2026 in 52 albums

The concept's pretty simple. One album per week, not necessarily my favorite album of the week, not necessarily a new album, just one that I listened to and liked.

1. Snocaps by Snocaps

   Unapologetically catchy, produced enough to not feel like a demo tape, but not so much that it has the sometimes-cloying polish of recent Waxahatchee. "Angel Wings" is the first ear-worm in a while I've enjoyed having.

2. With Greg from Deerhoof by Serengeti

   An unexpected but natural collaboration, the 17 minute ad-hoc live session "I Got Your Password" is unreal. This album has been on my listening queue for years, but I think aptly captures 2026's off-the-bat absurdities.

3. Trio! by Dabin Ryu

   Dabin Ryu has classical-pianist-energy. The opener "Vertigo" has Ólafsson precision (sub Bach for post-bop) and the intro of "In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee" plays like a Prokofiev piano sonata. Also goes without saying, Joe Martin (bass) and Johnathan Blake (drums) hold their own, and have plenty of their own shining moments.

4. On A Friday Evening by the Bill Evans Trio

   Every so often, I need to listen to Evans. And after week one of the spring semester, I needed something with quiet strength. Evans for me straddles the Burkian beauty-sublime divide, the decisions he makes with regard to phrasing seem written in the clouds. I also kinda love Eddie Gomez's buzzy bass in this recording, it brings out the lightness and occasional humor of it all.

5. Magnetism by the Kali Malone + Drew McDowall

   Ambient can sometimes be inscrutable (at least for me) but occasionally you get lucky regarding the context in which you first hear a piece of ambient. I was in a weird place in my life, staring out at a pond on a cool fall day while my car was getting serviced, and the emergent overtones and compressed bass drones of the synthesizers used on this album just worked for this scene and headspace.