Lav's Music Corner

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...

It really does feel like we're starting to reach that point in the year where releases dry up, almost to the point that this weekly segment takes a hiatus while I work on my year-end stuff. Not quite, but almost. 5. Ahimsa  - The Antlers Technically letting something I wouldn't normally slip into the singles list go this week because it's honestly the only way I'm gonna fill this thing out. this is an Antlers remake of a Peter Silberman solo song that came out a few years ago and while I don't find it to be a particularly life-changing update I do think it hits at the slow development and pacing that have always made The Antlers such a compelling music project at their peak.  Listen 4.  God Is A Circle  - Yves Tumor There have been many a busy week that a decent Yves Tumor song slipped through the cracks but in one of the weakest release weekends of the entire year for singles allow this to be the beneficiary. This dark rumbling single features some characteristics ...

As a wise woman once said on her EP's of the year list last year, "EPs are fun little guys full of fun little songs" and while they are so often overlooked sometimes when it rains it pours and a number of short form projects that I want to talk about all drop around the same time. so lets get caught up in the world of extended plays.  This Thing Of Ours 2 EP - The Alchemist Earlier this year legendary underground hip hop producer The Alchemist released an enjoyable if slightly inconsistent EP featuring a number of high profile rap collaborations and this is the highly anticipated sequel. This time MAVI, MIKE, Vince Staples, Zlooperz and Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade serve as the five vocals heard across these five tracks which add up to just under 12 minutes.  Instrumentally speaking the EP is full of exactly what you'd expect, low key and lo-fi jazz rap beats rich with samples of classic brass instrumentation, drums and obscure vocal samples. The issue I have wit...