July 2026 (part two)

We're here with the long-awaited followup to our last post: I've gone and blurbed eight more tracks I heard this summer and enjoyed. Let's get into it!

Cole Berliner - “The Black Door”
This new Cole Berliner record has been some extremely pleasant late summer listening, the sort of record that makes you want to invest in a rocking chair and a porch upon which to sit and watch the world go by.

Wishy - “All The Rage”
Another killer single from Wishy’s forthcoming LP Nature’s Pill, "All The Rage" is the band at their most cranked up, a hyperactive, harmony-laden fuzz pop nugget. I will continue writing about Wishy for as long as they keep being this good at making indie rock.

July 2026 (part one)

The flow of cool new songs doesn't stop and neither do the blog posts. Here are eight songs, mostly new ones but also one very old one, that I listened to in July and thought were good.

Trinity Ace - “Martyr”
I really like this track from Trinity Ace’s incredibly titled LP Learning to Be a Cowboy on the Horse That Broke My Arm, it reminds of 20 years ago when everything was “chamber pop” with “lush instrumentation.”

 


Windy & Carl with Optigan Conservatory - “Alvin Loving”
The first look at Windy & Carl’s new collaboration with electroacoustic duo Optigan Conservatory is nine minutes of smoky, slow moving ambience that has me intrigued to hear more.

June 2026 (part two)

It's time to again share some thoughts about some cool songs I listened to recently. Below is the followup to the first part of our overview of our June 2026 playlist, featuring nine blurbs about nine cool songs, new and old. 

Jonny Nash & Tomo Katsurada - “Sunshower Rite”
I’ve really been enjoying At The Emerald Pool, a collaborative album between frequent Horse Combinations appearer Jonny Nash and former Kikagaku Moyo frontperson Tomo Katsurada. Warm, dusky instrumentals share space with more vocal forward tracks, like the meditative single “Sunshower Rite.”

John Galm - “bonfire”
This new John Galm record, peace in the valley, is a fascinating, beautiful piece of work that foregrounds the ambient textures that occasionally punctuated his excellent last record, River of Blood. I’m told that most, if not all of these sounds were created by an acoustic guitar, which is an incredible thing to behold.

June 2026 (part one)

I'm back and never more behind schedule, but the grind continues and the cool songs don't stop. Here are some thoughts on ten cool songs I heard in June.

Hell Trash - “I Know You’re Wrong”
Friends of the blog Hell Trash return, channelling the spirit of We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes-era Death Cab For Cutie to meditate on personal and global despair and then play an awesome guitar solo.

Anysia Kym & Tony Seltzer - “To Death (Remix) (ft. 454)”
I’m absolutely loving the collection of reworks of Anysia Kym’s 2025 LP Purity. One of my favorite tracks on there is a remix of album opener “To Death,” which adds a killer guest verse from weirdo rapper 454.

May 2026 (part two)

We have once again returned from the blurb mines, face dirtied and hair tousled, to offer up some thoughts on a few recent and not so recent tracks that I listened to and loved back in May. Check out volume one of May writeups if you haven't done that already, otherwise we can get straight to it:

wishbone - “Spout”
An incredible heartwarmer, “Spout” opens with a total gut punch of a first line and doesn’t ease up from there. It’s a sincere, charming debut that has me expecting big things from these Chicagoans.



ear - “Ne Plus Ultra”
Call me Vincent van Gogh because I’m excited for more ear!