Lav's Music Corner

Duster are a California band who experimented in slowcore and space rock during a run of material in the late 90's. In particular their 1998 album Stratosphere  made them an indie darling in critical circles with a cult following. After years of inactivity in the 2000's and 2010's they reformed and released a self-titled 3rd album in 2019. Together  is their 4th album and was released as a surprise with no singles or promotion. Review By Lav: While I am no doubt a critic, and there is plenty of reason to lump praise onto Duster's Stratosphere , what makes it so truly transcendent is a much more personal and emotional affair. The bands lucid, nostalgic and spacey style of largely instrumental rock is truly unique and seemingly universal in the way it evokes sad distance and isolation. While I enjoy the bands entire discography that moment in particular has always felt like an era defining masterpiece. For that reason I'll always be in tune with Duster whenever they r...

Nine Inch Nails   is a Cleveland based industrial rock and metal outfit fronted by Trent Reznor who has been pushing the envelope of rock music since the late 80's. After departing from a major label in the 2000's the band released Ghosts I-IV  a long ambient style soundtrack record, and earlier this year released two more records both over an hour long to serve as the next installments in this series. Review By Lavender: While my love for Trent Reznor's music and Nine Inch Nails in general is no secret I also have a ton of admiration for Ghosts  as well as Trent and Atticus' work on various soundtracks. So I was excited to dive into these albums and first heard them back in March when they were released. But given the nature of the music and the fact that it was over 2 and a half hours of material, well, I put it off. But here on a slow week I'm finally getting around to properly reviewing the records and in short if ambient music is your thing listen to Together  ...