Lav's Music Corner

Idles is a British punk rock band who first began to attract major critical attention with their 2017 debut album Brutalism  which introduced the world to their socially charged song themes and snarling lead vocalist Joe Talbot. They pushed their sound and societal critiques even higher on a critically acclaimed follow-up in 2018 before adjusting their style to fit a more conventional rock sound on their 3rd record. Review By Lavender: While I don't think either of the first two Idles records are masterpieces I did thoroughly enjoy them both and what the band offers is in short supply right now. Given the jump they made from album 1 to album to I was hoping that the band would take an even bigger step and drop one of the best albums of the year on Ultra Mono  but after a few singles I didn't have much hope left. The record isn't bad but it is seeped in awkwardness with awkward lyrics and chunky fist-pumping riffs that feel below the band after their first two records avoide...

Sufjan Stevens is a Michigan based indie singer songwriter who became an icon of the genre in the 2000's with universally acclaimed releases like Michigan , Illinois  and The Age Of Adz . After releasing one of his most acclaimed records to date with the somber stripped back Carrie & Lowell  in 2015 he took on a number of side projects, very few of which landed in the same way as his core discography. After collaborating with his stepdad and fellow Asthmatic Kitty Records founder on a pseudo ambient project earlier this year he is back with his 8th studio album.  Review By Lavender: Anybody who likes indie music certainly like Sufjan Stevens. Much like many indie favorites his albums have distinct sounds and fans frequently debate on the merits of their favorites. Personally 2005's Illinois  and 2015's Carrie & Lowell  are a large step above his other releases even though I think nearly all of his records are worth listening to. I was excited about this ...

Fleet Foxes are a Seattle indie folk band fronted primarily by singer and songwriter Robin Pecknold. They became indie darlings of the Pitchfork folk era in 2008 with a critically acclaimed debut EP followed by an even more acclaimed debut album. Since then they have released the poetic Helplessness Blues  in 2011 and the winding experimental Crack-Up  in 2017 both of which received nearly unanimous critical acclaim. Shore  was announced just a few days before it's release which coincided with the autumnal equinox. Review By Lavender: I like Fleet Foxes, both Fleet Foxes , Helplessness Blues  and even the Sun Giant  EP have songs I love even if I don't worship the band at nearly the same level as many others. The first time the band really wowed me was the first time I ever got to properly review their music on their 3rd record Crack-Up , my favorite of the bands album by far. Compared to the bright indie riffs and simple song structures of their early work Crac...

Uboa is an experimental noise project fronted by Xandra Metcalfe out of Australia. After nearly a decade of material she had a massive commercial breakout with 2019's The Origin Of My Depression  which reeled in acclaim for it's harsh sound and deep dive into personal issues, predominately her experience as a trans woman.  Review By Lavender: The Origin Of My Depression  totally blew me away last year. The record presented a fascinating mix of experimental metal, electronica, drone and noise that spoke to her struggles in an incredibly personal way that I totally fell in love with. Despite being really excited for what Uboa would do next I somehow missed this EP when it first dropped back in May and didn't hear it until a few weeks later. Now after reviewing long albums for a month straight with A.G. Cook, Blu & Exile and Matmos I finally found some time to properly review this project before Sufjan takes over next week. And I'm really glad I found the time because ...

Matmos is an American conceptual electronica duo known for their abstract sampling and concept albums like A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure  and Ultimate Care II . The band released an album just last year but have been busy since with a release from the Drew Daniel solo project The Soft Pink Truth earlier this year and not this massive 99 collaborator, 3 hour long record. Review By Lavender: It is absolutely no secret that I love Matmos. Not only have I always been vocal about my love for records like A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure  and The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of The Beast plus I really enjoyed the album the band released last year Plastic Anniversary . I was surprised to see this quick of a turnaround especially considering the Soft Pink Truth record but I certainly wasn't expecting nearl 3 hours of new material being dropped on this ambitious and huge project. Despite the scope of the record being so grand there is so much rewarding material here that ...

A.G. Cook is a British songwriter and producer as well of the head of influential Hyper Pop label PC Music and frequent collaborator with Charli XCX. After years of producing for other artists he released the monster album 7G  last month with years of works compiled into 7 discs and he is here with a much slimmer and more conventional quick follow-up. Review By Lavender: 7G  wasn't personal but I did enjoy the record.  The highlights from the album were just as good as much of the music Cook has worked on over the years which had me excited for this album which felt like a more complete and personal statement from Cook as an artist. While he is certainly the star of the show this time around many of the deep cuts on Apple  don't quit elive up to the hype.  That hype was generated from a pretty good lead single in Oh Yeah . The song is a glistening pop ballad with heavy vocal processing that makes for a sweet and catchy way to dip your toes into the album. It doe...

Everything Everything is a British experimental pop band who have spent the last decade releasing five critically acclaimed projects blending futuristic pop sounds with the worlds of art rock and electronica. The decade was highlighted by 2015's Get To Heaven  a record whose specific sound the band has quietly transitioned away from in recent years.  Review By Lavender: I quite enjoy the music of Everything Everything, and while Get To Heaven  is clearly the bands best record I enjoy the rest of their material more than most. That includes their last record 2017's A Fever Dream  which wasn't perfect but included some of my favorite tracks from the bands career in Night Of The Long Knives  and Can't Do . The singles didn't blow me away this time around and I wasn't sure what to expect from the record but the resulting songs here aren't terrible or incredible, just alright. Two of the singles that didn't do much for me still didn't win me over on the r...

The Flaming Lips are an Oklahoma based psychedelic, indie and alternative rock band who have been releasing material frequently since the mid 1980's. On top of an extensive catalog of side projects, collaborations and covers albums The Flaming Lips have released 16 studio albums, including 3 in the past 4 years.  Review By Lavender: While everybody loves classic Lips records like Yoshimi  and Soft Bulletin  the band has managed to avoid the pitfalls of other major indie artists late in their career and have consistently released studio albums with something to offer. Records like Embryonic  and The Terror  proved that the band still had creativity even while pushing 25 and 30 years of existence but even their weakest record from this period 2017's Oczy Melody  had some notable highlights and stands above some of their now washed contemporaries. They have mainly achieved this by channeling all of their underwhelming and uninspired music into other projects, ...

Marilyn Manson is a long running American industrial rock and metal project fronted by the controversial but charming figure after which the band is named. After a series of critically acclaimed releases in the 90's and early 2000's the band developed a cult following, but has failed to receive the same amount of attention or praise since.  Review By Lavender: I've always been a pretty big fan of Manson's releases in the 90's, particularly 1998's Mechanical Animals . After some uninspired releases expanding into awkward sounds in the lat 2000's and early 2010's I wasn't too excited for whatever the band was coming out with next, but their last two albums have been pretty big improvements. Even though they aren't as great as some manson classics those last two records are the reason I was optimistic for We Are Chaos  despite some weak singles. As it turns out Chaos  sees the band sounding more uninspired than they have in quite a long time. The ti...

Bumper is the new collaborative project of Michelle Zauner the woman behind Japanese Breakfast, and Ryan Galloway a multi-instrumentalist member of indie trio Crying. The quarantine collaboration seemingly came out of nowhere with no singles and a late announcement for the EP's release.  Review By Lavender: I was all in on this project as soon as I first heard about it, only a few days before it was actually released. I've enjoyed both of Michelle's records as Japanese Breakfast particularly her 2017 sophomore record and I was wondering when we would hear from her next. I was particularly intrigued with Crying's 2016 debut record and surprised we hadn't heard anything from the band since. Given my admiration for the artist and how long it's been since we heard from each of them properly I was very exited for this project and while it is not at all what I expected, it is pretty good.  There were no singles for this project so lets just jump right in with the grea...

Dirty Projectors is the long running indie project of David Longstreth. Over the years numerous musicians and vocalists have filled in roles for the band and Super Joao  is the third of 5 EP's the band plans to release this year each focusing on a different vocalist.  Review By Lavender: I have loved Dirty Projectors for as long as I can remember which was pretty clearly evidenced by my very positive reviews of their two EPs earlier this year. I was particularly excited for this release because long time frontman David Longstreth is the vocalist for these tracks. I have always enjoyed his vocals quite a bit and more than ever before on the past two full length Dirty Projectors records. But now that the EP is out it is by far the weakest of the trio from a songwriting and instrumental perspective.  The lead single Holy Mackerel forecasted this as a sift and off kilter indie tune that I didn't love at first and has slightly grown on me. I think David's singing is as ...

6ix9ine   is a controversial New York based rapper who has capitalized off of trolling the status quo of hip hop and pop music culture for the last 5 years or so. After a stint in jail where he notoriously snitched on the Nine Trey gangsters who he was once affiliated with. Since then he has released a handful of viral singles including a #1 hit collab with Nicki Minaj leading up to TattleTales  his second studio album. Review By Lavender: Most people don't make it past 6ix9ine's appearance and reputation, yet he has managed to consistently find success with his music. His combination of latin flavored trap music and hard-hitting rap bangers is a unique one that has translated into albums with highlights, but also major inconsistencies. With TattlesTales  we see that it is no different as for every song here where 6ix9ine brings exciting there's one where it misses the mark.  The best group of songs on the album by far is the singles which may be the best set from an...

Angel Olsen   is an Asheville, North Carolina based indie singer-songwriter who blew up in 2016 with her My Woman  album. She followed this record up in 2019 with All Mirrors  a grander and more instrumentally rich statement. Whole New Mess  was recorded before All Mirrors  and and features many of the same composition in earlier form and with stripped backed instrumentation.  Review By Lavender: I was excited about this record despite the fact that I am pretty familiar with most of the material here in a more full capacity. I enjoy so much of Angel's catalog including All Mirrors  as well as some of her early material with a more lo-fi slant. So Whole New Mess  was an exciting prospect but now that it's here I find that most of these tracks work better in the full form.  Of the 11 tracks here only two of them are entirely new compositions and they were both released as singles beforehand. Whole New Mess  is the opening track and lead si...

Jaden is a singer rapper and actor as well as the son of singer, rapper and actor Will Smith. After releasing a line of singles and mixtapes Jaden finally made his commercial debut with 2017's SYRE  and then followed it up in 2019 with ERYS . CTV3  is the third in a line of mixtapes that date all the way back to 2012.  Review By Lavender: While I didn't love either of Jaden's first two albums and I really didn't love the mixtape he released in between there is usually at least something worth hearing on Jaden's projects. Despite the fact that CTV3  is shorter clocking in at under an hour there is once again a lot of filler tracks and not many songs that I don't have some complaint about.  Most of my favorite tracks here work because Jaden delivers good energetic verses and the instrumentals, while derivative of other artists, are pulled off effectively. Rainbow Bap  is long at nearly 5 minutes but the beat is slick and the simple drum passage does a lot for...