Lav's Music Corner

Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie folk band who blew up on the back of an incredible debut record, 2005's Apologies To The Queen Mary .The group disbanded early on in this decade but reformed for a moderately well received comeback record in 2017. Now after a three year gap of playing live shows and releasing a pair of singles the band is back with a fifth studio record in Thin Mind . Review By Lavender: Wolf Parade's 2005 debut record Apologies To The Queen Mary  is one of the greatest indie records of all time and despite near universal praise to this day I still think the record doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves. Since then I have always enjoyed the work of Spencer Krug with Wolf Parade and under other aliases but nothing has ever quite felt as groundbreaking or unique. Thin Mind  however takes a big step in the right direction specifically with a fantastic instrumental palette that makes it one of the best things I've heard the band do since their iconi...

Pinegrove are a New Jersey based indie folk band fronted by Evan Stephens Hall who rose to prominence in in 2016 when they released their critically acclaimed debut album Cardinal . The group entered a strange hiatus in 2017 when Hall made a Facebook post responding to anonymous allegations of "sexual coercion" and cancelled the bands upcoming tour. Their follow-up record Skylight  appeared on streaming services in 2018 and now two years later the band are prepared for their proper comeback on Marigold . Review By Lavender: I really enjoyed Pinegrove's 2016 breakout record Cardinal  and I had a feeling that the band was poised for a big breakout moment. The bands next few years had some strange controversy and a cancelled tour but I even continued to enjoy the music that they put out on their Skylight  record. After enjoying the singles leading up to this album and remembering how much I enjoyed their debut album I got really excited for Marigold , and for good rea...

As I say every year on this list, there is nothing better than a really good song. On the Songs Of The Year list every year I countdown the 100 best songs I heard on any album, EP or mixtape released in 2019. The list doesn't take into consideration any outside elements, it is strictly about the quality of the song from start to finish. What we finish with is a comprehensive and complete list of the best tracks artists put to record throughout the 12 months of the year in 2019. 100. Sympathy  - Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend's comeback album Father Of The Bride  had some big hitter songs released as singles, but also a number of sneakier deep cuts that have become fan and critic favorites as the year goes by. Sympathy  emerged as one of those songs with its slick rapid fire guitar riffing paired with some chambered choral chanting making it one of the most driving songs on the record. This urgency seeps into frontman Ezra Koenig's vocal performance where he tra...