Lav's Music Corner

Jack White really needs no introduction, but I'll do my best. The Detroit blues rock legend first emerged as the blistering face of The White Stripes, whose 6 albums between 1999 and 2007 are (almost) all great. Since then he's expanded his role into an incredible variety of musical projects. With 5 solo albums under his belt since, he's also formed two other bands, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. He's also spread his sound and style as a producer, label head, and surprise guest star on critical darling albums from Beyonce and A Tribe Called Quest.  Now we've arrived at No Name , a clear back-to-basics moment for Jack White. The journey to get here sort of begins with his 2018 album Boarding House Reach . It's surprisingly experimental sound palette turned off some of White's longtime fans, though I'm personally pretty fond of the record. But in 2022 White released two records, an experiment into even more zany electric guitar palettes on Fear Of Th...

Jack White really needs no introduction. He's a Detroit guitarist, singer and songwriter who made a name for himself as a member of The White Stripes and has since found success with his solo work as well as bands like The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. Entering Heaven Alive  is his second album of 2022 and was billed as the more reserved counter-part to Fear Of The Dawn . Review by Lav: I'm obsessed with Jack White that's no secret. While I've found something to enjoy in pretty much all of his projects I can't say that his solo work is one of my favorite ventures of his. Though I don't think he has a BAD solo album I also can't say that any of his 5 solo projects are among my absolute favorite moments of his career. That includes Fear Of The Dawn  which came out earlier this year and featured many bold experimentations that didn't really translate with me, as well as this album Entering Heaven Alive  which takes a much more digestible sonic approach ...

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...

Jack White is one of the most admired and acclaimed voices in all of music. Over his 20 year career he's been involved in projects like The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. He also has a catalog of solo work and a robust discography behind the scenes as a producer, curator and as the founder of Third Man Records. Fear Of The Dawn  is his 4th solo album and follows his most experimental project yet, Boarding House Reach  in 2018. Review By Lav If you've known me for any amount of time there's a good chance you know how much I adore Jack White. He's one of the premiere guitar innovators ever really, and his musical footprint is visible in all kinds of different places throughout the industry. This means that he garners attention and varying level of appreciation from different fanbases in the music world. While his mainstream fans weren't crazy about his last record where he turned to much more experimental sonic elements, it attracted a whole new f...

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...

No heady observations this week. Given just how much great music came out on albums and EPs this week I'm sort of in full length review mode at the moment but that didn't stop me from engaging with some of the better singles I heard this week as well. 5.  C'mon Baby, Cry  - Orville Peck While I'm not sure this is the BEST song anyone's ever written it's hard to ignore the fact that Orville delivered a sadboy country anthem for what must be a pretty narrow group. His characteristically deep vocals and instantly recognizable voice sounds great flying over these jangly acoustic guitars and the whole song oozes a level of authenticity that most contemporary country falls drastically short of. Listen 4.  Bussin  - Nicki Minaj & Lil Baby After a HUGE whiff on a collaborative single last week Nicki and Lil baby didn't wait long to deliver the track that many had originally hoped they would. This is a confident and uncompromising banger that genuinely does see t...

I took to YouTube to give my personal rankings of the bands 6 studio albums, Check out the video here

The Raconteurs are a Detroit rock band and side project of former White Stripes frontman and multi-instrumentalist Jack White. The band formed in the mid 2000's and dropped two moderately well received albums that included hits like Steady As She Goes  and Carolina Drama  and went on hiatus as Jack White focused on solo albums and his other side project The Dead Weather. The group announced their reuniting last year and have maintained a very active social media prescence as well as dropping numerous singles throughout the lead-up to the release of this new record.  Review By Lavender: The two previous Raconteurs albums have been some of the most mainstream and easily digestible releases of Jack White's career so far. They have his knack for songwriting fit into the mold of contemporary radio rock and this made them very catchy and well done but puts a cap on how much they can really achieve. I had a feeling based on some of the singles that the band would stay...