Lav's Music Corner

I think it would be funny if this piece just included me reviewing all THREE of the projects Youngboy has dropped in the first half of the year but I already ruined it by covering the first one back in January, RIP.  WON'T HE DO IT  - Conway The Machine Griselda rapper Conway The Machine is on a hot streak. The first of his projects I formally covered was 2020s From A King To A God  which I thought was just okay but it didn't take long for him to one-up himself on the next year's mixtape La Maquina . He then turned around the very next year and dropped by far his best project to date and one of the best Griselda projects period God Don't Make Mistakes , so despite his prolific release schedule there was plenty of reason to be excited for this. Unfortunately, it becomes pretty clear on this record that Conway is serving up some form of leftovers with this tracklist as the songs feel consistently undercooked. The easiest place to tell is on the instrumental side of things...

On time edition! 5.  Cure For Love  - Ellie Goulding For the first time in this new era I can say for certain, this new Ellie Goulding song is kind of a banger. It's a super dancy little pop number that won't do anything you haven't heard before but I'll say the stripped-down pre-chorus expanding into a fully realized shimmering catchy vision is an effect that still works on me.  Listen 4.  Until I Know  - Panchiko The fact that Panchiko is refusing to feel burdened by the extremely unique set of circumstances that caused their popularity is a bit of a double-edged sword for the band. While this slightly nocturnal piece of indie rock is certainly a solid song that continues to tease towards an album I'm legitimately anticipating, it also feels like yet another act that blew up on something unique then turned their back on it. If there was ever a situation where a band can be forgiven for that though, it's Panchiko. Listen 3.  Psychos  - Jenny Lewis Jen...