The Weekender #32: What to Listen, Watch, and Read This Weekend
A short list of things better than scrolling.
Welcome to The Wax Museum’s monthly exhibit The Weekender. If you’re new here, this is where I point you to the best things to listen to, watch, and read before the weekend disappears. I got a lot to recommend, so let’s get right into it.
What to Listen to This Weekend
Holy Fuck - Event Beat
Stream: Bandcamp
Get Vinyl: Apple Red
Genre: Electronic Rock
Today is the first stacked release day of 2026. The New Pornographers! Snail Mail! Courtney Barnett! Robyn! Slayyyter! The Twilight Sad! Flea doing jazz! And whoa, is that The Academy Is…?? Yes, their first album in 18 years.
But there are two releases I need to yank your eye toward immediately. First up, the unexpected return of Canada’s Holy Fuck, whose last album landed pre-pandemic, before whatever bizarro timeline we’re in now.
The quartet haven’t lost a step. If anything, they sound sharper than ever here. Event Beat moves fast, starting with the chaotic jolt of “Evie,” then settling into the kind of hypnotic groove they’ve always been great at, especially on “Gold Flakes” and “Elevate.” They still know exactly where to hit, whether it’s your legs or your brain.
DJ-Kicks: Sofia Kourtesis
Get Vinyl: Black
Stream: Bandcamp
Genre: Electronica
Readers may be familiar with Peruvian multi-hyphenate Sofia Kourtesis, whose 2023 debut album Madres I highlighted in a recent Bandcamp Friday roundup. I described it as “house music with a heart, mixing euphoric rhythms with intimate storytelling,” as the throughline focused on her mother’s cancer diagnosis.
I had been waiting on what she’d do next, and it’s been a run of remixes, including a killer London Grammar take, so it makes sense her next release lands in the fabled DJ-Kicks series. During the song compiling process, Kourtesis lost her mother, and her perspective is worth a read:
“Losing my mother, my idol, knocked the wind out of me. But as the seasons shifted, I found myself back in Peru. Being there made me feel close to her again, like she was in the air. Slowly, music started to come back to me, not as noise, but as strength. It felt like reconnecting with her spirit, honouring everything she gave me. This chapter of my life has forever changed how I hear music. It’s more fragile now, and in a strange way, it feels like a gift she left me; a reminder that even in loss, there’s still beauty and connection.”
That shift shows up in this mix. It moves through melodic techno and house with a lighter touch, but still delivers real emotion, tension, and release. Excited to have this one on vinyl to turn my living room into a dancefloor.
Adam O'Farrill - ELEPHANT
Get Vinyl: Opaque Blue | Black
Stream: Bandcamp
Genre: Trumpet, Modern Jazz
Brooklyn trumpeter Adam O’Farrill presents ELEPHANT, a debut from his first quartet as the sole horn voice. You might know him as a member of Hiromi’s Sonicwonder, which landed on our Best Albums of 2025 list.
ELEPHANT is some damn fine modern jazz, blending trumpet-led melodies with textural electronics, pulling from post-bop, minimalism, and even Radiohead and Ryuichi Sakamoto, including a cover of Ryuichi’s “Bibo No Aozora.”
The centerpiece “The Sea Triptych” is the highlight, an ode to the mystery of the open water, moving from the crashing energy of “Along the Malecon” into the meditative “The Three of Us, Floating,” before landing on the groove of “Iris Murdoch.” I just started Murdoch’s novel The Sea, The Sea yesterday, you just gotta love some synchronicity!
Band of Horses - Everything All The Time (20th Anniversary)
Get Vinyl: Gold
Stream: Bandcamp
Genre: Indie Rock
Band of Horses’ debut and arguable high point Everything All the Time turns 20, and it still hits like it did back in 2006. This anniversary edition arrives newly remastered on gold wax packed with demos, live cuts, and unreleased tracks. These outtakes are great, especially “(Biding Time Is a) Boat to Row.” Listening now feels like catching up with an old friend you haven’t seen in years, picking up right back where you left off.
Just a quick intermission as I shake the donation jar at you. A $5 contribution unlocks full archive access and gets you a $10 coupon to our Gift Shop — just the sign you needed to grab one of our sweet Weekender bags. Thanks for the support!
What to Watch This Weekend
The Rise Of The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother Hillel Slovak
Stream: Netflix
Netflix dropped a new documentary centered on Hillel Slovak, the often overlooked founding guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is easy to understand when you’re flanked by Anthony Kiedis and Flea. Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at 26, but his imprint on the band never really left, even after John Frusciante stepped in.
The film expands beyond just Slovak into the band’s early years, which they’ve publicly pushed back on, but it never feels exploitative. It’s emotional, clear-eyed about the highs and lows, and lands as a respectful tribute more than anything else.
And as mentioned up top, Flea has a new album out, surprisingly a jazz album called Honora; here he is covering Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You” on Jimmy Fallon. Fun listen!
Wolf Alice | Full Set from Laneway 2026
Stream: YouTube
Props to Australia’s triple j and crew for posting the full set of Wolf Alice’s recent set at Laneway Festival in Sydney. This is concert film quality; everyone involved in the sound mix and editing need to take a bow. Ellie Rowsell has one of the best voices in the game and it’s all on display here. The back half of her “How Can I Make It OK?” performance gives me goosebumps.
What to Read This Weekend
Underworld by Don DeLillo
I’m drawn to books that line up with current events, which led me back this week to the classic Underworld by Don DeLillo, a legendary doomscroller before the timeline existed. The 1997 novel opens with one of the most vivid pieces of baseball writing ever, centered on Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ’Round the World,” a joyful American moment that’s instantly overshadowed by news that the Soviets just tested a nuclear weapon. That paranoia, everyday life colliding with the constant hum of annihilation, runs through the book as it tracks a single baseball across decades of Cold War tension. With Opening Day yesterday and the war with Iran intensifying, it’s a reminder that this uneasy overlap between normalcy and existential threat isn’t new, just recurring.
Hey, thanks for stopping by The Wax Museum! If you enjoyed your stay, pass this along to a friend whose weekend could use a little upgrade.
Next week will see the seasonal refresh of the Patio Grooves Playlist as we celebrate Spring. You got a few days left to grab your favorites before they get replaced.
Drop a comment card on your way out and enjoy the weekend,
Jared
Excited to hear the Sofia Kourtesis DJ kicks. “Madres” was my AOTY a couple of years ago. Instant classic.
Can't believe Everything All the Time is now as old as I was when I discovered them...still love "The Funeral" and "The Great Salt Lake."