Volume 11 | January 2026: Sam & I tackle some of the records we missed last year.
Good morning!
Today Sam Colt and I are each sharing a few more of our favorite 2025 records…ones that might’ve been overlooked or deserve more time in the spotlight.
We are so back.
Welcome to the latest installment of our (not so) new series! For those of you who may have missed previous editions, here’s a bit of context:
In this monthly series, Sam Colt and I will each share our picks for artists and/or titles that haven’t received their due. You’ll recognize Sam’s name from our On Repeat and Friends Best of Series, and also our Top 100 of all-time series last fall. These posts will adopt the latter’s format; I will make my case for my three picks and my reaction to Sam’s. Sam’s page will do the reverse.
In the inaugural post, we noted that successive editions would narrow things down slightly. Maybe a specific genre…maybe a specific era…maybe a specific…well, who knows!
“There never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do” is a great line from an admittedly heavy song by Jim Croce (and, as it turns out, a prescient one in his case). When it comes to records, it never feels like I have enough time to listen to all the ones I want to, to write up the ones I hope people will love, etc. Real life is really good at getting in the way of the things we want to do. This is obviously a great problem to have, but still…
As noted before, I’ve taken some steps to remedy that. I left quite a few records on the table this past year, and come December, I’d like to be able to tell you that things went differently in 2026. We’ll see how it goes.
But it’s not just me that’s been wrestling with this. My partner in crime, Sam Colt, is in the same boat, and for our first installment of the year, we figured we’d at least try to fix that by shining a light on a few releases that either got by us or we ran out of time on.
When you’re done here, remember to check out Sam’s take at This Is a Newsletter!
Let’s get to it!
KA—
The Tubs- Cotton Crown
The home screen of my phone is blank. I have every app tucked into a folder titled “Kitchen Sink.” This is good for helping with endless scroll, but bad for things like remembering I have the Bandcamp app. It also means I forget that I happen to own great records like The Tub’s Cotton Crown. This is one of those records you play, then wonder why you don’t play it more often.
Cotton Crown is a simple record. It does exactly what it says on the tin. And the tin says things like “great up-tempo rock with a lead singer who sounds like he could be Richard Thompson’s son.” If you haven’t heard Owen Williams yet, give this a listen, then play something from Shoot Out the Lights. It’s uncanny.
That alone is worth the price of admission, but Thompson is also a fantastic songwriter. On Cotton Crown, the lyrical themes are pretty dark, but this isn’t a nine-song dirge. The words might be a downer, but that is more than offset by the band’s consistently upbeat, uptempo sound.
I mean, if you’re gonna sing a verse like:
Yeah I’m not myself
Haven’t been him for weeks
Been deranged
Been such a freak
—from “Freak Mode,” having a little jangle behind it helps it all go down. And that’s essentially the formula for the band’s sophomore outing (no slump here!). Bummer lyrics and a sunny sound. It’s a great pairing and makes for a record that, more than most, I wish I’d spent more time with these last few months. Hopefully, this is a preview of what’s to come.
Sam’s Pick and My Take: The Necks- Disquiet
Here I am once again saying that I don’t care what Dril thinks; you do, in fact, have to hand it to Sam once in a while. He has once again put a record on my radar that I never would’ve seen in a million years. I went in cold, knowing only three things: the band name, the title, and that there were four tracks.
In my head, this added up to a punk/hardcore EP, and, well, let’s just say that was (very) wide of the mark. Jumping straight from Cotton Crown to this didn’t help. My first clue was when I saw the opening track was just under an hour.
Then there’s this from their Bandcamp page:
With music so open, there are profound opportunities to choose: what to focus on, whether to focus at all, etc. Disquiet takes this further: there is no particular listening order prescribed. There is no “Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3.” The music itself seems to stretch time, and this presentation challenges ideas of sequencing. The Necks, one may argue, are a mode of discovery as much as they are a band.
That’s… a lot. Distilled down, this is an ambient record, but not the sort that pops up when you Google “cure for insomnia.” It’s chill enough to play in the background while doing something else (translation: not distracting), but interesting enough that I found myself going back and listening to parts more than once. It’s cliché to describe a record as challenging, or one that asks as much of the listener as they do of the artist, but when it fits, it fits. And you’ve got to hand it to The Necks: this is an incredible record.
Hélène Barbier-Panorama
As noted above, at the end of the year, I wrote about what to expect going forward. One of the things I highlighted was work I didn’t quite get to in 2025, and records that, for whatever reason, I didn’t feature here. I avowed that I would change that in 2026 and even tentatively titled the series “Records I Left on the Table,” suggesting we could workshop the title. What’s not up for debate is that this is one of the records I had in mind (and was playing) when I typed that first draft. There were admittedly some time constraints—it was released in mid-November (see also: De La Soul).
The TL;DR is that this is sui generis no wave. But there’s so much more. With Panorama, Barbier has built a quixotic little universe that pulls you in right from the start. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than on “Milquetoast,” a track that feels like something Björk might’ve written if she were from Montreal.
Throughout the record, the sound dances around with flourishes like little whirling dervishes. Sometimes it’s very twee; at others, it’s intense. It’s a little off balance, sometimes erratic, and delightfully peculiar in a way that only someone like Barbier could pull off. The result is a record that keeps you coming back for more.
Sam’s Pick and My Take: Sudan Archives- The BPM
Longtime readers may recall that I’m not a fan of trap or anything “glitch,” but I love house music—Detroit and Chicago varieties doubly so. The BPM hits all four. There’s no shortage of four-on-the-floor here (I read that she used a Roland SP-404). I’ll take all of that you’ve got!
But there are also family-sized doses of Auto-Tune, which isn’t awesome. That said, the production here is on point. The lyrics touch on substantive topics (a rarity in this genre), making much of this sound like a dancefloor confessional rather than the usual frivolous—or purely hedonic—words we’re used to hearing boom from speakers. None of that sucks, and it all adds up to a pleasant overall experience.
Say She She- Cut & Rewind
Say She She’s third album, Cut & Rewind, really deserves more attention. From beginning to end, it’s their best work so far—pure fun with sharp observations, and every track grooves as much as the message it carries.
The New York City trio—Piya Malik, Sabrina Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown—draw from ’70s soul, disco, and funk, but it never feels like pastiche.
The album opens with “Possibilities,” an early showcase for the three voices. Individually, they are incredible; together, they become a force, riding along on a wave of funk. “Under the Sun” follows as an anthem of solidarity. “Little Kisses” slows things down for a second and lets us catch our breath. On “Make It Known,” Say She She stretches into more contemporary territory, showing us that they’re not above covering some new ground. More than anything, whether it’s new wave, disco, or pop, they make it look easy.
Part of the album’s magic comes from the band’s recording approach. Apparently, each song was written and recorded the same day, with only three instrumental takes and the best one making the cut. Given how polished the record sounds, I have to wonder if that was true. The sound hitting your ears and the words that just hit your eyes are hard to reconcile.
Cut & Rewind is a timely reminder that music can be both joyous and political, and boy, could we use some of that right now! Say She She are locked in, drop some killer grooves, and deliver a record that’s right on time for these times.
Sam’s Pick and My Take: De La Soul- Cabin in the Sky
Last month seems like ten years ago, but just a few short weeks ago, we were waist-deep in AOTY season. For my part, I kicked things off with a “Noteworthy Releases” piece where I noted, “…Cabin in the Sky came out less than four weeks ago—and IMO, it’s some of the best work they’ve ever put out.” Not only do I stand by that, but I would also contend that had it come out earlier—even in, say, September or October—it would’ve made my top 10. I just hadn’t had enough time to absorb it all. In fact, I’m still not sure I’m there.
On paper, this is supposed to be a eulogy for Dave Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy, aka Plug 2, but you’d never know. It would’ve been easy, I suppose, to drop a sad record—one where every bar oozed grief. No one would’ve blamed them, and sales would’ve likely been steady. That’s not De La’s style, and they certainly weren’t about to start now. Instead, we get something more akin to a celebration or a procession you’d see in New Orleans. Or, in their own words 37 years ago: “Style is surely our own thing. Not the false disguise of showbiz.”
That’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? Share your thoughts in the comments! Rants, raves, and spicy takes are all welcome. And if you have any ideas on future themes, please share those as well! Don’t forget to check out Sam’s thoughts over at This Is a Newsletter!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
Kevin Sent 