Dustsucker #6 - 12 Bandcamp picks and three notable mentions (January/February 2026)

Winter turbulence, new beginnings, and the music that cut through...

A longer winter break here. The world feels completely out of balance, there’s been all sorts of trouble on the personal front, there has (as always) been a lot to take care of with PCC, and so on and so on… But listening to new music is, of course, a must! Though I’ve actually been listening to a lot of old music as well… Like, a lot. I’ve updated my Top 500 list of favourite albums of all time, which you can find here: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Nbruus/top-500-favorite-albums-of-all-time/.

It’s rare that true 5/5 albums are released… Sometimes, when you listen to so much new music of varying quality, it’s honestly good to return to the very best of the best, just to recalibrate your inner compass, ha ha. It’s important to dig deep into new music, to support today’s artists, but it’s equally important to listen to the old stuff. I’m partly inclined to agree with Jim O’Rourke that so many masterpieces came out between the late 60s and mid-70s that you practically wouldn’t need to listen to anything else.

In the Pink Cotton Candy camp, we’ve just released the jangle pop / post-punk / doom pop band Catcase’s debut album As It Reels - check it out! Soon we’re releasing the second single from the experimental art-punk group This House, which includes G.W. Sok (The Ex) and Ignacio Córdoba. And we’re planning further spring releases with the fantastic sssiv (some kind of ambient dreampop / slowcore) and Bending Backwards (a brand-new signing I’m really excited about - some kind of experimental art rock / post-punk, maybe; the correct adjectives/genre terms will follow). It’s shaping up to be good and busy as always.

There are also some exciting things happening on the collaboration front: I’ve been in touch with a Danish underground management/booking agency called Horsecreek (run by a guy named Alfred), and another Danish micro-label/collective called Movement Shaped Like a Heart, in addition to my ongoing contact with friends like Jonas (Afvikling) and Jakob (Kaos og Stjernen). And when you look at this activity alongside the work of Projekternes Fællespulje, it really feels like an alternative underground that’s genuinely in motion! Not to mention everything one isn’t aware of or part of, of course… I’m hoping - and dreaming - that we’ll increasingly be able to pool our efforts and build bridges toward some great events, or maybe even a physical shop, venue, or something along those lines in the future… well, one can dream out loud.

My own musical project Quiet Sonia has changed its name to QS, and we’re in the process of laying the groundwork for the next album here in my apartment, where I’m also working on collage artwork, and so on. It’s honestly incredibly motivating to finally be in the process of recording the next release.

Alright, that’s enough of that - let’s look at the most interesting releases from January and February, at least from my perspective. Personally, I might as well admit that I haven’t found any true desert island discs from this year yet (or maybe?), but there certainly have been plenty of interesting releases that are absolutely worth diving into; and usually even more of the interesting January–February records start to surface as the year goes on (as we know, most media, unfortunately, rarely prioritize the musically strongest releases, but rather those with the strongest financial capital and PR machinery behind them, meaning everything else faces a long struggle to reach the surface, and most releases never even get to breathe at all… so it takes some digging!!)

/ Nikolaj

Lande Hekt - Lucky Now (Tapete Records, DE/UK)

Genre: Ambient /

Rating: ***½

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard an indie pop release that has moved me this much! And one that manages to stay so deeply indie pop while avoiding the genre’s worst clichés and generic tendencies… I’d been holding in too many emotions for too long, after a lot of shit that’s happened in my life over the past six months, and it wasn’t until I put this album on that I finally gave in (at Vanløse Station of all places, ha ha). Lande Hekt is an incredibly strong songwriter!! Especially the stretch from track 2 to track 4 hit me the hardest on the first few listens, but I need to spend more time with the whole thing. Very recommended (rating may go up).

Magnus Munk Tækker - 180 (Movement Shaped Like a Heart, DK)

Genre: Ambient / improv / ambient jazz

A truly wonderful and expansive work - dubbed to cassette by Jonas Torstensen (Afvikling) - that has really impressed me over the past few days. The label/collective Movement Shaped Like a Heart, of which Magnus himself is a central force, describes the album as “a collection of solo improvisations with pedal steel, clarinet, Casio MT-140, electric guitar & computer.”

Magnus adds that the album consists of “soundscapes and compositions made in real time using loopers, effects and granular processing - made in my room, or taken from soundchecks and concerts.” Structurally, the release is divided into four 45-minute sides across two C90 cassette tapes (a total of 180 minutes - as the title suggests).

There seem to be some spiritual, almost modern new-age dimensions to the music (meant in the best possible way) that bring to mind artists like Justin Walter, Joseph Shabason, and Cole Pulice, and perhaps ambient-jazz figures such as Sam Wilkes and Sam Gendel.

This is a work you can really immerse yourself in for a long time, and it gives back generously. I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time with it!

Gregory Nunn - Shaky Acoustics (Language Instinct, US)

Genre: Ambient

Rating: ***

Texas-based Language Instinct is an ambient label whose releases I often appreciate a lot. It’s one of those labels where the sound, design, and overall aesthetic are completely on point. This may not be the label’s most memorable release, but it’s a lovely, image-evoking, richly textured and deeply immersive space to be in (with excellent sound design!).

Hank Bee - A Sudden Hankering (Memorials of Distinction, UK)

Genre: Indie folk / indie rock

Rating: ****

Memorials of Distinction is such an interesting and great UK-based label. And Liverpool-based songwriter Hank Bee has delivered one of the strongest indie rock / folk-rock releases of the year so far, if not the strongest. But it sounds quite American, doesn’t it…? Not particularly British…. A good dose of slacker-rock here, blended with some Big Thief–esque indie folk, plus perhaps a small touch of art-rock, and the whole thing is just incredibly high quality.

Fazed on a Pony - swan (Meritorio, ES/NZ)

Genre: Indie Folk / Alt Country / Slacker Rock

Rating: ***½

There’s some really strong and incredibly catchy songwriting here - and plenty of heart. Is it sometimes a bit safe, a bit straight, though. There’s not much of the searching, wavering, and deliberate roughness you’d expect from similar slacker-leaning songwriters of the ’90s and early ’00s, for instance….. But it works, and it’s a potential grower! Released on the great Spanish indie pop label, Meritorio.

Quirke - Configuration OT (Dekmantel, NL/UK)

Genre: Ambient Techno

Rating: ***½

The first techno album of 2026 I’ve truly enjoyed. This is exactly the kind of thing I love on a dancefloor (or in a good pair of headphones), heavy and four-to-the-floor, ha ha, but intelligent, full of atmosphere, and melancholic, which is (of course) a very important dimension for me……

Vista Pacifica - Triakis Semifasciata (Pacific Star, US)

Genre: Ambient

Rating: ***½

Another very long, very mysterious, and deeply fascinating ambient release. I simply love the space I’m allowed to inhabit here.

Jonas Torstensen - Den Falmede Dag (Afvikling/Kashual Plastik, DK/DE)

Genre: Ambient

And yet another strong release from Jonas on Afvikling. Tracks like ‘Kedeligere og nogle gange gladere’ and ‘Dagene er alt for lange’ absolutely floor me.

KMRU - Kin (Editions Mego, AT/KE/DE)

Genre: Ambient / Drone

Rating: ***½

Underrated release from an underrated artist. This is almost Fennesz-level at his peak (and as I was writing this, I even forgot that Fennesz actually appears on the album…). Very strong ambient / drone music.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Laughter in Summer (Transgressive Records, UK/US/CA)

Genre: Chamber-Folk / New Age / Singer-Songwriter

Rating: ****½

This is Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and it may very well be the last release we get from one of the greatest artists of our time (he was diagnosed with dementia in 2024). He received the recognition he deserved far too late in life. Most of these tracks are deeply, tear-inducingly powerful, beauty distilled in its purest form…

Erik Hall - Solo Three (Western Vinyl, US)

Genre: Minimalism / Modern Classical

Rating: ***½

These are, obviously, fantastic compositions - an engaging and rewarding set of pieces, and Erik Hall is a brilliant performer. It does perhaps get a touch too polished and perfect in both sound quality and performance, but it’s still a deeply enriching musical experience.

Farvel & Peter Laugesen - Farvel & Peter Laugesen (Movement Shaped Like a Heart, DK)

A truly wonderful surprise. I’m a huge fan of Denmark’s great rock-’n’-roll beat poet - he’s so much more than that, hard to describe him briefly - Peter Laugesen. Here he’s joined by a fresh, young, improvising trio, and the match is remarkable. The free, atmospheric, jazz-leaning / noise-rock-tinged instrumental music and Laugesen’s playful, anarchic, sensuous poetry - delivered with his time-worn, solemn voice - suit each other incredibly well.

Notable Mentions

Shackleton - Euphoria Bound (AD93, UK)

Genre: UK Bass / Ambient Dub

Rating: ***

I’ve followed Shackleton for many years, an exceptionally creative and gifted electronic musician. He’s a white man working with a lot of non-Western-leaning sounds, but my impression is that he’s quite reflective about his practice (what I don’t understand is how Rate Your Music and its users can still bring themselves to use terms like ‘Tribal Ambient’ and ‘Tribal House’).

Anyway, even if he’s made stronger work in the past (especially the early EP collection), this release is still definitely worth recommending.

David Shea - Meditations (Room 40, AU/US)

Genre: Ambient / Modern Classical

Rating: ***

Beautiful chamber-folkish ambient / modern classical released on the influential and highly productive Room40.

Jana Horn - Jana Horn (No Quarter, US)

Genre: Slowcore / Indie Folk / Singer-Songwriter

Rating: ***

Jana Horn keeps things quiet and understated. If you give yourself over to it a bit, and understand that this leans more toward slowcore than modern indie folk, the songs start to grow… There’s a lot of beauty to be found here.

It’s a slightly shorter edition this time - with a few fewer releases as well - but I hope you’ve still enjoyed reading along and found the recommendations useful. And as we move into March, things really start to pick up in terms of new releases this year. Now I’d better get back to the PCC work.

Best,

Nikolaj