Archive: Week of Jan 15 - Jan 21, 2026
Week of Jan 15 - Jan 21, 2026
Dusty loops and warm Rhodes everywhere, this thing sounds like flipping through crates at a good shop on a Saturday. Every beat feels considered but never overthought. One of those records you put on and forget to skip anything.
The most underrated West Coast rap record of the 90s, full stop. 'Park Bench People' and 'Innercity Boundaries' hit hard and weird at the same time, these dudes were doing flows that nobody else was anywhere near. If you know The Pharcyde, this is their weirder older cousin.
Before he was in the Raconteurs this guy was quietly making some of the best guitar pop of the early 2000s. 'Tiny Spark' and 'What I'm Looking For' are absolute earworms with real production craft behind them. Feels like Big Star updated for a new decade.
Live band, tight rhymes, that specific Twin Cities warmth that Little Brother had down south. 'Move' is one of the most overlooked rap songs of that whole era. Feels like something you would have found in a college town record shop and never let go.
Big Mike and Mr. 3-2 before either of them got bigger, this is raw early Houston rap with James Brown samples and street energy. 'Concrete to Dope' is an absolute banger and the whole thing has this lived-in Texas feel. Way slept on compared to what came out of Houston in that same window.
Joel Martin and Matt Edwards essentially made a love letter to 60s easy listening and exotica but with modern production sensibility. 'Pillow Talk' and 'Soho' have this late-night cinematic warmth that you don't really hear anywhere else. Perfect for when you want something electronic that doesn't feel like it's trying.
The first AACM record ever released and it still sounds unlike anything else from that era. 'Sound' the opener moves from free blowing to near-silence in this completely unconventional way. If you got into Andrew Hill you owe it to yourself to hear where the experimental Chicago scene was going at the same time.
Dudley's second solo record is warmer and more song-focused than A Lil Light, with Georgia Anne Muldrow all over the production. 'Love Is Love' and 'Forever Thankful' have this hazy spiritual groove that feels like late-night headphone music. Totally slept on even by people who love the first album.
Patient, melodic, and completely unhurried, this album sounds like it was made at 4am in a good way. 'Beautiful People' with Thom Yorke is the one everyone heard but 'Give It Your Chorus' and 'Infrared' are where the real depth is. Electronic music that actually has feeling in it.
This one flew under the radar for decades until the reissues started dropping and people lost their minds. Equal parts spiritual and funky — the guitar work alone is worth the price of admission. Feels like it should be on every afrobeat shortlist but somehow still gets slept on.
Ninja Tune was stacked in '97 but this one still cut through — big live drums, cinematic horns, and samples that feel like they were dug from the bottom of a crate nobody else found. 'Misery' is a certified late-night essential and the whole record holds that same tension. Darker and more urgent than most of what was coming out of that scene.
This trio keeps making records that should be huge but somehow stay at the cult level — Be Free is their best run of songs, with Amber Navran's vocals sitting perfectly in the mix alongside live jazz instrumentation. 'The Truth' is the standout but 'Cure' is the one that gets stuck in your head for days. Warm, relaxed, and endlessly replayable.