So, How’s It Going? 2026 Edition
Yeah, that’s about right
Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a year. Oh, various gods, only half a year. And not even that really! I do hope everyone can get into a fast-forward stasis pod soon so as to skip the fascist unraveling of what was once the greatest democratic experiment in history and move onto either The Road or, more pleasantly, being annexed by Canada.
King Merde-Ass aside, it’s been a pretty interesting year for music so far. For me personally, there were only a few bright spots the first month or two (to complement the world situation), but March really started to ramp it up, and now there’s many albums to debate over.
I was originally only going to have the list of the Best Albums So Far, but since we’ll be off until August, and the sheer immensity of May’s output (you’ll see below), I went ahead and included a Listen List as usual. Some on there even made the Best So Far list, so be sure to check them out!
Anyway, let’s get to it…
The Listen List
An update about what’s out now and what people around the internet are talking about
May
**Inferno by Boards of Canada - downtempo
Remember the Humans by Broken Social Scene
**bitknot by Feeble Little Horse - indie pop
Lavender Networks by Fire-Toolz - avant-garde metal
Train on the Island by Aldous Harding - indie folk
For Love of Grace & The Hereafter by Iceage - post-punk revival
FENIAN by Kneecap - political hip hop
Look for Your Mind! by The Lemon Twigs - power pop
Theft World by Lip Critic - synth punk
Gravity Freeze by Little Barrie - psychedelic rock
Heavy Water by Magic Tuber Stringband - appalachian folk music
CO.WAR.DICE by Marmozets - alternative rock
The Boys of Dungeon Lane by Paul McCartney - pop rock
New Racehorse by Media Puzzle - post-punk
the color of rain by aja monet - jazz poetry
Middle of Nowhere by Kacey Musgraves - contemporary country
Blue Morpho by Ed O’Brien - art rock
**Sigils for Survival by Octo Octa - acid house
**REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE by Genesis Owusu - post-punk revival/political hip hop
Happy Today by Jeff Parker ETA IVet - jazz fusion
F.I.G by Naomi Scott - alt-pop
Sol.Hz by Seefeel - ambient dub
Injury Episode by Static Dress - mall screamo
Philadelphia’s been good to me by Kurt Vile - folk rock
Hoopla by Weird Nightmare - power pop
**Foundry by Yu Su - ambient dub
**must listen
Missed from 2025
These were briefly discussed in our first Big Issue of the year, but they’re so good, I feel like highlighting them again. So what? Want to fight about it?
A Paradise in the Hold
Yazz Ahmed
Arabic Jazz
Incredibly beautiful, delicate work that manages to steal my attention for its entire run
Shoutout: Oliver (Deep Cuts)
Closer EP
Mercy Girl
Darkwave
An intense and addictive 18 minutes where each goth-leather-bar-coded song is better than the last. No kidding, I listen to this at least every other day
Shoutout: Tylor
The Best Albums of 2026 So Far
Four of these have been written about in the various “Now Playing” sections of the Big Issues so far this year, but many, many more have not! Only 25 make the cut at our halfway mark, and are listed alphabetically by artist. But since I love so many albums already this year (see: the giant Listen List for May up there), I can’t help but highlight an equal number of honorable mentions that just narrowly missed the cut, but are still definitely worth your time and attention…
The Honorable Mentions
Creature of Habit by Courtney Barnett, Peanut by Otto Benson, My Ghosts Go Ghost by By Storm, The Pleasure Is Yours by GENA, The Mountain by Gorillaz, yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell by The Heads, the apple tree under the sea by hemlocke springs, For Love of Grace & the Hereafter by Iceage, Mutiny After Midnight by Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds, FENIAN by Kneecap, Paradises by Ladytron, Look For Your Mind! by The Lemon Twigs, As of Now by Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, Under My Umbrella by Miss Grit, Vanishing Point EP by NightCrawl, Nine Inch Noize by Nine Inch Nails & Boys Noize, Blue Morpho by Ed O’Brien, Sigils for Survival by Octo Octa, Happy Today by Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, No More Like This by PVA, Sexistential by Robyn, Your Picture by The Sha La Das, IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE by The Twilight Sad, Blame the Clown by Twisted Teens, and Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1 by Xiu Xiu
And with our annual obligatory inclusion of Xiu Xiu complete, let us move on to the top 25 of the year so far. Again, in order of artist name, and links to each album are embedded in the album art.
The Best Albums
Vol.II
Trying Times
Inferno
Love Is Not Enough
Wendy Eisenberg
Written into Changes
bitknot
Train on the Island
E.T.D.S.
Girlfriend
Maybe Not Tonight
URGH
My New Band Believe
An Undying Love for a Burning World
REDSTAR WU & THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE
Singin’ to an Empty Chair
Poem 1
To Whom This May Concern
TIGRAY FUNK
WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA
Slutworld
Distracted
U
Superbloom
Foundry
I hope that’s everything you wanted it to be, or at least gave you some inspiration or new suggestions for what to listen to next. Either way, I appreciate any attention you’ve deigned to give me and my musical opinions. I’ve gone ahead and made a little playlist of the “standout” tracks called out in each album card and organized them a bit for a more…DJ-like experience. Go ahead and try it out…
Oh alright! Here’s a Spotify one too, but know that every one-and-a-half songs there’s an ad for either CBP recruitment or explosive drone production that really fucks up the flow:
As always, fuck ICE, release the Epstein files, and happy listening!
