Best of 2026

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

The Latin megapowers combine with predictably brilliant results

cool post-rockish/jazzy album, hard to pinhole 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

Crushing, metal album of the year so far

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

Hurdy-Gurdy drone, better than it sounds