I’ve decided to start keeping a monthly music diary, more for my own purposes than anything else, so I can look back on what went on in my musical world every month. It’ll include a playlist of the songs I’ve been enjoying this month, the shows I’ve been to, and commentary on musical events and discourse.
A lot of my music listening in 2025 was driven by music challenges on BlueSky, and 2026 seems to be no different. As part of the People’s Pop Poll for 2025 I’ve discovered a lot of great tracks from last year that I otherwise would probably never have heard.
Tsuioku no Nazca by Broken By The Scream is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, combining metal, pop, jazz-funk, Ghibli film themes and probably some other stuff besides into a 14 minute epic that must be heard to be believed.
Canva (How?) is a hilarious UK rap track summed up by the opening line “How can I take investment advice from a man with an artwork made on Canva?” As a long time advocate of pop taking on subjects it doesn’t usually cover, I can only approve.
Boma is an exquisite jazz track from the Marshall Allen, from his debut solo album, released at age 100
As well as artists that were new to me, there were new favourites from artists I already loved, such as The Mountain Goats, The Beths and Sacred Paws, all bands that consistently put out great records whilst flying slightly under my radar.
I also put together a list of my 50 favourite tracks of the 2010s for another music challenge. One that didn’t quite make the list but is a really great track I had entirely forgotten about is Need Someone by Stubborn, a fine example of the kind of sparse, electronic ballad that was popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Music discourse seemed to be mainly around big upcoming album releases and tours, with Harry Styles in particular causing quite a fuss. Whilst there will no doubt be many wonderful records released in 2026, nothing currently announced especially excites me. Let me know if there’s a new Joanna Newsom album announcement though (over 10 years now since the last one). Or Sufjan Stevens UK tour dates.
I did see a little live music this month, attending a lunchtime convert of Sibelius piano pieces, which more than anything highlighted the risks of attending a seated concert of relaxing music, after a large lunch, as a middle aged man. I have been known to drift off during kids movies at the cinema (and at home) but that is considerably more acceptable than snoring my way through a concert full of music lovers, and it was touch and go, let me tell you.
You can find my playlist of the month below (TuneMyMusic can be used to convert to the streaming serivce of your choice). Hope you all enjoy the rest of 2026 now January is finally over.
Mark J Wray 