There Stands the Glass

The Top Ten Albums of April 2026
1. Ella Langley- Dandelion
Somethin’ simple.

2. Dave Douglas- Transcend
Above and beyond.

3. Marta Sanchez- For the Space You Left
Treated piano.

4. Thundercat- Distracted
Atomic dog.

5. Squarepusher- Kammerkonzert
The chamber music of tomorrow.

6. Mike and Earl Sweatshirt- Pompeii//Utility
Blurrier and slurrier.

7. Isata Kanneh-Mason- Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
A delectable souvenir of a recital I caught in 2024.

8. Dan Penn- Smoke Filled Room
My review.

9. sunn O)))- sunn O)))
Zero tolerance for silence.

10. My New Band Believe- My New Band Believe
My review.

The Top Three Reissues and Reimaginings of April 2026
1. Rosalía- Lux: Complete Works
Expanded version of the 2025 stunner.

2. Jimmy Scott- Falling In Love Is Wonderful
Killing me softly.

3. Kronos Quartet- Glorious Mahalia
How she got over.

The Top Ten Songs of April 2026
1. Nduduzo Makhathini- “Kuzodlula”
Blessed quietude.

2. Beth Orton- “Waiting”
Wallowing in misery.

3. Karol G and Greg Gonzalez- "Después de ti"
After you.

4. Céline Dion- “Dansons”
Jetlag is doing funny things to me.

5. Baalti and Lapgan- “Romance”
Remembering Asha Bhosle.

6. aja monet featuring Mick Jenkins and Vic Mensa- “melting clocks”
Timeless.

7. That Mexican OT- “Still Virgil”
Victory lap.

8. Quiet Light- “Self Tape”
Blue Monday.

9. Bruce Hornsby featuring Blake Mills and Bob Weir- “Might as Well Be Me, Florinda”
My review.

10. Matthew Stevens and Josh Johnson- “Hazy”
The apogee of the sound of the moment.

The Top Ten Performances of April 2026
Rapturous life events involving extensive travel precluded me from attending ten performances in April.

The previous monthly recap is here.

I’m invariably embarrassed by the frequent references to my affection for the prog-rock of the early 1970s at There Stands the Glass and at Plastic Sax. I just can’t shake my unfashionable predilection. For instance, viewing the multitude of Spanish traffic roundabouts near Madrid’s airport from above involuntarily put Yes’ 1971 earworm on repeat in my head recently. Portions of “In the Blink of an Eye,” the second track on the new self-titled My New Band Believe album, sound like a contrafact of “Roundabout”. The press materials accompanying the album references Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and Judee Sills, but that’s a red herring. The recording overseen by Cameron Picton of Black Midi revives the arty British sound of 10cc, Gentle Giant, Roy Harper, Henry Cow, Robert Wyatt and- yes- Yes. Even though it’s ridiculously twee, I unabashedly can’t get enough of it.

April 2026 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Album Review: My New Band Believe