05.11.2026-SWEET APPLE Sing The Night In Sorrow (Tee Pee,2017)

 

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

   Sweet Apple features the talents of John Petkovic and Tim Parnin from Cobra Verde, Dave Sweetapple from Witch, and J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr., who joined forces in 2010. Their newest release, Sing the Night in Sorrow, combines all the best strengths from each musician and fuses them together for a musically cohesive record.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/k8w2og0e

02.11.2026-LEYLA McCALLA Sun Without The Heat (ANTI-,2024)

 

INDIE FOLK

   While politics are never far from McCalla, her lyrics for this record focus more on bygone love, escapism, family, nature, and the passing of time, yet the music is the real attraction. McCalla (vocals, cello, banjo, guitars) and her band Shawn Myers (percussion, drums), Nahum Zdybel (guitars), Pete Olynciw (electric bass, piano), Maryam Qudus (synthesizers, organs, backing vocals), create a sonic texture throughout the record which makes it feel as if the listener is hearing the music through an old dusty radio, broadcasting from a distant tropical locale. Instruments seem to bend in humidity, nature comes alive while tempos shift in unique ways as if warped vinyl records are broadcasted slightly skipping and bobbling. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/td77otsy

30.10.2026-CLARA MORENO Miss Balanco (Far Out,2009)

 

MPB

   Carioca (native of Rio) singer Clara Moreno has quietly established a reputation for excellence over six albums and this second for Far Out is by far the most accomplished thus far. It certainly helps that productions chores are taken care of by mother Joyce and arrangements by father, drummer Tutti Moreno. However, Clara Moreno is very much her own singer and is certainly not trading on her mother’s reputation. The song selection is a judicious one that harks back to the classic samba era and follows the recent trend of artists such as Orchestra Imperial and Marisa Monte in updating this timeless sound.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/y9lhid0v

27.10.2026-MILLIONAIRES Tonight (Independent,2013)

 

ELECTROPOP

   There are some things worth noting on Tonight, and Millionaires could blossom yet if they stick with their ability to write a good pop chorus. If squeaky vocals and grinding electro/dance music doesn’t rub you up the wrong way, you may find this album pleasing. It may be a grower, but there’s a very geriatric part of me too busy complaining about the state of music today to keep listening. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/aouz1yt2

24.10.2026-JENNY HVAL Iris Silver Mist (4AD,2025)

 

ART POP

   An immersive album of beguiling charms about memories, isolation and dislocation.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/lvfqwawl

21.10.2026-U.S. GIRLS Bless This Mess (4AD,2023)

 

ART POP

   Even by her own shape-shifting standards, U.S. Girls’ Meghan Remy has executed some breath-taking gear-changes since 2020’s Heavy Light. Besides a typically withering critique of Father Christmas (seasonal single Santa Stay Home), she has written a memoir (Begin By Telling), sampled Glenn Gould, covered the Birthday Party for a tribute album and more. Along the way, she gave birth to twins and recorded an album, whose title speaks volumes about Remy’s ability to transform mighty feats of multi-tasking and politically aware meaning into hallowed art-pop.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/7jtnzvhx

19.10.2026-SHE DREW THE GUN Behave Myself (Submarine Cat,2021)

 

PSYCH POP

   Personifying the spirit of rebellion, She Drew The Gun‘s uncompromising, genre-defying third LP, Behave Myself, is a rallying cry of fuzzy psych-pop hooks and lyrical protest, unafraid to fight the social and political dystopia we find ourselves heading towards.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/qcc2vhmk

16.10.2026-TANLINES Highlights (Tru Thoughts,2015)

 

ELECTRONIC

   This Brooklyn duo had one of the best indie hits in recent memory with 2012’s “All of Me,” a beautifully sculpted nugget of sad-Eighties dance pop. On their second album, Eric Emm and Jesse Cohen sound like they burn prayer candles to the moany ghosts of OMD and ABC, but the pair’s songs take you places you don’t expect — from the Roy Orbison-ish country goth of “Invisible Ways” to the Afropop buoyancy of “Slipping Away.” “Nobody wants to be alone, sittin’ by themselves watching falling snow,” Emm intones on the doleful “If You Stay,” as chamomile jangle keeps him warm. Even at its most mournful, this is an album charged by bright ideas.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/qmv64do5

13.10.2026-QUEEN OF THE MEADOW Survival Of The Unfittest (Only Lovers,2021)

 

FOLK

   Survival Of The Unfittest simply exists to cater to itself. In this manner it becomes precious and self aware, but not in direct competition with another act that would push for widespread success. A contrast to soaring, dizzying heights—grounded in the ‘now’ of mood and feeling. Survival Of The Unfittest does make you feel things, but importantly, it makes you feel something different while breaking you out of the usual funk, catching you off guard. There’s room for the usual disclaimer, if you’re not looking to break the pace of what’s ‘usual’ Survival Of The Unfittest is likely to pass without a second thought, but, if like me you’re looking for a little of something else, The Queen Of The Meadow sits in the right field.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/bzka6z41

10.10.2026-AIR WAVES The Dance (Fire,2022)

 

INDIE POP

   ‘The Dance’  is anything but an over-confected studio-sprawl -like all Air Waves music it’s at root beautifully simple, instantly accessible and entirely addictive. Nicole released their first independent album in 2009 under the Air Waves moniker, a name inspired by a Guided By Voices song -subsequent albums like 2010’s ‘Dungeon Dots’ (which featured a guest vocal from fellow Brooklynite Sharon Van Etten), 2015’s ‘Parting Glances’  and 2017’s stunning ‘Warrior’  crystallised Schneit’s vision of loose-but-focused, convivial but startling pop. ‘The Dance’ continues that trajectory but finds Schneit opening up their music to a more fluid sense of space and movement, while keeping their lyrical eye between the personal and the political, from the specific to the universal with a haiku-like directness and suggestion. ‘Wait’  explores issues with focusing, something rooted in their childhood alongside the need to not overdo anything and appreciating the simplicity within something.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/17zsarbl

07.10.2026-UNDERGROUND YOUTH Mademoiselle (Not On Label,2010)

 

POST-PUNK/SHOEGAZE

   The Underground Youth are something of a musical enigma. This Manchester four-piece have been collectively creating a heady blend of shoegaze, post-punk and psych-rock with ease since 2008 to produce an overall sound so hypnotically mesmerising that I'm constantly floored every single time that I hear them. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/if61noow

04.10.2026-DON DIABLO Future (Hexagon,2018)

 

ELECTRONIC

   It's a beautiful album with which to welcome the summer, and if you need a little sunshine in your life, this LP should do the trick.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/nknfq8bm

01.10.2026-ZHEANI The Spiritual Meat Grinder (Access,2023)

 

ELECTRONIC

   Born in the isolated town of Wallaville, Queensland, Zheani Sparkes debuted with the 2018 EP ‘Eight’, where she recounted stories of growing up in poverty and foster care – while also revisiting a formative experience in the confusing and shadowy world of Hollywood. Her music was dark and desolate, a showcase of her signature fairy-trap-rap screaming vocals and “post-human” aesthetic.

   And now, Zheani has reached a different space with ‘The Spiritual Meat Grinder’. It’s her first project released after her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis – which she says has been “empowering” – and is also her most intentional. Both the contents and the sonics of this 9-track EP are lighter and more fun, playing like a gratifying breakthrough moment in a therapy session. It’s a reprieve from the years of trials and adversity, as she describes it, and a moment of calm in the hero’s journey.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/j77hju0g

28.09.2026-GASLIGHT ANTHEM American Slang (SideOneDummy,2010)

 

HEARTLAND ROCK

   On American Slang, their third album proper, the sources they pull their sound from are clear enough. It's hearts on sleeves time, so the first shelf contains Tom Petty's guitar tones, the second the attitude and speed from The Clash, and the third holds the stoic earnest nature of Pearl Jam. It's a composite that works so well that it's almost eerie. 'American Slang' is a perfect single, beat-driven, with a crystal clear chiming riff. Brian Fallon's lyrics are heartfelt but satisfyingly vague. "They cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive"... if that doesn't summon up quasi-historical inner murmurings from men of a certain age, you should reach over and check their pulse. It's an opening track that few bands could exceed with a better song, and to be fair, it's best to start strong and let the others bask in the afterglow of a that might well be the 'Don't Stop Believin' of 2029. Even if it is all downhill from there, it's still a sweet ride.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/va4epj0l

25.09.2026-SMITH WESTERNS Soft Will (Mom+Pop Music, 2013)

 

INDIE ROCK

   What does a buzz band do when the buzz starts to burn off? On 2011’s breakout Dye It Blonde, Smith Westerns boned-up their loose-jointed garage pop into a dewy amalgamation of ’70s psych-rock and ’90s brit-pop. Siphoning from T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, Galaxie 500, and Oasis, the then-trio served up an easy-to-swallow helping of slacker glam. After a whirlwind of touring, recording, and generally being a band for the first time, Smith Westerns saw the opportunity to reposition themselves on their third LP Soft Will. They’ve returned to Chicago, where they now claim full-time residence. They’ve watched their friends move on from school to professional jobs. Maybe they’ve seen a few move out of their lives altogether. There’s nothing like extensive touring to highlight the fragility of human relationships. Dye It Blonde used snark and sheen to outline desire; Soft Will threads the fear of loss.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/x77x35pj

22.09.2026-FREDRIK Flora (The Kora Records,2011)

 

INDIE / ALTERNATIVE ROCK

   The third album by the Swedish band Fredrik is cut from same cloth as Trilogi, their beguiling second release. They like finely textured guitars and electronics, quasi-classical embellishments, miniature clockwork percussion, and windy vocals placed high in the mix. Flora definitely has that Fredrik feel, which is like a Scandinavian Radiohead, or the Notwist at their duskiest.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/783g9he5

19.09.2026-SKATING POLLY Chaos Country Line (El Camino, 2023)

 

ALTERNATIVE / PUNK ROCK

   ‘Chaos Country Line’ is the absolutely packed double album from Amercian band Skating Polly. Filled with 18 tracks, this is more lengthy than your typical rock band album these days.

   The length of this album gives plenty of scope for showing off the range of styles they can play, and the amazing adaptability of the vocals of step sisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse. There is something for almost everyone on ‘Cross Country Line’. Gentle soft vocals and delicate keyboards can be found on songs like ‘Someone Like a Friend’ but you can also find big guitar riffs on ‘Singalong’, metal growls on ‘Baby on my Birthday’ and even a bit of country influence on song ‘All the Choices’.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/1ox3pton

15.09.2026-AMANDA SHIRES Nobody's Girl (ATO,2025)

 

AMERICANA

   The first word that comes to mind after so many of these songs is; emotional. There is so much emotion packed into these tracks, the vast majority of which are Shires sharing her emotional state post her divorce/break-up from Jason Isbell. It's permeates most of the songs here as Shires lets her vulnerability show in the lyrics but also in a voice that near trembles sometimes. There is a song clearly about the environment and condemning our actions, but the main focus is heartbreak and trying to heal afterwards.

 https://www.sendspace.com/file/h6vc3hej

11.09.2026-CRISTINA QUESADA Think I Heard A Rumour (Elephant,2019)

 

POP

   Madrid's Elefant Records has no less than six labels attached to its Spanish pop empire. I've found myself going down rabbit holes of rare twee-punk, stylish guitar-pop, dub-house, bubbly pop-punk and Spanish-sung J-pop (no really), digging them all. But Cristina Quesada is perhaps most emblematic of Elefant's aesthetic: multi-lingual, ultra-chic dance-pop with super-smart synth arrangements and songs written by Joe Moore (The Perfect Kiss, The Yearning). Like, say, Saint Etienne, Quesada and Moore embrace fantastical swirl of pop music history.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/qhza98bp

08.09.2026-JESSE RUINS Eve (Magniph,2016)

 

ELECTRONIC

   This release is praised for its abstract, futuristic vision that blends melodic piano tones with distorted electronic and organic textures. 

     Critics and listeners note that it features a sharper, more refined cut compared to earlier bedroom-pop recordings while maintaining an immersive atmosphere.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/40kng02h

05.09.2026-MARIA MINERVA Will Happiness Find Me? (Not Not Fun,2012)

 

ELECTRONIC / LO-FI

   Maria Minerva, the Estonian singer-songwriter whose bedroom electropop somehow seems to effortlessly attach itself to some pretty erudite philosophical discourse, had quite a busy 2011. With no fewer than four releases, including a much-heralded cassette full-length (Tallinn at Dawn) and the nu-nu-age drifts of “Cabaret Cixous,” Minerva has quickly established herself as one of “the underground’s” most promising and prolific young talent. (Note: I am referring to a very specific portion of “the underground” here, one which aligns itself with the retro-not-retro musings of the Not Not Fun label and views “lo-fi” not so much as a stylistic choice but rather a necessity, a tool that can adapt itself to any number of interpretations, working either against or in concert with the music itself.)

     So she’s understandably taken some time off from releasing new material in 2012. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/gnag0zsv

01.09.2026-SKRILLEX Quest For Fire (Owsla/Atlantic,2023)

 

DUBSTEP

   While this is technically only his second album, Skrillex has hardly been away from the spotlight. Quest for Fire shows us that he continuously expanded his sonic palette through his productions, remixes, and other work, particularly when it comes to finding beats. He wrangles a constellation of guest stars (from Four Tet to Missy Elliott). The British grime MC and producer Flowdan offers the most satisfying match for Skrillex’s world-swallowing beats; his low-slung voice towers over the ricocheting rhythm of the Fred again..-assisted “Rumble.” Like the mosh pits and dance floors that have thrilled to his music, Skrillex knows that perpetual motion is crucial.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/s5f0td5r

30.08.2026-LAURA VEIRS Found Light (Bella Union,2022)

 

FOLK

   Found Light is Laura Veirs’ 12th studio album, and in many ways, it marks a creative departure. Shortly after her 2020 release My Echo, which famously explores her painful separation from her longtime husband and producer Tucker Martine, Veirs announced a new album was already in the works without his involvement. Instead, she chose to take on for herself a side of songmaking that Martine, who also produced Veirs’ collaboration with Neko Case and k.d. lang, previously handled for her. Marking Veirs’ first-ever release with a production credit, Found Light represents a new step in not only Veirs’ personal life, but also her career at large, a turn that has led her to consider it a kind of debut.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/5nfy0l8u

27.08.2010-GAYNGS Relayted (Jagjaguwar,2010)

 

INDIE ROCK

   Gayngs represent a somewhat unlikely confluence of any number of recent musical trends, foremost amongst them the resurgence in hipness of such über-processed AOR acts as 10cc, Hall & Oates and Steely Dan. Indeed, producer Ryan Olson’s stated purpose when founding Gayngs (alongside Solid Gold’s Zack Coulter and Adam Hurlburt) was to create “a collection of drugged-up keyboards and slick bedroom production almost exclusively inspired by 10cc’s I’m Not in Love.” Relayted, Gayngs’ groaningly-titled debut album, shies away from actually covering said song, though the fact it includes a creepy cover of Godley & Creme’s saccharine enormo-hit Cry does make you wonder why they bothered being so coy.

     That’s not the whole story, though. Relayted is not without a scent of fromage, but it is, on the whole, artier, sexier and stranger than the output of Olson’s bemulleted heroes. It owes plenty to modern RnB production, and is certainly more leftfield in tone and taste than anything 10cc ever made.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/fme06e98

24.08.2026-FENNE LILY Big Picture (Dead Oceans,2023)

 

INDIE FOLK

   The singer-songwriter from Bristol has made a return with her third studio album Big Picture, and with it she continues her run of flawless albums. It differs slightly to her previous records, carrying a more jovial tone, but is definitely not without deep cuts.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/2ybrjr43

21.08.2026-BEACHES Blame My Ex (Self Released,2023)

 

ROCK

   Since emerging in 2013, sisters Jordan Miller (lead vocals and bass) and Kylie Miller (guitar), drummer Eliza Enman McDaniel, and keyboardist and guitarist Leandra Earl have continuously evolved their brand of pop-inflected rock, harnessing the vibrancy of their live shows and infusing their lyrics with a winking sense of humour. All of these ingredients are present on their latest offering, along with a sense of maturity that in no way makes the album feel less fun.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/0ehzhemk

18.08.2026-DEAD CONFEDERATE Sugar (The Artists Organization,2010)

 

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

   The 10 tunes on Sugar are more rock than ramshackle—still heavy on reverb and distorted, droning guitar—and they play like a who’s who of the band’s many influences. With its fuzzy guitar intro, opening track “In The Dark” nods to Sonic Youth, and “Mob Scene” (aside from frontman Hardy Morris’s Billy Corgan-esque vocals) could have been lifted from Led Zeppelin’s songbook, with Walker Howle’s proggy, wailing guitar and drummer Jason Scarboro’s thrashing beat.

   Lame lyrics aside, Sugar demonstrates Dead Confederate’s natural talent for grunge atmospherics, but they could use some songwriting workshops before tackling their third effort.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wp7jh74s

15.08.2026-SCREAMING FEMALES Desire Pathway (Don Giovanni,2023)

 

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

New Brunswick's own Screaming Females are industry vets now, eight albums in, but they remain DIY basement players at heart — and oftentimes in practice. With a bit of synth and power-pop added to the mix, Desire Pathway is the sound of a long running band doing exactly what it does best: earth-quaking riffs; tight, propulsive drumming; and Marissa Paternoster's unmatched vocal quaver. Screamales are forever.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/mbswt8u7

12.08.2026-ANCHORESS The Art Of Losing (KScope,2021)

ALTERNATIVE POP

   As she skewers the messy, chaotic nature of grief in various forms, alt-pop artist Catherine Anne Davis' second album finds her turning to art for clarity.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/kkieg06x

 

08.08.2026-NZCA LINES Pure Luxury (Memphis Industries,2020)

 

INDIE POP / ELECTRONIC

   The album, from the start, boasts a silky funk bravado, with slick weighty synth lines and perfect dancefloor rhythms. Couple that with its nourishing slow sets and the level of quality on the production, ‘Pure Luxury’ aligns itself not out of place up against pop’s finest releases this year.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/k3hqtivw

05.08.2026-ALEXIA AVINA Betting On An Island (Never Content,2018)

 

INDIE FOLK

   "Betting on an Island" is the debut full-length album by Alexia Avina , a Montreal , Canada-based artist . The record is filled to the brim with atmospheric sounds resembling a shifting mirage. Unlike the ghostly visions that emanate from sweltering travelers across the endless sands of the African desert, this music is a cozy oasis where world-weary wanderers can find long-awaited refuge and refuge from the fears of everyday life, inner complexes, and endless loneliness amidst an ocean of indifferent people. However, the more time you spend within this peaceful haven, the less you yearn to return to the evil realm of cynical and materialistic zombies.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wpr79sfk

02.08.2026-I'M WITH HER Wild And Clear And Blue (Rounder,2025)

 

FOLK

   ‘Wild & Clear & Blue’ is a triumph of beauty, friendship, togetherness, harmony, music: everything that matters in life. Let the ancient light flood in. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/2sgq386j

31.07.2026-ESTER BROHUS Game For The Gamblers (DME, 2016)

 

COUNTRY ROCK

   The overall impression of the album is that we are dealing with down-to-earth, well-played, well-sung country. Brohus' vocals are consistently strong and carefully dosed in relation to the music. Production and packaging certainly say 2016, but we could also have been 20, 30 and 40 years back in time, if it weren't for the fact that production and packaging also signal more recent times.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/yaeadyvs