Lav's Music Corner

5.  Run To The Moon  - Beach Fossils Beach Fossils are back and they've pumping out blissful indie and dream pop with lethal efficiency. Once again they've delivered a sweet cloudy haze whose lyric on the hook "it feels like I'm living in another world" is thoroughly appropriate. What it lacks in punchy soundplay it makes up for with enveloping bliss.  Listen 4.  Chasing Spirits  - Jess Williamson Another Jess single and another hit. While I may not love the song as much as its predecessor it's good for all the exact same reasons. Jess continues to be a striking performer that is made perfectly for this country-flavored brand of folk music and her lyrical diatribes are continually interesting. The sound and style of this song are pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.  Listen 3.  Rains  - The Antlers For a band that is already well known for being almost impossibly reserved and patient in almost every element of their music, this is an act of ...

The Tallest Man On Earth is the singer-songwriter outfit of Swedish musician Kristian Matsson. He's been releasing music under the project since the late 2000's often with extensive critical acclaim, with his raw folk stylings drawing comparisons to Bob Dylan in particular. Henry St.  is Matsson's 6th studio album and follows last year's covers album Too Late For Edelweiss .  Review by Lav: I've been a supporter and enjoyer of The Tallest Man On Earth for quite a long time and even though most of his best work predates my blogging years I still approach any new music he drops with quite a bit of anticipation. Even after coming away from the singles on the album with mixed feelings, I was looking forward to what would distinguish this record from the others in Kristian's discography. While the lyrics here delve into a lot of familiar topics, the album is distinguished nonetheless by a sense of contrast that borders on whiplash.  Not only do the songs on here vary...

Forever Means EP - Angel Olsen The reason I was excited for this new Angel Olsen EP is easy to explain. Her output has been so consistently great that everyone should be constantly excited for whatever she's doing next. After loving her last album I was thrilled that we were getting another taste with these four songs which originate from the same recording sessions. It helped that the EP was led off by the gorgeous Nothing's Free  and intimate ballad which stretches and grows to include a charming sax solo and some slinky keys. The EP's title track is a turn for something a bit more reserved though it definitely reminds me of some of my favorite quiet moments on her last record even if it isn't the most standout part of this project. Time Bandits  is another big highlight which kind of feels like a throwback of sorts as Angel revisits some vocal inflections we haven't heard since at least My Woman . It's a simple sonic palette for a song but the results are lar...

V  - Unknown Mortal Orchestra If you've surprised this review ended up in a rapid fire, join the club. I've long been a champion of this band and I've liked some of the singles from this album a lot including That Life  which was among my favorite singles of 2021. I was pretty excited for the album to come out and I listened to it immediately but somehow it just managed to fall through the cracks in a sea of notable records released in the last month and change. But I do want to get my thoughts out on the record in some formal way given how much I've talked up the band's previous material. While there are definitely things that make this record unique in the band's discography so much of what they've always been known for is on display. Take the opening track The Garden  which displays some of the same psychedelic guitar tones, infectious refrains, and circular structure that have made so many great UMO songs in the past. Unfortunately, the next four songs a...

5.  Alone  - Kim Petras (feat. Nicki Minaj) Even though I've liked both of these artists a lot in the past, to say I was skeptical of this song would be a huge understatement. While I did think each of their previous two songs were okay it felt like they were both headed for some kind of slump and hearing the relatively lazy sampling on display in the previews for this track didn't help remedy that. Ultimately though this song is also pretty decent with an exciting performance from Nicki and a hook that is sticking with me more and more. It's far from the best either are capable of but it's a plenty serviceable collaboration.  Listen 4.  Undergrowth  - Squid If hearing the funk rock riffs and the repeated Limp Bizkit ass "melt" hook on this song immediately activated your gag reflex, you're not alone. My first reaction to the song was pretty garish as well. In fact it took me a few times of hearing it with completely shifted expectations to realize there a...

Yaeji is a dance artist from New York with a distinct style combining house music instrumentals with her often very understated singing vocals. After building a fanbase for years with a serries of EPs and mixtapes, With A Hammer  is her long-awaited debut album. Review by Lav: I was excited for this record for a few reasons. Not only do I think Yaeji is an interesting and unique artist but also the record's lead single For Granted  is legitimately her best song yet and one of the best songs I've heard all year. Unfortunately, the first half of this record didn't engage me nearly as much as I was hoping.  While these songs do effectively inject a bit more of Yaeji's personality into them than a lot of her previous material, they're still just not interesting enough to hold up to consecutive listens. Songs like Submerge FM  and Passed Me By  do have elements that I like compositionally but they unfold very slowly in a way that starts to drag each time. There's als...

5.  Portraits  - Panchiko There's been at least something to admire about pretty much all of the new Panchiko singles so far and this one is the best so far at pinning down the crackling nostalgia and lo-fi textures of their surprise classic material. The glitchiness of the song impugns a character that's entirely unique from their other songs while also feeling physically aged as you listen to it.  Listen 4.  FaceTime  - billy woods & kenny segal (feat. Samuel T. Herring) If you're familiar with the names involved in this song then it sounds exactly what you're imagining it will. There are no surprises here just a successful blending of styles with kenny's often poignant and jazzy production serving as a perfect middle man for the vocals. The high contrast of billy's gritty vocal delivery on the verses and Sam's subtle hook sounds great.  Listen 3.  Back In Office  - Saba & No I.D. Saba and No I.D are teaming up for a mixtape coming soon ...

Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds  - Yves Tumor While I've never been anywhere near as big a fan of Yves Tumor's music as a lot of my critical contemporaries, I did think their last full-length project Heaven To A Tortured Mind  was their best yet and that combined with some singles I somewhat enjoyed I was looking forward to this being a continuation of sorts. That started with lead single and album opener God Is A Circle  which just missed my singles list last year and carried on to the spectacularly named Heaven Surrounds Us Like A Hood . The record parlays those two tracks into a pretty good start with songs whose sequenced beats and gentle singing make for a dark but surprisingly inviting combination at their best moments. The unfortunate part is that the second half of the record has a much more rock slant generally and it comes served with an occasional pop-punk edge that I could really do without sometimes. The secon...

boygenius is the beloved trio of critical darling singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker. The trio first united in 2018 for a short EP that received lots of critical acclaim but in the years since they've each, Bridgers in particular, become even more critically and commercially successful. After each of the trio released studio albums in 2020 or 2021, they've returned as a group for a formal studio debut project.  Review by Lav: Some of my biggest haters are waiting to feast on this one. While hip-hop reviews will always be the most controversial because hip-hop fans have very little to do other than complain about reviews online, my apparent tirade again singer-songwriter girlies is a close second. I think everyone in boygenius is very talented but with all of them, Julien Baker in particular, I've been far lower on their work than the critical consensus. In fact, this reared its head with boygenius itself when I gave the EP a just okay verdict t...

Tim Hecker is a Canadian ambient musician with two decades of critically acclaimed albums and compositions under his belt. While he's scored two movies in recent years, No Highs  is his first studio album since 2019's Anoyo  which was a spiritual successor to the shrill synth sounds of Konoyo  before it.  Review by Lav: Any time I get to review a big new ambient release, it's a win for me as the genre is perhaps my favorite in all of music and Tim Hecker specifically is one of its strongest and most consistently impressive composers. Though this album had one great single it didn't even really need that to get me hyped. Tim Hecker has been great even as he wanders away from the dark and cloudy ambient sounds he made his name off of, so turning on this album and finding out he's returned to his bread and butter felt like a slam dunk. And it was, this is going to be one of my favorite albums of the year.  Let's fast forward to that lead single, which highlights ex...

Dogsbody  - Model/Actriz Model/Actriz is a Brooklyn four-piece experimental rock act that I first heard about last year when they dropped what would ultimately become the lead single to this record. While I kept my eye on the band and wasn't surprised by the positive buzz the record was generating, it still took me too long to get around to listening and reviewing it. While I may not be as glowingly positive towards the record as others, it's a great record that could be used as a springboard into something an all-time great follow-up. The record kicks off with Donkey Show  a ripping introduction that shifts from distant shrill noise into churning riffs and lethal intensity about a minute in. It's a great way to start the album off alongside the lead single Mosquito  which has grown on me a lot with it's bitter repetition on the hook sounding better and better each time. I also love the one-two punch of the very neurotic pummeling Slate  immediately followed up by a ...

Late again, sorry I was on vacation, take some deep breaths and enjoy. 5.  Weedkiller  - Ashnikko I think Ashnikko might have out-Dorian Electra'd Dorian themselves this week. In what is easily my favorite single from this new Ashnikko era so far they're getting cutthroat and living up to the song's aggressive title. While it's mostly the strong hook that wins me over I also have to say some of the clever vocalizations and stretching of their range as a singer pay off big time.  Listen 4.  Fallin'  - Joey Bada$$ If you had Joey trying his R&B side out on your 2023 bingo card, you're probably well on your way to winning. You'd be in even better shape if you correctly predicted that the results would actually be kind of good. As is often the case with crossovers like these, the hook suffers with singing that is sufficient but needs a bit more to help sell it.  Ultimately, I'm kind of surprised the sound and sentiment of the song are pulled off so well ...

Liturgy is an experimental black metal project from New York who have long been controversial for their style among black metal fans. The peak of that controversy surrounded a manifesto published by lead singer Haele Raveena Hunt-Hendrix declaring the band's style "transcendental black metal." 93696 is the band's 6th album following 2020's Origin Of The Alimonies and dabbles in various philosophies the band has explored on previous albums.  Review by Lav: One criticism that somebody could potentially level at my taste is that I like pretentious hipster metal, and they'd be absolutely right. Liturgy's conceptual fusions of the sounds of black metal with entirely new worlds of technical and genre expertise scratch an itch for me that so much conventional metal consistently fails to. From the more gritty scowling intensity of early wotk like Aesthetica  to the nebulous conceptuality of their brilliant 2019 record H.A.Q.Q  Liturgy has managed to impress me at...

Eat Your Young  EP - Hozier It's been since 2019 that we last got a new crop of Hozier songs and it feels like it's been every second of that and more. When I covered Wasteland, Baby!  there was love for Hozier pouring in from everywhere I posted it. But somehow his army of flannel-donning lesbian fans have dissipated a bit and I haven't heard nearly as many people talking about these songs. Despite that lack of noise, I've seen some positive coverage for this trio of songs, and the last time Hozier dipped his toes into the EP format on the Nina Cried Power  EP I enjoyed it, so I dove in. I don't know why I was expecting time away to have made Hozier a bit more meditative and folky but I was certainly surprised to hear the soaring gospel-flavored indie rock of the title track kicking off the record even though it's well within Hozier's wheelhouse. I actually think the song is solid though the Achilles heel is Hozier's singing on the hook. I'm just no...

Lockstep Bloodwar  - Sightless Pit Sightless Pit is a musical project I first caught onto a few years ago as a meeting of the minds between frequent collaborators from experimental metal bands The Body and Full Of Hell alongside one of the most interesting artists in all of music in the past 5 years, Lingua Ignota. Now they've released a second album and even though Lingua Ignota is no longer involved, the record isn't lacking in interesting collaborations as a few artists I was already familiar with like Midwife, Gangsta Boo, and claire rousay appear in the tracklist. When this record is living in its comfort zone of crushing distorted textures, harrowing screamed vocals and the genuine sonic intensity of extreme metal things go pretty well. Opening track Resin On A Knife  is an early highlight and the pairing with Midwife makes perfect sense and the title track around the midpoint satisfies my desire for horrifying shrill sounds on any album associated with The Body. The rec...