Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: FKA Twigs is a massively acclaimed singer-songwriter whose experimental takes on R&B have manifested through three studio albums up to this point. While her records LP1 , Magdelene, and (spoiler alert) Eusexua  are all great, she also has an array of mixtapes and EPs worth diving into. These projects can all be used to trace her development from R&B experimenter to full-on genre-bending auteur. 2019's Magdalene  experimented with space and quite much more than anything she'd released before and while Eusexua  has its moments of reservation. by comparison, this is an album that much prefers stuttering drum loops and and fluttering synth flourishes to chilling silence.  Given that tease it's unfortunate the only place to start with the album is its astonishing lead single and title track. "Eusexua" drew comparisons to Magdalene 's lead single "Cellophane" and it's easy to see why. Both songs are astonishing in their beau...

A massively hype week with some huge new releases this late in the year is a surprise, but I'll take it! 5.  The Laugh Is In The Eyes  - Julia Holter Julia is back following a remarkable new album earlier this year and in this new single she finds herself playing with similarly indulgent palettes of space. The song has a dreamy sauntering demeanor with an imprecise poise but all of the instrumental sounds that do seep through are wonderful and wrapped around the core of Julia's beautiful vocals.  Listen 4.  Luciferine  - Ichiko Aoba The charm and whimsy of folk music has officially returned with a new Ichiko Aoba album on the way next year. She's teeing the record off with this fittingly beautiful lead single which deploys gentle strings and ornate backing vocals. It all swells to life around Ichiko's girlish vocals and swaying poetry, to great results. She may not be rewriting the book, but it works for a good reason.  Listen 3.  Crispy Skin  - S...

5.  First Rodeo  - Kelsea Ballerini Kelsey Ballerini's vulnerabilities continue to be the highlight of her music. While the track does have a gentle swaying instrumental and a pretty memorable chorus it's really the bearing of her soul that she displays through second-guessing and pure admiration that fully sells the song.  Listen 4.  the cost of giving up  - Poppy While Poppy has become pretty damn hit-or-miss since a great 2020 effort, you can't say she doesn't occasionally hit the mark. It's the songs where she manages to slice directly between her girlish dreamy pop side and her crushing dark metal instincts that hit the hardest. the cost of giving up  throws it back a few years in her discography to when she had that sound even more honed in and it's all the better for it.  Listen 3.  Defense  - Panda Bear (feat. Cindy Lee) I'll be the first to admit that this song may not have lived up to the impossible level of excitement generated pur...

Had 30 songs on the shortlist this week, wish me luck.  5.  Driver - Soccer Mommy While Soccer Mommy has never really consistently dazzled me the way some of her singer-songwriter peers do, she is pretty good at delivering something consistently solid. That's the case with her second single of the year which features a punchy instrumental marked by brash cymbal clashes and a great guitar solo on the bridge. But even more than that, it's her killer vocals on the hook that really sell the song.  Listen 4.  Ballet  - The Garden After loving the most recent Garden album WAY more than anything the eccentric pair had done before I'm glad to see them keeping their momentum up on this new single. They once again combine punk snarl, synthetic drums and dizzying production to serve up a short but incredibly memorable song that's just as punchy as it is catchy at every moment.  Listen 3.  Dancing In The Flames  - The Weeknd While this may not have been the m...

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...

FKA Twigs is one of the most acclaimed voices in all of contemporary R&B music. Across two studio albums she has teamed up with a world class selection of producers to create a futuristic and off kilter style of R&B entirely her own and has been met with massive critical acclaim for almost everything she's done. Caprisongs  was carefully marketed as a mixtape rather than a follow-up studio album and trades out grander thematic concepts for shorter tracks that cover a wide variety of different sounds and styles. Review By Lav: Like most people on Earth who have ever heard FKA Twigs music I really enjoy it. A few years ago I called Magdalene  a top 5 album of 2019 and in that same year called her single cellophane  my single of the year. Her talent is absolutely whimsical and manages to display truly raw vulnerabilities but with a staunch and occasionally even intimidating confidence that is absolutely mystical. On top of that she has an ability to conceptualize pro...

Against All Logic is the alias that electronic music producer Nicholas Jarr introduced in 2018 to release house music he had been assembling sporadically for years. After his first record 2012-2017  covered a five year span the follow-up came much quicker less than two years after the album that preceded it. Review By Lavender: After not enjoying Nicholas Jarr's 2015 record Sirens  as much as most people I didn't expect him to drop not only my favorite of his projects, but one of my favorite electronic music albums of the entire 2010's with his very next drop. 2012-2017  came out of nowhere to be one of the most refreshing and thrilling house records I've heard in a long time. Given the time span the record was made over I had a feeling we wouldn't hear from this moniker for a long time, maybe ever again. But to my surprise Jarr announced an EP from the project, followed by this full length album the very next weekend. The EP took a wildly different approach ...

The most prestigious of the year end lists is saved for last. While 2019 may not have been as strong a musical year as the two that preceded it there was still so much music worth hearing this music. On this list I have assembled my 100 favorite records of the year and included recommendations on where to start if you're curious with any of these great records.  The record may not be definitive and there were certainly a lot of records this year that just snuck by me but I listened to just about everything I could in the 12 months of this year and here I've put together all my favorites. Enjoy! 100. Sea Of Worry  - Have A Nice Life The third record from one of the most respected experimental rock bands of the internet era is probably their worst, but their songwriting proved to shine through as the album grew on me nearly every time I heard it in the late stages of this year. The songs here are dark and winding but less confrontational than ever before, but in this n...