The Best Albums of June 2026: Mini-Roundup
Don't let Midyear Best Of lists convince you June didn't happen
Dearest old heads,
My essay this week needs more time to cook. Pardon the delay.
In the meantime, not wanting to leave you empty-eared, I offer a small palate cleanser.
June Mini-Roundup
As you know, my Midyear Best Of usually lets me get away with avoiding a June roundup entirely. I shall hide behind it no longer!
➡️ All of the other month-by-month best of lists are here.
➡️ Best tracks of ALL of 2026 (so far) can be found here.
6 albums. 1 Playlist. No rankings.
Legend:
🎯 = if you only have time for one…
📼 = most nostalgic/accessible
🧩 = most challenging
Keep scrolling for the playlist.
Slippers - Slippers 08
Perennial/K Records, June 5th
FFO: Apples in Stereo, Vaselines, twee
Five more albums in this mini-roundup - REVEAL THEM!
Playlists
I lied, there’s more than one this month. We’ve actually ramped up to include weekly playlists, if you can imagine such a thing.
Monthly Best Of and community-generated playlists are for paid subscribers.
One thing I don’t say enough is just how amazing this community is. Generally, because you’re all very cool people, but also specifically, because you’ve become my favorite way to discover new music.
If you haven’t already joined us in the Discord server, do. We play Music League, have an extremely laid back book club, and (as Ken Asher likes to say) act like hungry birds pointing out juicy new music worms to each other. About once a month I host a listening party, no cameras required.
Here’s what we’ve been listening to this week.
If I did my job right, then for the first time ever, the comment section should be open to all subscribers. So please tell me what your favorite albums were last month, or what you’re enjoying so far in July.
See you (with more substance) next week!
xo
Gabbie
What else?
I made a music recommendation app.
If you can’t find a playlist, try this guide.
Want me to make you a personal playlist instead? I can do that.
How many guesses will it take you to figure out today’s Magic Number?
Mary in the Junkyard is great. Phosphene recommended Slippers around the same time the algorithm did.
I mean I’m over here on Qobuzz but i feel like that’s my own cross to bear. It’s like being the android dork on the group chat. It’s fine, I deserve what I get.