Lav's Music Corner

My review of Charli XCX's BRAT  was published in Ringtone Magazine and it's avaialable to you to read in its entirety  here. For more pop music check out my review of Billie Eilish's  HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

This video is late again and as usual I have a great excuse I just can't hell you <3 Enjoy 5.  Gold River  - Parannoul Let the excitement once again get underway for the RYM king of noisy shoegaze, Parannoul. After dropping a record last year that seemed to reel in some of his harshest ambitions this new single is absolutely blistering, occasionally even to the detriment of some of its most dramatic moments. But for the most part it's a sonic pummeling I'm thrilled to take part in.  Listen 4.  xXidontneedyou_tolovemebackXx  - Happy Birthday Mr. Baskets I've been paying attention to Happy Birthday Mr. Baskets since I heard her on Tamagotchi Massacre's delightful new album last year and this is comfortably my new favorite song of hers. With a surprisingly glistening instrumental palette that shines through its dense hyperpop production the track sounds like a sped-up DJ Sabrina track in a way I find mesmerizing. But it's the irresistible refrains that truly won...

Another late-night best new tracks from your nocturnal angel girl. Enjoy <3 5.  Silence  - Cloud Nothings Once again I think this single will fall short of blasting fans of early Cloud Nothings punky bombast away. But I think the band has settled into a punchy indie style that still carries more weight than most of their contemporaries. The combination of crashing drums and sticky refrains isn't rewriting anything but it's a formula I still find compelling.  Listen 4.  B2b  - Charli XCX When Charli claimed that her new album was going to be for the clubs, she wasn't kidding. In the absolute most literal interpretation of that promise possible, she delivered two singles this week tributing the genre's classics and one of its most beloved styles of performance. For this song, she recruits Gesaffelstein a combination the feels almost too good to be true. His pulsating contributions make this the darkest and murkiest club vibe Charli has served up yet even in spi...

Late drop again because I'm just getting back from vacation but hey at least it's coming out today.  5.  Von Dutch  - Charli XCX Aspiring hyperpop DJs got the best news of the year when Charli XCX announced that her upcoming project would be a club record. We got the first taste of that with von dutch  and, yep, it's certainly a club record. Okay there are plenty of things I like about the song like the revving squeaky synths and Charli's always unflinching confidence. But the beat and refrains just start to feel like nothing aa the song goes on. It doesn't have the actual high impact that I was hoping for from a lead single, If the refrains start to click with me more going forward the song will work a LOT better.  Listen 4.  Running Through The Campus  - Cloud Nothings I've always had a soft spot for this band even as they seem to get less and less hype each year. This song continues their shift into a pop flavor though it arguably dials some of that...

5.  Te Mata  - Kali Uchis Kali's new Spanish-language album is off to a strong start with this Bolero cut. The style feels like a natural fit to her and while it lacks some of the purely infectious moments her best songs contain, the track is lush and dramatic in a way that feels larger than life. It's a song that's both exceedingly charming and exceedingly pretty.  Listen 4.  In The City  - Charli XCX (feat. Sam Smith) This song definitely took some time to grow on me but at the end of the day it's really the A.G. Cook production that wins me over. Like so many of their best songs together  In The City  manages to translate the grit of its jagged and rough around the edges production into supremely blissful pop sounds. This time in particular the motif of "The City" feels particularly well served by the sonic choices and it elevates an already solid songwriting foundation.  Listen 3.  Sleeper  - BADBADNOTGOOD (feat. Charlotte Day Wilson...

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...

With the elation of last nights UNC basketball win over Duke in their own stadium during Coach K's last ever regular season game I am feeling excited and generous. To that end I still don't see this release week as being one of the better ones of the year so far and more debate than I'd like to admit came purely in trying to find tracks that I was even comfortable enough putting on the list. Enjoy <3 5.  Matilda  - PUP If you're impressed by PUP's consistently ability to blend the raw sound of punk with the genuine emotional expression of emo then this song will be right up your alley. It doesn't have the most impressive or memorable riffs and refrains but the real highlights is how swiftly and effectively it bounces between emotional tones throughout. Listen 4.  Angelica  - Wet Leg On the back of an impressive run of post-punky singles from one of the most acclaimed young bands out there, they stripped it back to basics for this track fusing a slinky pop sen...

This weekend absolutely fucking ruled. I ended up with more then 15 songs just on the list for consideration for the best tracks of this week so please do yourself a favor and look around for all the great stuff that came out this weekend. The best new tracks of the week are below: 5.  Smokin Out The Window  - Silk Sonic This track relies on the one thing that Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars have in spades, charisma. On the surface it's a male music classic story of female money chasing and betrayal that comes from exactly as shallow a perspective as you'd expect. What makes it work is both their voices which can deliver narrative hooks and team up for beautiful harmonies on the hooks. If you can ignore the icky premise that the entire track is built on it's buttery smooth.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7fLOmlhYg 4.  This Side Of The Sun  - Shame Shame have never been a gentle band but on This Side Of The Sun  they dig in on some of the best lyricism yet....

Best new tracks released this weekend: 5.  Good Ones  - Charli XCX With her new era Charli promised to leave experimental pop behind and pivot to more conventional pop concepts. On Good Ones  she delivers on that promise with a dancefloor bop full of early Gaga worship that rounds in just over 2 minutes. It's a simple, catchy electro pop cut with hit potential, all of which are major flashbacks to some of Charli's earliest projects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjAuUXdSFaM 4  Sit Around The Fire  - Jon Hopkins (Feat. Ram Dass & East Forrest) This week electronic musician Jon Hopkins announced a new album entitled Music For Psychedelic Therapy  and it's safe to say the lead single delivered on that promise. The 8 minute lead single features an ambient like haze over which Hopkins places a meditative guide from Western spatiality guru Ram Dass. The results are a relaxing and sonically compelling experience that experimental music fans are sure to appre...

2020 was the year where the only thing anyone could talk about was how bad 2020 was. Journalistically it was disappointing to see so many dive headfirst into the cliche slightly self-absorbed reactionary notions of writing about the modern day. Ultimately though I have no choice on this list but to recap the last 12 months of music as best I can, but here on the Songs list I try to take in as little outside noise as humanly possible. Regardless of where an artist is in their career, how popular or successful a song was or how critically acclaimed it is, these are my 101 favorite songs of the year as of December 30th, 2020. A year from now, month from now or even a week from now my opinions could change but as the door closes on this curious year I did everything I could to paint a truthful list of the best tracks I heard on any EP or album this year, and here it is. <3 101. Kinda Dark  - Destroyer Dan Beyar's sophisticated indie pop has never sounded as nocturnal as it does acro...