My Favorite Albums of 2026
All Noted Listens in 2026
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: soul r&b hip hop rap indie new jack swing dub psych hyperpop singer/songwriter/rapper/producer post-Frank Ocean
Date Listened: February 20, 2026
Context/Location:
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
Been waiting 7 years for new music from Choker, and it’s not disappointing. Listened obsessively to his Filling Space trilogy of EPs back in 2019 and haven’t forgotten. Dijon last year, now Choker…
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: indie pop rock singer songwriter Los Angeles Solomonophonic Remi Wolf Billie Eilish Saya Gray and I think Fleetwood Mac to be honest?
Date Listened: February 19, 2026
Context/Location:
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
It’s 2025’s ANGIE but with 4 more tracks now and a different cover image. Nothing to complain about.
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: biblical rainbow neon synth pop funk psych Prince Madonna Kate Bush Cyndi Lauper Tune-Yards
Date Listened: February 19, 2026
Context/Location:
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
These tracks really popped out in mixes, and I had to grab the album. I’ve listened three or four times now and I think I want to like this a little more than I actually do. Still objectively great, though, and I still will probably give it more listens in the future.
Genre/Description: PR Latin indie folk alternative? I don't know my PR and Latin genres enough to label this more accurately, but I'm going to try to learn...
Date Listened: February 18, 2026
Context/Location: puttering on my website and the internet, &c.
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
Branching out into some of the collaborators on DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS now…
Genre/Description: reggaeton pop PR &c
Date Listened: February 18, 2026
Context/Location: working
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
Almost endlessly listenable, it turns out. Guess maybe that’s why he’s the most-streamed artist in the world…
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: indie rock nice songwriting and they sometimes rock out a tiny bit country quite a bit grunge?
Date Listened: February 17, 2026
Context/Location: cooking, working, chores, &c.
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
Well at least I’m not a whole year behind on every album…
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: jazz los angeles chillwave hip hop electronic indie
Date Listened: February 15, 2026
Context/Location:
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: Puerto Rico pop reggaeton dembow plena jíbaro salsa bomba latin house
Date Listened: February 15, 2026
Context/Location:
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
I’m running over a year late on music right now, oh well…
Genre/Description: protest songs folk rock indie
Date Listened: January 24, 2026
Context/Location: recommended by Benjamin Booker, who I've also been listening to a lot and has a song on the album
Format/Platform: Computer / Apple Music / Bandcamp download
“…what the meaning of this border line that’s been forced into my mind…everybody talk about it like it’s the greatest line that humans could ever draw…”
– Lonnie Holley, from “A Border is Just a Space Between Two Lines”
Genre/Description: funk soul r&b afro-beat cosmic retro future fuzz psych hiphop gospel mystery collective African diaspora
Date Listened: January 11, 2026
Context/Location: cooking, doing dishes, chores, making notes, website, etc.
Format/Platform: Earbuds / Apple Music
I don’t think I can hear a new SAULT album without listening to it a couple of times and then needing to go back through everything they’ve ever done, or nearly everything.
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: funk soul r&b afro-beat cosmic retro future fuzz psych hiphop gospel mystery collective
Date Listened: January 11, 2026
Context/Location: doing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, working on this website
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
Like tuning into some alternate universe cosmic retro soul radio station, so great.
A 2026 Favorite
Genre/Description: rock, indie, garage, singer/songwriter
Date Listened: January 4, 2026
Context/Location:
Format/Platform: Phone / Apple Music
This is a really solid collection of songs, quite liking it.