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?
Glad the weekly playlists are being enjoyed!
We have generally been putting album releases on them but sometimes it is hard to resist EPs and singles.
The way I’ve been using those weekly playlists is I listen to the “sampler” and when I like something there I go and listen to the full album with more focus. This has helped me get back into a habit of listening to full albums. I used to always listen to full albums but I guess streaming has shortened my attention span. I’m trying to do more deliberate listening!
Based on what I’ve been listening to the most, my June picks are:
Slippers
Taxi Girls
La Sécurité
Pond
Soft Palms
The metatrons
Zoon
My June picks would probably be Slippers, Liz Lawrence and Luna Day. There’s a few I have my eye on in the coming months too.