Week's Album Recommendation by Dastan Medetbekov
One week, one album series
Week 1 (1-4 January)
Album: Close to Paradise
Artist: Patrick Watson
Genre: Alternative folk
Release Year: 2006
Description: This album opened my 2026 year for me.
Week 2 (5-11 January)
Album: The Disintegration Loops
Artist: William Basinski
Genre: Ambient
Release Year: 2002
Description: The Disintegration Loops is a hauntingly beautiful ambient album that captures the essence of decay and transformation. Created from deteriorating tape loops, the music evokes a sense of nostalgia and melancholy, making it a profound listening experience.
Week 3 (12-18 January)
Album: Страна радости (Land of Joy)
Artist: Zolotie zubi
Genre: Russian Indie
Release Year: 2022
Description: It was hard to understand this album at first, but after several listens, I started to appreciate its depth and atmosphere. It is not ambient as those 2 albums above, it is pure my emotion and feeling, expressed in music.
Week 4 (19-25 January)
Album: Lux
Artist: Rosalía
Genre: Art Pop, Orchestral
Release Year: 2025
Best 50 albums of 2025 by Pitchfork
Description: I love orchestral music. Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti, La Perla, Berghain
Week 5 (26-31 January)
Album: Los Thuthanaka
Artist: Los Thuthanaka
Genre: Alternative
Release Year: 2025
Best 50 albums of 2025 by Pitchfork
Description: Strange music. I didn’t understand anything, but I liked it. It’s strange. It felt like I was walking down the street with social anxiety, thinking that the girl I liked might suddenly appear in front of me and I would just fall. I remembered school. Most of my thoughts are simply not true, and I am actually normal. After this album, other albums sound different. After this album, I remembered another strange music album and realized the beauty of such music. There is no meaning, no chorus, but damn, it’s so much like life.
Week 6 (1-7 February)
Album: Illinois
Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Genre: Indie Folk
Release Year: 2005
Description: This is wonderful music. I really enjoyed listening to it at the start of February, as the first month of 2026 faded away and the lingering holiday spirit began to disappear. It felt strange, but also comforting—like moving forward into a new year, leaving behind the festive atmosphere and embracing something new.