On this episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew kick things off by talking about the strong start that the hardcore scene has gotten off to in 2026, including a recap of the recent CIV, Into Another, Orange 9mm, Method of Doubt, Rule Them All, Square One show in Brooklyn (00:30). Then, we discuss A$AP Rocky's big comeback moment (10:24), Pitchfork's new user reviews (21:59), Arctic Monkeys' first new song in 4 years and the charity compilation it's part of (31:35), and why it's been a big week for 2000s-era Canadian indie rock (43:24). We also touch on new music from Courtney Barnett, Snail Mail, Avalon Emerson, Lightning Bolt, Sugar, James Blake, IDK, Lucinda Williams, and more.

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

This Week's Notable Releases (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/category/music/new-releases/

This Week's Indie Basement (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tags/bills-indie-basement/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On this episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew are joined by special guest, Sonic Youth member, and lifelong Grateful Dead fan Lee Ranaldo to reflect on the death of Bob Weir. Lee's been following the Dead since the early '70s, he was at the legendary Cornell '77 show, and he had a lot to say about the impact left by the Grateful Dead and Bob Weir specifically.

While he was here, Lee also told us why Geese are "the new band [he's] most interested in right now," he chatted with us about the just-announced Kim Gordon album, and he shed some light on Sonic Youth's recent 2026 teaser and upcoming plans for his own solo career.

The conversation with Lee comes in at the 27:00 mark, and before that, we talk about the Golden Globes (00:30), the new Zach Bryan album and Zach preemptively reacting to accusations that it's "overproduced" (06:30), Mitski's highly anticipated album announcement (17:41), and more. We also chat about even more new music and music news after Lee says goodbye (01:12:17).

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

This Week's Notable Releases (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/category/music/new-releases/

This Week's Indie Basement (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tags/bills-indie-basement/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On this bonus episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew talk 21 metal albums we're anticipating (or already loving) in 2026, starting at the 25:10 mark. But before that, we take a slightly belated look at 2025. Dave names and discusses the 5 best metal shows he saw in 2025 (01:23), and then we highlight 5 of our favorite metal albums of 2025 (08:52).

For more, see our list of the 33 Best Metal Albums of 2025:

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/33-best-metal-albums-of-2025/

Stay tuned for our next weekly episode, coming Friday morning.

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On the first BV Weekly episode recorded in 2026, Dave and Andrew discuss the just-announced Governors Ball lineup (05:16); new singles from Robyn, Doechii, Jill Scott, and more (23:04); the first great hardcore album of 2026 and a few other new LPs (29:21); and more music news from the first full week of 2026.

96 Albums We're Anticipating In 2026: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/94-albums-were-anticipating-in-2026/

GovBall lineup: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/governors-ball-2026-lineup-aap-rocky-lorde-geese-clipse-amyl-wet-leg-turnover-more/

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

This Week's Notable Releases (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/category/music/new-releases/

This Week's Indie Basement (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tags/bills-indie-basement/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On the first BV Weekly episode of the new year, Dave, Andrew, Amanda, and Bill discuss 26 albums that we're collectively looking forward to hearing in 2026, including several that we know for sure are coming out and a few that we're crossing our fingers for. Will this be the year that My Bloody Valentine, Joanna Newsom, Thursday, Mitski, and/or Phoebe Bridgers finally drop something new? We hope so.

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On this episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew dive into BrooklynVegan's list of the 25 best rap albums of 2025, which we published here:

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/25-best-rap-albums-of-2025/

The list begins at the 26:53 mark, but first, we take a look back on one of the defining hip hop stories of 2025: Nas' Legend Has It series, which produced new albums by Slick Rick, Mobb Deep, Big L, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and Nas' own collaborative album with DJ Premier.

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On this episode of BV Weekly, Dave, Andrew, Bill, and Amanda discuss the BrooklynVegan list of the best albums of 2025. You can find the full list of 55 albums on BrooklynVegan.com, and on this episode we each pick two albums from the list to discuss before breaking down the top 10. After that, each BV team member gives one honorable mention that didn't make the list.

Also, at the end of the episode, we share some of our favorite memories about Music Hall of Williamsburg, which will be closing its doors in 2026.

Find the full list of the 55 best albums of 2025 at https://www.brooklynvegan.com/brooklynvegans-top-55-albums-of-2025/ 

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On this week's episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew break down the list of the 50 best punk albums of 2025 that we published on BrooklynVegan.com:

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/50-best-punk-albums-of-2025/

That conversation comes in at 09:42, and before and after that we talk about some other fun stuff, including more updates on other year-end lists we've seen, the recent Snocaps (Katie & Allison Crutchfield) shows, new music released this week, and more.

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

This Week's Notable Releases (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/category/music/new-releases/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

It's the first week of December, and that means almost every major 'best albums of the year' list is officially out. On this week's episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew go through 5 takeaways, discoveries, and surprises of the major lists we've seen so far. We discuss Pitchfork's very niche #1 album of the year (11:40), the multiple-lists-dominating Gelli Haha (30:13), the double whammy of Geese's new album and singer Cameron Winter's 2024 solo album (37:11), the representation (or lack thereof) of heavy music on this year's major lists (47:46), and some glaring/interesting omissions (58:49).

Also in this episode, we talk new music from redveil, Tigers Jaw, Ratboys, and more, and share some news about Björk, Rosalía, FKA twigs, The 1975, and more.

Browse year-end lists here: https://brooklynvegan.com/tags/best-of-2025

And stay tuned for the BrooklynVegan year-end lists!

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

This Week's Notable Releases (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/category/music/new-releases/

This Week's Indie Basement (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tags/bills-indie-basement/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)

Mix engineer: Nick Gray

On this special Thanksgiving week episode of BV Weekly, Dave and Andrew offer up a list of 10 albums you should make sure you've heard before making your 'Best Albums of 2025' lists. It's not necessarily a list of "overlooked" albums, nor is it our top 10. It's just 10 great albums from this year that we think deserve another push as everyone's figuring out what makes their lists.

Also, Dave caught the end of the tour by a band who's sure to be near the top of most major year-end lists: Geese!

Email [email protected] with any feedback or questions!

Visit BrooklynVegan: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/

This Week's Notable Releases (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/category/music/new-releases/

This Week's Indie Basement (goes live Friday morning): https://www.brooklynvegan.com/tags/bills-indie-basement/

And Visit Our Shop: https://shop.brooklynvegan.com/

**

Credits:

BV Weekly is brought to you by the long-running music publication BrooklynVegan, created and hosted by Dave Levine and Andrew Sacher

Theme Song: Joseph D’Agostino (Empty Country, Cymbals Eat Guitars)