The Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2026 (so far)
1. Joyce DiDonato and Time For Three- Emily: No Prisoner Be
My associated concert review.
2. Ben Allison, Steve Cardenas and Ted Nash- Triological
My review.
3. Kevin Morby- Little Wide Open
“Alone in the middle of middle America.”
4. Stik Figa and Heather Grey- Cold Comfort
Adult hip-hop.
5. Mike Dillon and Nolatet- Somethin’ to Relax With
My review.
6. Pat Metheny- Side-Eye III+
My review.
7. Samantha Fish- Paper Doll: Live at the Bijou
Knoxville rocks.
8. Hermon Mehari and NO(w) Beauty- (Un)seen
My review.
9. Betty Bryant- Nothin’ Better to Do
My review.
10. Shawn Edward Hansen- Station To Station 3: Sound Installation, Black
Dark hum.
11. Seth Andrew Davis and Project C4- Techno Chapel
My review.
12. LeVelle- All In Love
Grown and sexy R&B.
13. Brandon Draper- Handpan Meditations
A new age for New Age.
14. Metropolis Ensemble, Erik Hall and Sandbox Percussion- Canto Ostinato
Elite new music.
15. Shawn Edward Hansen and Sterling Holman- SHSH
Not so quiet.
16. Joey Cool- Time Will Tell
It’s his time.
17. Jason Stein, Seth Andrew Davis and Adam Shead- Forge
My review.
18. Shawn Edward Hansen and Sean Julian- The God's Script
Semi-sacred.
19. Shawn Edward Hansen and Nathan Pape- Banquets of All Intolerables
Plink plank.
20. Shawn Edward Hansen- Station To Station 2: Sound Installation, Yellow
Ground control.
21. Natalie Prauser- Everything Is Fine
Honky tonkin’.
22. Chris Hazelton- In Rotation
My review.
23. Cheery- All the Life I Long for is Waiting in Liverpool
June 26 release.
24. Shawn Edward Hansen- you can’t take it with you
YOLO.
25. Norman Brown- Authentically Norman
My review.
The Top Ten Kansas City EPs of 2026 (so far)
1. Stik Figa- It mean sumthin’ to me
Consequential.
2. RMW- W
Winning.
3. Mortal Coil/Legalize Homicide- Split
Deadly.
4. Rich The Factor- Rose Out the Concrete 3
KC’s the town.
5. RMW and God’s Computer- God Doesn’t Play Dice
Snake eyes.
6. Alaskan Tapes- Blank Slate, Open Space
Saxophone and piano.
7. Rich The Factor- Orca Alley
Real whale music.
8. RMW- Hermès Link
Name brand.
9. Unity Ticket- Unity Ticket
If the kids are united…
10. RMW- Zombie
Undead.
The year-end tally for 2025 is here.