Halfway point of 2026: your album of the year so far, and the one that let you down

[Solid Gary]

Six months gone, which makes this the traditional moment for the mid year music audit. Two questions, what is your album of the year so far, and what was the release you were most excited about that landed with a thud?

Rules of engagement, any genre welcome and nobody gets mocked for their taste, though gentle disagreement is the whole point of a music board. Give a sentence on why for each pick, a bare list is a receipt, not an opinion

Also interested in the discovery stories this year, the album you found through a friend, a film, a game or some algorithm accident that ended up soundtracking your entire spring

And a side question for the stats nerds, is anyone else finding their listening has gone almost entirely backwards in time lately, or is the new release treadmill still working for you?

[GoldbergFan_X]

My listening went backwards years ago and never returned. New music discovery now means finding a 1974 record I somehow missed

[CMPunk96]

The treadmill still works if you get off the big playlists. The good stuff in every genre is one layer below the algorithm's favourites

[Rabbit]

Album of the year so far is something I found through a game soundtrack of all things. Composers are doing the most interesting work in music right now and I will argue this

[SwiftQuarry]

Game and film scores carrying more creative risk than the charts is a take I did not expect to agree with, and yet

[Cole_25]

My letdown of the year was a comeback record from a band I loved at 17. Turns out the thing I missed was being 17

[HitmanMarcus94]

That last line belongs in the poetry board

[EasternAnvil]

Discovery story, my barber has claimed full DJ rights during cuts and has a better hit rate than every app I pay for

[Matt_81]

Human recommendation beating the machine every single time. The barbershop algorithm remains undefeated

[GlobalOliver15]

Vinyl question for the board, is anyone still buying physical this year or have prices finally killed the habit?