Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Ada Rook first rose to prominence earlier this decade as one-half of the difficult-to-define band Black Dresses. The pair's output was absolutely beloved by certain circles of internet music lovers, as were some of Ava's other ventures, most notably her Angel Electronics side project in 2023. Throughout that time she's also put several solo albums under her belt, though UNKILLABLE ANGEL  is notable for being her first following the explosive public breakup of Black Dresses last year.  Not to dig myself a hole RIGHT at the start of the review but I should confess. Yes, I am a trans girl and yes I enjoy the music of everyone from Underscores, to Weatherday, to Backxwash, to Deli Girls. So Black Dresses was always a band I was surprised to not like as much as it seemed like I should. And don't get me wrong there are MANY Black Dresses songs I enjoy from both before and after their 2020 breakthrough album Peaceful As Hell , but I'm not sure they were...

Backxwash is an experimental rap artist who broke out last year with her God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It  album which saw her fusing hip hop with industrial and metal music and would eventually go on to win the Polaris Prize. Backxwash is capitalizing quickly on the records success with a sequel that projected a noisier and even more chaotic direction for her music.  Review By Lav: Backxwash was introduced to me last year as a trans artist who had connections to fellow 2020 breakout act Black Dresses, and in my pursuit of consuming all the great trans art I could I engaged with and enjoyed her last project quite a bit. While it would be reductive to try and collectivize the artistic accomplishments of trans creators in recent years, we can highlight the ethos of the work. When we think of trans peoples contributions to music these days we probably go to hyperpop or niche electronica genres, painting futuristic escapism in digital bangers with experimental f...