Best Ever Albums

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 21:54:13 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 10/03/2026 01:54

musicoed wrote:

The first artist is someone who has long held a firm place on my list of the best albums of all time.
I also consider this year's album—at this point—to be at least the album of the week. Unfortunately, there is a link only for the lead single.
Deep Forest - Soul (2/X-2026/40) (Album)

Amazon Music has the whole album:
https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B000RSDJS0/deep-forest

I see that their debut LP is 38/75 on your all-time chart, but it looks like they're at least a duo, it's not just the French guy who looks like Rick Wakeman.

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 13:31:04 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 10/02/2026 17:31

Romanelli wrote:

musicoed wrote:

I don’t think Todd Rundgren has anything against women in music. He opposes the mediocrity that gets hidden behind attractive female faces—using them like masks. I am well aware of the current state of women's rights globally. Yet, no matter how hard the world tries, women remain the physically weaker sex. This means they are still easier to manipulate. So, in my view, there are usually men behind all these masks—whether the face is a woman’s or an AI’s. And these men have found a way to monopolize the music industry. This didn't happen overnight; today, we are seeing the consequences that inevitably arise when competition is absent.

So many questions...

Um...yes, Todd Rundgren obviously DOES have a problem with women in music. Female singers are wearing masks to hide their mediocrity? Women are the weaker sex...the same women who handle the pain of childbirth? Women are easier than men to manipulate? Men are the reason for the success of women in music? Men monopolizing the music industry didn't happen overnight? The competition is absent?

Really?

REALLY??

Romanelli wrote:

musicoed wrote:

Romanelli wrote:

... The competition is absent?
Really?...

I could be mistaken, but it seems you refuse to spend time looking for new music. I believe you even mentioned a five-year timeframe. Is that the amount of time needed to take rankings seriously? Incidentally, your experience would be extremely valuable in discussions specifically about new music—because the absence of such discussion is precisely what makes it possible to manipulate not just women, but the entire world!))

You have no idea about my exposure to new music. I listen to albums in my collection when I am home. When I am out, I listen to a ton of new music. I simply don't feel the need to post about it here. BEA for me is about my collection. I do thank you, though, for taking the time to talk a whole lot about every new album you can get your ears on, 90% of which will be long gone and forgotten as bad releases (like every year) by the time I get around to adding 2026 albums to my collection. I don't talk about the new music I listen to because I simply don't feel like it.

I add albums to my collection in my own time, which you should realize and accept that everyone does this in their own way. New music is obviously a priority for you. Good for you. That doesn't make me wrong for prioritizing differently than you...and it doesn't mean that me not talking about albums that came out this week is the cause for the women being spoken about and treated badly. Your comments are a perfect example of that not being true.

But we're not really talking about new music here...I posted here because I saw some pretty questionable comments about women. Odd that you turned my pointing that out into "why don't you talk about new music?"...

I suspect my lack of English proficiency might be the root of the misunderstanding.
I was under the impression that you had asked six questions, all of which were related—in one way or another—to new music. I started with the last question and suggested that, given your vast experience, you might want to join the discussion on new music to help foster some competition, as I feel there isn't enough of it right now.
From your reply, I gathered that you likely believe there is already sufficient diversity of opinion regarding new music, and that, in time, 90% of the unsuccessful releases will simply fade away. It turns out our assessments differ on this point. I believe that, eventually, only the unsuccessful releases will remain, while no one will even know that successful ones ever existed.
On the other hand, there is no point in this argument, since our tastes may differ; what counts as a successful release for me might be a failure for you, and vice versa.

If my comments about women offended you, I apologize, as that was not my intention. I was simply expressing my point of view.

Re: Release Day Eve

Romanelli — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 11:38:46 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 10/02/2026 15:38

musicoed wrote:

Romanelli wrote:

... The competition is absent?
Really?...

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 08:39:30 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 10/02/2026 12:39

Romanelli wrote:

... The competition is absent?
Really?...

Re: Release Day Eve

Romanelli — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 08:04:59 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 10/02/2026 12:04

musicoed wrote:

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 06:40:59 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 10/02/2026 10:40

I was anticipating three releases this week.

The first artist is someone who has long held a firm place on my list of the best albums of all time.
I also consider this year's album—at this point—to be at least the album of the week. Unfortunately, there is a link only for the lead single.
Deep Forest - Soul (2/X-2026/40) (Album)

An album by an artist relatively unknown to me. However, the album's lead single could easily have been my "release of the week" had I continued filling out those hypothetical charts this year. Unfortunately, based on my initial listen, the only tracks that stand out are the two singles and the song that had a video released on launch day.
Sycco - Look Up (2/X-2026/40) (Album)

I was already familiar with this band thanks to their interesting videos and quite successful singles from previous years. However, almost all of this year's singles turned out to be rather uninspired. After a quick listen, the only track that stuck with me was the first one—which hadn't even been released as a single. In my view, the band is facing something of a creative slump.
walt disco - walt disco (2/X-2026/40) (Album)

MadhattanJack wrote:

musicoed wrote:

Yet, no matter how hard the world tries, women remain the physically weaker sex. This means they are still easier to manipulate.

You've never been married?

My close interactions with women have been sufficient for me to draw certain conclusions—ones I am by no means trying to impose on anyone else. It is a very simplified explanation, operating at the level of basic instincts. Unlike a man, a woman still finds it harder to survive in complete solitude, which is why she has to make compromises more often.

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Thu, 1 Oct 2026 19:46:40 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 10/01/2026 23:46

musicoed wrote:

Yet, no matter how hard the world tries, women remain the physically weaker sex. This means they are still easier to manipulate.

You've never been married?

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Thu, 1 Oct 2026 19:35:57 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 10/01/2026 23:35

What October 2, 2026 releases are YOU, you, YOU! It's always about YOU!

Not a lot of big names this week.

Ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has a new album out called The Age of Everything, which is said to be a good album, and similar to his previous four as far as style and approach are concerned. Okay... Meanwhile, experimental art-punks Deerhoof aren't really a big name (more medium-sized if we're being honest), but at least they've been around for a while, and now they've got a new one called Divine Schism — it's like their 30th album or something. But this time, if you want a physical copy (despite the not-so-good cover art), it seems you have to buy it at one of their shows —their label, Joyful Noise Records, is letting them release this themselves, and apparently that's just how they want to do it. Why, we don't know. It's Deerhoof, so you can't really question it, I guess...

Swans have a new LP called Newly Sentient Being — it's a live album, but three of the five tracks are new and unreleased, and the whole thing is 160 minutes long, despite only being five tracks. They've declined to provide preview tracks (I guess since each one would be almost an entire album's worth of material in itself), but I expect it'll sound pretty similar to 2024's Live Rope, which was even longer. And back in the UK, a former member (Ding Archer) and a former manager (Ed Blaney) of The Fall got their hands on some "unused vocal recordings" of Mark E. Smith and are issuing a so-called "final studio album" called Post Script, I guess because the title "Crass Posthumous Exploitation" had already been used. Some folks are calling the album "illegitimate," and they may just have a point. No preview tracks for that either, but still, how bad could it be, right? Don't answer that.

Renowned soul/jazz/funk/etc. bassist/singer Meshell Ndegeocello has a new album out called Synonym, on which every track is a collaboration with a different recording artist. Among the collaborators are Cat Power, Brandi Carlile, Chaka Khan, and Ink... It just happens to be coming out on the same day as the new album by LA-based electropop guy The Album Leaf, aka Jimmy LaValle, entitled A Body of Voices, on which every track is a collaboration with a different recording artist. Among the collaborators are Twin Shadow, Warpaint's Theresa Wayman, Black Mountain, and Spencer Zahn. Was Frank Sinatra the first to do this, with Duets? Seems like there must have been people doing this before that...

As for this week's scheduling issues, the new LP from Queens of the Stone Age, Perfecth, has been moved back to October 30, so that should be helpful. Lily Seabird's new LP, Lightspheres On Their Way, which was supposed to have come out back on Sept. 4, got moved back to this week — so we get to hear that now, at least. Thank goodness!

Women Who Synthesize Dept.

In another interesting coincidence, the new album from experimental modular-synth person Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, entitled Ruin: It’s Not Just Music, is coming out on the exact same day as Cyano, the new one from experimental modular-synth person Emily A. Sprague. Sprague used to be in Florist (the American one, not the Japanese one). Smith's work is more accessible and pop-like, whereas Sprague's is closer to Kraftwerk-style pure synthesis, so you can tell them apart... but the whole thing still seems really "fishy" to me.

The Swedes Win Again Dept.

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

My personal pick-of-the-week this time around is the new LP from Swedish shoegaze/dreampop band Kallsup, entitled Alldeles För Nära — which in Swedish means "Far Too Close." Unfortunately, the name "Kallsup," which is also Swedish, means "cold soup." Their lyrics are also in Swedish, but despite all this, the band claims not to be entirely Swedish because their members come from all over Northern Europe and Scandinavia. The album is great, their singer is great, they remind me of Sad Day For Puppets (also from Sweden!)... it's everything a shoegaze-type guy like myself could want! (Admittedly, the competition this week was... a little thin, perhaps.)

Little Thinners Dept.

The Sewing Club, Sew
The debut album from a grungegaze, slightly-pop-like band from Nashville, this one starts out with a great track called "Complicated," but then falls off a bit into more standard indie-rock fare — otherwise this might have gotten the nod from me over the better-assembled Kallsup album. (FWIW.) The album also doesn't seem to make any lyrical references to sewing, but that's... fine. Oddly enough, they cite the band Wishy (see immediately below) as a principal influence, which seems to be another interesting coincidence since they don't sound anything like Wishy at all...
Wishy, Nature's Pill
As I mentioned in a recent post, the term "twee" is now being deprecated (i.e., replaced) by the term "jangle-pop." So this group is therefore a jangle-pop band from Indianapolis, Indiana — not the sort of place you expect a "twee" band to come from, since it's not in Northern England or Scotland. (Also, it looks like the alternate genre-name "C86" is being deprecated too, since it tends to "lock in" the genre to a specific date that's 40 years in the past, and a lot of the people who invented and popularized it aren't even alive anymore.) This is Wishy's second full-length LP, in addition to three EPs that have at least 5 songs each, and it's pretty good, though to be honest I might have already "maxed out" on this particular subgenre, for this year at least.
The U.S. Rip Van Winkle, ST
Here's a new side project from longtime Guided by Voices bandleader Robert Pollard and three other guys. It's very loose and lo-fi (as you'd expect) with occasional psychedelic bits. Pollard's voice is getting progressively weaker with age, and his continued insistence on low-tech production doesn't help with that, but if you're a GbV fan then I guess you should check it out.
The Black Watch, The Fuzzy End Of The Lollipop
Here's the 27th album of fuzzy lo-fi psychedelia, Beatle-pop, and proto-punk from this Los Angeles-based band led by John Andrew Fredrick, who are famous mostly for not being as famous as some people think they should be (note that BEA only has three of their albums listed). I've never been a huge fan myself, but this is actually a pretty good record — maybe the best one of theirs I've heard, though I've heard very few of them — and there's always a chance it might be their last.

There were a lot of other releases this week that I just didn't think were all that good, or if they were, just not the sort of thing I would ever listen to (unless forced to while detained in some sort of CIA black-site torture facility, or maybe just my bathroom). Still, some of them were interesting, like the ones from Revenge Wife, Sidewave, Whippets, Dev Lemons, TV Buddha, and of course Bombstrap. I'll try to give them another listen, but next week the gradual falloff continues despite new albums from Teenage Fanclub, the Pet Shop Boys, Sheryl Crow, Matt Pond PA, the Pineapple Thief, Tramhaus, Imperial Teen, and everyone's favorite terrible band, Animal Piss It's Everywhere. (Seriously, that album is completely unlistenable.)

Until then! 😄

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Thu, 1 Oct 2026 04:48:50 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 10/01/2026 08:48

MadhattanJack wrote:

... But maybe it could also indicate that aging male pop musicians like Todd Rundgren are just hearing more women in a field where there used to be relatively few, and they're having some sort of male-ego panic reaction whereby they think women are "taking over, OMG!!!" when they're really just bringing things into the kind of balance that should have been the norm in the first place.

I agree—balance is the key word in this whole story.
Men need women and vice versa; it is a condition for the survival of the species. I have no doubt that I enjoy female voices just as much as male ones.
I don’t think Todd Rundgren has anything against women in music. He opposes the mediocrity that gets hidden behind attractive female faces—using them like masks. I am well aware of the current state of women's rights globally. Yet, no matter how hard the world tries, women remain the physically weaker sex. This means they are still easier to manipulate. So, in my view, there are usually men behind all these masks—whether the face is a woman’s or an AI’s. And these men have found a way to monopolize the music industry. This didn't happen overnight; today, we are seeing the consequences that inevitably arise when competition is absent.

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 17:52:48 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 09/30/2026 21:52

musicoed wrote:

I realize this is a trick question.)) Of course, I’d like to believe I can spot those who speak the language of the stars. But the rules of the game dictate that no one is supposed to know that.

I actually didn't intend it to be a trick question, I was just worried that you meant "men, specifically" instead of "people in general" or (ideally) "living creatures as opposed to machines."

There are actually lots of other reasons why there are (ostensibly) more women recording and selling music now than there were 30 years ago... we could go into them if you like, though it probably wouldn't be appropriate for this particular thread, other than to explain my apparent preference (recently at least) for female singers.

I will say though, even though it's excessively self-congratulatory, I was looking at my 2026 album chart just now and out of the Top 20, there's an even gender split — ten of the artists have male singers and ten have female singers. (Admittedly one of them has both, but I don't really like the male singer so much in their case so I counted that one with the females). Obviously it's a tiny sample size, my musical tastes are somewhat unusual, and it amounts to completely anecdotal "evidence" regardless. But maybe it could also indicate that aging male pop musicians like Todd Rundgren are just hearing more women in a field where there used to be relatively few, and they're having some sort of male-ego panic reaction whereby they think women are "taking over, OMG!!!" when they're really just bringing things into the kind of balance that should have been the norm in the first place.

By the way, the next Death From Above 1979 album album doesn't come out until January 29. I used to confuse them with Death In June because they're kind of similar-sounding, though less punky. Death From Above 1979 sounds more like Green Day... also, starting in about 2000 or so, which is when Death From Above 1979 initially formed, the lead singer for Death in June started wearing this mask most of the time, at least in public:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:51:14 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 09/30/2026 10:51

Here is an example of how the stars might speak to you—or, more accurately, mock you. After posting the comment above, I set out—as usual—to track down that "voice from the heavens" in the form of new music releases. On one of the channels, the very first post I encountered was the brand-new music video for a song titled "Private Lives" by a band I hadn't heard of before: Death From Above 1979.
For me, that figure—1979—was like a red rag to a bull. I immediately set out to find a translation and an explanation.

Quote:

The name of the Canadian dance-punk duo Death From Above 1979 conceals a story involving a legal dispute, military slogans, and the birth year of one of the members.
Initially, the band was simply called Death From Above. Musicians Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler adopted the phrase from pop culture; "Death From Above" is the official motto of the US 82nd Airborne Division and frequently appears in films (for instance, on a helicopter in *Apocalypse Now*).
However, shortly after the band's formation, issues arose that led to a name change:
• Conflict with James Murphy: Immediately following the release of their successful debut EP in 2004, the New York indie label DFA Records—co-founded by James Murphy (frontman of LCD Soundsystem)—sued the band. Murphy’s label originally stood for "Death From Above Records," and they demanded the Canadians change their name to avoid confusion.
• The addition of "1979": To avoid a complete name change and protect themselves from lawsuits, the duo simply appended "1979" to the end. This is the birth year of the band's drummer and vocalist, Sebastien Grainger.
Fun fact: In 2017, the band officially dropped the numbers, deeming them "too long and silly," and performed as Death From Above for a time. However, to the delight of longtime fans, the musicians later returned to their full, iconic name including the numerical suffix.

Let me remind you that just recently I mentioned once again that...

Quote:

I have always believed that music reached its peak in 1979, when the album *The Wall* was recorded.

I also believe that it is no accident that this album is regressive in its structure.

Once again, it’s as if I’m being given to understand that time isn’t what we think it is.
This band has existed for over twenty years with a name I couldn't possibly have missed, yet it only catches my eye at this specific moment. It’s as if they never existed at all and only appeared retroactively—just so someone could have a laugh at my expense.))
Now, I hope it has become even clearer to everyone that my musings shouldn't be taken too seriously.))

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 04:23:32 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 09/30/2026 08:23

MadhattanJack wrote:

musicoed wrote:

What will become of humanity when people finally lose the need for music composed by the chosen of the heavens? In my view, the answer is easily found in news feeds.

Who (or what) are the chosen of the heavens?

I realize this is a trick question.)) Of course, I’d like to believe I can spot those who speak the language of the stars. But the rules of the game dictate that no one is supposed to know that.
And when those rules are artificially broken, the whole point is lost—the motivation vanishes.
I once saw a child—born around the turn of the millennium—watching *Teletubbies*. It took me just two minutes to realize how dangerous such characters are—completely devoid of any motivation. I nearly threw up right there in front of the TV. It came as a shock to me to learn that it was a British production.
Music—much like human health and safety—has been turned into an ordinary commodity, with attempts made to extract maximum profit from it. All of this inevitably affects people's psyches and their motivation.
But we live in a closed space; there is nowhere for us to escape from this planet. And it is round, as we know, so all sellers will inevitably meet their buyers someday.

Re: Release Day Eve

Repo — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 03:42:35 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 09/30/2026 07:42

MadhattanJack wrote:

SUPPLEMENTAL

Apparently Todd Rundgren is in some hot water these days for having said, in an interview with Vulture, that "there’s an argument to be made that [Taylor Swift] ruined music," and that to him, she's the "apotheosis of mediocrity." This seems harsh to me, but I was actually more interested in what he said next — that we're in the “'era of female artists,' and that the biggest artists in the world are all women 'because boys in the ‘90s started spending money on video games instead of music.'" Todd seems to have forgotten that boys in the 90s didn't spend money on video games either, they were actually pirating pretty much everything, including movies, music, and games, that could be distributed electronically. But that still doesn't explain why so many more female artists have become prominent lately. Looking at the list below, for example, only four of the twelve artists are, or have, male singers. My theory is simply that men finally realized that women are more attracted to guitarists and drummers, so they started handing the microphones over to women, who don't care as much about who among their fans is attracted to them and have nicer-sounding voices anyway. Another advantage to having women in your band is that they have friends, many of whom are also women. Of course, this is just a theory. Meanwhile, Todd Rundgren once produced an XTC album, so I can't say anything too mean about him... let's just say that I've heard he can sometimes be "a little difficult to work with."

Hmmm.... I guess video [games] did kill the radio star. I blame Lana.

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:37:26 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 09/29/2026 23:37

musicoed wrote:

What will become of humanity when people finally lose the need for music composed by the chosen of the heavens? In my view, the answer is easily found in news feeds.

Who (or what) are the chosen of the heavens?

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:12:11 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 09/29/2026 20:12

MadhattanJack wrote:

...
Apparently Todd Rundgren is in some hot water these days for having said, in an interview with Vulture, that "there’s an argument to be made that [Taylor Swift] ruined music," and that to him, she's the "apotheosis of mediocrity." This seems harsh to me, but I was actually more interested in what he said next — that we're in the “'era of female artists,' and that the biggest artists in the world are all women 'because boys in the ‘90s started spending money on video games instead of music.'" Todd seems to have forgotten that boys in the 90s didn't spend money on video games either, they were actually pirating pretty much everything, including movies, music, and games, that could be distributed electronically. But that still doesn't explain why so many more female artists have become prominent lately. Looking at the list below, for example, only four of the twelve artists are, or have, male singers. My theory is simply that men finally realized that women are more attracted to guitarists and drummers, so they started handing the microphones over to women, who don't care as much about who among their fans is attracted to them and have nicer-sounding voices anyway. Another advantage to having women in your band is that they have friends, many of whom are also women. Of course, this is just a theory. Meanwhile, Todd Rundgren once produced an XTC album, so I can't say anything too mean about him... let's just say that I've heard he can sometimes be "a little difficult to work with."

It’s yet another occasion to reiterate: if it weren’t for Taylor Swift and everyone behind her, I simply wouldn’t have anything to do. After all, it is so boring when, upon searching for "the best song of the week," you are instantly played the song that is actually the best.
No matter how much of an adventurer a man might be at times, for the most part, he is the pillar of the family. We shouldn't judge them for no longer believing that one can support one's loved ones through music.
What will become of humanity when people finally lose the need for music composed by the chosen of the heavens? In my view, the answer is easily found in news feeds.

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:23:12 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 09/29/2026 04:23

SUPPLEMENTAL

Apparently Todd Rundgren is in some hot water these days for having said, in an interview with Vulture, that "there’s an argument to be made that [Taylor Swift] ruined music," and that to him, she's the "apotheosis of mediocrity." This seems harsh to me, but I was actually more interested in what he said next — that we're in the “'era of female artists,' and that the biggest artists in the world are all women 'because boys in the ‘90s started spending money on video games instead of music.'" Todd seems to have forgotten that boys in the 90s didn't spend money on video games either, they were actually pirating pretty much everything, including movies, music, and games, that could be distributed electronically. But that still doesn't explain why so many more female artists have become prominent lately. Looking at the list below, for example, only four of the twelve artists are, or have, male singers. My theory is simply that men finally realized that women are more attracted to guitarists and drummers, so they started handing the microphones over to women, who don't care as much about who among their fans is attracted to them and have nicer-sounding voices anyway. Another advantage to having women in your band is that they have friends, many of whom are also women. Of course, this is just a theory. Meanwhile, Todd Rundgren once produced an XTC album, so I can't say anything too mean about him... let's just say that I've heard he can sometimes be "a little difficult to work with."

Pearl Moth, Feverish Wild Things
This is a "soft-grunge" (whatever that means) band from Rome, Italy, with a very good female singer. This is their second LP, and while I doubt it will get much traction, I'd say it deserves some. I would've liked to hear more harmonies, because they seem to be good at those, but they probably held back on them since that would have made it harder to reproduce the songs live.
Palm Ghosts, Love Factions
Kind of an old-style new wave/post-punk band from Nashville with a male singer, who do songs that sort of lean in different directions — power-pop, goth, and psychedelia, among others. It's well-produced, though there's a bit too much of what seems to be auto-tune on the guy's vocals... aside from that, it's a good, interesting record with some cool ideas that should appeal very strongly to all you 60-year-old hipsters out there.
Sweetie, Dogtooth
I assume this band's name is ironic, and if they keep making records like this they'll regret choosing it, but Sweetie is an all-women post-punk trio with just a slight tinge of country/Americana (I guess they also have a guy who plays bass, he just isn't included in the band photos). They're from Sydney, Australia and this is their debut album — they describe themselves, somewhat accurately, as "tuff songs for sad girls." They're kind of sinuous and menacing, maybe like Warpaint, only louder, angrier, more guitar-oriented, and even more feminist. The centerpiece of the album is track 5, "Hanging Rock," a slow-burning epic homage to the "fictional true story" novel and film — it's probably worth the price of admission in itself, but the whole thing is worth a listen if you ask me.
Comet, Autopsy of Me
From what I gather, this is the debut LP by a band from NYC named after their lead singer, a somewhat scary-looking woman (exactly my type!) who simply goes by "Comet," which I'm sure won't confuse anyone, and they're basically a gothic/grungey darkgaze band with fairly overt metal tendencies. I guess you could call them "dark metalgaze"? Comet (the singer, that is) can do that not-quite-screamo strangled-growling vocal thing pretty well, so that's impressive. I hope they stick around — this is a really good album if you're into this kinda stuff. (I'm usually not, but... maybe this time.)
Dogs on Shady Lane, Knots
Everyone knows about Throwing Muses and Belly, but aside from them there haven't been many quality female-fronted alt-rock/post-punk/dreampop bands that have come out of the Providence, Rhode Island area. That changes now! This band, who have since moved to Brooklyn of course, has cool songs and a pleasant folk-rock vibe that's hard not to like. They could probably stand to include more rave-ups, but that only matters if you're driving at highway speeds and/or trying to get a party started. Anyway, it's their debut album, and hopefully not their last... but since this one apparently took them seven years to finish, I guess we shouldn't expect a follow-up any time soon.
Gurriers, Nobody's Coming to Save You
Here's a snarly/grungey post-punk, or maybe just-plain punk, band from Dublin with their second album. Apparently in Ireland, the word "gurrier" means "young anti-social hooligan," or something to that effect. So they might regret choosing that name once they're all millionaires with fancy cars and they inevitably decide to do their first "all-electronics" album.
Thunder Queens, Deep Below
An all-women pop-punk trio from London, Ontario, Canada, this album (their second) should also appeal to fans of the more Sleater-Kinneyesque side of the riot grrl genre. Just about all of the vocals are done in precise B-52's-style two-part harmony, which sounds cheesy at first but somehow gets better as it goes along. (Or maybe you just get used to it.) The whole album kind of does that too, it's bangers all the way through if you don't mind not getting a break from them until the last track, where they finally break out the acoustic. (Probably just so they could write it off on their taxes.) Good stuff!
The Wrecks, Outside
They're calling the five tracks on this release the "second half" of their third full-length album, the first half being, of course, last year's "Inside:" — but apparently nobody told them this was cheating, and that they're going to be credited with just having made two EPs and everyone will call their next album their "third album," assuming they don't try the same trick on that one. Anyway, they're a decent-sounding power-pop band from Thousand Oaks, California, but they usually just say they're from nearby Los Angeles, which is probably also cheating.
Flowers Must Die, Tystnad
Loose-sounding 60s-style psychedelia from Sweden; it's their sixth LP (I think; it depends on how you count 'em). I actually don't like stuff like this, it's too jam-oriented and meandering for my tastes, but they've been around for 20 years so I guess someone does.
Smidley, Murphy Horse
Some of you might remember Foxing, the 2010s emo-pop band from St. Louis. They went on "indefinite hiatus" last December, and lead singer/bass-player Conor Murphy, aka "Smidley," just went back to his already-existing 4-piece band that he started in 2016 and named after himself (or rather, his nickname). They're not an emo band, which is good because I mostly can't stand emo bands. I would describe them as a fairly commercial, (mostly) danceable, indie-pop/rock act with "very occasional undesirable emo tendencies."
7ebra, How to Land a Plane
7ebra are Inez and Ella Johansson, twin sisters from Malmo, Sweden who make subdued, lo-fi indie-pop records. This is their second LP, after 2023's Bird Hour. If I had to draw a comparison, I'd say they sound sort of like what you'd get if Boygenius recorded an Elliott Smith tribute album, only none of the songs are actually written by Elliott Smith, but rather by two girls from Sweden.
JanesWish, Colours Fade
I'm 99% sure this is AI (which claims to be from New South Wales, Australia, but releasing a full album every month is just a dead giveaway). If I'm wrong, well, sorry... but it's actually quite pleasant background music if you're one of those dreampop-with-airy-fairy-vocals fans who aren't yet in the "all AI entertainment product must be destroyed' camp.

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:27:40 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 09/27/2026 10:27

I didn't expect anything special from this week.

Protomartyr is a band I’m quite familiar with; they’ve certainly released two memorable singles, but otherwise, the album hasn't really piqued my interest so far.

I don't recall Blondshell ever making it onto my year-end lists before. The pre-release singles from this year caught my attention, but overall, the album hasn't impressed me yet either. There are two tracks at the very beginning and two at the very end, but the bulk of the material in the middle falls flat.

All else being equal, I would single out another female artist who hadn't released any full-length albums prior to this year.
Susannah Joffe - Dust Settles and So Will I (25/IX-2026/39) (Album)

A pleasant surprise for me is an unusual album by a musician I’m particularly fond of. All his transformations and projects always spark my genuine interest. I’m not sure if this release will make it onto my "best of the year" list, but the Guinness Book of Records—well, why not?!))
Tōth - 111 Birthday Songs (24/IX-2026/39) (Album)

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:09:37 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 09/24/2026 21:09

What Sept. 25, 2026 releases are YOU eating for lunch?

I'm running out of ideas for intro blurbs. I guess I just assumed there would be an infinite supply of them...

Famous Folks Who Make Records Dept.

Relatively few of these this week, for some reason. The media is abuzz about a new Taylor Swift single called "Patient Zero," which I guess is her ode to the first person the billionaires (she's one of them) plan to infect with the deadly global contagion that will ultimately kill us all. (At least we know she cares, though.) While everyone gushes over that, Brandi Carlile is the latest to join the "reimagined album" trend with a remix of last year's Returning to Myself. She's calling it the "Sad Gay Version," but she's been kind enough to include the original album too (which I guess will be the "Happy Straight Version" now) along with it. There's one new track called "And So It Goes," but apparently it's not a cover of the Nick Lowe song from 1978, nor is it a reference to a Kurt Vonnegut novel, so I'm just going to move on from that one... Another famous person with a new album this week is movie actress Cara Delevingne, perhaps best known for being personally blamed for the failure of 2017's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets at the box office (hint: it wasn't just her fault). The album is called Not Normal, and it's not bad, though I'm afraid it is relatively normal compared to... oh, about 90 percent of my own music collection. (I might add that she isn't a blonde anymore, so don't have a heart attack next time you see her, like I did.)

Robin Trower's new album, Shine, sounds like it's pretty good, one of his best "mature era" efforts, even — I think it's his 29th LP, not counting the albums he did with Procol Harum. Dude can definitely still play, but his voice is wearing out from age and has been for some time now (he's 81). Thankfully you don't have to be young to play blues-rock for the masses, you just need a good track-record, a decent amp, and a few bottles of bourbon. Meanwhile, there's former Van Der Graaf Generator founder Peter Hammill, practically a callow youth at age 77, with another solo LP called Tears In Time. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a proper new album though, because apparently he's been recording these tracks in various locations over the past 35 years. Not sure why he couldn't have released them before now, but maybe there was a technical problem, or he had a flat tire or something. Perhaps the dog ate it... You never know with Peter Hammill!

Sabrina Does it Again Dept.

I'm just going to call it right now and say that Violins, the new album from Blondshell (aka Sabrina Teitelbaum) is yet another Big Winner from her and, as predicted, my personal pick-of-the-week. This time around, the songs are more serious in terms of lyrical content, even political in some cases. Good for her! And maybe it's just me, it probably is, but I just find her voice very distinctive, so that when a song of hers comes on I almost know it's her right away, and to me that's worth something. I say "almost" because... as Yoda would say, "there is another." And it's...

Julia Jacklin, The Gem
What can I say, her voice sounds a lot like Sabrina's. Thankfully her songs are more folk-rock-oriented, and she's from Australia so I guess she has slightly less to be angry at society about, which means you can still tell when it's Sabrina and not Julia — assuming you're a "good listener."
M83, I Wrote You A Letter
I'm not so sure about this one. There's only one preview track — it's the leadoff, "Blister Sunrise," which is great — but all the reviews are saying the rest of the LP is all over the place, mostly instrumentals, more subdued, more atmospheric, and less bombastic than the last few M83 records. (An M83 album without bombast? That's just... wrong.) Bandleader Anthony Gonzalez seemingly wants us to believe this is a return to M83's more "punkish" roots, except that M83 were never really punkish. He's also saying it's "a product of his disillusionment in his perception of the world," so hey — join the club, Anthony, but it's easy to say things like that when the songs either have no lyrics at all or only unintelligible ones you can barely hear. And besides, if nobody is singing, that just increases the temptation to "fill the space" with saxophones, does it not? And we all know what happens then.
Penelope Isles, 3
The problem here is that this is the glamour-averse Brighton brother-sister duo's fourth album, so naming it "3" is a little confusing. This one was recorded in Scotland's Black Bay Studio (whereas all their previous stuff was recorded in their home studio), and it sounds more polished and, well, nice. Maybe a little too soft 'n' dreamy to have serious hit potential, but who knows — there are some good tunes here, and they've always gotten good reviews. Now if they could just get some better clothes.
Protomartyr, Hotel Usona
Produced by Dave Fridmann, this is their seventh album, and personally I think it may be their best one yet. Only, well, coming from me... let's just say I'm still not a big fan of their singer, Joe Casey, but he's been getting better at it, and overall they seem to be expanding their "sonic palette" here quite a bit, which I personally felt was what they needed all along. It's more subversive, still with plenty of oomph and bombast, but maybe not quite as anthemic as their last LP. I suspect Fridmann has something to do with all that, so hopefully they'll be smart and bring him on for the next one too.
Squanderers, Bright Madness
This is a new-ish trio consisting of Wendy Eisenberg, David Grubbs (from Gastr del Sol), and Kramer (not the Seinfeld sitcom character — his album got shelved years ago). It's an ambient-instrumental, not-quite-jazz record; possibly improvisational, and it's rather loose and meandering, though pleasant-sounding. (No word yet on what they've been squandering or how much has been squandered.)

The Late 20th Century Won't Go Away and Leave Us Alone Dept.

Soft Cell, Danceteria
Dave Ball tragically died last October, but not before co-writing and producing most of the material on this album. So Marc Almond, the other half of Soft Cell, is calling it a "farewell" LP, dedicated to Dave Ball. He's also calling it "a love letter to New York in the early 80's," which is to say the album sounds like late-period disco music. So I'm not actually going to listen to it, but I will extend my (delayed) condolences to Dave Ball's family and suggest that diehard disco fans could do a lot worse than to check this one out.
Pete Fij, Up's the New Down
Early-90s shoegaze-pop fans will of course remember Adorable, one of the most accessible bands in the scene (you know, the one that "celebrated itself"). After they broke up, singer Piotr "Pete Fij" Fijalkowski went off to form Polak, who were just kind of okay, and then did some stuff with The House of Love's original guitarist Terry Bickers. I'm not 100% certain, but I think this may technically be the first album Fij has made all by himself! It's good, and he still writes cool tunes, but I'm afraid it does sort of answer the question of "why get Terry Bickers." Not a lot of virtuoso guitar-playing on this one, but thankfully you don't always need that to make a good record.
The Wolfgang Press, Asylum Variations (Boomkat link)
These guys were one of the original 4AD bands, and after a lengthy hiatus starting in 1995, they returned in 2024 with A 2nd Shape, though they were (and still are) without original keyboard player Mark Cox. This is now their 7th album (since I don't count Unremembered Remembered, their 2020 demos EP), but they're not on 4AD anymore, they're on a label called Downward (or possibly "Downwards") Records. Perhaps an aptly-named label too, because there's been almost zero fanfare about this LP, and quite a bit of confusion over the release date (apparently some CDs were pressed and made available as far back as July 14). But it's no big deal from my perspective, really — I still don't like them all that much, and this album isn't going to change that. But their fans should be happy enough with it, assuming they can actually get their hands on a copy at some point.

"OMG, It's the Tartan Horde Again" Dept.

Three bands from Scotland this week, and though I love Scottish bands as a general rule, I would consider all three of these to be "twee" to some extent (note that it's become increasingly clear as of late that the genre is now to be referred to as simply "jangle-pop"). I already mentioned The Proclaimers and their new LP, You May Offend, the release date for which was supposedly moved from Sept. 11 to Sept. 25. Well, that was a total lie, apparently. All the streamers are now saying it came out on Sept. 11 after all, and sure enough, there it is, all tracks available. So that cheeses me off because it makes me look stupid, or at least lazy (which I am), so of course I refuse to apologize, etc., etc., because these days you can only win by being a sociopathic narcissist, and I'm going to keep calling them "twee," too, though it's a decent enough album if you like Charlie & Craig's Scottish accents. (Which I do, if I'm being honest.)

In addition to that, we've got The Yummy Fur with Everybody Talks About the Weather, which is really more "art punk" than "jangle-pop," but either way this is the best album of these three by far. By a wide margin! Great high-energy, hook-filled guitar album, though not as heavy on the Scottish accents as it could be. (Also, fur nearly always tastes terrible.)

I also have to at least mention the dubiously-named Catburgers and their very first LP, Galashiels, recorded 40 years ago and finally being released this week for the first time. It's twee for sure, so much so that if you look up the word "twee" in the dictionary, it doesn't even matter if it's an old-fashioned paper-printed dictionary, the dictionary will start playing this album. That's how twee it is. Also, they'd better not try to eat my cat, or there's gonna be HELL TO PAY.

(By the way, there's also a new LP from UK trad-folk-poppers Stornoway called Beyonder — they're somewhat twee too really, but the problem is they're not actually from Scotland. They just want you to believe they are, because I guess that's cooler than being from Oxford.)

Masked Band Dept.

Luckily I didn't have to look far down on the alphabetized list this week, as UK doom/death-metal guys Altera Doomonica are releasing their debut LP, Angelic Doomology. (All 10 tracks are already streamable on Bandcamp.) I think the title is a reference to the notion that all angels are doomed (perhaps because they are NOT REAL) rather than an attempt to convince us that "doomology" is an "angelic" pursuit. I looked it up, and found no evidence of it being a "pursuit" at all, but I did find that the Swedish metal band Candlemass released a 5-CD box set called Doomology back in 2010, so... maybe a little "homage" action going on there. That's nice! Regardless of all that, their masks look pretty scary, which is all anyone can reasonably ask for these days.

Also, The Residents have a new six-song 10-inch vinyl EP called Eskimo Folk Tales. They're saying these are "brand new recordings" based on a "set of handwritten Inuit folk tales" given to the band "in the 1970s." Of course, they say a lot of things... It doesn't matter! What matters is, those eyeballs they wore on their heads back then were the greatest masks in pop-music history! (In my opinion, anyway.)

Finally A Band That Truly Understands Me Dept.

This post has already gone on way longer than I'd promised, but I can't go without mentioning the new album from the band with my favorite band name, namely New Zealand's Same Name Confusion and their new LP, SNC. One might assume "SNC" is simply an abbreviation for "Same Name Confusion," making it a self-titled album, but they already made a self-titled album in 2016, just to confuse you later on. Great! (The new SNC album itself isn't so great, though — it's actually pretty bad.)

Next week, the gradual reduction in new-LP volume continues, but we still (assuming they're not all lying to us) have Johnny Marr, Deerhoof, analog synth-whiz Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Indianapolis-based twee — oops, sorry, jangle-popsters Wishy, and the always-dreadful Queens of the Stone Age. There might also be enough for another Supplemental this week, but we'll see. 😄

Re: Release Day Eve

MadhattanJack — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:39:30 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 09/21/2026 22:39

ANOTHER SUPPLEMENTAL

Look, things obviously got out of control this week, due to the unusual number of releases (which is to say, actual new albums from bands I like, not just reissues and... "other stuff"). Hopefully that won't happen again, because it definitely got well into the "TL;DR realm" there and that should be avoided.

Of course, that's just another way of saying... there's more!

There was some confusion this time around with the new Jesus Jones album, Twilight. That's an Apple Music link, because apparently there's some sort of partial exclusivity arrangement going on. The album is also on Spotify, but right now it looks like none of their records are streamable on Amazon Music, at least in the USA, and there are just two self-released live albums of theirs on Bandcamp. As it happens, the Apple Music/Spotify release date was Sept. 18, but I had it down as Sept. 21, and then that was moved to Sept. 25, the latter probably being the date you can buy the physical media online and in stores. Not well-handled at all by whoever is doing the business side for them, but if anything that's becoming more common... As for the album, it sounds pretty much like all their other stuff — good but not great, fun but not fascinating, and maybe a single or two.

Another case of release-date confusion: Dina Summer's new album, Children of the Night, was supposed to come out on Sept. 20, but at the last minute they moved it back to October 9. They're a "dark disco" electropop trio from Berlin; they must have thought they were being clever with the band name, but if they're not careful they could be accused of cultural misappropriation. Perhaps rightly so!

I missed the new debut LP from Daymoon, entitled Myriad, though I suspect there was just no pre-announcement. They're from Lancaster, PA, and the album is actually kind of hard to describe — it's almost too interesting, like they're trying too hard to be musically inventive (not to mention lyrically brilliant and highly psychedelic), and they're at least partially succeeding, but at the cost of accessibility, listenability, all that sort of thing. (The lyrics are, frankly, quite pretentious, so it's just as well that they use a lot of reverb on the vocals so you can't understand them easily.) I'm not saying it's Trout Mask Replica, it's still basically a rock/pop record, not to mention a good one as long as you ignore the lyrics. But it reminds me of my own years of "trying too hard" as an adult-film actor and "weirdotech" entrepreneur, and look where all that got me.

Finally, there's a new 5-song (all but one of which are instrumentals) EP released today from Bring Your Own Drugs, a solo act from Berlin, called Ants as a Unit of Effort. It's gauzy, dreamy, atmospheric, keyboard-driven fuzzy slowcore, basically. I noticed the guy earlier this year, kind of by accident, and I was hoping for a full-length non-bedroom production from him, but this isn't it. I guess we'll see what happens. And yes, it's easy to make a concept EP about ants if all the songs are instrumentals and you can just give them whatever titles you want. It's a bit of a "cheat," really. I just feel kind of sorry for all those ants.

Now that I've taken the trouble to check, this last week was definitely (and probably will remain) the biggest of the year — there were almost twice as many releases coming out as the next-biggest, which (for me at least) was three weeks ago on Sept. 4. Three more not-as-big weeks to go and then it's Christmas season, so hopefully no more TL;DR after this!

Re: Release Day Eve

musicoed — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 02:00:28 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 09/20/2026 06:00

MadhattanJack wrote:

..., the Exbats really have three problems:[list]
... but that's another thing too, their last album was on Goner Records, and the new one is self-released. So maybe they're not used to doing their own marketing campaigns, which could easily become problem #4 for them.

Thanks—as always, this was very informative; naturally, I knew none of this and never would have found out otherwise. But of all the obvious reasons that hindered the new album's promotion, the one that resonates most with me is the non-obvious one—number 4.
These days, any mention or discussion counts as promotion, regardless of the tone. So, in my view, we’ve actually done quite a bit for this band.))

Now I want to support the chapter too – Supplemental.
I am very familiar with the name Ratatat and would never normally miss a release from the group.
However, one of the members released an album under a different project name.
As a result, the album didn't make it onto my watchlist—even though a solid single and video, "Soursop," had come out back in early August and had also slipped under my radar.
This is a case where the atmosphere—or rather, the sound—matters most to me, specifically a sound with minimal vocals.
That’s not surprising, really, as I often hear echoes of Mike Oldfield’s guitar work in the music.
Kunzite - Secrets (18/IX-2026/38) (Album)

A second album bursting with energy, crafted according to all the rules of dance-punk.
The tracks are like short, stunning bursts of gunfire—albeit a bit repetitive.
I don't recall this band making my lists before, but the release is worth checking out.
Perennial - Modernism (18/IX-2026/38) (Album)