament to this records beauty. Will for sure be returning to this several times, and probably revisiting Titanic Rising as well! Loved it.

(01/08/2026) Found this record through Robert Rackley's "Rotate!" list - it's pleasant! I don't think the heavily drenched reverb/uniform dynamics totally work for me - a lot of it just slid over me because of those qualities. But it's still pretty! Tracks like Past Romantic, with it's lovely brain scratching compressed drumming and synth lead, and Swirl with those huge reverbed snare strikes on the backhalf were some standout moments. Glad I checked it out - maybe I'll click with it more on a revisit at some point!

(01/05/2026) Such a fucking jammin' album!!! Hell yeah!!! Insanely intricate and lush instrumentals with stellar vocals that fit perfectly into the mix. Drifting, My Friend and In from the Storm were particular highlights, but all these songs are great! I also saw that this was a posthumous release after his passing in 1970, and the fact that it still feels so cohesive and lush in spite of that makes me so curious to check out the rest of his work.

(01/04/2026) Found the CD for this for 99 cents at a thrift store - the very nineties album art caught my eye immediately. And while I didn't love it - wasn't a huge fan of the song structure and pretty simple instrumentals, they mostly just washed over me - Cole's voice easily carried me through my full listen. Such an amazing, fiercely emotive vocalist - Tiger and Carmen were some standout tracks in that regard!

(01/02/2026) Insanely playful and experimental electronica - as soon as Super Ink Burst came on, I dropped everything to listen to the rest. That saxophone paired with the driving synths and drumlines is to DIE for. Loved this! Need to check out more Iglooghost this year.

(01/01/2026) Technically first heard it on the 30th of last year but I don't care this game and this soundtrack are fucking phenomenal. Some of the best maximalist, driving drum and bass I've ever heard. TYRANTS BETTER RUN is an all-timer final song for any game ever.