What's Good (Week of 7/19/26)
Welcome once again, to my weekly new music blog where I bring you What's Good. That is, if you're new here, a round-up of almost all the music I dug this week with an eye on what I think you might not already know about. You don't need me to tell you about new Charli XCX, but perhaps you might not know about:
New Albums
- andrew
- Beth Orton
- Josaleigh Pollett
- Nick Hakim
- Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown
- Rico Nasty
New Singles
- Cavalier
- Chelsea Wolfe
- Emma Ruth Rundle
- Fielded
- Kiefer
- Monti (fka Chester Watson)
And a ton more! I've also got a Bonus Beats section where you can find live performances, music writing, and other cool things from around the web. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to get the blog delivered to your mailbox everytime I drop.
Playlists
TIDAL
TIDAL: What's Good Playlist - Week of 7/19/26
YouTube
Bonus Beats
Ahead of getting back to Mexico City in November as part of the tour for his excellent Croak Dream, Puma Blue dropped off a DJ set filmed back in December of 2025.
Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE dropped off a mini-doc of the Australia & New Zealand leg of their Home on the Range Tour for their split double LP POMPEII // UTILITY.
Neurosis partnered with the Firekeep Alliance, a suicide prevention and mental wellness nonprofit organization serving community members in the Blackfeet Nation, with a short film featuring two songs from their most recent album An Undying Love For A Burning World.
Elmattic
Elmattic mostly traces Action Bronson path from mixtapes in Queens to Planet Frog live at Katz's, but also New York and food.
What I realized is that it shows a huge difference between how New Yorkers eat and how the rest of the world eats. A Valenciano will say: oh, I know a good place for paella, I’ll take you there, the owner is my uncle’s cousin’s sister. A Parisian will take you to a non-descript brasserie with a middle-aged waitress who has absolutely no time for your bullshit French, but if you order off the chalkboard it’ll be better than two Michelin stars. A British person will say: oh, there’s a pub just down the road that does a lovely Sunday roast, and it’s the same platter of lukewarm beige food with gravy poured all over it as every other pub.
But a New Yorker will say: this is THE BEST merguez mixed grill/Nepalese momo dumpling/Korean fried chicken/jolof rice/Senegalese yassa/bagel/pizza/birria/bun cha place ON THE ENTIRE PLANET, and it just happens to be a couple blocks from their apartment. And they will argue vehemently if anyone says there’s a better one somewhere else, especially if getting there involves taking the L train and then switching to the 6 or whatever — because first of all, I’m hungry NOW and second why the fuck would you do that? There are always places nearby where the food is craft, made from grandma’s recipe from their home province, and it’s CASH ONLY, ATM OUTSIDE.
Anthony Seaman
Anthony Seaman sat down with the New York Tri-State's three man weave, YL, Papo2oo4, and Subjxct 5 to talk their collaborative album Triple Double and their partnership.
Dylan Green
Dylan Green details their beatmaking journey, and waxes on the idea of gatekeeping vs. accessibility. Shout out to the very accurate observation of Kenneth Blume's (fka Kenny Beats) culpability in a behavior he helped to foster. I was in the Twitch streams. I was there for "Blazercore." It's a bit rich, imo.
Behind-the-scenes content can often be as exciting and inspiring as the music it’s documenting. How many countless beatmakers would we potentially lose if the documentary about Jay-Z’s The Black Album never happened? Would a veteran MC discourage an upstart from watching Rakim explain his writing process in Ice-T’s Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap because it ruins the magic of “Follow The Leader”? Music tech in 2026 is more pick up and play than ever, but I’m sure Blume’s young fans himself felt more confident approaching whatever gear they were interested in after seeing the process laid out for them. Talent can persist through a lot, but it can’t be properly cultivated in a vacuum.
There’s also the context in which Blume is using the word “gatekeep.” The implication in his video is of a revoking of access, a pulling up of the ladder. Not everyone is built to be a self-taught musician who comes out of the box fully formed; not everyone is some genre-defying savant ready to reconfigure the musical landscape with their every move; and not everyone has the resources and time to endlessly noodle in the first place. It’s also not lost on me that this is a white man talking about gatekeeping after attaining success within a Black artform—a whole different layer of problematic. I understand wanting to control the flow of your influence and not see a million biters in the world, but there’s a difference between conducting a masterclass and giving out a few pointers every once in a while.
Also, "TRIPPIN!" was a slapper, per What's Good back in April.
Melody's Echo Chamber blessed KEXP with a set, mostly from this year's Unclouded, a couple of joints from her debut and Bon Voyage.
Music
Chelsea Wolfe - Cold (From The Dark, out on 8/21/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals, digital, merch, and bundles via Loma Vista Recordings, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Hakushi Hasegawa - Suffocation Diary (From Honest Feeling Album, out on date. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and digital via Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Chiquitamagic - Algo Nuevo Nace (Out now, YouTube only.)
Russian Circles - Eluvial (From Nine, out on 8/28/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Hello Merch | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Sofie Royer - Opium (From before/after, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Stones Throw | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Chenayder - The Beginning feat. detahjae (From Outdated, out on 7/23/26. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
TW: Rapid film cuts/flashes.
corto.alto - IJUSTIDONTKNOW (From SOME SMALL FORTUNE, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and digital via Ninja Tune | Physicals via corto.alto's store, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Lobstein & QRTR - I'M THAT (From the .WAVCAVE compilation JOINT FUNCTION [VOL. 006], out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)
Fielded - Some Kind of Animal (From Some Kind of Animal, out on 8/19/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Cavalier - The Shuffle feat. lojii (From Bring Back Weed Spots, an EP available with purchase of the Bring Back Weed Spots hoodie. Stream "The Shuffle": Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Kiefer - NewLevels NewDevils feat. Tony Stone, Erick the Architect, & CARRTOONS (From Memory Bomb, out on 9/25/26. Preorder: Physicals and digital via Blue Note Records | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
The Avalanches - Blue Shadows feat. Karen O (Out now. Purchase: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Emma Ruth Rundle - Enough (From These Killing Times, out on 9/18/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Hello Merch, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Saul Williams - Robot Slave (From Leap Life, out on 8/28/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl and digital via Big Data/Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Bandcamp Album of the Day Jun 5, 2026
dotPILLA (teedoteinsof & PILLA) - Stress (From P A U L (EP), out now. Purchase: Bandcamp)
Monti (fka Chester Watson) - a star to guide us (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Sankofa
andrew - OF (From SOON MY DOUBLES WILL PULL OFF ALL OF MY STUNTS, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)
Cyst - Rabbit (From ᲘᲘ, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | CD and digital via LUCKYME, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Jibé
Jibé - Mojo verde (From the Spice Programmers' Spice Program vol.5, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)
Bon Odori (Amulets & Patrick Shiroishi) - Ruminator (From Album Title, out on 8/7/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Children of Zeus - Water & Vibes feat. Anieszka (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
wowflower - stormy jim (From autobahn, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
foodman - Hard Reclining (From HIKARIGASASHIKOMU, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl and digital via Hyperdub | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Channel Tres - Only One (From Enigma POV, out on 8/14/26. Preorder: Vinyl via Channel Tres' official site | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
insyt. - June Baby (From Rite of Passage, out now. Purchase: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Papo2oo4 & Subjxct 5 - More Muddy Water (From PAP on P.E.D's 2: BACC ON THE ROIDS, out on 8/1/26. YouTube only for now.)
Wiles Martyr - Goner (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple)
DJ Krush - OoKARAS feat. ELIM (From TOKYØHUM, out now. Purchase: OTOTOY (Japan), Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Slick Devious & Cabanna - Lil T.R.O.Y. (From the upcoming The I-5 Corridor (Life in the Willamette Valley). Looks like YouTube only for now.)
Paul Wall - Top Tier (From Fortune & Glory, out now. Purchase: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Bad Snacks - bang, bang! (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
12k Gotti - KYLE KORVER (From MADLIFE, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Other retailer | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Nick Hakim - Soft Wet Clay (From I CAN SEE, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Nick Hakim's site | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Josaleigh Pollett - Escape Routes (From If I Let It Quiet, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Black Ends - Nothin' Sticks (Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
420fon
067Red - XM DOOR CHIME (From THE SNUB IN THE RAIN, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)
Rico Nasty - Runway (From RX, out now. Purchase: Vinyl via Rico Nasty's official site | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown - Flamenco Sketches (From A Supreme Blue, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Concord Jazz | Other retailer, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Apollo Brown - Hearse Brake Lights (From No Pressure, No Diamond., out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals via Escapism Recordings | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Beth Orton - Cigarette Curls (From The Ground Above, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals via Beth Orton's official store | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Nickelus F - Tiamat feat. Blu (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Natia - BOP IT feat. G Perico (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
That does it for this week! If you dug anything from the blog, be sure to share with your friends, and don't hesitate to reach out on social media, or down in the comments. Enjoy your weekend, take care of each other, and make good choices.
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