Lav's Music Corner

CHAI are a Japanese pop rock group who have been around since 2015 and are now on their 3rd album. The group delivers a distinct blend of J-Pop fused with rock instrumentation and occasionally other genres blended in as well to craft an unpredictable and unconventional sound.  Review By Lav: Time for another round of Chai. The band first impressed me a while ago with singles that shows off how they were interpreting unique rock elements into their sound. Unfortunately I've never been in love with one of their full length albums. The issues I've had largely deal with songwriting quirks that deny these refreshing genre fusions their full potential. Once again on Wink  the band delivers compelling sounds and tons of personality, but the songwriting, particularly on the hooks, still leave a lot to be desired.  Half of the tracks on the record were released as singles but generally speaking I didn't find them to be consistently better or worse than any of the records deep cuts...

Mach-Hommy is one of the most notable voices in the world of underground hip hop, having prolifically dropped projects for years while maintaining his distinctive lyrically dynamic sound. On Pray For Haiti  Mach-Hommy is re-uniting with Griselda records and more specifically Westside Gunn who executive produced the project and makes numerous appearances on it.   Review By Lav: Mach-Hommy is one of those voices that you can't really talk about underground rap over the past few years without getting into. While I haven't commented on all of his numerous projects leading up even to earlier this year, I've mentioned him frequently for his features on other records from the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, Your Old Droog and more. This record saw Mach-Hommy linking up once again with the Griselda records crew, but since the last time they collaborated, Griselda as a brand has grown massively in recognition and status in the hip hop world. As a result this was one of the most talked a...

This weeks rapid fire reviews are a couple of experimental projects that are capable of seriously blowing out speakers. Whether these missed me when they first came out or just dropped at points where I was too busy to review them I wanted to be sure to get my thoughts on them out there.  Black Crows Cyborg  - Merzbow & Prurient Black Crows Cyborg  is the new collaborative record between two titans of noise music Merzbow and Prurient. Between the pair they are some of the most prolific artists in all of music regardless of genre but I was still excited to see how the sounds they have been developing in recent years would work with each other, especially off of them both dropping collaborative projects with other artists that I enjoyed last year. The record is two long tracks that add up to just over half an hour and the first is certainly the more abstract of the two. City Barbarism Melancholy  uses a lot of space that gives the impression of a massive aband...

Olivia Rodrigo is an actress and singer who at just 18 years old is taking over the world in 2021. After staring in a high profile Disney series she set her aim towards music and immediately released one of the most commercially successful debut singles of all time earlier this year. After dropping two more successful singles she set herself up perfectly to drop one of the biggest debut albums in years with SOUR . Review By Lav: I'll be the first person to admit that I was pretty excited for this record. Not only is it astounding the level of commercial success Olivia has achieved so quickly but I've actually really enjoyed a couple of her big singles. Despite just how much she resembles Lorde in a few tracks I was hoping that she would set her own course artistically and SOUR  definitely does that. This is a break-up album from start to finish that doesn't slouch on songwriting with pretty good hooks and thematically consistent tracks. While it isn't a masterpiece or a...

Sons Of Kemet is one of the numerous projects of contemporary jazz pioneer Shabaka Hutchings. The project has been active for almost a decade but saw it's biggest moment in the spotlight when they released their third album 2018's Your Queen Is A Reptile  which brought in universal acclaim and was ultimately nominated for a mercury prize.  Review By Lav: While I may not be the biggest or most knowledgeable jazz head on earth I still have a strong appreciation for many of the genres classics both conventional and experimental, as well as it's newest and brightest voices. Shabaka is one of those brightest voices by any metric so when The Comet Is Coming, Sons Of Kemet or even Shabaka and The Acestors drop music, I pay attention. The last Sons Of Kemet record was a world class jazz experience so my expectations going into this album were pretty high and at points it really does live up to those standards. But it does have an undeniable lull in the middle that holds it back fro...

St. Vincent is the stage name of versatile singer and songwriter Annie Clark. She first gained notoriety with early indie and art pop records during the late 2000's and early 2010's. In 2014 she released her self-titled and most critically acclaimed project to date pivoting to a harsher more synthetic sound. We last heard from Annie in studio album form in 2017 with her glam rock flavored MASSEDUCTION .  Review By Lav: There are very few singer-songwriter types who have flexed both the sonic versatility of the St. Vincent project as well as the incredible vocal charisma of Annie herself. While I am still a bit iffy on some of the earliest St. Vincent work she was 3/3 with me in the last decade highlighted by her excellent 2014 self-titled record. I has no reason not to be excited for Daddy's Home  as it seemed like Annie was making something that was both personal and heavily stylized, plus I liked all of the singles. While there are some minor issues I have here and there ...

J. Cole is a North Carolina based rapper who is now over a decade into his career. He has had a bit of an interesting relationship with the reception of his albums. While each of his projects have been major commercial successes he hasn't necessarily won over critics with the exception of his 2014 Forrest Hills Drive  project. Though he is consistently cited as a lyrically strong and socially conscious rapper, he has never achieved the level of acclaim as some of his contemporaries.  Review By Lav: I think I stand in a pretty similar place to most people, particularly other critics, when it comes to J. Cole. While he reps my home state that still doesn't make up for plenty of his projects being padded out with incredibly mediocre additions and mislead lyrical themes. This sort of came to a head last year when J. Cole was publicly called out for his lack of political awareness by Noname and made a track and statement essentially denying that he was ever trying to be socially co...

Between two busy release weekends I wanted to take the time to really quickly get my thoughts out about a couple of indie records that have been turning heads in the past few months. I was hoping to do a full length review of some of these but with even more high profile indie releases on the horizon I wanted to get them out quickly while they are still more or less relevant. Enjoy <3 Entertainment, Death  - Spirit Of The Beehive Spirit of the Beehive are a Philly based indie outfit that I've heard mentioned in passing a few times over the years and this is actually their 4th album. I saw this thing turning heads and getting some pretty good reviews when it first came out so I gave it a listen as well as some of their other work. One thing that is immediately obvious about this record going into it is that the band will unashamedly bounce between all different kinds of genres and sounds with ease. Even within the same song they are dabbling in harsh experimental rock sounds then...

Weezer is a California rock band. If you're not familiar with them, getting you up to speed would take a lot longer than just one introductory paragraph. The short is that they are a frequently memed band whose material in the 90's is universally respected as classic, but everything since them lands with a high variance. Earlier this year they dropped a baroque pop and rock record OK Human  that was met with generally positive reviews.  Review By Lav: Well here it is, Van Weezer . The dorky but incredibly loveable rock band taking on the late 70's hair rock and guitar heroism era felt like the punchline of an elaborately planned joke but it is very much real. Like 10 tracks and half an hour real. Honestly with Weezer you really never know what you're gonna get. I have to say that Van Weezer  is very entertaining, the merit of its musicality however is much more up for debate.  Honestly as hesitant as I was to the concept of this album when it was originally announced...

CZARFACE is the collaborative hip hop project of Boston duo 7L and Esoteric alongside New York MC and Wu-Tang member Inspectah Deck. The group had a few records under their belt already before originally collaborating with hip hop legend MF DOOM on 2018's Czarafce Meets Metal Face . Since then they released a handful of other projects including a critically successful team up with fwllow Wu-Tang alum Ghostface Killah in 2019. Super What?  is the first time we have heard new MF DOOM music since it was announced at the tail end of last year that he had passed away, and its unclear how much material he left behind.  Review By Lav: While I've always been a fan of CZARFACE, most of the hype I had going into this record was for hearing MF DOOM again. I have all the respect in the world for DOOM's talent and was incredibly broken up by his passing. On top of my admiration for his work I also enjoyed his previous collaboration with the CZARFACE boys. There was no reason for me to t...

Squid are a British post-punk outfit who have been active for a few years now and are coming on the back of a couple of widely acclaimed singles and EPs. They have been discussed in the same circles as other British post-punk acts who have emerged recently, namely Black Country New Road and Black Midi, both of whom have found enormous critical success.  Review By Lav: Man was I excited for this record. I first heard about Squid from their Town Centre  EP which was on my list of stuff to review way back in 2019 but I unfortunately didn't end up getting around to it. Now I wish I had because in the time since both Black Country, New Road and Black Midi have released great debut albums and Squid dropped a couple of absolutely killer singles. In a year where we've already seen so much great experimental rock and specifically post-punk from the likes of Shame, Iceage and Viagra Boys, Squid is yet another major hit for the genre that is having quite a grandiose revitalization. ...

Iceage is a Danish post-punk group who have been garnering massive critical acclaim for their heavy and creative art punk sound for a full decade. 2013's You're Nothing  and 2014's Plowing Through The Field Of Love  expanded their sound and the scope of their reach cementing them as one of the most beloved post-punk acts of the 2010's.  Review By Lav: For those of us who are in the know, it doesn't get much better than Iceage. I know that sounds a tad pretentious but despite just how much critical acclaim the band has been drowned in they still feel like a secret in the music industry at large. With a sound that is somewhat accessible compared to a few of their piers I've always been amazed that the band doesn't have the massive reach they deserve. I have enjoyed everything the band has released so far without a bad album or even many bad songs in their catalog. Consistency is really the key word with their discography, and with Seek Shelter . Across this 9 ...

Beachy Head is a new super grous project bringing together members of Slowdive (and Slowdive infused super-group The Soft Cavalry) with members of The Flaming Lips and Casket Girls. The collaboration was announced just last month though it received three singles. The debut album is slim with just 8 tracks under 30 minutes but has plenty of promise and poise among its ranks to deliver something special.  Review By Lav: It's no secret I'm a big fan of shoegaze, it's also no secret I'm a huge fan of Slowdive. Pretty much everything Slowdive vocalist Rachel Goswell has ever done from Minor Victories to Mojave 3, The Soft Cavalry and even her solo material I've found to be enjoyable at minimum. Continuing my likeliness to to enjoy mostly everything she touches I dove into Beachy Head  excited about what she may be offering. Ultimately the record doesn't do a whole lot with its short runtime, delivering wiry, dreamy shoegaze reminiscent of the original projects of its...

Shelley is a Virginia based R&B singer who first made a name for himself creating dancy and lovable fusions of R&B and hip hop. He scored hits with tracks like Cha Cha , Broccoli  and Cash Machine  before cashing in with a debut album in 2016. The most substantial thing we've heard from Shelley since then was the 2018 That's A Girls Name EP whose title feels even more fitting after his commercial name change.  Review By Lav: I enjoyed Shelley's debut album Big Baby DRAM  quite a bit and I was excited back in 2016 to see what he was going to do next. I was surprised at how little I heard his name over the next few years even with that solid EP which now feels like a distant memory. I don't really have any complaints about his name change, in fact I'm happy for him for being comfortable enough to go by his birth name, what I was more hesitant about was the change in sonic approach. Shelley's humor was a major part of what initially made DRAM so appealing a...