The Retrographer, Issue 135 (February, 2 0 2 6)

Asher White, Charli xcx, Jill Scott, Lana Del Rey,Ms Ray, Nourished by Time, Twisted Teens, Katzin, Dua Saleh, Bon Iver, Karlo Rueby, GENA, Liv.e, Karriem Riggins, and more

Author

Charlie Kaplan
March 12, 2026

Bulletins:

Ten Songs for February, 2 0 2 6 | Listen to these songs on Spotify and YouTube

“Half Twain the Jesse”, Asher White – Jessica Pratt writes ineffable songs and makes perfect recordings. But a great cover doesn’t try to improve on a song; it uses a rendition to reveal something new in it. In this case, it’s an intimate, deep connection, implicit and undeniable.

“Chains of Love”, Charli xcx – brat put Charli at the pinnacle: The acme of pop culture. But where do you climb from a peak? Don’t people die from exposure? Instead she found shelter in the Wuthering Heights soundtrack with a thunderous anthem.

“Liftin’ Me Up”, Jill Scott – Borrowing the language of gospel music is a tale as old as time in popular music, from the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” to D’Angelo’s “Higher”. Jilly’s praise music flies over a skittering go-go beat, chuckling through her devotional. “You’re like an aloe to my cut!”

“White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter”, Lana Del Rey – ”I know you wish you had a man like him, it’s such a bummer,” LDR smirks. But then a turn, face shadowed: “Everyone knows I’ve had some trouble, but I’m home for the summer and I wanted to know if I could use your stove to cook something up for you.” It’s that voodoo that you do so well.

“Miss You”, Ms Ray and Nourished by Time – h/t Brendan. Marcus Brown’s endless bag of early-90s R&B grooves unloads again here, a sensual groove seemingly nabbed from a lost Boyz II Men DAT tape discarded on the floor of the SEPTA. 

“Who Could It Be?”, Twisted Teens – Coupla crust punks, Brillo pad vocals, drinking brown liquor out of a gallon water jug, watching the skateboarders, Looney Tunes pedal steel, the degraded reprint of an electric guitar, thumping drums.

“Wake Up Ruben”, Katzin – Buckaroo is under 27 minutes and jam-packed with beautiful little ideas. The first time listening to this one is a delightful surprise, one song flipped on its head in interdimensional symmetry.

“Flood”, Dua Saleh and Bon Iver – Hard to expand on this, but a singer’s voice is like their face. All expression is rendered in their unique physiognomy. Two unique voices can make a lyric like “cherish everything we did” smile and wince at the same time.

“Already Dead”, Karlo Rueby – Easy to draw comparisons to Emmitt Rhodes, Ruban Nielson, or Alex Chilton; songwriters who deepen a delectable flavor with salty and strange complication, a fraught past, grim perseverance.

“Theybetterbegladihavetherapy”, GENA, Liv.e, and Karriem Riggins – The spirit of Flying Lotus, or Knxwledge, or Dilla. A stomping kick and lofted horns are interrupted by a voice:  “the things that used to distress you will become inconsequential.”

MONTHLY

#129.5 “Halley”

#126 May, 2025

#114 May, 2024

#102 May, 2023

#101 April, 2023 

#100 March, 2023 | The Feelies, “The Good Earth”

#99 February, 2023 | Judee Sill, “Judee Sill”

#98 January, 2023 | Pink Floyd, “Meddle”

#96 November, 2022 | RIP TOM PETTY

#95 October, 2022 | Cannonball Adderley, “Cannonball Adderley's Fiddler on the Roof”

#94 September, 2022 | Sheryl Crow, “Tuesday Night Music Club”

#93 August, 2022 | D’Angelo, “Live at the Jazz Cafe, London”

#92 July, 2022 | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Southern Accents”

#91 June, 2022 | George Harrison, “Living in the Material World”

#90 May, 2022 | The Wild Tchoupitoulas, “The Wild Tchoupitoulas”

#89 April, 2022 | Joni Mitchell, “Taming the Tiger”

#88 March, 2022 | Young Thug, “Barter 6”

#87 February, 2022 | Stephane Grappelli and Stuff Smith, “Violins No End”

#86 January, 2022 | Nas, “God’s Son”

#84 November, 2021 | Milt Jackson with the Thelonious Monk Quintet, “Wizard of the Vibes”

#83 October, 2021 | For Against, “Coalesced”

#82 September, 2021 | Pat Metheny, “Bright Size Life”

#81 August, 2021 | The Chicks, “Fly”

#80 July, 2021 | Allen Toussaint, “Southern Nights”

#79 June, 2021 | Novos Baianos, “Acabou Chorare”

#78 May, 2021 | One Direction, “Four”

#77 April, 2021 | Bob Dylan, “New Morning”

#76 March, 2021 | Ty Dolla $ign, “Free TC”

#75 February, 2021 | Ghostface Killah, “Fishscale”

#74 January, 2021 | Minnie Riperton, “Minnie”

#72 November, 2020 | Sufjan Stevens, “Seven Swans”

#71 October, 2020 | Common, “Resurrection”

#70 September, 2020 | Herbie Hancock, “Thrust”

#68 July, 2020 | Cam’ron, “Purple Haze”

#67 June, 2020 | Jorge Ben, “A Tabua de Esmeralda”

#66 May, 2020 | The Meters, “Rejuvenation”

#65 April, 2020 | Eddie Kendricks, “People… Hold On”

#64 March, 2020 | Thelonious Monk, “Solo Monk”

#63 February, 2020 | Cat Power, “Moon Pix”

#62 January, 2020 | Yusef Lateef, “Eastern Sounds”

#59 November, 2019 | Frank Sinatra, “In The Wee Small Hours”

#58 October, 2019 | Steely Dan, “Gaucho”

#57 September, 2019 | Bonnie Raitt, “Streetlights”

#56 August, 2019 | Daft Punk, “Alive 2007”

#55 July, 2019 | John Coltrane, “Interstellar Space”

#54 June, 2019 | Big Pun, “Capital Punishment”

#53 May, 2019 | Paul Simon, “Rhythm of the Saints”

#52 April, 2019 | Dirty Projectors, “Rise Above”

#51 March, 2019 | Kate Bush, “The Sensual World”

#50 February, 2019 | Sonny Rollins, “Next Album”

#49 January, 2019 | Sade, “Diamond Life”

#47 November, 2018 | Curtis Mayfield, “There’s No Place Like America Today”

#46 October, 2018 | The Blue Nile, “Hats”

#45 September, 2018 | Lucinda Williams, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”

#44 August, 2018 | Aretha Franklin, “Amazing Grace”

#43 July, 2018 | Teddy Pendergrass, “TP”

#42 June, 2018 | Dennis Wilson, “Pacific Ocean Blue”

#41 May, 2018 | Bobby Brown, “Don’t Be Cruel”

#40 April, 2018 | Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black”

#39 March, 2018 | Q-Tip, “Kamaal the Abstract”

#38 February, 2018 | Miles Davis, “In a Silent Way”

#37 January, 2018 | Beck, “Sea Change”

#35 November, 2017 | Slum Village, “Fan-tas-tic Vol. 1”

#34 October, 2017 | Steely Dan, “Two Against Nature”

#33 September, 2017 | Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck, “Djam Leeli”

#32 August, 2017 | Billy Joel, “The Stranger”

#31 July, 2017 | Big Daddy Kane, “Long Live the Kane”

#30 June, 2017 | Janet Jackson, “Control”

#29 May, 2017 | Steely Dan, “Aja”

#28 April, 2017 | The O’Jays, “Back Stabbers”

#27 March, 2017 | Wire, “154”

#26 February, 2017 | Professor Longhair, “New Orleans Piano”

#25 January, 2017 | Elvis Costello, “Live at the El Mocambo”

#23 November, 2016 | Erykah Badu, “Mama’s Gun”

#22 October, 2016 | Donald Fagan, “The Nightfly”

#21 September, 2016 | Aretha Franklin, “Young, Gifted, and Black”

#20 August, 2016 | The Dave Matthews Band, “Under the Table and Dreaming”

#19 July, 2016 | Clams Casino, “Instrumental Mixtape II”

#18 June, 2016 | James Brown, “Love, Power, Peace”

#17 May, 2016 | Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder, “Talking Timbuktu”

#16 April, 2016 | RIP PRINCE

#15 March, 2016 | Prince, “Prince”

#14 February, 2016 | Big L, “Lifestyles Ov Da Poor & Dangerous”

#13 January, 2016 | Bill Evans, “Live at the Village Vanguard”

#11 November, 2015 | Donny Hathaway, “Live”

#10 October, 2015 | Paul McCartney, “McCartney”

#9 September, 2015 | Talk Talk, “Laughing Stock”

#8 August, 2015 | B.B. King, “Live at Cook County Jail”

#7 July, 2015 | Miles Davis, “Filles de Kilimanjaro”

#6 June, 2015 | Joni Mitchell, “Hejira”

#5 May, 2015 | Kanye West, “The College Dropout”

#4 April, 2015 | MF DOOM, “Operation: Doomsday”

#3 March, 2015 | Bruce Springsteen, “The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle”

#2 February, 2015 | Eric B. and Rakim, “Paid in Full”

#1 January, 2015 | Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, “L.A.M.F.”

 

ANNUAL

 

DECENNIAL

 

THEMED