Unusual Rotations (January 2026): Grunge

Towards the end of 2025, I came up with this idea to expand the horizons of my musical tastes.

I’ve always had quite a broad taste in music, I think. When I was growing up, I would tell people, I listen to everything except jazz and country. I didn’t really know what I was talking about, and definitely listen to all sorts of jazz and country music these days, so is it fair to say that I listen to everything?

Maybe! But I’m going to try and find out.

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Over the course of 2026, I’m going to be dedicate each month to a genre of music that’s either way outside the realm of what I normally listen to or is a genre that I’ve been tiptoeing around and deserves more attention.

I’ll be documenting the journey here, on my website, as something that I can reflect back on and might inspire someone else to try something new too!

At the start of each new month, I’ll reflect on the previous month, maybe highlight some stand-out artists/albums/songs, touch on some historical stuff that intrigued me, and whatever else I take away from my exploration into that genre.

This whole project is really a venture into the unknown. To be frank, I haven’t even thought much about how I want to structure my research and listening, let alone if this project is a reasonable thing to consider doing in the first place. How much can I really learn about something as deep and as rich as an entire genre of music in just a month?

The reality is: I can’t. But I don’t expect to, either. Reaching some ethereal finish line is not the point. On the contrary, the journey is the whole point! Imagine the sadness that would come with knowing you had already heard everything. To know that the feelings of sating one’s curiosity is behind me and that no surprises await would be a terrible condemnation to endure.

I’m more concerned with having enough time each month to juggle spending time towards the genre of the month and continuing to listen to the previous genres I’ve explored that I’ll inevitably become obsessed with!

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I know way too many cool people with vast, sprawling, wildly different tastes in music, so I’m really looking forward to hassling hearing from folks about their favourite genres. Educate me! What are your favourite artists/albums/songs? I’ll check them out! Shoot me a message with a totally un-asked for braindump of the lore of your favourite genre! Cause I’m askin’, and I’ll read every single word of it. What are the genre’s big hits? Hidden gems? Do you make this kind of music? I WILL LISTEN TO IT.

And please, by all means, join me! Make your own list of 12 genres that you want to dive into or maybe the ones I’ll pick interest you already. But make sure you let me know! I’d love to go on this journey with you.

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So, without further ado, my genre for January 2026 is…

Grunge Permalink

Growing up in the 90s and 2000s, I’m a bit too young to have really caught the peak of the grunge wave (I think?). Regardless, my friend group in school was sort of tangentially into grunge, so this genre isn’t a particularly new sound for me.

However, when I moved to Singapore in 2023, I had the opportunity to spend a lot more (in-person) time with my good friend, Raga, who’s a metalhead and huge fan of grunge. He (re-)opened my eyes to a lot of grunge that I hadn’t deliberately listened to in at least 15 years! Thinking about it now, I don’t really know why I let it fade out of rotation. I’ve been giving hip hop and drum and bass too much space! They’re getting set on the backburner for, at least, January, so I can concentrate on immersing myself in grunge!

Again, please do reach out if you join me on this journey and/or if you’re a fan of grunge yourself. Send me your recs!

Apologies to the neighbors.

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