What We’re Listening To This Week: March 27, 2026
A weekly dive into the albums soundtracking our lives right now—from nostalgic indie folk to cinematic jazz and genre-bending alt-rock.
Story by:
Brett Cortelletti
Each week, the Live Music Blog team takes stock of what’s been populating their playlists and getting endlessly stuck in their heads from the week that was. These can be new releases, obscure tracks in niche genres, or classic albums dusted off due to nostalgia (or because they’re simply awesome). Enjoy what we’re listening to this week… and listen along with us if you so choose!
Fear Fun – Father John Misty (2012)
There are some albums in my life that are seasonal inevitabilities. I am an unabashed Father John Misty fan, insufferable millennial stereotypes by damned. Still, my favorite album of his by far is I Love You, Honeybear, and I still reach for Pure Comedy or Mahashmashana nine out of ten times before I play Fear Fun. Regardless, Fear Fun was the first album that made me fall in love with a contemporary artist (sorry, I was a “born in the wrong generation” teen). I pulled it out of the C.D. rack at the Mansfield Public Library, surely on account of the psychedelic, cartoonish album art.
This was the summer of my junior year of high school, and it quickly became my summer soundtrack. Specifically, the laid-back acoustic melodies were the idylic back track to late-night drives through the winding roads of rural, Appalachian Ohio on my way home working fair concessions. Windows rolled down on the 1998 Honda Accord to the tune of “Fun Times in Babylon.” The moment the night air turns warm (which is right now in the Florida Panhandle), driving to Fear Fun instantly brings me back.
My favorite track on the album has to be “Nancy From Now On.” The song floats so beautifully, and the ‘bum-bumdum-bum-bumbum” bass line never fails to make me feel like I’m floating. Thow in the long “Oooooooh-woooh-ooh-oohs” and I’m in paradise.
As much as I love Josh Tillman’s sardonic wit, the playful confidence of songs like “I’m Writing a Novel” and “Well, You Can Do It Without Me” are also purely delightful. The outro to “This is Sally Hatchet” is also one of the most satisfying song outros ever.
Top Tracks: “Nancy From Now On,” “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings,” “Only Son of the Ladies Man”
Listen Next: Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes, I Love You, Honeybear by Father John Misty, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors, by Foxygen
Man With A Movie Camera – The Cinematic Orchestra (2003)
I love an album with a fun concept behind it. I also love silent films and Jazz. This makes The Cinematic Orchestra’s Man With a Movie Camera the perfect album for me (and you might like it too). In short, this album is a contemporary score to accompany Dziga Vertov’s 1929 silent film, Man With a Movie Camera. The film itself technically falls in the documentary category; however, it’s more of an artful exercise in montage, stitching together scenes from daily life in Soviet Russia, in which the camera itself becomes a character.
While originally meant to accompany the film, the album itself stands on its own. It often straddles the line between ambient music and jazz. The tracks are long, fluid, and spacey. It’s the kind of music that seems to wrap itself around you as it plays. The percussives are what keep the album grounded. This is perhaps best executed in the track, “Reel Life (Evolution II).” Stringed instruments primarily carry the tracks, with a prominent brass presence as well. However, the album is at its most fun when the keyboards and synthesizers let loose (see the solo in the track, “Man With a Movie Camera”).
Over the years, this has been one of my favorite albums to work to for years, and listening to any one track always warrants visiting the album in full. While it works well as background music, it’s also worth checking out the album paired with the original film it was meant to accompany, which is its own delightful experiment in ambiance.
Top Tracks: “The Awakening of a Woman,” “Dawn,” “Evolution (Versao Portuense)”
Listen Next: Night Walks by Hidden Orchestra, Every Day by The Cinematic Orchestra, Kaleidoscope by DJ Food
The Car – Arctic Monkeys (2022)
The Arctic Monkeys have such a distinctive sound, and The Car sounds nothing like it. There have been several occasions where I’ve put this album on, and people asked me who it was, and they were skeptical when I mentioned it was the Arctic Monkeys. Every track on this album is a far cry from the work they’re primarily known for. The fast-driven guitar riffs of albums like Favorite Worst Nightmare are replaced by a slower, cooler more atmospheric ambiance.
For those in the know, this did not come out of nowhere, as their previous album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, was also a divergence from their traditional sharp-edged alt-rock sound. Both albums have been described as “lounge rock,” and have been noted as being influenced by disco, although those comparisons apply more to the soundscape than they do the tone, as all of the tracks here are cool, introspective, and swelling.
Once again, I largely find this album enjoyable on account of how soothing it is. That’s not to say that it’s simple or boring at any level. The crescendo of “Body Paint” is mesmerizing and driven. Each track is focused and introspective. The jazz and funk influences are also unexpected but undeniable. While many fans were understandably alienated by the abrupt shift in genre, I welcome any time a group opts to do something completely different.
Top Tracks: “Mirrorball,” “Body Paint,” “The Car”
Listen Next: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys, Day/Night by Parcels, Day/Night by Parcels, Love in Stereo by Jungle
Another Week Full of Great Music
What did you listen to this week? It’s never a bad time to revisit some of your favorite songs and albums, or branch out into something you thought you’d never listen to. If you’re in need of inspiration, explore our “What We’re Listening To” archives:
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