Lav's Music Corner

I love R&B and I've already covered a few releases in the genre this year. But I wanted to catch up with some of the records that fell through the cracks, especially those from artists I've enjoyed in the past.  u made me a st4r  - 4batz Earlier this year a TikTok about videos that don't match the energy of the song they're for launched R&B singer 4batz to virality. While that was built around the smash hit date @ 8 , which I admittedly love, it resulted in some major cosigns for the singer from artists like Drake and Kanye West. He capitalized on the rise to fame with this short project and going into it I was mostly just curious if he would be able to break the mold of his single hit so far. date @ 8  is great with its earworm refrains and pitched-up vocals, but that wasn't going to work for a full 8 songs broken up by a few sparse interludes.  The third single from the album actually served up a potentially interesting scenario. on god?  is a decent t...

Another late-night best new tracks from your nocturnal angel girl. Enjoy <3 5.  Silence  - Cloud Nothings Once again I think this single will fall short of blasting fans of early Cloud Nothings punky bombast away. But I think the band has settled into a punchy indie style that still carries more weight than most of their contemporaries. The combination of crashing drums and sticky refrains isn't rewriting anything but it's a formula I still find compelling.  Listen 4.  B2b  - Charli XCX When Charli claimed that her new album was going to be for the clubs, she wasn't kidding. In the absolute most literal interpretation of that promise possible, she delivered two singles this week tributing the genre's classics and one of its most beloved styles of performance. For this song, she recruits Gesaffelstein a combination the feels almost too good to be true. His pulsating contributions make this the darkest and murkiest club vibe Charli has served up yet even in spi...

2021 is pretty close to ending and while I have one or two more records left to review in the coming week I also wanted to look back at the last few weeks and cover a few records I absolutely couldn't let go. While there are literally hundreds of albums I wish I could review there are only so many hours in the day, and as a result I'm setting for these 3. Music For Psychedelic Therapy  - Jon Hopkins I've always enjoyed Jon Hopkins music even if I haven't necessarily dished out tons of praise to any one of his projects individually. He has a great ability to conceptualize ideas and synthesize them into compelling electronic music and that's what pulled me into the whole psychedelic therapy idea. When I first head Sit Around The Fire  as a single I expected this record to be his most thematically dense yet and to represent some kind of journey of the mind or spirit through a combination of musical passages and various theologies. I would certainly call the music on th...

Justin Bieber is an obviously high profile artist whose contributions have been hard to miss over the last 15 years of the music industry. After an extended absence from studio albums during which he released a number of incredibly successful singles he returned with last years critically maligned but commercially successful Changes . After a trio of singles managed to once again be hits earlier this year Justin is now gearing up for another record barely a year later that represents a sonic and thematic change of pace for him.  Review By Lav: I like Justin Bieber and I think that he's probably a cooler and more genuine person that people often give him credit for. That being said I've never been a huge fan of his music with a couple of singles standing out as highlights but not many of what I would consider to be worthwhile albums. I was particularly let down by last years Changes  which felt like Bieber making more generic and less interesting music than ever before, but I w...

Khalid is a rising R&B singer who hit it off with some successful singles in 2017 and dropped a popular debut album later that same year with American Teen . After capitalizing on his success with numerous high profile features and collaborations Khalid dropped the much maligned Suncity  EP late in 2018 and followed it up with a few singles before the release of Free Spirit .  Review By Lavender: As embarrassing as it may seem today, there was actually a point in time when I told people to look out for Khalid to put together something good. This was on account of his excellent debut single Location  a song that landed on my singles of the year list in 2017 and that I still enjoy quite a bit. Unfortunately not only has Khalid not released another song as good as Location  across his discography so far, he hasn't even come close. When his debut album American Teen  arrived it had all the signs of a young artist thrust into the spotlight. Filled with c...