Tracklist:

• Audio Fiction and Music Updates!
• Audio Drama Review
  • Adam Cecil reviews Brevity from Constellation Audio
• Best of Everything But - Part 2: Hip Hop Albums of 2026 Worth Your Time
• Coming Up on the Flipside
  • Out Today - Drama Club Episode 3!
  • Wednesday, October 21st - Any Major Dudes takes on Countdown to Ecstacy

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NEWS AND UPDATES!

Audio Fiction Announcements:

Dying On Tuesday - now streaming

Former Second City performer Bill K has a new dark comedy out, and it’s perfect for anyone who’s ever felt stuck in a job they hate. Dying On Tuesday is a seven-part limited series that launched October 6th, with a new episode dropping every Tuesday. Listen here.

Her Horrorween from Ominous Thrill

Spooky season is here, and the award-winning Ominous Thrill is marking it with Her Horrorween, a fifteen-episode, women-authored horror anthology releasing throughout October.   New episodes drop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through Halloween, closing out on October 30th with the gloriously titled When the Motherfucker Just Won’t Die by Tiffany Michelle Brown. Content warning: these stories go to some dark places, as they should. Listen to Her Horrorween here.

Sonic Dash sign-ups are open!

Audio drama makers, this one’s for you. Silver Sound just opened registration for the Winter 2027 Sonic Dash: make an original audio piece under two minutes long in a single weekend.

Registration is $25 per person and closes January 7th. The grand prize is $1,000 plus a bundle of audio software and hardware, and the top three pieces get featured on the Silver Podcast Network. Sign up for the Sonic Dash here.

Music Shorts:

New Song You Must Hear: Devon Kay & the Solutions - I Made a Post

A song on the glory of making social media content. Or lack thereof. Anyone who has ever stared down an empty caption box (hi, it’s me, I’m writing a newsletter) will feel extremely seen. It’s one of the singles ahead of the band’s new LP, World’s Greatest Album, out on Bad Time Records.

Bad Waitress - I Only Like You When I’m Drunk

Toronto art-punks Bad Waitress are back with “I Only Like You When I’m Drunk,” the second single from their new LP In The Hollow, out October 30th on Stomp Records. For fans of L7, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Babes in Toyland, and my personal favorite - Wire (see below).

The 9 Albums That Made Me

If you’ve been scrolling lately, you’ve probably seen the my9albums grids making the rounds: nine album covers under the banner “The sound that made me.” I’m a sucker for these because nine is just few enough to hurt. Here’s mine: PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, Wire’s Pink Flag, Big Star’s 3rd, Digable Planets’ Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), Nirvana’s In Utero, Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, The Breeders’ Last Splash, and The Clash’s London Calling.

What are yours? Make your grid and send it our way at mailearwax@gmail.com or tag us on Instagram, Tumblr, or Bluesky. We might share our favorites in a future issue.

Audio Fiction Review: Brevity by Adam Cecil

What would you do if you, somewhat circuitously, came into possession of an original Banksy? Would you sell it to a wealthy businessman who sees art as an asset class and not a higher pursuit, earning enough to never have to work again? Would you seek to give it back to the public by donating it to a museum? Or would you just hold on to it, hanging it up in your bathroom, hoping no one recognizes it?

Brevity—both the title of this limited series audio drama and the Dioptase painting at the center of it—has a thrilling premise that I’ve never seen done in audio fiction before. While parts of Brevity rely on familiar tropes, writer and producer Mark Johnston weaves them with fresh ideas into a well-constructed and efficient narrative that doesn’t waste a lot of time on unnecessary story beats. I listened to the first five episodes of the fourteen-episode season for this review and appreciated how short, propulsive, and highly bingeable they are.

The efficiency of the plot doesn’t translate to the narration, however. While Johnston has advertised Brevity as an immersive, full-cast audio drama, it’s much closer to an audiobook with a voice cast. I’m not opposed to narration—it’s a tool like any other in the audio dramatist’s belt—but it needs to add to the story, not detract from it, and Johnston’s narration is often frustrating. It’s written like a book, with superfluous details that slow down the narrative and suck the tension out of scenes.

It’s unfortunate that Brevity’s ineffective use of narration hinders what is otherwise a thrilling story. A version told entirely through properly immersive sound design and dialogue would be compelling, especially for listeners looking for something outside the oversaturated horror and sci-fi genres. Hell, I’d even take a version with character-driven first-person narration. Having each character narrate their own sections of the story would’ve allowed us to see the city through their eyes and given us heaps more personality and spark.

Read the full review on our website here.| Listen to Brevity here.

Best of Everything But Part 2:

Last issue, I shared the first half of my guest piece for Gabbie’s excellent newsletter New Bands for Old Heads: quality country albums of 2026 for anyone who says they listen to “everything but country.” This week, we flip the genre coin to the other usual suspect: great hip hop albums of 2026 you should check out.

Everything But Hip Hop?

Right, let’s get to it. It’s been a great year for hip hop, if you know where to look. Not only are there excellent albums by heavy hitters like Vince Staples, JPEGMAFIA, and Kneecap, but there’s been a ton of underground releases that are worth your time.

Open Mike Eagle and Kenny Segal - DOOMED!

Genre: Underground Hip Hop

RIYL: DOOM, Armand Hammer

A break-up album like no other. Both collaborators have their own styles, but the title may be a sly reference to the late masked master, because Mike’s stream-of-consciousness style and pop culture references can remind one of old Metal Fingers himself, and Segal’s production clearly has some Madlib influences too. On the title track, Mike raps about breaking up with his therapist, primary care physician, and presumably his partner, then lists the movies he’s had to see by himself in the outro. Break-ups do suck! Nobody wants to see dope movies all by their lonesome, but his approach has you chuckling at his pain.

 ●      Start With: DOOMED!

RJD2 & Supastition - According To...

Genre: Hip Hop / Boom Bap / Conscious

RIYL: Nas, DJ Shadow, DJ Premier

If hip hop is a young person's game, Supa takes exception. The 50 year old MC raps like he has plenty of lessons to teach, with sharp wisdom and real rhymes about the realities of aging, raising a family, and how being an artist in 2026 means needing a day job or three, while still leaving room to make classic hip hop boasts and sound believable. RJD2 (also 50) packs the beats with a widescreen flourish that reminds listeners of DJ Shadow and prime Chemical Brothers. These old heads aren’t new artists, but they still manage to sound fresh, vibrant, and exciting.

 ●      Start With: Carte Blanche

Sonnyjim & Sumgii - Chinatown Chicken Tour

Genre: UK Hip Hop

RIYL: Little Simz, Roots Manuva, Roc Marciano, Lee Scott

Ever stumble into a basement DJ show you weren’t expecting to find and a crowd you maybe feel not cool enough standing around? Maybe the vibe is a little dingy, dangerous, but exciting and real? I’ve had that experience before, and they’ve been fun surprises. If the DJ added a sharp lyricist that would be the vibe of this album. Sonnyjim has a deliberate, patient flow, equal parts funny and crooked. Sumgii’s production matches Sonnyjim’s style perfectly: icy beats and grimy synths, with kung-fu and silly samples spiced in for flavor. Even better, the album fills you up but leaves you craving more.

 ●      Start With: Marsellus Wallace

Sha Ray & DJ Haram - Critical THOT

Genre: Experimental Hip Hop / Hardcore Fem Rap

RIYL: Nappy Nina, Armand Hammer, Rico Nasty, Lil’ Kim

This is real experimental rap (no offense JPEG, but Critical THOT has you dead to rights). Sha Ray raps like she’s got nothing to lose, with a DGAF style that isn’t afraid to mess you up. Everything and everyone is her target, but nothing and nobody more than herself, and at times this gets uncomfortably confessional. DJ Haram’s production follows suit, never letting you get too relaxed into a dope beat, despite the big Baltimore electronic club sound that’s peppered throughout. Smart, aware, fearless, and risky, this is an album that you need to sit with and really listen to before blasting it at the house party, and even when you do, prepare for some people to leave. Fortune favors the bold though, and Sha Ray and Haram have bold to spare.

●      Start With: Champagne and Bouquets

Blu & Exile - Time Heals Everything

Genre: Conscious Hip Hop / Boom Bap

RIYL: Black Thought, A Tribe Called Quest, Common, Aesop Rock

This is Blu and Exile’s fifth collaboration in nearly twenty years, and by now you can tell they have such a relaxed partnership they can make it feel effortless. Time Heals Everything displays plenty of effort though, with some unexpected left turns (like incorporating gospel) and sample loops from Exile that risk challenging Blu’s flow at times, but never enough to be distracting (case in point: Crumbs). The production is lush throughout, and Blu sounds reflective but sharp and at times fed up enough with the state of hip hop to school people who are in it just for money or fame and not what matters. It’s an engaging, thoughtful listen throughout but still feels fun and sounds like a million bucks.

●      Start With: T.S.O.D

Deante’ Hitchcock - Junkie in the Sun

Genre: Southern Rap

RIYL: Outkast, Goodie Mob, Big K.R.I.T., J. Cole

Not a collaboration, but I’d be remiss for not shouting out my favorite hip hop album of the year. It’s the type of album I pushed play on not necessarily expecting much, and then I sat up and noticed how every new song ended up being my new favorite on the album. It’s the type of album where I have a really hard time deciding which track to include on a playlist. It’s the type of album that rewards multiple listens and patience, as it is stuffed full of songs, some that extend past standard pop and hip hop runtimes.

At times it reminded me of both Stankonia and To Pimp a Butterfly in its ambition and swagger, which I know puts it in elite company, but I feel like it’s deserved. Junkie in the Sun may be too long and maybe could stand to be edited, but it’s the type of album where I find its shagginess actually adds to its charm and sweep. I also can’t think of anything I’d cut. Honestly, at times it made me feel like an album prime Stevie Wonder would make if he was born to make hip hop; thoughtful, musically rich, charismatic, and celebratory. Hitchcock raps like Andre 3000 never picked up a flute and this is the sound of an artist emerging into his own true self. Nothing short of a revelation to me.

●      Start With: Funny Thing

Buy Junkie in the Sun here.

I’m only scratching the surface, and there’s so much more good stuff to check out. Take a listen to this playlist for more. Maybe you’ll find a new musical obsession. Isn’t that the joy of trying something new, after all?

What short blast of sound have you been vibing with? Email us at mailearwax@gmail.com and let us know or hit us up on Instagram, Tumblr, or Bluesky. No, we’re not on X. F X!