Lav's Music Corner

Another ironically long shortlist for the best new tracks of the week this week, but narrowing it down didn't turn out to be all that tricky. 5.  Scarface  - BABii On BABii's second single with Iglooghost and co on board, the princess of electronica delivers on her promise of hard-hitting glitchy beats with sugary singing. It's a combination that won't be a reset for anyone's expectations of what BABii is capable of but a song whose refrains and grinding dance beat are steps ahead of most of her contemporaries.  Listen 4.  Superstar  - Hinds I haven't been crazy about the pop-punky indie rock of Hinds in a while but this track reminds me of why their effortless fun and bottomless wit clicked with me in the first place. It's an attitude-soaked takedown of a local superstar with all the details and snark you'd hope for but the band manages to wrap it up into a catchy and concise package for their best single in years.  Listen 3.  I'VE BEEN EVIL  - S...

Review by Lav: Iglooghost is an electronic music producer that I've been following for quite a while now. He had a pretty spectacular start to his career with a debut album bookended by three EPs packed full of jittery, bombastic, and slyly conceptual combinations of drum and bass with bubblegum-tinged hyperpop. Since 2018 though, Iglooghost has begun to wander in different directions than the sound that made him. That came through on side projects like XYZ , Amber Eon Micro , and Lei Disk. His sophomore album Lei Line Eon  dropped in 2021 and hit me and many other fans as a mixed bag despite high anticipation. The album is much more compositionally abstract and sonically shrill than his first and it's a record that I still struggle to feel sometimes despite my admiration for the styles and genres it is clearly inspired by.  By comparison,  Tidal Memory Exo  is a return to the essence of dance music but filtered through the lens of industrial and deconstructed club. ...

5.  New Species  - Iglooghost Earlier this year Iglooghost released a song that I didn't exactly see the appeal of. In a sense, I can kind of identify a similar issue with this frenetic banger if I think about it for too long. But I consider thinking about this for too long to be a cardinal sin. The song is a high-tempo pummeling of wiry electronic that was always happy to hear in the moment. Listen 4.  Like I Say (I runaway)  - Nilufer Yanya It must just be a heavy week. Nilufer's album indulges with sound in a way many singer-songwriters don't want to and she managed to do it without getting the way of her poetry. Now the sounds are even louder and even at moments when it feels emotionally overpowering, it's magnetically aligned. She continues to sound not only unique, but vibrant.  Listen 3.  Mirage  - Gel Last year Gel used subtle interpolations of different genres and styles to add meaningful flavor to their brand of hardcore. The debut album that...

Rough week, we're getting to that time of year. Despite the slim pickings I did my best to make a complete list.  5.  Free My N***a  - Sexyy Red This one isn't all that complicated. It's a pretty dry week for new releases and despite a chorus that does almost nothing for me, Sexyy Red's intensity and personality carry the track through compelling verses that don't stick around beyond their welcome. Listen 4.  Cosca  - Conway The Machine & Wun Two If you did a double take hearing this instrumental and thinking it was Freddie Gibbs and Tyler, The Creator's Something To Rap About , you aren't alone. Despite the similar vibe sonically Conway is definitely focusing his bars elsewhere. He takes on the ways that he's trying to overcome from past traumas, looking forward and moving on. It isn't my favorite song from this new series of collaborations with Wun Two, but it's another solid entry.  Listen 3.  Labios Mordidos  - Kali Uchis (feat. Karol G) ...

Kai Whiston is a London based electronic music producer who has worked with a number of contemporary electronica's most interesting artists. Drayan!  is a mixtape that follows Kai's sophomore album in 2019. Also in 2019 Kai served as one third of the band Gloo with Iglooghost and BABii on their album XYZ . Review By Lav: My introduction to Kai Whiston was his Kai Whiston Bitch  album, but the first time I got to actually review his music was the next year on Gloo's XYZ  which I enjoyed. Given that we got projects from fellow Gloo albums Iglooghost and BABii earlier this year it felt fitting that Kai also got something out, and something pretty exciting at that. Drayan!  is a heavily thematic mixtape about Kai's alien son who is fittingly named Drayan. As weird as that sounds it is 100% the case and if you'd like to have Drayan give you your horoscope check it out here . Given that in the past one of my few complaints about Kai has bee a lack of truly defining feat...

Okay I promise this is the last rapid fire review of the week before we jump into some actual new records. The last trio of tracks I wanted to cover are a bit difficult to categorize so they're ending up here in a slightly electronic slightly ambient haze of experimental music that I had to make sure I covered sooner rather than later.  Skitzofrenia Simulation  - Sewerslvt Sewerslvt is an experimental electronica project that I only just heard of last year on the back of the very solid Draining Love Story  which overcame its title to be quite an enjoyable experience. I was hoping that this record would achieve the same jump in quality from what you'd expect out of the title, but quite a bit has happened for the Sewerslvt brand in the past year, some of which can be very hard to collectivize. After old posts were dug up making insensitive jokes Sewerslvt apologized before seemingly leaving social media entirely, with communication via Bandcamp emails becoming the primary m...

Iglooghost is the experimental electronic project of British musician Seamus Malliagh that first drew attention with the Chinese Nu Year  EP released on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder records. The debut Iglooghost alhum was released to widespread critical acclaim in 2017 but the project has continued to be busy since then. In 2018 Seamus released a pair of EP's that expanded the Iglooghost discography and lore, and in 2019 he teamed up with Kai Whiston and BABii for a collaborative project.  Review By Lav: The sounds of Iglooghost music were absolutely insane for 2015. Looking back on the explosion of hyper pop it is clear how much Iglooghost's fusion of drum and bass with jittery electronica helped set the genre in motion, even though he doesn't necessarily fit in perfectly with the label. I've been enjoying just about everything released under the project since as well, Neo Was Bloom  was a great debut, the Steel Mogu  EP was a great cohesive set of bangers and even hi...

Iglooghost is a British electronic music producer signed to Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder records who began making waves in 2015 with a series of unique EP's that pushed the boundary of experimental electronic music interpolating heavy sampling and drum and bass music. Iglooghost released his debut record Neo Wax Bloom  in 2017 and followed it up in 2018 with a pair of EP's that also received critical praise. He has settled down now to independently release this collaborative record with frequent collaborators Kai Whiston and Babii after releasing two singles earlier this year. Review By Lavender: Since I was first turned on to Iglooghosts 2015 EP Chinese Nu Year  I have really enjoyed just about everything he has done to date. His 2017 record Neo Wax Bloom  was such a captivating breath of life for electronic music that carried on the excellent artistic progression I was so looking forward to and landed a pretty solid spot on my albums of the year list. Just last year...

1. Have A Nice Life - Sea Of Worry Legendary post-punk band Have A Nice Life has returned with their first single since 2014 and the announcement of their incredibly highly anticipated third studio album, frankly this weeks #1 was a runaway. 2. A$AP Rocky - Babushka Boy Fresh out of his highly publicized prison stay in Sweeden Rocky has returned to drop a song and video that mark his first solo single of 2019. 3. Pusha T - Coming Home (Feat. Lauryn Hill) King Push recruits The Fugees own Lauryn Hill for a spot on his new Kanye produced track while announcing that a second entirely Kanye produced album is likely to come by the end of 2019. 4. Pinegrove - Moment Pinegrove gear up to put their past behind them and release some of the unique brand of indie rock just in time for fall season. 5. Iglooghost - Lamb  (Feat. Kai Winston & Babii) Iglooghost follows up a wild single earlier this year with yet another collaborative track that is sure to show us a glimpse into t...

1. Tool - Fear Inoculum For the first time in months a singles week has produced 15 new debuts all in one week and it is headlined by the first new single from legendary metal band Tool since their last record in 2006. After finally releasing their back-catalog on streaming services last week they have taken the next step to dropping the newest song in promotion of their highly anticipated upcoming album. 2. Lana Del Rey - Looking For America Lana Del Rey follows up the announcement of her fifth studio album with the release of one of the songs that didn't make the cut, but addresses America in the wake of yet another two mass shootings. The track will certainly turn heads and help build up hype for Norman Fucking Rockwell  two weeks before its release. 3. Iglooghost - Lockii  (Feat. Kai Whinston & BABii) Iglooghost is back with his first release in 2019 and he recruits some featured artists he has worked with before resulting in a track that will likely reel many o...