Lav's Music Corner

Kanye West is the legendary Chicago rapper producer responsible for some of the most loved hip hop records of the last 20 years. His transition from a jazz rap pioneer in the 2000's into a creative force of genre crossovers and stylistic transitions in the 2010's. After a number of release dates came and went for his project Yandhi  last year Kanye ultimately dropped the project and announced a second record Jesus Is King . Even as two more release dates past Kanye ultimately dropped the record Friday at noon and then updated the tracks with some better production the next day. Review By Lavender: No matter what you think about Kanye West as a person or as a cultural figure his music has been massively influential to hip hop culture, yet opinions on it vary greatly. Everyone has wildly different opinions about which Kanye records are deserving of praise for being groundbreaking beacons of creativity and which are misfires of outsider trash. I got a TON of heat last year ...

Battles are a New York math rock and electronic rock band who got off to a great start with their first two records Mirrored  and Gloss Drop  being incredibly interesting, technical and unique pieces that captivated fans and critics alike. They released the very poorly received and incredibly maligned La Di Da Di  in 2015 and since then have dropped from a trio to a duo for the release of Juice B Crypts . Review By Lavender: There was a point in time where I quite enjoyed the music of Battles, the debut record Mirrored  was a wild experience that I enjoy to this day and the entire era of their second record Gloss Drop  including the two EP's released surrounding it. But part of the disappointment of 2015's La Di Da Di  also led to severely lowered expectations for me and many other fans, and it seems like the band has lowered their own expectations of themselves as well. I skipped detailed listening and analysis of the singles from this record due ...

Refused are a Swedish punk band legendary for their third record 1998's The Shape Of Punk To Come . The record was an influential and universally acclaimed approach to hardcore punk music in the late 90's. After dropping this classic the groups disbanded and after a long wait re-united to release a fourth record Freedom  in 2015. Review By Lavender: If you like punk, hardcore punk and post-hardcore there's a good chance you're familiar with Refused and The Shape Of Punk To Come  but if you somehow aren't you should get familiar quickly because it is an excellent record for the genre that was considered a classic the moment it was released. The bands comeback record 2015's Freedom  wasn't amazing but it was far from the disaster many comeback records turned out to be and saw the band sounding surprisingly energetic for their veteran status. I was excited for this record because they seem to still be pretty in tact with the modern hardcore punk music sc...

1. Frank Ocean - DHL Despite having come out very early in the week it is hard to pick anything but Frank Ocean's first new music since 2017 to top this weeks chart, full of potential chart toppers but none of which have quite the circumstance of Frank. 2. Coldplay - Arabesque Coldplay has been making some big but vague promises in interviews recently and now we finally get the taste of their new upcoming "experimental" record with the release of its first two singles. 3. Destroyer - Crimson Tide Dan Beyar is back after a prolific and critically acclaimed decade writing songs as Destroyer with yet another new era on the horizon, though we will have to wait until next year to hear the full album we can get a taste of it right now with its lead single. 4. The 1975 - Frail State Of Min d The 1975 dominated this chart last year with their five singles and got off to a good start scoring a #1 with People last month, now they are back again falling to four when facing...

Foals are a British indie rock band who began releasing material about a decade ago and got off to a pretty hot start, receiving tons of critical acclaim for their 2010 sophomore record Total Life Forever . The band dropped the first of this two part series of records earlier this year to moderate acclaim and have followed it up with part two here. Review By Lavender: I will link my review of the first record in this duo from earlier in the year here and at the end of the review if you'd like to read it. In the intro to that review I mentioned my enjoyment of records like Total Life Forever and the groups most recent album at the time What Went Down . Everything Part 1  turned out to be a solid record but the sound was just a little bit generic for me and it felt like Foals was just playing it by the numbers for a sound they had already thoroughly explored, and on Part 2  the well of creativity is even more shallow as some of my worst fears about the band releasing two...

Clipping is a Los Angeles based hip hop trio consisting of experimental noise and jump producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes, as well as multi-talented MC Daveed Diggs. The group independently released a debut mixtape Midcity  back in 2013 and after garnering some attention from it they were signed to sub pop records and released the massively critically acclaimed CLPPNG . Two years later the band got even more experimental on the highly conceptual Splendor & Misery  and now three years later after a number of remixes, singles and EPs helped manage the gap between releases, the trio is back with a new horror and Halloween themed record released off the back of a few critically acclaimed singles. Review By Lavender: It's no secret I have been a massive fan of Clipping this decade, the brilliance of Daveed Diggs lyrically and the experimental genre bending instrumentals he raps over on Clipping tracks has made them one of the standout artists in experimental hi...

Kim Gordon is a California via New York singer-songwriter who served as a key piece of legendary rock band Sonic Youth for nearly 30 years. After the band broke up in 2011 Kim took a long time exploring other musical ventures and even working on projects across other mediums before dropping her debut solo single Murdered Out  in 2016. Three years later she announced a new record and dropped a string of critically acclaimed singles in the lead up to its release. Review By Lavender: Sonic Youth is one of the greatest rock bands of all time and the combination of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon was one that shined across a number of different rock genres and styles. Despite the long wait for solo material I don't think there's anyone that expected Kim to run out of creativity, and the wild singles for this record confirmed that she had a lot more experimentation left in her. Here on her debut solo record No Home Record  she manages to get it right most of the time. One of ...

Mark Kozelek is an Ohio born and San Francisco based singer-songwriter who first gained recognition as the frontman of legendary slowcore band Red House Painters. Since the disbanding of that group Mark has released a ton of records many under how own name, many under the Sun Kil Moon moniker and many collaborations with a number of other musicians like Jesu, Jimmy Lavalle, Desertshore, Ben Boye, Jim White, Sean Yeaton and now violinist Petra Haden of The Decemberists fame. Review By Lavender: It's not a secret that I have loved just about everything Mark Kozelek has ever done, and the prolific recent era of his career is no different. He has released an absolute ton of music over the past few years and there has been no shortage of his monologues, observations. and stories for him to tell. Earlier this year I dished out a lot of praise to his Sun Kil Moon record I Also Want To Die In New Orleans  where he played part time animal expert and part time political observes over ...

1. Wolf Parade - Against The Day Wolf Parade are back once again after a triumphant return in 2017 with a new record and a lead single that is sure to be an overlooked and underrated moment in indie music this year. 2. Perfume Genius - Pop Song After dropping the second highest charting and first longest charting song of the year with his first single of 2019 Eye In The Wall  Perfume Genius could be set up with even more success along one of the most creatively dominant periods of his ever evolving career. 3. Ghetto Sage - Haagen Dazs The debut single from long time collaborators but first time super groups Ghetto Sage, consisting of Chicago MCs Saba, Noname and Smino, has been a long awaited affair and fans of conscious rap from across the creative spectrum have flocked to see what the three talented rappers can pull off together. 4. Katy Perry - Harleys In Hawaii After two surprisingly good singles began Katy Perry's 2019 she looks to do it again with a summer song aime...

Wilco is a legendary Chicago based indie rock band that has been releasing critically acclaimed indie and folk records for over two decades now. Their most critically acclaimed period came in the early 2000's with records like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot , A Ghost Is Born  and Sky Blue Sky . The 201o's haven't been a the best for the band but they haven;t fallen nearly as far as some of their contemporaries. They had the tolerable but bland The Whole Love  in 2011, the surprise dropped and surprisingly good Star Wars in 2015 and finally the short and forgettable Shmilco  the next year. After taking two years off they are back once again and dropped two relatively well received singles leading up to the album but expectations are still measured. Review By Lavender: I love Wilco's legendary run of records just as much as anyone. Summerteeth, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot  and A Ghost Is Born  features some of the more compelling indie music of their eras and a few all time...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are a long running Australian rock band that has served a constantly rotating cast of musicians around frontman Nick Cave. The group is known for lyrically dense and narrative heavy songs that interpolate a wide array of styles within rock music. The band released a stark, minimalist and emotionally potent album three years ago, Skeleton Tree  which dealt predominately with the death of Nick Cave's teenage son. Review By Lavender: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have a long history of making energetic, unique and captivating rock music that is all their own. Across records like The Boatman's Call , Murder Ballads  and the always underrated Tender Prey  littered the 80's and 90's with Cave's unmistakable style. While the Nick Cave discography is huge not everything is as good as say The Mercy Seat  (One of the greatest songs ever written from a songwriting standpoint, by the way). The 2010's didn't start off great for Cave wit...

DIIV is a New York based shoegaze and dream pop band who exploded in 2012 with an excellent debut record  Oshin . They got praise from all over for their revitalization of Shoegzae music and the energetic pacing and songwriting that appears all over the record. After dropping a second record in 2016 there was some questioning about the groups switch to a sweeter more dream pop oriented sound and  Is The Is Are  was a record that let down some early fans, but found the group a whole new crowd. Now three more years later the band is returning with a record whose singles indicate a return to form to the groups shoegaze roots. Review By Lavender: It's never been a secret that I love Shoegaze music new and old so I was already a big fan of DIIV by the time they released their second record in 2016. Despite the fact that their sophomore album wasn't what I was expecting, I thought it was still a decent record. The wait between releases made me forget just how blistering ...

Angel Olsen is a Nashville based singer-songwriter who has been releasing critically acclaimed indie records music since 2010. Her breakout moment came on her third album My Woman  in 2016 when it's single Shut Up Kiss Me  became one of the biggest indie singles of the year and the record received massive critical acclaim landing high on numerous lists at the end of the year. Review By Lavender: My enjoyment of Angel's music began in 2014 when I got a very strong recommendation for her record Burn Your Fire For No Witness  from some locals given that she is operating out of my home state. But even though I loved this record I wasn't prepared for her next album to be not only a huge breakout success, but also one of the best indie rock records of this entire decade. My Woman sounds as excellent in 2019 as it did when it first came out three years ago and after really enjoying both of the singles in the lead-up to All Mirrors  I had very high expectations. and t...

1. Harry Styles - Lights Up Harry Styles is back and considering that the lead single for his last record ended up being my Single Of The Year in 2017, expectation and anticipation are high. 2. Panda Bear -   playing the long game Panda Bear dropped an interesting record earlier this year but seems to indicate an upcoming change of style, staring with this track. 3. Caribou - Home After a four year absence for the Caribou moniker following a critically acclaimed record, Daniel Snaith is back at it as Caribou. 4. FKA Twigs - home with you  After an up and down road leading up to her first new record in 5 years FKA Twigs hopes to go in swinging with more great singles than just okay ones here. 5. Camila Cabello - Empty Camila is ramping up her new era big time and after some tester tracks landed her a massive collab hit in Seniorita she may be preparing to drop a full fledged mega-hit. 6. Hemlock Ernst & Kenny Segal - Addicted Youth After a great single ...

Gesaffelstein is a French house and electronic music producer who emerged earlier this decade with his work on Kanye West's Yeezus . Since then he has dropped two studio albums to moderate acclaim and scored another high profile production credit on The Weeknd's My Dear Meloncholy  EP last year. Gesaffelstein released his seconds studio album Hyperion  earlier this year which featured numerous features and a number of stylistic shifting, but Novo Sonic System  promises to be a return to house. Review By Lavender: I have long thought that Gesaffelstein was a talented producer who has underachieved in his studio album discography. While there are solid tracks on both of his records neither of them really establish themselves as great electronica album like he clearly has the talent to assemble. Songs like Kanye West's Black Skinhead  and The Weeknd's Hurt You  prove that Ges is beyond talented, yet when Hyperion  came out earlier this year I gave it a ...

Danny Brown is a Detroit rapper who made a name for himself in the world of experimental hip hop in 2011 with his breakout mixtape XXX . After releasing the conceptual Old  in 2013 he received some criticism for dialing back on what made his style so unique but found more critical success despite this. After taking an extended break Danny Brown returned in 2016 with one of the most critically acclaimed records of the year, and one of the most acclaimed experimental hip hop records of the entire decade with his magnum opus  Atrocity Exhibition . The record turned Danny into an overnight superstar in experimental hip hop and the anticipation for this new record was very high. Review By Lavender: Danny Brown's Atrocity   Exhibition  is one of the best albums I've heard all decade and his 2011 record XXX  isn't that far behind it. Danny Brown has shown off consistent ability to deliver on both genre bending and boundary pushing instrumentals and pairing ...