February’s been a pretty intense month for me but in a productive way. After the illnesses that beset me in the second half of January to early February, I needed to really ramp up my energy/focus to clear off my mountain of tasks. Naturally, this had me listening to a lot of comfort music including Kate Bush, as well as FKA Twigs, Bat for Lashes, Caroline Polachek, Florence + The Machine, Metric, and The Tolkien Ensemble (which went hand in hand with my History of Middle Earth reads/rereads).
My listening over the past few months has changed quite a bit since moving over to Apple Music. The editors there curate the new indie and alternative playlists differently which is actually great. I’ve also been curating my own listens a bit more. Discovering that bandcamp can cast to my tv and stream to my car system was also great. It means I’m listening more to my playlists over there which comprise of music I’ve purchased. Mostly it’s been a lot of Motion Sickness of Time Travel, Jenny Hval, Tortoise, and Pan Tone by Hauschka & Hildur Guðnadóttir.
For 2026 albums, I’ve been listening to Mitski’s new album, Nothing’s About To Happen To Me, Charli XCX’s Wuthering Heights*, and Bill Callahan’s My Days of 58 (I’m so in love with his voice!).
I also been listening to a lot of classical guitar music, inclusive of the discography of my 24/7 muse Sean Shibe, and the playlist of music by women classical guitar composers compiled by the late and much-lamented Heike Mathiessen which I managed to port over to Apple Music. Heike also made this spreadsheet with this list, for anyone who wants to explore further. My deep aural dive into classical guitar music goes hand in hand with my frantic classical guitar practice sessions because I can’t keep delaying taking my exams. However, work and my own body always slamdunks me with reasons for postponement. I’ll get there. Eventually!
I guess that’s a wrap for my February listening!
*I’m very late to the Charli XCX party but now I’m hooked and this week I’ve had Brat on repeat along with Wuthering Heights.