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Poem 1 - Ana Roxanne (2026)

The Week That Has Been

I’ve made a point this year of not letting this be a new releases blog that ends up with me just talking about what I found this week in the new music Friday churn. While I think that tactic has kept my choices wide-ranging and interesting, it’s also put a serious kink in my love of cruising the new releases every Friday.

So for at least a couple of weeks, I’m sticking to 2026 releases that have left an impression on me.

  • Genghis Tron’s cybergrind
  • Backwoodz Studios’ Fatboi Sharif and Child Actor collab
  • Twisted Teens’ swampy garage rock
  • chill and inventive instrumental music from FS Blumm
  • Ylva Ceder’s warm blanket of ambient texture
  • the ever-restless and ever fearless Vince Staples

Ana Roxanne

There’s been a lot what I call “concentration music” lately but I think I’d been overcompensating and not listening to as much of it lately. I actually thought before I starte this today that maybe I should find something more upbeat.

I would have done myself a massive disservice if I had: this is a monolith of sheer beauty.

Ana Roxanne is a vocalist as much as a composer and poet. While the compositions are slow to build and full of space and stillness, her vocals only add to the effect.

If there’s a criticism, it’s only that the high quality of the songs and the recording make it hard to distinguish among them. But it’s uniformly gorgeous throughout, so it’s hard to complain.

Recent
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Railroad Man
Hank Snow
a lot of songs about trains

By The Throat
Eyedea & Abilities
Exciting talent, gone in a flash

Gentlemen
Afghan Whigs
sleek alt rock with some serious pathos

Soul Cages
Sting
CD player literature

Cover Story
Russ Taff
the state of man in 11 covers

Night Reign
Arooj Aftab
gorgeous and fulfilling

Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
fancy notes on a blue guitar

The Doors
The Doors
in which the gang breaks on through

Under Between
Dialect
a sonic painting

Calming Signals
Rich Ruth
a wild, jazzy space trip

Wind, Again
Sary Moussa
structure, sign, and play

Release
Cop Shoot Cop
hidden industrial gem

Even In Arcadia
Sleep Token
auditory rorschach test

Tomorrow Was The Golden Age
Bing & Ruth
masterfully ambient classical

Cenotes
Giant Squid
love this thing

Glory
Perfume Genius
emphasis on "genius"

Rhythm Revolution
Ferry Djimmy
African funk lost classic

Daughter Of A Temple
Ganavya
the spirit of devotion

Cicada Waves
Ben Seretan
piano in the rainstorm

Convex
Nym
eco-chill

Atlas of Green
Dialect
A delightful shot of meta-nostalgia

The Mountain
Haken
prog metal masterpiece

Oh No
OK Go
more than just videos

New Heaven
Inter Arma
Everything But The Kitchen Sink-core

Superunknown
Soundgarden
a stoner-y, grunge-y classic

Reconciled
The Call
The best 80s album nobody's heard of

August
Still Lost Bird Music
classic poetry set to bluegrassy music

Lungs
Florence + The Machine
Not calling you a liar.

My Favorite Things
John Coltrane
it actually is one of them.

Kick
INXS
get kicked

Dusk
The The
brainy alt rock classic

The '59 Sound
Gaslight Anthem
A solid slab of pathos

3
Blood Sweat And Tears
better than it has any right to be

2112
Rush
air drum central

Ask The Ages
Sonny Sharrock
Sharrock's Magnum Opus

Machinarium Soundtrack
Tomáš Dvořák
a delightful soundtrack to a fun game

Floodplain
Kronos Quartet
music from the cradle of civilization

Sorceress
Opeth
a kick in the head

Wild Light
65daysofstatic
a post rock tour de force

Happy Child
Carmen Jaci
whimsical electronic

My 21st Century Blues
Raye
a journeyman becoming a master

Mingus Ah Um
Charles Mingus
Get hit in your soul

Safe In The Steep Cliffs
Emancipator
an explosion of calm and lucidity in my brain

Good Kid m.A.A.D City
Kendrick Lamar
A short film by Kendrick Lamar

The Great Awakening
Shearwater
Shearwater returns with another great one

¡Ay!
Lucrecia Dalt
Excellent, beautiful, and a little creepy

Descendants of Cain
Ka
A lyrical masterclass

Bolts
Hagop Tchaparian
an electric shock of techno-y house goodness

Loma
Loma
a dark, beautiful gem

Biscuits For Cerberus
Flipiron
weird, literate, and weirdly literate

Muchacho
Phosphorescent
literate, grandiose modern country-rock

Hellfire
Black Midi
The sound of your brain bleeding out at the end of the world.

Aura
Hatis Noit
A mind-bending, mind-mending journey

LOGGERHEAD
Wu-lu
Abstract hip hop, hardcore, and so much more.

None Shall Pass
Aesop Rock
A tragially under-known MC

Horses
Patti Smith
we are not worthy

Bronco
Orville Peck
the new country

Lifeforms
Future Sound Of London
outstanding 90s IDM and ambient

Oh Mercy
Bob Dylan
The *first* late-era classic

Copper Blue
Sugar
top notch alt-rock

Singing Saw
Kevin Morby
no srsly. it's morbin' time

The OOZ
King Krule
only sounds lazy and disjointed at first

Alive
Hiromi
an under-recognized genius

Glass Cage
Bruce Brubaker
20th century modernist piano

Tissues
Pan Daijing
take the time to get into this one

From This Place
Pat Metheny
yet another Metheny masterpiece with a fantastic band

Voodoo
D'Angelo
if you haven't heard it, get after it.

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