What's Good (Week of 8/16/26)
You made it through another week, so I've got some treats for you in the form of What's Good. Lots of great new music this week, like:
New Albums
- Chelsea Wolfe
- Cleo Sol
- Denzel Curry & Kenneth Blume
- Fielded
- Jorja Smith
- Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana
New Singles
- Kiefer
- Kooley High
- MX LONELY
- Rhys Langston
- Standing On The Corner
- Surprise Chef
And a whole lot more. If you're joining me for the first time, or haven't already done so, make sure you subscribe or add me to your RSS feed to get the blog as soon as I hit publish. For the new folks: Playlists are all the songs in handy playlists, Bonus Beats are music writing and ephemera from around the web, and Music is the bread and butter of music videos as well as streaming and purchasing links. Let's get into it.
Playlists
TIDAL
TIDAL: What's Good Playlist - Week of 8/16/26
YouTube
Bonus Beats
If you follow me over on Bluesky or were with the blog back in the Co-Host or Tumblr days, you've seen me mention SeasideFM (Instagram), and her live-streamed DJ sets over on Twitch. Well, if you're in Portland tomorrow you can get a dose of what she does in person at the Mono Space listening gallery in the Pearl District.
Curated by SeasideFM, this Gallery Hours session brings the sounds of Japanese city pop, jazz fusion, and rare Japanese jazz recordings to the Listening Gallery. On this Saturday afternoon listeners can expect a journey between iconic artists and obscure discoveries. SeasideFM develops an atmosphere through lush arrangements, musicianship, and understated rhythms. Together, these selections highlight the richness of Japan’s vibrant musical landscape.
You can catch a vibe starting a 12PM PT. Pull up on my homey and tell her I sent you!
This month's edition of Michele Catalano's I Have That on Vinyl is live with a handful of great new pieces, including this banger from Chase Harrington on Aaliyah's One In a Million.
A lot has been made over the years of the effortless cool that Aaliyah conveyed. The cover art of One In a Million encapsulates this in an image. Her voice sounds velvety, especially on tracks like “Girl Like You” as she perfectly counter-balances Treach shouting the hook. The bassline bounces with a liveliness that belies what was used to create it. Treach’s part is one of the few remnants from the New Jack Swing era of 90s R&B. However, like Missy, Aaliyiah was a tastemaker, ahead of her time, with beat selection, tracklist curation, vocal tics, fashion, and music video direction and she propels the track forward. While clearly inspired by Sade – they even shared a birthday – this was an entirely new sound, all her own. She was on record calling industrial heavyweights Nine Inch Nails one of her favorites, comparing their electronic instrumentals to her own music. When Pitchfork named the album the 15th best of the 90s, they wrote, “her breathy but assured alto gave her an aura of mystique, and she possessed a kind of reticence and remove even while singing about her own desire.”
Azikazin Magic World posted a bit of their set from tsuchifumazu's "PARTY" event back in June, live from Shibuya O-East.
Open Mike Eagle and Kenny Segal pulled up on the Rap Music Plug Podcast to break down their new collaboration DOOMED!, their shared quality of being "dictators" when it comes to their respective bodies of work, the thematic through line of the album, and more (including some inside baseball on NPR Tiny Desk, courtesy of Kenny).
Dylan Green
Dylan Green's The Producers series for Hearing Things continues with Blockhead, breaking down some of his favorite production and songs.
I love 400 Degreez, I think that album’s amazing. During that time, I was bumping that and Young Bleed a lot, specifically his album My Own. I don’t know if Timbaland had poked his head out yet, but people doing interesting shit with tapped-out hi-hats was more of a thing. Southern rap up to that point, excluding Dungeon Family, had been very keyboard-y and hadn’t really grabbed me. Songs like “Ghetto Children,” in particular, just had soul to them. It was live instruments—you could tell it was a live bassist playing on it. That song always made me feel good. I’ll always point to that song if people ever question Juvenile’s rapping ability. He goes fucking off on that song. It’s funny because I’m a guy who samples, but I like when the musicality of Southern production reached the musicality of their vocals. When they combined, it really elevated it for me. It’s an outside-the-box influence in an abstract way, but I love the production of it.
Michael Christmas brings a live version of one of my favorite cuts from his excellent Don't Come To My House Sharing Your Location collab with Chris Crack and Girl Talk.
Music
Judiciary - Death Knell (From Stalagmite Angels, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Closed Casket Activities | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Chelsea Wolfe - Seethe (From The Dark, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals, digital, merch, and bundles via Loma Vista Recordings | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
De La Soul - Run It Back!! feat. Nas (From Cabin In The Sky, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals and digital via Mass Appeal | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Blu & Sndtrak - Jesus (From LA, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Physicals via Nature Sounds, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Ghais Guevara - Goyard Duchamp (Jouissance As Usual) (From Goyard Duchamp/A Patriarch's Whispers, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
twogeebs - Spotidie (Live from Wonderland Records) (From IDEASAREBULLETPROOF, out now. Purchase/Stream: CD available via Bandcamp (don't buy the digital option, abeg))
Fielded - That Bitch (From Some Kind of Animal, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via EveryDejaVu | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
MX LONELY - March 16th feat. Caitlin Starr (From PERFECT HOUSE, out on 10/2/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
ERG ONE - Tsunami (Out now.)
Hakushi Hasegawa - Grace (From Honest Feeling Album, out on 8/28/26. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals and digital via Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Marissa Nadler - Smoke Screen Selene (From New Radiations, out now, video from Marissa (like really from Marissa, read the description) on the album's first anniversary. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals via Sacred Bones | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
N8NOFACE - I Hope It's Ok (From Tomorrow’s World, out on 10/16/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Stones Throw | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Mat Randol - DON'T CRASH OUT! feat. Westside Boogie and Wavy Josef (From Hope For The Best, Prepare For The Worst, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
doseone, Wino Wily, & Zetroc - Born with Throns (From sighting, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp)
BBBBBBB - Sexy Boy (From Poop Disco, out on 10/9/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Deathbomb Arc, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Recoechi - Berakah feat. Kyngstxnn (From Act 2: Body of God, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Ghost Dubs - Low Times (From Oblique, out on 9/25/26. Also available on the Low Times single with The Bug remixes. Preorder Oblique: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Kooley High - The Glow feat. Fly Anakin (From Clear The Air, out on 9/18/26. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Standing On The Corner - Secrets feat. Claudine Ortiz (From SOTC II, out on 9/11/26. Preorder: Purchase "Secrets" on Bandcamp | Physicals via XL Recordings | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
insyt. - Rib Cage (From Rite of Passage, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
John Wells - mfs be knowing they're terrible at their jobs feat. Jaiton (From F*CK the ALGORITHM, out now. Purchase: Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana - I'll Be Seeing You (From Beneath Lifted Skies, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Rhys Langston - my grandmother's pecan tree feat. Kwame Adu (From the upcoming to live and die in E.U.L.A., my grandmother's pecan tree / it's the fadeout... single available now. Purchase "my grandmother's pecan tree / it's the fadeout...": Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Pastense - Ghostdog feat. Johnny Voltik (From Woebegone, out on 9/4/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | CD via Uncommon Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Sam Amidon & Sam Wilkes - Sally Gooden (From Froggy, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Cleo Sol - Gentlewoman (From Gentlewoman, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Denzel Curry & Kenneth Blume - UPS (From ii, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals, digital, and merch via Loma Vista Recordings | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Scrufizzer - Shibuya (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Jorja Smith - Pretend (From What Are The Odds, out now. Purchase: Physicals, digital, and merch via Jorja's official store | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Bandcamp New & Notable May 21, 2023
August Fanon, Sixteen, Soo Do Koo, & Lamb Rabbit - Plug Puller feat. 89 the Brainchild (From The Music Is The Instrument, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)
Kiefer - Memory Bomb feat. Walter Smith III, Flanfi, & Shibo (From Memory Bomb, out on 9/5/26. Preorder: Physicals and digital via Blue Note Records | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Surprise Chef - Leg Day (From Frogs In A Pond, out on 10/23/26. Preorder: Bandcamp | Digital, physicals, and merch via Concord Jazz | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Kwes Darko - SnXtches (From A CancelXd Generation, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Fetty P Franklin & Bandplay - Trident (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Monday Night & Evidence - Muscle Memory (From Football, out now. Purchase: Digital via Bigger Picture Recordings, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 20, 2017
Awol One & Nick Andre - Dope Shit feat. Lyrics Born (From Buy Art From A Human, out on 8/28/26. Preorder: Bandcamp)
Wino Willy - Diamond (From Jewel Of Thought, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
Jared Evan - Echo In My Chest (From Jared Evan's unreleased new album. Purchase: Purchase directly from Jared via his site, Stream "Echo In My Chest": Tidal | Apple | Youtube Music)
Bad Snacks - mercury (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Qobuz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | YouTube Music)
And that does it for this week. As always, if you enjoyed the blog or discovered anything new, be sure to pay it forward and share it with your friends. Don't be afraid to reach out to me either down in the comments, or on social media. Take care of each other, enjoy the weekend, and make good choices.
Comments ()