Lav's Music Corner

Black Thought & Danger Mouse are a pair of veteran producer and even more veteran MC who have had their hands in dozens of classic records respectfully. After teasing a collaboration for years the pair have finally delivered a proper full length record and brought many high profile friends along with them.  Review by Lav: I love these two. From Danger Mouse's versatile and impressive catalog of production which is nearing two decades of work to Black Thought's time with The Roots and his continued success as a soloist. It's through this lens that the title of this record Cheat Codes  starts to make a lot of sense. The level of professionalism in the delivery and creation of these lo-fi and jazz inspired hip hop tracks really is a cheat code and the pair live up to it.  I was pretty sure this was gonna be good based solely on who made it, but the trio of singles certainly helped. No Gold Teeth  left my rotation at some point in the past few months and I don't know...

As the pendulum does swing, last week was a bit dry by singles standards but this week featured a flood of new tracks to choose from. Enjoy <3 5.  Because  - Danger Mouse & Black Thought (Feat. Joey Bada$$, Russ & Dylan Cartridge) Before I broke down every single element of this posse cut I will just say that yes the contributions are inconsistent among the various rappers as to be expected. But the song still has so many great facets starting with another killer retro instrumental from Danger Mouse that Black Thought and Joey in particular sound excellent over.  Listen 4.  Skin Of My Teeth  - Demi Lovato I never thought I'd say it but this Demi Lovato punk song actually has some grit to it. While it never fully leaves the realm of pop flavored punk compared to many of their contemporaries Demi proved they can really up the ante. The song is not only unafraid to touch on some of her past controversies and traumas but it does so with a vengeful venom t...

This was a tough week to be a single. With albums coming from Kendrick Lamar, The Smile, Florence + The Machine and more there was only so much listening time to go around. But a few brave souls still did try. Enjoy <3 5.  Roman Candles  - Death Cab For Cutie Before the new Death Cab For Cutie song even starts keen eyed fans will realize that the runtime clocks out at just over two minutes, which is unusual. What's even more unusual is how punchy the instrumental palette is. While the sentimentality and vocals are still very much in tact everything from the explosive drums to the fuzzed out guitars feels like a very direct and conscious choice to turn it up a notch. The band may not sound 100% comfortable in this environment particularly on the songs instrumental conclusion, but they also aren't completely out of their depth.  Listen 4.  Tired Of Taking It Out On You  - Wilco There's such a charming, songwritery bliss to Wilco's music that makes almost all of...

Lux Prima is the first collaborative album between Karen O, lead singer of acclaimed indie band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and super-producer Danger Mouse who has worked with the likes of Cee Lo Green, MF Doom, The Black Keys, Aaron Dessner, and most recently Parquet Courts. The two are coming from very different places in their respective careers and their styles clashing should be of interest to musical fans of all kind given the pedigree of both artists. Review By Lavender: I would say on average I differ from most fans of both of these artists. I think indie fans like Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs more than I do and I think fans don't like Danger Mouse as much as I do. So maybe given that balance and the fact that the title track to this album was released as an excellent single, we can all meet in the middle and anticipate a record that should have some above average qualities pulled from its two collaborators. The album already had a pretty substantial headstart with its f...