Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Colin Stetson is a saxophonist whose experimental compositions have soundtracked some of the definitive horror movies of the past 10 years, while he's spent nearly twice that time collaborating with a wide variety of acclaimed artists. Simultaneously he's been releasing solo albums of his uncompromising sound. The newest is The love it took to leave you  his first purely solo recording since 2017's All This I Do For Glory . It also follows last year's standout When we were that what wept for the sea , one of my favorite of Stetson's projects to date.  Coming into this album I was pretty excited based on both Colin's reputation and the two singles. Opener and title track The love it took to leave you  didn't blow me away at first but it's at its best serving as a table setter for the album. It's got a surprisingly methodical undertone pacing away while bizarre and blurry sax passages wander over top of it. That leads perfectly into...

Andre 3000 is famous, quite obviously, for being a rapper. The ATL legend served as one half of Outkast one of the best and most influential rap groups of all time. But since the pair called it quits between them Andre has been remarkably quite musically only making a handful of appearances in the nearly 20 years since. Though he is surprising fans with his long-awaited debut solo album its definitely not the album that many fans were hoping for. New Blue Sun  is a long and very indulgent ambient jazz album which prominently features Andre playing flute alongside a variety of expansive and occasionally quite minimal compositions.  Read More:  I had a lot of thoughts on this album before I even got the chance to hear it. Unlike a lot of the more idiotic rap fans online I don't hold any resentment against Andre for going in this direction artistically as he's always been very clear with fans on where their expectations for a new album should actually be set. But as someone ...

Domi & JD Beck are a duo of drums and keyboard jazz prodigies who are teaming up as the first artists signed to Anderson .Paak's nee APESHIT label imprint. The pair generated popularity through a series of online videos and their debut record features a number of high-profile collaborations.  Review by Lav: I was a little bit late to this one admittedly. While I was aware of these two and some of their first singles as a collaborative effort somehow it slipped through the cracks and I didn't even know the record was about to come out when it did. But once I saw it and listened though for the first time I knew I had to cover it because there really is so much potential between these two. While this record has its problems I think it also sets them up to be a fascinating pair going forward and it's one of the more exciting debuts I've heard in 2022. The record gets off to a great start with singles WHATUP  and SMiLE  both of which are highly indicative of the records ...

Normally with these weekly-ish segments I look for a few records that have something in common with each other that I can cover together because its cute and congruent. Once we get into the last few months of the year however, there becomes a point where I just have some records that I need to talk about before the curtain closes on 2021. These are three records that I really only put together because I originally went into them anticipating they would be good, didn't quite have the time to fully review them, but still wanted to talk about them in some capacity. So without further meaningless delay here are those concise reviews.  Texis  - Sleigh Bells Sleigh Bells are one of those groups that kind of disappear in between album cycles and don't get the same level of press they once did as early 2010's indie darlings. But every time they emerge I see fans come out in mass to praise the duo for their infectious noise pop fusions. I've always had a soft spot for the band a...

Sons Of Kemet is one of the numerous projects of contemporary jazz pioneer Shabaka Hutchings. The project has been active for almost a decade but saw it's biggest moment in the spotlight when they released their third album 2018's Your Queen Is A Reptile  which brought in universal acclaim and was ultimately nominated for a mercury prize.  Review By Lav: While I may not be the biggest or most knowledgeable jazz head on earth I still have a strong appreciation for many of the genres classics both conventional and experimental, as well as it's newest and brightest voices. Shabaka is one of those brightest voices by any metric so when The Comet Is Coming, Sons Of Kemet or even Shabaka and The Acestors drop music, I pay attention. The last Sons Of Kemet record was a world class jazz experience so my expectations going into this album were pretty high and at points it really does live up to those standards. But it does have an undeniable lull in the middle that holds it back fro...