Archive
Browse by Category
All Posts
2026
Crucial Releases: February 13
February 13, 2026
New music from PONY, Converge, Remember Sports, Brent Faiyaz, and Katzin. A little indie pop, metal, alt country, R&B, and indie rock for your ears.
Crucial Releases: February 6
February 6, 2026
We've got an album of the year contender in the new Ratboys album, as well as new records from Ulrika Spacek, Joji, Dirt Buyer, and J. Cole.
Crucial Releases: Rest of January 2026
February 1, 2026
New music from Searows, Victoryland, IDK, Courtney Marie Andrews, A$AP Rocky, and Jana Horn. The first roundup post of 2026!
Mixtapes Launch on Crucial Tracks
January 12, 2026
Happy New Year! I’m happy to announce the first new feature of 2026: Mixtapes
Crucial Releases: January 9
January 9, 2026
First issue of the new year! Music from Sault, Dry Cleaning, Feels Like Heaven, Zach Bryan, The Cribs, Glom, and Home Star.
My plans for Crucial Tracks in 2026
January 2, 2026
With 2026 coming to an end, I started to take a look back at 2025 and plan where to take the site in the coming year. Thanks so much for joining me on this ride.
2025
My favorite albums from 2025
December 31, 2025
My top 60 albums from 2025. Indie, folk, hip hop, punk, hardcore, emo records and much more! The list you've been waiting for...
Chris’ Favorite Albums from 2025
December 31, 2025
A bonus year end list from Chris Fritton aka The Itinerant Printer.
More favorites from 2025
December 31, 2025
The ones I liked that didn’t make the final list for 2025. Broken down by genre… 53 albums in all!
Crucial Molina
December 18, 2025
In the inaugural edition of Crucial Playlists, we focus on Jason Molina, the singer songwriter that was behind Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.
Quitting Spotify, ethics, and pay per stream
December 9, 2025
My thoughts on quitting Spotify, pay per stream, and the ethics of digital music consumption.
Crucial Interview 010: Halsted
November 14, 2025
Next up on the Crucial Tracks interview series is Halsted, host of the Friendship Material podcast, librarian, writer, and purveyor of good-natured chaos."
Crucial Interview 009: Zach Barocas
June 26, 2025
The latest Crucial Tracks participant: Zach Barocas. Musician, composer, stationery shop owner, and overall great human being.
Celebrating 100 users and 500 posts on Crucial Tracks
May 12, 2025
THANK YOU. SERIOUSLY.
The joy of Crucial Tracks
May 1, 2025
My favorite thing so far is the slow, serendipitous nature of the Public Tracks feed.
Crucial Releases: April 2025
April 30, 2025
New music from Viagra Boys, Bon Iver, quickly quickly, Momma, Samia, Beach Bunny, Samia, Black Country New Road, and… Wu-Tang!
Crucial Tracks, the app
April 12, 2025
Announcing the Crucial Tracks app – a music journal to share the songs that made you.
Crucial Interview 008: Annie Mueller
April 2, 2025
For Crucial Tracks #8, please welcome Annie Mueller, blogger and professional writer. One of my favorite bloggers!
Crucial Interview 007: Kevin Humdrum
March 12, 2025
This month’s Crucial Tracks interview features Kevin Humdrum, host of the webzine foofaraw amongst other web adventures.
Finding New Releases using the app Albums
March 5, 2025
An in-depth look at how I find and manage new releases each week, using the app Albums.
Crucial Interview 006: Patrick Rhone
February 12, 2025
This month’s Crucial Tracks interview features Patrick Rhone, author, blogger, and Master Generalist.
Crucial Releases: January 2025
January 31, 2025
New music from Ethel Cain, lots of hands, Ditz, Lambrini Girls, Mogwai, Ghais Guevara, FKA Twigs, MIKE, and many more.
Crucial Interview 005: Matt Dente
January 11, 2025
Next up in the interview series is another musician from the Buffalo Hardcore scene and good friend, Matt Dente.
2024
My favorite albums from 2024
December 31, 2024
My top albums from 2024. Indie, folk, hip hop, punk, hardcore, emo records and much more! The list you've been waiting for...
Deep dive into the RollingStone top 150 albums of all time: S1E2
November 8, 2024
I’m taking a deep dive into mainstream records I’ve missed via the RollingStone Top 150 albums of all time list. This initial installment looks at 131 to 140.
Deep dive into the RollingStone top 150 albums of all time: S1E1
November 6, 2024
I’m taking a deep dive into mainstream records I’ve missed via the RollingStone Top 150 albums of all time list. This initial installment looks at 141 to 150.
Crucial Interview 004: Vic Lazar
February 20, 2024
The fourth interview in this series is with the talented musician Vic Lazar, former guitarest in the Buffalo Hardcore band Union and current frontman of Some Gifts.
Crucial Interview 003: Rachel Shelton
January 19, 2024
Buckle your seatbelts folks, the show is about to get really good. Rachel is a studio artist focusing on printmaking, enamel, and sculpture, as well as a collaborative printer and Co-Founder at Mirabo.
2023
My favorite albums from 2023
December 31, 2023
My top albums from 2023. Indie, folk, hip hop, punk, hardcore, emo records and much more! The list you've been waiting for...
Chris’ Favorite Albums from 2023
December 31, 2023
A bonus year end list from Chris Fritton aka The Itinerant Printer.
More favorites from 2023
December 31, 2023
A bonus list of some other albums I enjoyed this year.
Crucial Interview 002: Chris Fritton
December 11, 2023
Chris AKA The Itinerant Printer is a working artist & author based in Buffalo, NY that specializes in letterpress printing.
Crucial Interview 001: Jason Dettbarn
December 4, 2023
The first interview in this series is with the creator and host of Crucial Tracks, a life long fan and documentarian of music, through words and pictures.
