Albums of the Year so far 2026

i thought maybe we could start this thread for 2026 even though it's a lot earlier than when Michael B started last year's thread. i loved having it around to look into things outside of my awareness that other people found excellent. and i wanted an excuse to post about this synth / sax ambient-ish album that came out last week to a wider group of people, which is deeply, wildly beautiful and only after a few listens i feel will be in my top 10 this year.

caterina barbieri, bendik giske - at source
https://caterinabarbieri.bandcamp.com/album/at-source

ty, bookmarked

I loooove this new Esplendor Geometrico album

https://www.rotordiscos.com/catalogo/el-pulso-del-acero-shinkansen/5177/

and this thing

https://passepartoutduo.bandcamp.com/album/pieces-from-places

It's still very early, but this is the best thing I've heard overall so far this year:

https://music-from-memory.bandcamp.com/album/aqu-ticos

So far this year, I'm straight repping my city of Toronto with a new EP by my fave new band, Potions, and their debut EP, potions95:
https://potionspotionspotions.bandcamp.com/album/potions95

RIYL Grizzly Bear, Sam Amidon, two-singer song-for-song tradeoffs, young jazz guys playing freak-folk with a touch o' Gastr

Sending the batsignal out to my friend fgti since if he hasn't heard this group yet he needs to--his old bandmate Matt "Prince Nifty" Smith mixed it

Tomeka Reid, Pat Thomas & XT, Wendy Eisenberg, Ivo Perelman’s albums with Nate Wooley & Wadada Leo Smith, Sunn O))), More Eaze, Bill Orcutt…

I havent listened to many new albums this year but Ive liked these

Dry Cleaning
Mod Lang
Gumshoes

maara - “ultra villain”

Natural Magic - II
https://naturalmagic.bandcamp.com/album/ii

^ the last record that Stirmonster was involved in before we lost him, kind of like Neu doing cosmic rustic psych with a bit of a dubby groove. very organic music to let your mind wander to. yes there are probably a lot of other records out there that would also fit that description (Peaking Lights maybe?), but this is really well done

Top tier:

Jill Scott
Floorplan - Fabric mix

Good:
Dry Cleaning
Momoko Gill
Courtney Marie Andrews
Charli XCX
Iron & Wine
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore

didn’t realize the momoko gill was out yet!

an album i will plug:
gena (liv.e & karriem riggins) - the pleasure is yours

maara - “ultra villain”

― ||||||||, Wednesday, March 4, 2026 7:10 AM (fifty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes

also:

ratboys: singin' to an empty chair
picture: eeeeeee

placid angles: canada

i love that courtney marie andrews album too

florian hecker - natural selection
xaviersobased - xavier
joyce manor - i used to go to this bar
i promised the world - s/t ep
roc marciano- 656

The Jill Scott's wonderful.

also love shane parish’s new album of finger style autechre covers (appropriately titled autechre guitar)

also love shane parish’s new album of finger style autechre covers (appropriately titled autechre guitar)

Tomeka Reid

^^^^ I haven't heard the full album yet but the Bandcamp preview tracks are incredible.

Currently extremely into:

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - Deface the Currency
The Ruins of Beverast - Tempelschlaf

The new Bill Frisell record 'In My Dreams' with his trio + a string trio (live, although it does not sound like a live record) is def on there.

And Ron Carter's album with a giant modern gospel group, 'Sweet, Sweet Spirit'.

stuff I've enjoyed so far:

Ben Vince - Street Druid
Shackleton - Euphoria Bound
Daniel Bachman - Revolutions
PVA - No More Like This
Velv.93 - Maidstone
DJ Sundae - Mirrors
Running Out of Time - Cash Back

Natural Magic - II
https://naturalmagic.bandcamp.com/album/ii

^ the last record that Stirmonster was involved in before we lost him, kind of like Neu doing cosmic rustic psych with a bit of a dubby groove. very organic music to let your mind wander to. yes there are probably a lot of other records out there that would also fit that description (Peaking Lights maybe?), but this is really well done

― Reggaeton Sax (NickB)

Oh this is how I just found out stirmonster passed away. :( He was a legend. So sad to hear this.

also enjoyed John T. Gast - Infant but that's technically 2025 i guess

co-signing the Natural Magic and Fabiano do Nascimento/Eddie Ruscha albums as well

oh shit moka, i'm sorry. it is heartbreaking :(

enjoying the maara

xps also loving the ben vince and velv.93 records

Tomeika Reid is my fav of the year so far

dance! skip! hop! | Tomeka Reid | Out Of Your Head Records https://share.google/IJqkIzPg7A6RaydeZ

this is a terrific new post-punk album from the folks behind Aussie punk bands Total Control and R.M.F.C.:

https://staticshockrecords.bandcamp.com/album/station-model-violence

oh hell yeah, thanks!

Really enjoying the Station Model Violence album so far (as someone pretty divorced from the Aussie 'egg punk' scene/who is unfamiliar with the bands, beyond Mikey Young mastering all the interrelated projects, so it seems)--am esp enjoying how both it as well as R.M.F.C.'s catalogue use 12-string guitar as a textural poppy post-punky secret weapon

totally, the 12-string rules (usually played by Mikey afaict)

Looks like Buz the R.M.F.C. guy is on 12-string, at least if this first SMV gig from 2024 that I just watched is any indication fwiw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6hJvnbJl5M

ah ok! Buz was drumming when I saw them (and his sister (I think) played sax, it ruled)

(them = RMFC)

Perhaps I'll use this thread to spotlight Pieni exit which is the new album by Finnish artist Malla. I chucked a vote at lead single "Toista tilaisuutta ei ehkä tuu" in last year's trax poll, which is broadly representative of the album as a whole: clubby, slightly wintry, lovelorn pop. There's a track with a refrain that sounds so much like peak Luomo ("Resepti") and I think my favourite track of all might be "<3 sanaa", an echo-y high BPM raveup.

other favourites thus far would include:

Girlfriend - Honey Water (accomplished R&B)
Hemlocke Springs - the apple tree under the sea (refer to the thread I started)
Charli XCX - Wuthering Heights (predisposed to love this as a True Romance truther)
Maria Arnal - AMA (Catalan post-Rosalía artpop album)

Melissa Aldana - Filin
Tomeka Reid Quartet - Dance! Skip! Hop!
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - Deface the Currency
Rob Zombie - The Great Satan
Teratoma - Longing Voracity
Immolation - Descent

And I gotta throw in a plug for something that's coming out on my own label:

Ava Mendoza - Alive Alone, Alive Together (a live album, half solo material and half duos with Hamid Drake; coming out 5/22)

Oh, one more:

Melvins with Napalm Death, Savage Imperial Death March

Glad to hear that Melvins/Napalm Death record is good!

Station Model Violence absolutely rules

Early favorites for me:

Barry Walker Jr - Paleo Sol
Wet Tuna - VAST
Blackwater Holylight - Not Here Not Gone
Hallas - Panorama
Eximperitus - Meritoriousness of Equanimity
Ratboys - Singin' to an Empty Chair
Converge - Love is Not Enough

(haven't played the new Messthetics or Cryptic Shift yet, but expect good things)

caterina barbieri, bendik giske - at source
https://caterinabarbieri.bandcamp.com/album/at-source

― map, Tuesday, March 3, 2026 8:18 PM (one week ago)

I'm moving slowly this year, but this is fantastic

Co-sign on the new Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis. Better, weirder and fiercer than before.

new sideshow album tigray funk absolutely lives up to the hype. been a fan of his for a while, and this is his best work by far.

enjoying barbieri/giske and tomeka reid bunches, thankin u ilx

fans of long hypnotic cosmic drone-y electronica: i recommend giving Nathan Dawidowicz - Fluff a spin

this is a terrific new post-punk album from the folks behind Aussie punk bands Total Control and R.M.F.C.:

https://staticshockrecords.bandcamp.com/album/station-model-violence

― alpine static, Thursday, 5 March 2026 17:44 (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is fantastic

^ The Bandcamp description is great. Listening to "Heat" now.

"Heat" is an insanely good song. I'll probably linger on it for a while before checking out the whole album.

Natural Magic and Station Model Violence pair together well, I'm down with the 2026 motorik revival

Really enjoying the new Shackleton album Euphoria Bound

https://samshackleton.bandcamp.com/album/euphoria-bound

the new neurosis album with aaron turner is really lyrical, heavy and unique

https://neurosis.bandcamp.com/album/an-undying-love-for-a-burning-world

The Moth by Chicago trio, Cancer House, is terrific and actually lives up to expectations evoked by the Bark Psychosis and Hood comparisons. Another gem from the motion ward label although not really like anything else mw has so far released

http://motionward.bandcamp.com/album/the-moth

*Chicago quartet, not trio

Jason Moran - Plays Duke Ellington (Bandcamp only, not streaming anywhere)
Immolation - Descent

so far, there are the records from 2026 that i've enjoyed the most.
with high hopes for the new charlie puth's record, but still didn't have the chance to listen to it.

bill callahan - 'my days of 58'
bill orcutt - 'music in continuous motion'
cergio prudencio - 'antología 2 : obras para la orquesta experimental de instrumentos nativos'
FdeVACA - 'circus suburbia'
força maior - 'morte lilás'
frankie & kelman duran - 'mcarthur'
jack sheen - 'press'
kmru - 'kin'
laurel halo - 'midnight zone (ost)'
maaara - 'ultra villain'
phibes praetorius & ugurgkuliktavikt - 'arnold schöenberg: streichquartett nr. 4, op. 37 - utterly dismantled'
picture - 'eeeeeeee'
ratboys - 'singin' to an empty chair'
rosie carney - 'doomsday... don't leave me here'
serpente - 'visita do fogo'
sissi rada - 'nana butu'
the soft pink truth - 'can such delightful times go on forever?'
xavier - 'xaviersobased'

some stuff I enjoyed listening to in March:

Group Rhoda - Phase 5
Klein Volk - In Weelde Verbrast
Chantal Michelle - All Things Might Spill
Avalon Emerson & the Charm - Written into Changes
Kali Malone & Leila Bordreuil - Music for Intersecting Planes
Nomad War Machine & Susan Alcorn - Contra Madre
Maria BC - Marathon
Ms Ray - Melt EP
Fallen Flowers - s/t
Craven Faults - Sidings

love the new kali malone

I'm really digging both new Wet Tuna albums

felt like making a list

Excellent
Caterina Barbieri & Bendik Giske — At Source
Tomeka Reid — dance! skip! hop!
Shabaka — Of the Earth
Avalon Emerson & the Charm — Written into Changes
Various Artists — Fight the Fire: Digital Reggae, Conscious Roots and Dub in Nigeria 1986-91
My New Band Believe — s/t
MEMORIALS — All Clouds Bring Not Rain
Hannah Peel & Beibei Wang — The Endless Dance

Just bubbling under
Ari Lennox — Vacancy
Joshua Idehen — I know you're hurting, everyone is hurting, everyone is trying, you have got to try
Wendy Eisenberg — s/t

Enjoyed but need to listen again/more
Gregory Uhlmann — Extra Stars
Bill Orcutt — Music in Continuous Motion
Sofia Kourtesis — DJ Kicks
Lykke Li — The Afterparty
Boards of Canada — Inferno
Jeff Parker & ETA IVtet— Happy Today

Haven't gotten to yet
SML live
Kali Malone
Seefeel
Yazz Ahmed

Gotta do it:

Boards of Canada - Inferno

It's already top 3 on the year for me, but I have a lot of catching up to do.

More electronic but lots of instruments too:
Crespi Drum Syndicate - Colada Talk (might be the mvp)
Shackleton - Euphoria Bound
Upsammy & Valentina Magaletti - Seismo
Air Max '97 - Fool's Errand EP
Martyn - Music for Existing

Jazz:
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet - Happy Today
Kenny Reichert - Live in Chicago (Shifting Paradigm)
Immanuel Wilkins - Live at the Village Vanguard vol. 1
Walter Smith III - Twio vol. 2
John Scofield & Dave Holland - Memories of Home

Mostly instruments but also electronics, ambient interzone:
Gregory Uhlmann - Extra Stars
Shane Parish - Autechre Guitar
Memotone - Warm Shadows
Rosenau & Sanborn - Two
fields we found - thoughts persist
Força Maior - Morte Lilás
Isabel Pine - Fabels

Also really looking forward to that new Vince Staples tomorrow.

feeling both rob and jordan's lists

Jordan, thanks for the heads up with Upsammy - had no idea this was out, despite seeing her twice in two nights at Parameter.

Glad I'm not the only one digging the Shackleton - that entire album is a just a massive vibe. I bet Sean Booth has been digging it too. I'll check out the Crespi Drum Syndicate and Martyn too, thanks!

mine's short so far, there are still a few i need to check out. right now i'm waiting with baited breath for the king gizzard & lizard wizard album tbh.

caterina barbieri and benedik giske - at source
converge - love is not enough
neurosis - an undying love for a burning world

bated breath!

Rhododendron's Ascent Effort is mine right now.

I really like the Memotone too. Thanks for the reminder to go back to the Barbieri/Giske, map

some other random albums I’ve enjoyed this year:

Anthony Calonico - Spacious Heart
Aldous Harding - Train on the Island
Yu Su - Foundry
Sergeant - Symbols
No You - s/t
Visit Me - Daystar
Devon Rexi meets John T. Gast - Breathstep
Foote/Dickow - High Cube
Holy Fuck - Event Beat
Lucy Liyou - MR COBRA
OHYUNG - IOWA
Félicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou - Reflections vol. 3: Water Poems

Joyce Manor, Cola, um... need to listen to more new stuff.

Station Model Violence - S/T
Potions - Potions95
Bill Orcutt - Music In Continuous Motion
Luke Temple - Hungry Animal
Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World
Les Rallizes Dénudés - Disque 4: '76 Studio Et Live (reissue/archival)
feeble little horse - bitknot

https://d32yfsbcvr2c70.cloudfront.net/content/uploads/2026/05/Angine-de-poitrine-.png

Calcutá - Soon After Dawn
Cancer House - The Moth
Magic Tuber Stringband - Heavy Water
Daniel O’Sullivan & Richard Youngs - Persian Carpets
Pefkin - Unfurling
Schatterau - Wir gingen durch leere Stunden
Water Is The Sun - Ritual Fever
Zoviet France - The Gate Is Open

Matryoshka – Blasé Saint

https://sferic.bandcamp.com/album/blas-saint

Ahmed - Play Monk
Angine de Poitrine - Vol. II
Blankenberge - Decisions
Brown Horse - Total Dive
Zach Bryan - With Heaven on Top (Acoustic Version)
Feeble Little Horse - Bitknot
Flatland Cavalry - Work of Heart
The Julies - Cherisher
Morgan Nagler - I’ve Got Nothing to Lose, and I’m Losing It
Prism Shores - Softest Attack
Searows - Death in the Business of Whaling
Waterproof Goldstar - Canyon Flourish Town
WEED420 - Esto no es un show
Whitelands - Sunlight Echoes

I'll need to think about mine a little, but glad to see some love for that excellent Brown Horse album.

thanks for pointing that out, it's kinda hooking me right off.

Queen Esther - Blackbirding
Emily Scott Robinson - Appalachia
Nathan Evans Fox - Heirloom
Magic Tuber Stringband - Heavy Water
India Ramey - Villain Era
Boy Golden - Best of Our Possible Lives
Jessye DeSilva - Glitter in the Dark
Cat Clyde - Mud Blood Bone

love these threads, always so much to follow up on

I don't get the Magic Tuber album at all but I think it's a me problem

some faves so far

Object Hours – Solved By Walking

Basic – s/t

Wet Tuna – Vast

Setting – s/t

Thurston Moore & Bonner Kramer – They Came Like Swallows

Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – Happy Today

Bill Orcutt – Music in Continuous Motion

Prymek & Sage – Shelter

Winged Wheel – Desert So Green

Jason P. Woodbury & the Night Bird Singing Quartet – s/t

Marielle V Jakobson – The Patterns Lost to Air

Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart – Body Sound

Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears – Inner Principles

Spencer Cullum – Coin Collection 3

David Moore – Graze the Bell

too many new things to listen to, slow down everyone

xp - yeah, I'm also having trouble connecting with that Magic Tuber Stringband stuff. seems like something I should like, but I'm not finding a way in.

so far...

Ruins of Beverast - Tempelschlaf
Elder - Through Zero
Cryptic Shift - Overspace & Supertime
Mors Verum - Canvas
Martyn - Music for Existing
Boards of Canada - Inferno
Aleksi Perala - Dream / Vibrations
ELUCID & Sebb Bash - I Guess U Had To Be There

Six Sex - ULTRA
Myaap - Pixie Dust
JayJayy - Detour
Fallon - Winter Princess
Robounoishi - Album 13
Fif - The Lower Forty-Eight
LinLin - Disco Inferno
Juky San - ĐẪM TÌNH
Djy Biza - Art of War
DJ M13 DA ZOL: No Ritmo Do Caos
La Joaqui - Electra
Djy Ora - The SGIDONOLOGIST2
Whodamanny - Onda Biloba

co-sign a lot of these, especially station model violence, setting, myaap, my new band believe, messethetics, gregory uhlmann, cancer house, feeble little horse, jill scott, shane parrish, elucid, yu su

some favorites that haven't been mentioned yet
booker stardrum - close-up on the outside
julian lage - scenes from above
heavensouls - westside trapped
arima ederra - a rush to nowhere
robber robber - two wheels move the soul
ulrika spacek - expo
jump source - fold
media puzzle - new racehorse
naomi scott - f.i.g.
estee nack & cookin soul - al-andalus
lemon twigs - look for your mind!
bill orcutt & mabe fratti - almost waking
veeze - y'all won
thomas dollbaum - birds of paradise
rainao - marcria
iceage - for love of grace & the hereafter
ear - rumspringa

been a good half-year

oh and

isaiah rashad - it's been awful

okay fine, in no particular order beyond when I got them this year:

Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
Barry Walker Jr. - Paleo Sol
Searows - Death in the Business of Whaling
Wet Tuna - VAST
Blackwater Holylight - Not Here Not Gone
Earth Tongue - Dungeon Vision
Ratboys - Singin' to an Empty Chair
Backengrillen - Backengrillen
Worm - Necropalace
Converge - Love is Not Enough
The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis - Deface the Currency
Cryptic Shift - Overspace & Supertime
Sunday Mourners - A-Rhythm Absolute
Bill Orcutt - Music in Continuous Motion
Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds - Mutiny After Midnight
Bill Callahn - My Days of 58
Weedpecker - V
Desert Collider - Generation Ship: Endless Drift Through Infinity
Ovven - Gnawing at the Cord
Sunn O))) - Sunn O)))
Shabaka - Of the Earth
Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection - 3
The Heads - yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell
Charlotte Cornfield - Hurts Like Hell
Sluice - Companion
MEMORIALS - All Clouds Bring Not Rain
My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe
Ella Langley - Dandelion
Flea - Honora
National Photo Committee - Red Hot Photo Committee
Friko - Something Worth Waiting For
Setting - Setting
Truckfighters - Masterflow
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet - Happy Today
Les Rallizes Denudes - Disque 4 - '76 Studio et Live

behind on releases from the past few weeks as I've been insanely busy between the kid's travel baseball season and work

the Wet Tuna "Auds Don't Leak" live set is killer too, esp the version of "Candy Says"

they have another new live thing that I haven't even heard yet!

yeah the Tuna live stuff is phenomenal (and tough to keep up with haha)

2026 thus far:

station model violence - st
maria arnal - AMA
dream sitch - 3
charlotte cornfield - hurts like hell
frederic d oberland and radwan ghazi moumneh - Eternal Life No End ليلة ظلماء ملعونة، كحياة طالبيها
les louanges - alouette!
asher white - jessica pratt
jeff parker ETA IVtet - happy today

maybe Slippers will make it?

Thanks to all for the recommendations. Gotta clear some listening time ASAP

top five so far this year:

hannah peel & beibei wang: the endless dance
avalon emerson & the charm: written into changes
picture: eeeeeeee
olof dreijer: loud bloom
jump source: fold

secret favorite album of the year: all the new luomo singles compiled

all the new luomo singles compiled

cosign

they really are incredible

Good to see the word is finally getting out re Luomo

faves so far have probably been Octo Octa, Dry Cleaning, Roy Montgomery, Mitski, Tanya Tagaq

Mandy Indiana - URGH
Lip Critic - Theft World
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
The Field - Now You Exist
underscores - U
dalek - Brilliance of a Falling Moon
Octo Octa - Sigils for Survival
Kurt Vile - Philadelphia’s been good to me
Shackleton - Euphoria Bound
hemlocke springs - the apple tree under the sea

In addition to some already mentioned (Ratboys, Avalon Emerson, Robber Robber) I really like Blame the Clown by Twisted Teens. New Orleans garage punk with pedal steel. I saw them play a few months ago, good live show too.