Nubiyan Twist – Chasing Shadows

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Nubiyan Twist

Chasing Shadows

Released March 20th, 2026 on Strut Records

Per Spectrum Culture:

Even when Chasing Shadows falters, there’s something compulsively listenable about Nubiyan Twist that transcends the more skippable parts, and the global party they soundtrack never quite comes to a halt.

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congratulations – Join Hands

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congratulations

Join Hands

Released February 13th, 2026 on Bella Union

Per Spectrum Culture:

Congratulations’ Join Hands might not be groundbreaking, but it is a hell of a lot of fun.

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Gorillaz – The Mountain

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Gorillaz

The Mountain

Released February 27th, 2026 on Kong

Per Spectrum Culture:

After a string of albums that ranged from slapdash to merely good, Albarn returns refreshed and hungry to do something big.

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Poppy – Empty Hands

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Poppy

Empty Hands

Released January 23rd, 2026 on Sumerian Records

From Spectrum Culture:

Poppy has always been one to incorporate metal into her weird pop ideas, but on Empty Hands it often feels as though her own concepts take a backseat to shiny radio metal necessities.

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The 100 Best Albums of 2024

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My yearly collection playlist always has a name, and this year was obviously “2024 Sucks OK.” Which, obviously, it did. Every year sucks in its own way, but man, was 2024 a doozy. Disappointment, the realization that stasis of post-pandemic living, awful politics, genocides, unending wars. Your idols are dead and your enemies are in power. Everything feels too Weimar for its own good.

Still, there were good parts to the year, as there always are. Great books, great movies, some stellar albums. There were a lot of great records this year, actually. I could have done 200 for this entry if that weren’t such obvious overkill. I managed to know 40 entries on the Quietus’ year-end list. Usually I only know single digits – This despite listening to an average of 1100 albums a year.

Also I managed to get six short stories published this year, which is pretty good if you ask me.

Here are the 100 albums that best exemplify this year, this moment, this lifetime.

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Tyler, the Creator – Chromakopia

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Trace Mountains – Into The Burning Blue

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Pale Waves – Smitten

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New Music Roundup, March 15th, 2024

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New Music Roundup, February 23rd, 2024

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