Last updated April 27th, 2026 at 4:42 pm
Lots of new (to me) music appearing in my life as of late! I've started carving out time in my weekly routine to experience albums for the first time --- in no small part thanks to my friend Jack of www.cosmicsmell.com. His segment "AN ALBUM A DAY KEEPS THE WHATEVER THE F**K AWAY" has directly influenced the frequency at which I am interacting with new art.
I was driving home from work on a warm evening a few months back, my iPod on shuffle. I've been consistently keeping a backlog of things I've been intending to, but haven't yet listened to in my music library... but on this particular night I was feeling stubborn. I was in desperate need of a familiar sound to score the rest of my journey home. So I shuffled and shuffled and shuffled... Soon enough the continuous shuffling became too frustrating and I just stopped, resigned. Silence.
After about 10 seconds, the sound of vinyl scratching filled my Buick. Hark? My interest was piqued.
And just like that BOOM, I was trying something new! I shook myself out of my unconscious shuffle trance and allowed what was playing to become my reality. And that, kids, is how I met your father, Portishead's Portishead. My iPod had begun playing "Humming" from the band's 1997 record (which would soon become my second favorite Portishead record [after Third, one of my all-time favorite albums].)
This whole experience exposed to me a valuable lesson about how new experiences and joy reinforce one another. When I'm feeling joyful, I'm also more privy to try new things. And, when I'm feeling not-so-joyful, trying something new, involving myself in a creative act, or just generally shaking up my routine is a good way to bring me back to the present moment.
Thus, experiencing new art is necessary for my survival. So here's how I've been living:
Psst... email me recommendations!
APRIL 2026:
April, for the most part, has been about re-listening. In the past 7 months alone, I have listened to more albums in full than I had prior, cumulatively, since birth. The albums that really struck me in the first couple of listens tended to resurface during this month.
Also, silence has been the soundtrack to my drives as of late. You know, presence and whatnot. I want to pay more attention to life, and part of that is not opting for ambient distractions when I have other things I ought to focus on. Though, art can enhance presence sometimes. Sometimes. But if I'm already distracted there's no purpose in putting it on.
---
Laughing Stock - Talk Talk
MARCH 2026:
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
Plum - Wand
We're Only In It For The Money - Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention
Divers - Joanna Newsom
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
Boys for Pele - Tori Amos
Dirty - Sonic Youth
Women - Women
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I Get Along Without You Very Well - Ellen Arkbro & Johan Graden
After Hours - Nina Simone
Entroducing..... - DJ Shadow
Mahashmashana - Father John Misty
Led Zeppelin (I-III) - Led Zeppelin
Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure
Talking Book - Stevie Wonder
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
There's A Riot Goin' On - Sly & The Family Stone
Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins
The Name of This Band is Talking Heads - Talking Heads
FEBRUARY 2026:
MTV Unplugged in New York [Live] - Nirvana
Rocket - Alex G
13 Songs - Fugazi
On Your Own Love Again - Jessica Pratt
Songs of Love & Hate - Leonard Cohen
Sunbathing Animal - Parquet Courts
Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell
Deuteronomy - The Intelligence
Philip Glass's "Akhnaten" - The LA Opera
The Idiot - Iggy Pop
JANUARY 2026:
Far - Regina Spektor
Close to the Edge - Yes
Ram - Paul McCartney
The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom
Closing Time - Tom Waits
Monokini - Stereo Total
Back to the Egg - Wings
Public Strain - Women
Ys - Joanna Newsom
Kimono My House - Sparks
DECEMBER 2025:
Debut - Bjork
The King Of Limbs - Radiohead
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
James Taylor - James Taylor
The B-52's - The B-52's
Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth
MM..FOOD - MF DOOM
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
IGOR - Tyler The Creator
Selmasongs - Bjork
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
NOVEMBER 2025:
EP's 1988-1991 - My Bloody Valentine
EVOL - Sonic Youth
Let It Be - The Replacements
Mezzanine - Massive Attack
Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
The Sensual World - Kate Bush
So Tonight That I Might See - Mazzy Star
Rockin' The Suburbs - Ben Folds
Speaking in Tongues - Talking Heads
Wish - The Cure
Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
Ege Bamyasi - CAN
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin
Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Apostrophe(') - Frank Zappa
Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Stereolab
Brighten the Corners - Pavement
The Fugitive - Tony Banks
Neil Sedaka's Greatest Hits - Neil Sedaka
A Trick of the Tail - Genesis
Promises - Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra
OCTOBER 2025:
Fear of Music - Talking Heads
Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea - PJ Harvey
The Best of Aretha Franklin - Aretha Franklin
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan
Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road
Homogenic - Bjork
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
Titanic rising - Weyes Blood
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
Under the Pink - Tori Amos
My Iron Lung EP - Radiohead
Stand Up - Jethro Tull
More Songs About Buildings and Food - Talking Heads
SEPTEMBER 2025:
Portishead - Portishead
For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem
Rid of Me - PJ Harvey
Head Over Heels - Cocteau Twins
songs/instrumentals - Adrienne Lenker
Songs - Regina Spektor
Wind & Wuthering - Genesis
For the first time - Black Country, New Road
Hellfire - black midi
Songs In The Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
Blue - Joni Mitchell