2026 Music Standouts

This should be like 2025 Music Retrospective but more as the year goes on rather than one burst at the end (though I may reflect at the end).

Standouts Jan-April

Mostly taking this from my playlist called "Stepping Forward Briskly"

• "Family Business" (album) by Lawrence
  • A friend recommended Lawrence to me years ago and I never really explored it, so this is the first -- and I'm glad I did. I actually got into this album because it was being performed as part of the Broadway show "All Out" -- which I went to see twice (as a result of a discount) and Lawrence was the STAR of the show (sorry to Simon Rich, who I really like for the tv shows Man Seeking Woman and Miracle Workers but the stories in All Out were underwhelming (though some of them started to grow on me)). It was amazing to see the album performed live, with beautiful staging and the Broadway theatre vibe. The album is so strong, and the songs are so energizing and catchy.
• "Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground" (by artist of the same name as the album)
  • I might have stumbled into this by a Spotify recommendation... Possibly I can figure out what it was suggested as a result of. BUT I am so glad I found it, because I love this album. (Haven't checked out any of their other albums that I can recall.) At first I thought the album was too sprawling and unfocused (which was maybe being I was listening in a kind of unfocused way), but as I listened more and focused in more and got to know the songs, it actually feels like a pretty cohesive album and there are some VERY catchy parts of the songs. I love the whole feeling of the album and it has a particular sound. Highly recommend. (rateyourmusic says genre is psychedelic pop or indie pop)
• "Waitsgiving" (album) by Fishboy
  • Heard about this one through a Struthless video (not the same video but a different Struthless video inspired/triggered this entire Digital Garden). I haven't re-listened to this one except for a couple of times, but I enjoyed it. It felt like a cohesive album in terms of sound and with lyrics/ideas being repeated at various points in the album (this kind of thing in an album really gets me going).
• "Fantasy Memorial" (album) by Dinosaur Feathers
  • This album... is SO good to me that I'm finding myself needing to be careful because the songs are the kinds that can get so stuck in my head that it actually starts to drive me crazy. Like, so stuck in my head that I will wake up in the middle of the night and realize that I'm already singing certain lyrics in my head, when I barely have even awoken. Standout songs: "Family Waves", "Vendala Vida", "Sleeping In". Another case where the album has a cohesive sound ^[1]
• "Bangs" and "Dropped" (both albums) by Brick+Mortar
  • Haven't (yet?) gotten as deeply familiar with this one, but I like the sound and lyrics. No standout songs on mind, but there are definitely some that I've been hearing over and over again and have grown to appreciate.
  • Ok update on May 11 - these are growing on me! A couple standout songs: "Train", "Terrible Things".