Sun 13

Running any independent business in this day and age is an uphill battle. But to be ten years into such endeavours, well, in 2026 it’s probably one of the most punk things you could do. Apt considering Defend Vinyl is Liverpool’s go-to for all your punk needs. Tomorrow, the record store celebrates its tenth birthday. For any business involved in the music industry these days, such feats are a minor miracle.

The world needs more bands like Imperial Teen. Or does it?

The press release I got from Orindal Records could not have been more explicit: Claire Cronin’s The Bruise is a folk horror album. Of course I looked at the album art and thought, “Yes, a record about witches who cook up babies for dinner.” A smarter person than me could talk about why this photo of Cronin and her baby is so horror-coded. Is it the ornate mirror? Is it the juxtaposition of Cronin’s black and the baby’s white, Cronin’s hair laying on her shoulder like a specter’s?

Creatively, Ilyas Ahmed has always coloured outside the lines. The Portland-based artist’s solo canon, led by With Endless Fire (2012) and I Am All Your Own (2015), exquisite journeys in terrestrial dream-folk that few others have replicated. Ahmed has moved beyond, too, with A Dream of Another (2013). A release that, at times, is so quiet that you can almost hear the blood running through your veins.

Throughout the year in new music, there will always be lovely surprises that fly out of left field. From a personal point of view, Melanie Radford is one of those artists. The Seattle-based songwriter, spending years on the road as member of Built To Spill as well as a part of the stoner alt-rock three-piece, Blood Lemon. While both different bands completely, Radford continues to shift, moving centre stage for her debut solo release, For the Sake of Stillness.

In 2026, there has been many a good post-rock act. So good in fact, that it wouldn’t have been complete without SQUANDERERS in it. This year alone, the trio of Wendy Eisenberg, David Grubbs and Kramer, each have carved out different paths aside from this project that has birthed three albums in as many years. Grubbs, recently releasing his third collaboration alongside fellow experimental guitar veteran, Loren Connors (Somewhere in the Wind – Room40).

Since the turn of the century, few have matched the ghostly essence of a Liz Harris composition. Predominately through the lens of Grouper, Harris has felt her way through the miasma, exposing wonderful contrasts between beauty and darkness. Through her ever-expanding body of work, Harris has emphatically showcased that the two can coexist. There have been lighter moments, too. Helen, for example.

There are many great things that are part of being a Dan Guidance fan. There is the sheer quality of his music that has led me to declare many times that he is, in my opinion, the greatest living artist making music today. Classic cut follows classic cut in a seemingly never-ending purple patch. I can’t think of another artist who so consistently sets the bar so high and never once fails to meet it. There is the different shades that colour his work.

In the world of experimentalism, few in this era have had a run quite like Oren Ambarchi. Some will claim the Australian has been the leading light in said space for a lot longer and, honestly, they are valid claims. The last two months alone have seen the guitar wrangler release a swathe of new music. Three full-lengths in total, and all worthy of more plaudits they have so far gained.

For much of this decade, Bandcamp has been the most vital catalyst for experimentalists from all across the world. Many of which don’t garner the plaudits they deserve, simply because there’s just too much choice to wrap your ears around. You could spend the next three lifetimes in the quest to be all-knowing, and it still wouldn’t be anywhere near enough time. Which is why it’s important to give the music you do manage to encounter the time and respect it deserves.