Lav's Music Corner

Lupe Fiasco is a Chicago rapper who has spent the past 15 years delivering some of the most thoroughly conceptual rap albums of his era and becoming known for his impressive pen game and winding lyrical style. DRILL MUSIC IN ZION  is Lupe's 8th album following 2022's Drogas Wave  and was allegedly recorded in one marathon 72 hour session.  Review By Lav: If you knew me when I was 14 years old then you certainly know that I was embarrassingly obsessed with Lupe Fiasco. Even that was just based on his first two albums, around that time Tetsuo & Youth  came out and blew my mind all over again. While I wasn't crazy about Drogas Light  it didn't take Lupe long to continue impressing me on his next project and I really expected no different from this.  Going into any Lupe album you know there's going to be some kind of heady concept running through and despite what the title might imply, it isn't a stylistic turn towards drill music. Digging deeper into the r...

It's been a while since I did an EP round up and the year has honestly seemed kind of slow in that department, but hopefully we can pick back up to covering these short projects more frequently. SZNZ: Summer  - Weezer Part two of Weezer's promise to release four seasonal EPs this year has arrived and after I wasn't crazy about the first collection of songs I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Turns out it's an improvement on all fronts but there is one way in particular that it makes itself a more high impact listen and that's by turning up the intensity. Seriously even compared to their butt rock renditions of Van Halen rock a few years ago they really have genuinely upped the impact of the tracks in the mix here. Occasionally this comes to fruition in typical Weezer pop rock fashion on songs like the life-affirming music tribute Records . It also comes in songs that compositionally and sonically step out of Weezer's comfort zone like the strange tra...

Zola Jesus is a singer-songwriter whose been around for over a decade now dabbling in genres like goth, chamber and industrial. While she's pivoted between styles throughout her career, her previous album in 2017 represented a critical high point for Zola Jesus creating hype for this album from fans and critics alike. Review By Lav: 2017's Okovi  was my favorite Zola Jesus album to date and while that doesn't guarantee any success on a follow-up, particularly five years later, it was reason enough for me to be at least curious at what she would be doing next. What got me really excited was the singles three of which I really enjoyed and set up my high hopes for this record. While it does have the occasional slip-up for the most part it has all the interesting sonic explorations I was hoping for going into it.  As usual for a record with good singles let's cover those songs first, especially because they're three of the first four tracks. Lost  is the standout of the...

If you like big names, this week had them. If you like reoccurring favorites, this week had them. If you liked random ass flips of chance, this week had them. These are the best of it all.  5.  Run  - YG (Feat. Tyga, 21 Savage & BIA) Talk about a roster with potential. If you're familiar with YG's music you're gonna hear a lot of qualities you're familiar with in both the instrumental and his lyrical approach but it's still quite an infectious sound. Two artists who can certainly deliver on a feature show up on the back end of the song and frankly, Savage and BIA deliver.  Listen 4.  Blacklight Shine  - The Mars Volta If you're the type of music fan who didn't really care that Beyonce released a new single then you're probably also the type of music fan who was really excited for The Mars Volta to come back after a decade hiatus. What they returned with might not have the same kinetic energy of some of their best tracks but it has an instrumental var...

While yes I do try to often deliver some semblance of continuity in these rapid fire reviews to make them make sense. But at its core the series is just meant for me to cover records that I'm too late or don't have the time to talk about in full. So with that being said this is a mish-mash of different genres of hardcore and industrial that I'm stretching because it includes records I want to talk about. 40 oz. To Fresno  - Joyce Manor After releasing some of the most essential emo and pop punk albums of the 2010's with their self-titled debut and 2014's Never Hungover Again  it hasn't exactly been a parade of critical or even fan acclaim since then. While I certainly don't think the bands releases have been terrible or anything they certainly haven't matched the energy of their earlier work. On this new album which runs out at a tight 16 minutes and change I was hoping that the band could find a way to translate their new feelings into music that was as...

Drake is, well he's Drake. You know who he is. After releasing a huge and hugely successful album with last years  Certified Lover Boy  he is taking a quick turnaround and returning with Honestly, Nevermind  which was a surprise album dropped with no singles and limited promotion. It's also notable for being a shift in style for Drake featuring dance and house inspired beats throughout the tracklist.  Review By Lav: The critics haven't been crazy about Drake for a while. In their defense he has slowed down his willingness to leave his comfort zone and turned up his willingness to pack his tracklist absolutely full of songs in recent years. But the Drake hate has always been blown DRASTICALLY out of proportion and it reached a fever pitch with this record. Whether it was the series of viral tweets claiming the record is department store music or the absolute meltdown had by dudes on the hiphopheads subreddit, it's clear that hating on Honestly, Nevermind  is popu...

Perfume Genius is the musical project of Mike Hadreas who has been one of the most acclaimed artists in indie and art pop over the past decade. After making lo-fi indie music early in his career Mike teamed up with producer Blake Mills and has shifted to a much more instrumentally dense and immaculate style. Much of Ugly Season  has existed for a few years now including a pair of singles and the music from the record was used to soundtrack both a dance piece and accompanying short film.  Review By Lav: If you've been following me on the blog or on YouTube or really anywhere you likely know that I love Perfume Genius. I dished out tons of acclaim to the two most recent Perfume Genius records and for all his material before that, I'm granting praise through the 10 year retrospective series. Given how much I love Perfume Genius and how much I loved the original two singles released from this record a few years ago I was very excited for this record. It won't be a surprise to a...

While this may not have felt like a big week for singles Thursday night, when you take the entire weeks trickle down of anticipated new songs and album announcements into consideration it is actually pretty significant, so lets try and work through it. Enjoy <3 5.  RAP JASM  - Moor Mother (feat. AKAI Solo & justmadenice) moor mother just continues being one of the most unique, creative and innovative voices in all of hip hop and all of music in general. While this new song plays it a little bit straighter than her typical outing if anything it only makes her credentials as a hip hop renaissance woman even stronger.  Listen 4.  Ricochet  - Preoccupations One of the most acclaimed post-punk acts of the 2010's is back after a four-year absence and what they've brought with them is one of the most lively songs of their entire career. With clearer vocals and drums that punch through the blurry guitars in the mix this certainly isn't the Preoccupations you reme...

This week on "Upsetting Indie Fans" I'm taking on a gauntlet of artists who I either sort of like, or have never really understood in the first place yet they continue to receive massive amounts of critical acclaim. I'm giving them another spin to see if I figure it out all of a sudden.  We've Been Going About This All Wrong  - Sharon Van Etten Unlike the theme of these reviews so ineloquently states I actually like Sharon Van Etten and I've been known to dish out some praise to her music in the past, not to mention she puts on an excellent live show. While I wasn't crazy about the previous two singles she released I was more than willing to give this entirely new batch of songs a shot, because her music often has the poise and subtlety to grow on me over time. The record leans into that patience throughout with almost all of these songs starting out both very slow and very sparse. If you stick with them a lot of these songs develop into very compelling hi...

As the pendulum does swing, last week was a bit dry by singles standards but this week featured a flood of new tracks to choose from. Enjoy <3 5.  Because  - Danger Mouse & Black Thought (Feat. Joey Bada$$, Russ & Dylan Cartridge) Before I broke down every single element of this posse cut I will just say that yes the contributions are inconsistent among the various rappers as to be expected. But the song still has so many great facets starting with another killer retro instrumental from Danger Mouse that Black Thought and Joey in particular sound excellent over.  Listen 4.  Skin Of My Teeth  - Demi Lovato I never thought I'd say it but this Demi Lovato punk song actually has some grit to it. While it never fully leaves the realm of pop flavored punk compared to many of their contemporaries Demi proved they can really up the ante. The song is not only unafraid to touch on some of her past controversies and traumas but it does so with a vengeful venom t...

I'm pretty sure there's more rap music out there than I could possibly critique in a single calendar year, much less alongside all the other stuff I'd like to review. Once again I'm doing my best to cover some of the more critically acclaimed and relevant hip-hop records of the underground this year. Nothing To Declare  - 700 Bliss 700 Bliss is a collaborative project between queen of the underground Moor Mother and DJ Haram. The project's first release was the Spa 700  EP all the way back in 2018 and they're now adding on to a very prolific streak for Moor Mother in the past few years with a full length debut. Like many Moor Mother projects, this one is particularly hard to define with conventional genre labels and even across the record's first run you'll get tracks with stuttering electronic beats that are more dance than hip hop and features singing muddled but easily identifiable pop melodies. The relatively short song lengths and 16 tracks that mak...

Angel Olsen is an Asheville singer-songwriter who has spent the past decade as one of the most acclaimed artists in the indie and singer-songwriter scenes. After years of acclaim in the indie circuit she releaser her massively acclaimed breakout album My Woman  in 2016. She followed that up with a shift into a grander instrumental prescence on the follow-up album All Mirrors  in 2019, which also came with a stripped-back accompaniment the next year. Big Time  is Olsen's 6th album which is not only a shift back into more reserved instrumentation, but also the sounds of country music. Review By Lav: If clout comes from being early to great artists, one of the artists I can rightfully claim that title for is Angel Olsen, though geography and some of the older indie kids at my middle school definitely had something to do with that. Since then seeing her breakout, evolve her style and continue writing great music the entire way through has been a treat as both a fan and a crit...

This week had some pretty big releases, only some of them paid off. Let's explore. <3 5.  Training Montage  - The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats have PLENTY of great ballads and slow songs, but after the last few years it's really nice to see them put some muscle behind this new single. The song absolutely jams with a hook that is made memorable by John Darnielle's unmistakably vocals and lyrics that are cute above what most indie acts are capable of, no surprise coming from a published author. Listen 4.  Marijuana's A Working Woman  - of Montreal Depending on who you ask it's either been a while, or a WHILE since they last loved an of Montreal record. While one good single doesn't promise much this track certainly reads as one of the bands most exciting and exploratory in years. The multi-faceted song bounces between murkier almost horror movie style passages with methodical vocals into snappy synth pop hooks and it's a combination that worked on me i...

In my endless quest for rapid fire review topics we've landed here. Three new albums from bands that people were bumping when I was in middle school. Dance Fever  - Florence + The Machine It always surprises me how Florence + The Machine basically disappear between album cycles only to reemerge pretty much as popular as ever. This is their fifth album and it follows what I think is their least successful and least acclaimed record to date High As Hope . Maybe the fact that their previous album was a letdown made it even more surprising how quickly they slid back into favor off the strength of this record. It's easy to see why as this record gets off to a pretty strong start in the first half, particularly with the two great singles that kick the record off. While there is a bit of a drop-off it's hardly a plummet as the album's thesis of fusing rustic instrumentation with disco flavors provides a bassline of solid instrumentation. While it certainly has its moments of i...