Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lav: Kim Gordon is an absolute musical legend by any measure. From her decades spent in one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Sonic Youth, to her various side projects and production credits she's served as inspiration for countless musicians. That's why it's no surprise that even this far into her career she's continuing to innovate. The Collective  sounds like a record brash enough to have been made by Kim in her experimental heydey of the early 80s, but with sonic displays that could only exist in 2024. The result is one of the most confrontational albums I've heard all year.  The Collective  kicks off with its lead single BYE BYE  which is almost impossibly good. I love the combination of thumping trap beats with grinding guitars across the entire second half. The way Kim methodically lists off everything she's saying "bye bye" to is so captivating and the entire song just rips. Similarly stunning highlights come on the back half of...

*mwah* 5.  I'm A Man  - Kim Gordon It seems like the uncompromising nature of the first single from this new Kim Gordon album was no accident. This second single is arguably just as intent to grab you by the throat and hold on tight. The instrumental once again featured rattling drums and rumbling bass but it's even more brash in its presentation. While the refrains here aren't quite as catchy as its predecessor they arguably set up for even more intense moments.  Listen 4.  Brown Paper Bag - DIIV In a world where a lot of music fans were excited for other things. I was hyped for the return of one of my favorite shoegaze outfits of the 2010s. DIIV's new lead single certainly fits in with the sound and style I was expecting to hear, but in a sense, that's why I'm not head over heels for it. While the slowed down and heavier demeanor is welcome, sonically parts of this song still feel like the band leaning into what they know they can do well. It's hard to see...

Okay so I'm getting a late start to the year at least on the blog. I woke up one day this week and realized I had somehow just kind of forgotten the weekly segment I've done on here for years. So there's been three weeks of the new year so far and quite a few high-profile songs released, these are the 10 best. 10.  Right Back To It  - Waxahatchee (feat. MJ Lenderman) Fresh off a breakthrough year for Wednesday, MJ Lenderman teams up for a supporting contribution to Waxahatchee's new song, and boy does it go over well. The pair aren't exactly charting new ground stylistically but Katie's vocals are somehow even more infectious than ever before and the woozy folk instrumental palette is still a near perfect fit.  Listen 9.  J Christ  - Lil Nas X Much like Doja Cat did last year with Paint The Town Red , Lil Nas X is leaning into his most controversial instincts. I think he ended up with a pretty catchy song which keeps up the line of his short and incredibly infec...

Kim Gordon is a California via New York singer-songwriter who served as a key piece of legendary rock band Sonic Youth for nearly 30 years. After the band broke up in 2011 Kim took a long time exploring other musical ventures and even working on projects across other mediums before dropping her debut solo single Murdered Out  in 2016. Three years later she announced a new record and dropped a string of critically acclaimed singles in the lead up to its release. Review By Lavender: Sonic Youth is one of the greatest rock bands of all time and the combination of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon was one that shined across a number of different rock genres and styles. Despite the long wait for solo material I don't think there's anyone that expected Kim to run out of creativity, and the wild singles for this record confirmed that she had a lot more experimentation left in her. Here on her debut solo record No Home Record  she manages to get it right most of the time. One of ...