Lav's Music Corner

This was a ROUGH week for new singles, jesus. 5.  Starburned And Unkissed  - Caroline Polachek Leave it to this, an all time bad week for new singles, for a soundtrack cut from Caroline Polachek to make the cut. While everyone probably should rush out and see I Saw The TV Glow  immediately this song is also worth a crack even if the grinding distortion A.G. Cook laces into the chorus can occasionally be a tad overbearing. Caroline has always been interesting in her sonic experiments and this is no different.  Listen 4.  Buried Alive  - Chance The Rapper This is closer to a two-minute freestyle or cypher verse than a full song but I can't deny I appreciate the mission statement. Chance's 2019 album The Big Day  seemingly erased every bit of momentum he had off of his first the, largely quite solid mixtapes. So him taking a few minutes to remind fans he can still spit some bars and work to start defending himself is something I'll take.  Listen 3....

Caroline Polachek is the former frontwoman for indie pop band Chairlift who changed her sights on a more synthetic style of pop music as a solo artist which featured a number of collaborations with artists from around the PC Music landscape. Desire  is Polachek's fourth solo album thought technically only her second under her own name in this phase of her career, following 2019's critical darling Pang . PC Music affiliate Danny L Harle, who worked on much of that album, returns on production for most of the songs on Desire . Review by Lav: Not reviewing Pang  was one of my biggest mistakes as a budding music critic the year it came out. The reasons I ultimately didn't cover it is that I thought it was just okay and in a sea of similarly monotonous coverage I felt like I didn't have much to add. In the years since Polachek has become a massive critical darling and frequent collaborator of a number of other artists whose music I really enjoy. So after liking some of the s...

The first time I opened this I realized I had written "October 23th" in the header so there are sure to be more errors from here.  Enjoy <3 5.  Sunset  - Caroline Polachek I went back and forth on this one quite a bit as the plucky Spanish guitars felt like a very strange combo for THIS song when performed by THIS artist. But honestly as I kept listening the song started to grow on me primarily through its incredibly infectious refrains. While I wish the bridge had a little something more than just Caroline's extended vocalizing I do still like the song.  Listen 4.  Where I Go - NxWorries (Feat. H.E.R) NxWorries, the collaborative project of Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge is back after a long hiatus and they're announcing their return with this silky bedroom anthem which pairs Paak with H.E.R. Once you break down the lyrics there's quite a bit more going on here than the normal bassline of love and lust but you couldn't tell just from how infectiously smooth...

Flume is an Australian electronic music producer who has spent the last decade fusing mainstream EDM with various subgenres of electronic music. This has given him a wide-ranging fanbase of electronic music fans following his career. Palaces  is Flume's first full-length release since 2018's  Hi: This Is Flume  mixtape and his first album since 2016's Skin .  Review By Lav: This was one of my most anticipated albums of the year. Not only did I just call Flume's self-titled debut one of the best albums of 2012 a few months ago, but I also loved his previous project in 2019 and still feel like I underrated it in both my initial review and on my year-end list. Since then he's released a number of singles that I really enjoyed punctuated by the excellent Toro Y Moi collaboration The Difference  in 2020 and numerous singles from this record which I've dished out praise to this year. While the singles still worked for me and there are some very satisfying deep cuts in...

The Grammys are tonight, ick. While they will never achieve the level of industry admiration that the Oscars have, the great slap may have inspired the show to shoot for some kind of contrived attempt at cultural ubiquity. So assuming something meme worthy happens at the Grammys that then dominates the news cycle let's talk about these songs that came out this week while we still can.  5.  Deja Vu  - Toro Y Moi The upcoming Toro Y Moi album has the potential to be one of his best ever. After knocking my socks off with one of my favorite singles of the year so far Postman, Chaz came back just as strong with this breezy little psychedelic number. It perfectly combines his consistent delivery of chill wave bliss with an ear for instrumental texture that never fails.  Listen 4.  Sirens  - Flume (Feat. Caroline Polachek) After what was a pretty standard pop and EDM fusion for his lead single, Flume is back with something more outside the lines and I really enjoy...

Charli XCX is a popstar unlike any other and one that really needs no introduction if you've been paying attention to music in any capacity. After scoring a few early radio hits, most notably Boom Clap , she turned her sights on experimental pop and hyperpop. Along the way she created some of the genre's most acclaimed songs and albums while working with some of its most innovative producers like A.G. Cook and Sophie. She is also responsible for jumpstarting the careers of numerous artists in the scene through collaborations on her projects.  Review By Lav: It's hard to imagine somebody feeling neutral about Charli XCX. Either you're a big music fan and you've been following her career closely since 2015's Vroom Vroom  EP through her explorations and innovations within the world of hyperpop. Or alternatively you like radio music in which case she has disappeared completely from your radar since singing the hook on Iggy Azalea  Fancy , with maybe the sole excepti...

Oneohtrix Point Never is the project of New York based electronic musician Daniel Lopatin. Lopatin has worked as a composer for film scores like Uncut Gems  and has collaborated with numerous other artists most notably ANOHNI. He is primarily known for a run of critically acclaimed conceptual electronica albums in the mid 2010's including Replica , R Plus Seven and Garden Of Delete .  Review By Lavender: As far as experimental and conceptual electronica goes over the last decade it's hard to get better than Oneohtrix Point Never. After a trilogy of fantastic records I was just a bit let down by the Age Of album and accompanying Love In The Age Of Lexapro  EP. Both of which sported impressive feature lists but didn't manage to reach the same quality level as some of his hits earlier in the decade. Going into this record I was still really excited given Daniel's pedigree and that the record once again had a conceptual narrative to it. While track for track I don't thi...