Lav's Music Corner

While there are always a million allegedly great local hardcore records that I get recommended every year, I only really have the time to cover the ones I'm most excited for. That informs this decision which features three albums I went into anticipating being VERY good. These are the results. Enjoy <3 God's Country  - Chat Pila This is the highly anticipated debut album from Oklahoma hardcore act Chat Pile who have released some successful EPs in the past few years to generate a lot of hype going into the album. While I was a bit of a late comer to those EPs I did hear the record's singles as they were released which also helped immensely to get me excited for it. Now that the record is here I can say that it's one of the darkest and most versatile hardcore records you'll hear this year. In fact even just saying "hardcore" feels like a catch-all for a band that interpolates numerous styles of experimental rock and metal into their songs. The record beg...

Four Tet is one of the monikers of British music producer Kieran Hebden who has been releasing records since the late 90's. He has released ten records to date but with a trio of singles and some promotional material it feels like Sixteen Oceans  is one of the biggest releases under the name in years. Review By Lavender: I've always enjoyed the music of Four Tet and when he gets it right he makes some of the most sincerely excellent electronic music of his time. Records like There Is Love In You  and Rounds  prove that at his best under the Four Tet name he is capable of incredible things. But more often than not there are some strong concepts or sonic experiments that dominate the records he releases and my enjoyment of them usually depends on my admiration of its concepts. After hearing some huge variety in the singles and seeing promotional campaigns for this record I anticipated it being his most significant release in years, and at 54 minutes and 16 tracks it ...