THE ALBUM CAFE NEWSLETTER #3: MAY 2026

Flip the Disc: Heading Out on the Road

What’s on the cassette?

By the author with AI

We kicked off May with the results of our first writing prompt:

You’ve borrowed your mum’s 1974 yellow Mazda 1300, with reversing cassette player, for the weekend. You have one cassette. What albums are you going to put on it?

[embed]One Cassette for the Road Trip You’ve got one cassette and a reversing tape player. What are you going to put on it?medium.com

This was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who participated, in particular Defiant Joy and Paul K. Barnes who joined The Album Cafe for the first time.

I’ve got a couple of thoughts for the next prompt:

1. The Beatles. We’ll need twelve writers for this one. Put your name in the hat and you’ll get one of the canonical Beatles album at random for which you need to write a review. I’ll exclude Yellow Submarine because I don’t think it would be fair for anyone to get that!
2. Something Extra in a secondhand record. I once bought a copy of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, in which someone had stashed a letter from a lover, written on bright green paper! Have you ever had something similar happen?

Let me know what you think. Suggestions welcome!

The Publication

Here are our latest stories, oldest to newest:

[embed]Trick of the Tail Post-Gabriel — more or less?medium.com

There’s been some great prog reviews from Nigelleaney this month. Check them out!

[embed]Review: Red by King Crimson In the beginning, King Crimson created Prog.medium.com

My concluding review to the Yes/King Crimson prog rock series.

[embed]Echoes: From The Primeval Swamp To London Commuters Pink Floyd’s masterpiece before the madnessmedium.com

More from Nigel on this Pink Floyd classic.

[embed]Seems Like I’ve Been in 1970 Before Remembering CSNY’s Deja Vumedium.com

Steven Hale’s thoughts on the Terry Barr review said it better than I possibly could:

A graceful and perceptive reflection. The personal details offer something new to bring to my next listening.

[embed]A Cornerstone Yes, also the Styx Albummedium.com

JP Timko offers a deep personal reflection of how an album called Cornerstone can become a literal cornerstone of one’s life.

[embed]The Book of Hours by Agropelter The pick of last year’s progmedium.com

Some contemporary prog. Rich and complex with another great review by Nigel.

[embed]Fire and Water Is this one of the greatest albums, ever?medium.com

Alright now! Classical English hard rock from the early seventies.

[embed]Everybody Needs a Helping Hand Heraclitus, helping out and hope.medium.com

Santana’s Caravanserai is getting some high rotation around here, right now!

[embed]RELENTLESS Mathis Hunter raises the bar for Atlanta Musiciansmedium.com

Mathis Hunter are a contemporary Atlanta band with which I’m not familiar. I particularly liked the psychedelic vibe of their track Kabuki Theatre. A big thank you to Brenda Lorenz joining us as a writer at The Album Cafe for the first time.

[embed]How White Is White? Rethinking The White Album in the age of whitenessmedium.com

Just as I had The Beatles idea for the prompt, this one landed from Terry Barr. It can feel like some albums have been reviewed just one too many times, yet I think at The Album Cafe, the personal stories that are attached to an album can benefit from our familiarity with the album in question.

In Other News…

Congratulations to Buddy Gott on getting his new music publication, PubBeat, up and running. The byline is “Music Challenges for Lovers of Music — Classic to New”. Check it out and give it a follow:

[embed]Submission Guidelines for PubBeat Our general guidelines and how to become a writer heremedium.com

This month’s album discussion over at The Riff is being led by Troy DeRego featuring The Strangler’s Feline. There is always a great group of people who drop in, offering great insights, anecdotes and discussions. You don’t have to contribute, either. You can just sit and listen with your camera and mic switched off:

[embed]The Stranglers | ‘Feline’ May’s album of the monthmedium.com

Thanks for reading!