Lav's Music Corner

In celebration of Charli XCX's brat  I decided to do a week dedicated to dance music here on the blog. Since brat  didn't turn out to be the nonstop dance record I was anticipating, it's somewhat fitting that this week has blown so far off course. Earlier we discussed Iglooghost and Kaytranada and now were going to cover an actual dance music outfit's new dance album, a dance music producer's new ambient techno effort, and frequent Charli XCX collaborator AG Cook's completely undanceable new album. Enjoy <3 Hyperdrama  - Justice Justice is one of the definitive dance acts of the 2000s whose debut album made a crater-sized impression on the genre's history. Since then the pair have shared two follow-up records neither of which I was particularly head-over-heels for. In fact, it's Gaspard Auge's 2021 solo album Escapades  that stands as my favorite thing to spawn from the duo since their debut. So it's out of respect for the duo and acknowledgem...

Andre 3000 is famous, quite obviously, for being a rapper. The ATL legend served as one half of Outkast one of the best and most influential rap groups of all time. But since the pair called it quits between them Andre has been remarkably quite musically only making a handful of appearances in the nearly 20 years since. Though he is surprising fans with his long-awaited debut solo album its definitely not the album that many fans were hoping for. New Blue Sun  is a long and very indulgent ambient jazz album which prominently features Andre playing flute alongside a variety of expansive and occasionally quite minimal compositions.  Read More:  I had a lot of thoughts on this album before I even got the chance to hear it. Unlike a lot of the more idiotic rap fans online I don't hold any resentment against Andre for going in this direction artistically as he's always been very clear with fans on where their expectations for a new album should actually be set. But as someone ...

The Clocktower At The Beach - William Basinski When it comes to ambient music, with the exception of Brian Eno it doesn't get any more legendary than William Basinski. The tape loop god is responsible for one of my favorite albums of all time The Disintegration Loops  which when combined with its three sequels have collectively soundtracked some of the most thorough dissociations of my entire life. But William Basinski isn't a one trick pony and his return to those droning impressions on 2017's A Shadow In Time  was a welcome one, as was it's much more difficult to pin down follow-up In Time Out Of Time  a few years later. But the real crown jewel of Basinski's recent output is 2020's Lamentations , whose haunting darkness came served with a Caretaker-esque nostalgia that still enthralls me from start to finish. That flirtatiousness with nostalgia returns on this 42-minute archival piece that has sat unreleased since 1979. I've expressed interest in the past...

Tim Hecker is a Canadian ambient musician with two decades of critically acclaimed albums and compositions under his belt. While he's scored two movies in recent years, No Highs  is his first studio album since 2019's Anoyo  which was a spiritual successor to the shrill synth sounds of Konoyo  before it.  Review by Lav: Any time I get to review a big new ambient release, it's a win for me as the genre is perhaps my favorite in all of music and Tim Hecker specifically is one of its strongest and most consistently impressive composers. Though this album had one great single it didn't even really need that to get me hyped. Tim Hecker has been great even as he wanders away from the dark and cloudy ambient sounds he made his name off of, so turning on this album and finding out he's returned to his bread and butter felt like a slam dunk. And it was, this is going to be one of my favorite albums of the year.  Let's fast forward to that lead single, which highlights ex...

Streetlands EP - Burial It's been a weird few years for Burial as fans lament the loss of the more beat-driven elements of his music and ultimately the loss of drums entirely. You'd think that would mean that fans who come down more on the ambient side in the first place like me would be thrilled, but even I haven't necessarily been head over heels for the recent Burial output. His Antidawn  EP earlier this year felt like the most significant statement any Burial project had made in a long time in concept, but it turned out to be yet another VERY loose collection of ambient motifs. Thankfully, Streedlands  while still a very disconnected trio of ambient songs, does actually seem to give a lot more attention to how these songs develop and how the individual parts form a whole. A good example of this comes from the title track whose nearly 15 minutes makes up about half of the EP all on its own. It opens up with a thick cloudy mix and the pitched-up fizzled vocal samples that...

Before we even get into this, I know. Most metalheads definition of experimental metal is some of the most crushing, brutal and flat out disturbing hardcore and extreme musical genres humans have ever conceived. Keep in mind that I'm an indie dweeb more obsessed with ambient tones than layers of throttling satanic harrowing shrills. I love genres like extreme death metal and technical hardcore as much as any good critic but what I mean here is more of a sense of metal crossing over with non-metal experimental music. Ambient, electronica and even indie and psychedelia are included between the shredding riffs and screamed vocals on this list. At some point in the future I will surely cover the new Corpsegrinder solo album don't you worry, but for now here are some alternative and experimental metal albums that have grabbed my attention recently.  Enemy Of Love  - The Body & OAA Ever since The Body released I've Seen All I Need To See  last year and it absolutely blew me...

Burial is one of the most acclaimed and one of the most mysterious artists in all of electronica. After releasing two classic albums in the 2000's and a number of massively acclaimed EPs in the 2010's. After his last few releases were more compositionally abstract in design, Antidawn  was promised to be his most ambient leaning project to date. Review By Lav: I love Burial and that's no secret. He's made appearances on my singles and EP lists a few times but it's really the stuff that I didn't get to cover like Untrue  and Rival Dealer  that show off why his chilling electronic soundscapes are so compelling. Given my love for ambient music and his distinctive sound I was excited to see what direction he took on this EP. One of the first things that surprised me about the project is that despite being an EP it's almost 45 minutes long. Perhaps even more surprising is that it features dozens of distinct ambient soundscapes many of which only last for a few min...

Mydreamfever is a new side project of South Korean musician Parannoul who had a major breakout in the indie underground last year with his sophomore album To See The Next Part Of The Dream . Though the album was released to Bandcamp and YouTube without description fans quickly picked up that it was a predominately ambient project, something Paannoul has flirted with in the past. Review By Lav: I just spent an entire week writing about how much I enjoyed Parannoul in 2021 doing all of my year end lists so when I turned around and saw a new album from a new side project the very next day I was all in. While I did find it a bit difficult to pin down exactly what the album was aiming for thanks to a few curious instrumental choices, there are still plenty of moments of serene beauty that make the project a worthwhile experience for ambient fans. The record gets off to a pretty good start with the two of the songs in the first half working together to make a base of natural ambience for the...

Grouper is the musical project of singer and songwriter Liz Harris who has received loads of critical acclaim across her long career in a myriad of genres. From indie folk to ambient to a nearly undefinable blend of psychedelic folk micro genres. Shade  follows Liz's previous album Grid Of Points  in 2018 which was a short but conceptual experiment with minimalism. Shade  takes that indulgence to a whole new level with some of the most sonically reserved folk tunes of 2021. Review By Lav: Everyone has their favorite Grouper project and for most people it's 2008's  Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill . While I love that record I also have to say that in 2011 she followed it up with A I A Alien Observer , an ambient record unlike anything else I've ever heard in the genre. So when I heard some of the early press I got pretty excited about the promise she made to continue fusing extreme minimalism and ambient music traits into her songs and she absolutely did not disapp...

Normally with these weekly-ish segments I look for a few records that have something in common with each other that I can cover together because its cute and congruent. Once we get into the last few months of the year however, there becomes a point where I just have some records that I need to talk about before the curtain closes on 2021. These are three records that I really only put together because I originally went into them anticipating they would be good, didn't quite have the time to fully review them, but still wanted to talk about them in some capacity. So without further meaningless delay here are those concise reviews.  Texis  - Sleigh Bells Sleigh Bells are one of those groups that kind of disappear in between album cycles and don't get the same level of press they once did as early 2010's indie darlings. But every time they emerge I see fans come out in mass to praise the duo for their infectious noise pop fusions. I've always had a soft spot for the band a...

William Basinski is an experimental and ambient music composer who has been working out of New York for over three decades. He is most well known for his  Disintegration Loops  series of short loops played on repeat while being stretched and distorted. Since 2013 Basinski has entered a particularly prolific period of releases with many distinct styles and collaborators, alongside remasters and re-releases of older work.  Review By Lavender: While I think it should be absolutely essential that all serious music fans familiarize themselves with The Disintegration Loops  there is plenty that William's greater discography offers. 2017's A Shadow In Time  brought a greater spotlight back onto Basinski and his music and he has released a number of projects since then but Lamentations  with it's trio of singles felt like the most major rollout since. Turns out it was for good reason because Lamentations  is definitely my favorite thing William has d...

Brian and Roger Eno really need no introduction. Both have spent decades doing soundtrack work as well as their own compositions. And Brian is one of the most respected experimental musicians of all time having basically invented the concept of ambient music alongside an extensive collection of collaborations and solo releases with so many influential artists. There was a lot of talk about this project that sees the two pairing up for what they described as a "musical conversation" that has apparently been worked on for years.  Review By Lavender: Brian Eno really needs no introduction even though he got one. He is one of those artists with such an incredible discography spanning decades and a wide range of genres that when you see his name it's just worth a listen. I was surprised to read that this was the first ever project he and his brother Roger had truly collaborated on and while I didn't get the review out right away, after sitting with the album for a while I...

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  ...