BEST NEW ALBUM: Gorillaz The Mountain. (Pure global pop genius from Damon Albarn & Friends!)
On March 7, 2026, Gorillaz appeared on SNL performing their classic “Clint Eastwood” as well as a new song, “The Moon Cave”.
A short film (8 minutes 43 seconds) from Gorillaz, The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God, to promote The Mountain.
Gorillaz. The Story Of The Mountain (Digital Deluxe Bonus).
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BEST NEW SINGLE (TIE): Dropkick Murphys. “Citizen I.C.E”. Anti-I.C.E. anthem.
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BEST NEW SINGLE (TIE): Fontaines D.C. “Black Boys on Mopeds” (Sinead O’Connor cover) from the War Child UK Benefit album Help(2). Fontaines D.C. and lead singer Grian Chatten (as a solo artist) have several new songs (or alternate versions) worth checking out on the Peaky Blinders: The Original Man soundtrack and the Help(2) benefit album.
Updated March 19, 2026
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Geese Tiny Desk Concert
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Cool New Albums
Various Artists. HELP(2). Incredible, truly extraordinary benefit album for War Child UK (which advocates for children, especially those impacted by war) featuring Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Bat For Lashes, Beck, Beth Gibbons (doing a Velvet Underground cover “Sunday Morning”), Big Thief, Black Country/New Road, Cameron Winter (Geese), Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Depeche Mode (doing a cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Universal Soldier”), Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon (Pulp), Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.), King Krule, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Wet Leg and more. Help a good cause. Buy it here.
Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten & Kae Tempest: “Flags” from Help(2).
Beth Gibbons. “Sunday Morning” (Velvet Underground cover) from Help(2).
Depeche Mode. “Universal Soldier” (Buffy Sainte-Marie cover) from Help(2)
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Bill Callahan. My Days of 58. Solid.
The Black Crowes. A Pound Of Feathers. The Brothers are back, getting along, and making good music. Rejoice!
Bill Orcutt. Music In Continuous Motion [Palilalia]. March 13, 2026. Guitarist extraordinaire.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy. We Are Together Again. Sounds different. Sounds good.
Bruno Mars. The Romantic. Pure retro 70s soul.
Buck Meek. The Mirror. Solo effort from Big Thief’s guitarist who invites us to join him exploring new territory.
Cut Worms. Transmitter. Nice songs.
The Dandy Warhols. Pin Ups. Their cover of “Cherry Bomb” rules! It’s a covers album feat songs by Bob Dylan, Marilyn Manson, The Byrds, The Beatles, The Clash, and more.
Geese. Live at Third Man Records. Vinyl only for now, but I’m hoping a digital and/or CD version emerges in time.
Gorillaz. The Mountain. Damon Albarn and numerous outstanding guests including Sparks, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Anoushka Shankar, Tony Allen (Fela’s drummer), and Idles. It’s Damon’s gap year album. wherein he went to India to help process his father’s recent passing. Musical wafts of cool air from India and other points East are all over the album, made to feel most welcome there. BEST NEW ALBUM.
The Head And The Heart. Ghosts In The Machinery. Three vocalists, two male, one female in a folk milieu. Goes well with Iron & Wine & Bonnie “Prince” Billy.
Iron & Wine. Here’s Teeth. Good ol’ Sam Beam comes through again, with some familiar themes and some fresh departures.
Johnny Blue Skies. Mutiny After Midnight. Sturgill Simpson’s alter ego returns.
Juliana Hatfield & Eric Payne. Bets. Fantastic!
The Killigans. This Is Only A Drill. Interesting.
Kim Gordon. Play Me.
Mitski. Nothing’s About To Happen To Me. Cool sounds, some of them indie rock.
Neba Solo & Benego Diakité. A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking. Extraordinary! A modern take on traditional music from Mali. Highly recommended.
Paul McCartney. Man On The Run. (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack). Classic tunes and a couple we hadn’t heard before. The documentary is interesting too.
Squeeze. Trixie. An old rock opera they abandoned, newly recorded.
Tinariwen. Hoggar. Fantastic Tuareg sounds from the Sahel, formerly echoing the sounds of Saharan cellphone recordings.
Various Artists. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Soundtrack from the Netflix Film. Feat Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.), Amy Taylor (Amyl And The Sniffers), and Nick Cave. Interesting material. Not just typical “movie score” filler or “background music”. These are actual songs and compelling performances. A few alternate takes of known songs, but several interesting brand new ones too. Any fan of Fontaines D.C. will want to check out what Grian’s doing here. (Grian and/or Fontaines D.C. are featured on 11 of the 36 tracks on the soundtrack).
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Bill Orcutt on guitar. Wow! Genius! Amazing!
Cool New Singles (with links to YouTube)
Some of these were featured previously in the January/February 2026 Playlist but are still on Heavy Rotation and so are included here…
Anna Calvi. “God’s Lonely Man” (feat Iggy Pop).
Arctic Monkeys. “Opening Night”. First new song since 2022. From the Help(2) benefit album.
Beth Gibbons. “Sunday Morning” (Velvet Underground cover from Help(2) benefit album)
Bill Orcutt. “Unfinished Not Fragile” & “Is Left Alone” & “Giving Unknown Origin” & “Unexpectedly Heavy” Amazing guitarist.
Bill Orcutt & Mabe Fratti. “Almost Waking”.
Billy Bragg. “City Of Heroes”. Tribute to Minneapolis anti-ICE protests.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy. “Life is Scary Horses”.
Bruce Springsteen. “Streets of Minneapolis”. Anti-ICE song. & “A Rainy Night In Soho” (Shane MacGowan/Pogues cover).
Cass McCombs & Chris Cohen. “Steel Reserve” & “Ignis Fatuus, Hinkypunk, Sharkfins, And Ambergris”
The Claypool Lennon Delirium - “WAP (What a Predicament)”. & “The Golden Egg of Empathy (feat. WILLOW)”. Les Claypool (Primus) is friends with Sean Lennon.
Courtney Barnett. “Site Unseen” (feat Waxahatchee) & “Sugar Plum”. & “Mantis”
Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) & Kae Tempest: “Flags”.
Depeche Mode. “Universal Soldier” (Buffy Sainte-Marie cover from the Help(2) benefit album.
Dropkick Murphys. “Citizen I.C.E”. Anti-I.C.E. anthem. BEST NEW SINGLE (TIE(
Father John Misty. “The Old Law“.
Fontaines D.C. “Black Boys On Mopeds”. (Sinead O’Connor cover from Help(2) benefit album. BEST NEW SINGLE (TIE(
Friko. “Choo Choo”.
Good Day Father. “Sonic Amadea” feat Brian Futter (Catherine Wheel) and Tanya Donelly (Belly).
Gorillaz.”The Hardest Thing/Orange County” (feat Tony Allen & Anoushka Shankar) & “Orange County” (live on The Graham Norton Show)
Grian Chatten. “Puppet”. from Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)
José González. “A Perfect Storm”.
Kevin Morby. “Die Young”.
Kim Gordon. “Play Me”.
Lana del Rey. “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”
Michael Stipe & Andrew Watt. “I Played the Fool” (Rooster Soundtrack - Main Title Theme).
Modest Mouse. “Look How Far…”
Neil Young. “Big Crime”. Anti-Trump song.
Snail Mail. “Dead End” & “My Maker”.
Sugar. “Long Live Love”. Bob Mould (Husker Du) & Friends revive their 1990s vehicle and take us for a cool ride on a hot day. They released “House Of Dead Memories” in October 2025, their first new song in 30 years. Good excuse to check out Sugar’s 1990s releases again: Copper Blue (1992), Beaster (EP - 1993), and File Under: Easy Listening(1994), and while you’re at it, some Bob Mould solo work and, of course, Husker Du, starting with their singles “Makes No Sense At All” & “Eight Miles High”(Byrds cover).
Tinariwen. “Sagherat Assani” (feat Sulafa Elyas) & “Imidiwan Takyadam” (feat. José González) & “Amidinim Ehaf Solan”
Ultrabomb. “Checked Out” & “Look Forward In Anger” & “No Cap”. Minneapolis punk supergroup Ultrabomb is: Greg Norton (Husker Du), Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion & Agent Orange), and Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum).
Highly Anticipated Cool New Releases
Hurray for the Riff Raff. Live Forever [Nonesuch]. March 20, 2026. A live album.
Anna Calvi. Is This All There Is? (EP) [Domino]. March 20, 2026.
Courtney Barnett. Creature Of Habit. [Mom+Pop Music]. March 27, 2026. All Hail The Aussie Rock Queen! A Return To Form… (Thankfully).
José González. Against the Dying of the Light. [Mute]. March 27, 2026.
Snail Mail. Ricochet [Matador]. March 27, 2026.
Flea. Honora [Nonesuch]. March 27, 2026.
King Tuff. Moo [MUP Records/Thirty Tigers]. March 27, 2026.
The New Pornographers. The Former Site Of [Merge]. March 27, 2026.
Thundercat. Distracted. [Brainfeeder Records]. April 3, 2026.
Jessie Ware. Superbloom [Interscope]. April 10, 2026.
Sean Solomon. The World Is Not Good Enough. [Anti-]. April 17, 2026.
John Coltrane. Tiberi Tapes [Impulse!]. April 18, 2026.
Kneecap. Fenian. [Heavenly Recordings]. April 24, 2026.
Friko. Something Worth Waiting For. [ATO Records]. April 24, 2026.
White Fence. Orange. [Drag City]. April 24, 2026.
Angelique Kidjo. Hope!! [Warner]. April 24, 2026.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium. The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy. [ATO Records.] May 1, 2026. Les Claypool of Primus + Sean Lennon = Crazed Psychedelic Funk Madness?
Hiss Golden Messenger. I’m People. [Chrysalis]. May 1, 2026.
UltraBomb. The Bridges That We Burn. [DC-Jam]. May 1, 2026. Minneapolis punk supergroup Ultrabomb is: Greg Norton (Husker Du), Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion & Agent Orange), and Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum).
Maya Hawke. Maitreya Corso [Mom + Pop]. May 1, 2026.
Kevin Morby. Little Wide Open. [Dead Oceans]. May 15, 2026.
Willie Nelson. Dream Chaser. [Legacy]. May 29, 2026. His 156th album (!!!), at age 92, includes a song co-written by Bob Dylan, “I Can’t Read Your Mind”.
Lana Del Rey. Stove. (Previously rumored titles: Classic, The Right Person Will Stay, and Lasso) [Interscope]. Her country album? If you say so... Release Date: Delayed, To Be Announced.
Various Artists. 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan. [Rubyworks]. November 13, 2026. Tribute to Shane, the late, great frontman of The Pogues feat Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Steve Earle, Dropkick Murphys, Glen Hansard, Hozier, The Libertines, and more.
20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan.
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Musical Notes
Dropkick Murphys did a free concert in Minneapolis on the site where Alex Pretti was murdered protesting ICE.
Fan Video of “The Weight'“(The Band cover) by Hozier, Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples, Warren Haynes, Will Lee, et al, at Love Rocks, NYC, March 5, 2026.
The Head And The Heart “Rivers And Roads” live on Jimmy Kimmel
Bonnie "Prince" Billy. “In Good Faith” (Live at St Giles' Church, Camberwell, South London, January 26, 2026).
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EPIC: Elvis Presley In Concert (2026) trailer. By Baz Luhrmann, following up his 2022 Elvis biopic with Auston Butler with this remarkable film based on archival footage, much of it never before seen by the public.
Original Photography: Copyright (Creative Commons): MD & JB for ThisSmallPlanet
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