Lav's Music Corner

Stormzy has spent the past 5 years becoming one of the definitive voices in British rap music. With both hit songs and critical acclaim on both of his first two records, This Is What I Mean  was highly anticipated by fans and critics despite a somewhat lukewarm reception to its first two singles. They forecasted a significant shift to more meditative, reserved, and emotional music which the album reflects.  Review by Lav: After not being crazy about Stormzy's debut album, I thought his sophomore effort was a big improvement that showed him to be a better lyricist than I had previously thought and also capable of making some bangers. That's sort of why I was caught off guard by the pivot he took on the two singles from this record for a sound that a lot of people haven't loved. But you know me I'm not afraid of a big artistic swing and I made my feelings towards both of the singles pretty clear, I like them. And while this record is far from perfect a lot of what I liked

Brockhampton is an LA, via Texas, via a bunch of different places, hip hop group, and self-proclaimed boy band who have slowly developed a wider and wider fanbase with the release of each of their records since 2017's Saturation  trilogy. Earlier this year the band announced the cancellation of their tour and their impending breakup, but after a Coachella performance that was billed as the "final" Brockhampton show the band announced a final Brockhampton album. As it turns out the band released two albums. First came The Family  which features Kevin Abstract almost exclusively, and the next day they released TM  a collection of tracks from previous recording sessions finished by Matt Champion and assembled into an album. It appears that these were both done to relieve the band from their contract with RCA records. Review by Lav: I'm disappointed by this outcome and I don't really understand how any Brockhampton fans aren't. I like this band quite a bit, I thin

Weyes Blood is the chamber pop project of singer-songwriter Natalie Mering. Her fourth album Titanic Rising  came out in 2019 and served as a massive breakout for her receiving nearly unanimous acclaim from critics and spawning a fervent fanbase around her work. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow  has the task of following that record 3 years later and was preceded by a trio of singles over the past few months.  Review by Lav: Not to sound like every critic, but the first few times I heard Weyes Blood's music on earlier projects I could see there was some potential, particularly in her incredible voice, but the details just weren't there yet. That potential was fully realized on her breakout project Titanic Rising  which featured a massive improvement on the songwriting front and the excellent addition of Foxygen's Jonathan Rado on production. Rado is back on this album alongside a handful of other producers and arrangers and my expectations were fittingly quite high. While

Dummy Corporation  EP - Actress Actress is a British house and electronica act that I admittedly should have been paying more attention to in the time I've been reviewing music. While most of the biggest highlights from the project came before I started, they have still released some interesting house and dance music worth covering in the past few years and after hearing this new EP which dabbles in micro house and ambient techno, I knew I had to cover it. Though it's only 4 tracks the EP runs about 40 minutes and nearly half of that is taken up by the monster title track which kicks the record off and spans just under 19 minutes. It starts with a long ambient intro that you may not realize is a build-up at first, but around five minutes in it starts to work towards the core of the song with gentle vocal samples, glittery synths, and steady pounding percussion. While I think the full length of the song might be a little bit more indulgent than necessary I also think it's th

5.  Tenkiller  - Chat Pile The breakout year for Chat Pile continues as they dropped the soundtrack for a film they scored a few years ago, lead off with this double single that contains more insanity from the band whose insanity is already a little difficult to describe. Whatever you think you're getting into with the heavy but well-paced post-hardcore instrumental, you aren't ready for the lyrics on this track. Well, maybe if you heard their full album earlier this year that can take a bit of the edge off.  Listen 4.  Nights In December  - Tkay Maidza So I didn't see this coming. It's an R&B flavored track sure but with a beat that combines some warbled synths with clacky background percussion that feels straight out of Tierra Whack's terminally underrated Peppers and Onions . The icing on the cake is a repetitive but effortlessly smooth hook that is pretty much guaranteed to stick in your head.  Listen 3.  Fingers Of Steel  - Shame While I'll admit that a

Backxwash is a Canadian rapper who has become a critical darling over the past few years for her fusion of industrial and metal aesthetics with religious themes and of course, hip hop. HIS HAPPINESS  is the conclusion to a trio of records released over the last three years that see Backxwash reflecting on her own personal history and identity.  Review by Lav: Since I first heard Backxwash's 2020 album God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It  I've been enamored with her deeply self-reflective lyricism, intoxicating vocal intensity, and entirely unique combination of sounds and influences. Last years I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses  absolutely blew me away as she dialed up the intensity even further and I had no reason to expect this record wouldn't do the same. Despite some minor slip-ups here and there the record absolutely lives up to my expectations, both on its own merit and as a conclusion to the wonderful trilogy.  The record didn't have

Jimmy Edgar is an experimental electronica producer, conceptual artist, and fine art NFT grifter, sure why not. He's been around for well over a decade at this point but found a new audience as a Sophie collaborator in the hyperpop scene and his 2021 album Cheetah Bend  was met with a level of critical success. LIQUIDS HEAVEN  the album comes paired with a new line of NFT sculptures built from deconstructed medical equipment. Review by Lav: I will not talk about NFTs in this review. I will not talk about NFTs in this review.  I hate NFTs. I will not talk about NFTs in this review.  Jimmy Edgar is great. Not only is he a strikingly unique producer who absolutely refuses to limit himself sonically, but he's also a great curator of talent. Last time we heard from Jimmy Edgar was just a year ago when he dropped Cheetah Bend , not only a very solid experimental electronica record but one that featured some unexpectedly brilliant collaborations with SOPHIE, Danny Brown, Matt Ox, Mill

Component System With The Auto Reverse  - Open Mike Eagle I've been a fan of Mike for a long time, since his verbose art raps on Dark Comedy  wowed me with their creativity and bouncy pop culture references. While I thought his previous album Anime, Trauma and Divorce  was just okay I still came into this record expecting the same level of greatness that I do for pretty much every new OME project that drops. The first thing you'll notice about this record is that it's pretty chaotically organized with 14 tracks that vary quite a bit in length and add up to less than 40 minutes of total runtime. The record also features several collaborators, particularly across the second half, giving it more of a spur-of-the-moment mixtape style flow than a conventional album. Despite that when more fleshed-out tracks emerge they can occasionally be great. Early on in the record 79th and Stony Island  and I'll Fight You  come back to back as big highlights full of the kind of niche ref

After easily the worst release weekend of the year so far thankfully this was a big one, both a deep collection of new songs and a handful of really high profile artists. Enjoy <3 5.  The Ending  - Brockhampton Despite the drop in spot on the list, I think this is an improvement over the first "Brockhampton" single. I put the air quotes up because once again this is really just a short Kevin Abstract song and while it has all the personality you'd expect plus the addition of a grand gospel sampling instrumental, it is still pretty stripped down.  Listen 4.  Insomnia   - Parannoul Parannoul's follow-up to last year's brilliant breakout album To See The Next Part Of The Dream has been something I've been thinking about for a while and finally we have a taste. While the song starts off slow with a much more whimsical and meditative sound the lo-fi sonic intensity you'd expect finds its way into the track and it does on and when paired with the soaring synt

Stumpwork  - Dry Cleaning Dry Cleaning dropped a pretty hyped-up debut album last year that I thought was just okay and which barely cracked my Top 100 albums of the year list. I wasn't surprised to see the band back so quickly given that they still have some hype to capitalize on and do feel like they have a genuinely youthful and creative spirit to them like so many of their burgeoning post-punk contemporaries. In fact, after hearing the singles I was excited enough for the record that I planned on doing a full review of it but never got around to it due to a busy release weekend. Singles like Anna Calls From The Arctic , Gary Ashby  and in particular my favorite Dry Cleaning song to date No Decent Shoes For Rain  forecasted the band further sinking into the methodical darkness of post-punk which excited me quite a bit. Unfortunately, I can say for the second time in as many years that I wasn't as impressed with the deep cuts here as I hoped I would be. On their debut album w

Drake & 21 Savage are a pair of rap music's most popular and enigmatic voices. Drake is coming off a shift into hip-house on his dance record Honestly, Nevermind  earlier this year which was met with mostly critical shrugs. 21 Savage on the other hand was last heard from in full-length form in 2020 when he dropped the highly anticipated Savage Mode II  with Metro Boomin' which had slightly more critical acclaim to its name but was still seen as a bit of a let-down. Her Loss  was surprise announced just a few weeks ago and dropped with no singles.  Review by Lav: Boy, everyone is gonna be talking about this one. Even when the record was barely out there were already hot takes flying about this being the best or worst thing either artist had done in years. As I so often try and do, I took a few days to digest this record with repeat listens and come out with some clarity and as you'd expect, the reality is somewhere between the hot takes. Her Loss  is flat-out too long at

Streetlands EP - Burial It's been a weird few years for Burial as fans lament the loss of the more beat-driven elements of his music and ultimately the loss of drums entirely. You'd think that would mean that fans who come down more on the ambient side in the first place like me would be thrilled, but even I haven't necessarily been head over heels for the recent Burial output. His Antidawn  EP earlier this year felt like the most significant statement any Burial project had made in a long time in concept, but it turned out to be yet another VERY loose collection of ambient motifs. Thankfully, Streedlands  while still a very disconnected trio of ambient songs, does actually seem to give a lot more attention to how these songs develop and how the individual parts form a whole. A good example of this comes from the title track whose nearly 15 minutes makes up about half of the EP all on its own. It opens up with a thick cloudy mix and the pitched-up fizzled vocal samples that