365 in '26

Day 34
Nate Smith - LIVE-ACTION

Legendary drummer Nate Smith absolutely soars on this album, with technical prowess and jazz/funk genius. Makes the most of every collaboration, it's a fresh sound track-to-track-to-track. A joy from start to finish.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Yeah that's right, replied from the wrong bloody account cause I'm a diddy

Whyyy I oughtaaaaa!

CD WEEK REVIEW -

Averaging out at 2.4/5 for the week, it's safe to say CD week was not a triumph in terms of quality. It was certainly varied, and forced me to listen to new and different stuff, which is the point of the whole endeavour.
Unsurprisingly, CDs people gave away for free are mostly bad!

Day 33
Durand Bernarr - BLOOM

This 2026 Grammy award winning Neo-Soul record was already on the back foot due to its 1hr 16min run time when I pressed play, and whilst the bloated run time wasn't used to its full, it's full of sexy, thoughtful tunes. Also has some bargain bin wishy pishy too.

⭐⭐⭐

Day 32
Various Artists - Guerrilla Grooves Vol. 1

Fun mix of late 80s/early 90s electronic and dance. I'm talking CLASSIC early 90s stuff.

⭐⭐⭐

Day 31
Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards - Turn The Beat Around (Live)

The penultimate CD Week album is some live cuts from a show in Michigan by this stringed quartet, playing folky and country themed songs. A nice warm vibe.

⭐⭐⭐

Day 30
Beth Rowley - Little Dreamer

Really safe pop-jazz, Beth has a nice voice but nothing that really makes me sit down and pay attention. Simple instrumentations, overall a bit of a snore.

⭐⭐

The Chieftains - The Long Black Veil

Mick Jagger doing a terrible version of Long Black Veil, Sting singing with a horrific accent, Van Morrison doing his weird thing, Tom Jones being miscast, dreary tunes. A 1 star album saved by Sinéad O'Connor's beautiful voice and fun dancing tracks

⭐⭐

Day 28
The Bluetones - Luxembourg

3 stars is a weird rating for this, because my main takeaway is that this album just kind of... slipped over my mind? Slid around like butter melting in a pan. Pleasant, but left my mind as quickly as it arrived. I just remember tapping my toes? So, fine?

⭐⭐⭐

I fear it has aged like Milk

GIven that it seems the band has had about 1000 members over its life time, this is very impressive work!

Day 27
Uthanda - Groove

⭐

The music of 90s hedonism, skinned from its body, and draped nightmarishly over American Christianity. Soulless tripe. Hated it.

Day 26
Brazilian Girls - Brazilian Girls

Brazilian Girls is a melting pot of ideas and styles, that creates something pretty unique. Bass heavy dub, contemporary pop, jazz, funk, a little triphop, it's all here, baby! Some tracks veer off in some odd directions, but over all a pleasant listen!

⭐⭐⭐

Day 25
Dick Gaughan - Handful of Earth

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Celtic folk from the early 80s, dealing heavily in socialist themes. Absolutely gorgeous folk guitars, meandering vocal melodies, and stories that break hearts and engender pride. A wonderful piece of Scottish and Irish art.

Day 24
Bombfunk MCs - In Stereo

With apologies to my friends from Finland, this is complete ass. Even having Freestyler, a decent piece of 90s nostalgia, can't save this. Terrible flows, aged-like-milk synths, just very very poor. And fucking LONG too!

⭐

Day 23
Fear Of Domination - Katharsis

Finnish Melo-death with electronic elements. Really forgettable. Doesn't manage to do much with all the elements its borrowing from. Have you ever put an onion in your fridge and then everything tastes a bit like onion? That's what's happening here.

⭐⭐

Day 22
Willi Carlisle - Critterland

Folk and American Country has a long tradition of telling stories, and Willi tells some heartbreaking, life affirming stories in this album. Like the best of this type of music, does a whole lot with very little. One track had me tear up in the gym!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Do you recognise any of these albums?

Day 21
Witch Fever - Fevereaten

Lots of descriptors fit Manchester’s Witch Fever; Punk, Doom, Sludge, Grunge. I think the most all encapsulating is "Goth", as this album can move through genres with ease but maintains an aesthetic throughout. Some fun tracks, some forgettable ones.

⭐⭐⭐

Day 20
Stornoway - Bonxie

Don't think I can put it better than submitter Ness put it in her submission:

"Because it gives me the feeling you get from a gentle hug, but also the feeling you get from a windy walk through a muddy field."

⭐⭐⭐

Day 19
Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra

70s Ambient Krautrock today, and unfortunately I didn't really like it. It sets a nice vibe, and would be great for putting on to set a type of mood, but as an active listening experience I didn't enjoy it at all. Some quite rudimentary. Pleasant vocals though

⭐⭐

Day 18
Fonda 500 - 8 Track Sound System

I respect the DIY feel of this album, but that's the start and end of my enjoyment here. Lifeless songs that feel like a first draft/demo. Some difficult to listen to instrumentation at points. Bumped up from a 1 due to a handful of decent moments

⭐⭐

Day 17
Chairlift - Moth

Really pretty synth Pop, soars and sways with surprising soul. Beautifully minimalistic when it needs to be, but not afraid to be quite bold when needed.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The gymmmmmmmm

Day 16
Jean-Michel Blais - aubades

Modern Classical album with some absolutely gorgeous pianos, beautifully arranged chamber orchestra pieces. Rarely predictable, hand crafted warmth. Suffers occasionally of feeling a bit background, despite every effort to give it my full attention

⭐⭐⭐

Day 15
Zombina & The Skeletones - Taste The Blood Of...

A fun punky record with lots of 50s-60s Pulp/Horror/Americana vibes. I could see myself absolutely loving it if I'd heard it at the time, but some very rough recording/mixing amongst some weaker tracks keeps this from being higher rated

⭐⭐⭐

Day 14
Sugar Pie DeSanto - Sugar Pie

Classic 60s RnB, a balm this morning for a sad brain

⭐⭐⭐

Also she's a New Vegas-head, so she's immediately a Good Egg

Sampling Sabbath and Led Zeplin, noisy textures and loud harsh beats, including samples of her tribe's ceremonies, I loved so so so much about the production of this album.