Lav's Music Corner

This week was stacked FULL of potential favorites and breaking down the best to just 5 wasn't easy, but here's what rose to the top  5.  Getting No Sleep  - Tinashe Asking Tinashe to follow-up on Nasty, the freaky anthem of the summer, was always going to be a tall, if not impossible take. But honestly Getting No Sleep  does a pretty admirable job with a rumbling R&B instrumental with drums that pop out of the mix. More importantly, the song is effortlessly sensual in Tinashe's hands with vocals and charm that is nearly unmatched.  Listen 4.  Flipside  - Melt-Banana Melt-Banana have absolutely nothing to prove as the legendary Japanese rock outfit returns for their first new album in over a decade. That's why it's no surprise that their lead single is a fiery no-holds-barred slugfest of a song that pummels you for a rapid-fire two minutes and unceremoniously fades out. I fully expect it to be just one of many punches the band has in store.  Li...

Kim Petras is a pop singer who has been bubbling under for a while. After initially coming up in a hyper-pop parallel underground for years she had her mainstream pop breakthrough last year. As a guest on Sam Smith's single Unholy , Kim and Sam became two of the most successful charting transgender artists of all time. Review by Lav: Figuring out Kim Petras can be a bit difficult. When she broke onto the scene it wasn't just exciting to see a trans girl turning herself into a fascinatingly plastic pop star, but the music was good too. I still have nothing but strong feelings for her debut album Clarity  which featured one great single after another. Since then it's been much more of a mixed bag. Her Turn The Lights Off  series of Halloween albums are stylish but relatively simple. Last year she dropped the Slut Pop EP which many critiqued for its sledgehammer bluntness and repetitive songs. So despite having some absolutely amazing songs in her discography like I Don't ...

5.  Alone  - Kim Petras (feat. Nicki Minaj) Even though I've liked both of these artists a lot in the past, to say I was skeptical of this song would be a huge understatement. While I did think each of their previous two songs were okay it felt like they were both headed for some kind of slump and hearing the relatively lazy sampling on display in the previews for this track didn't help remedy that. Ultimately though this song is also pretty decent with an exciting performance from Nicki and a hook that is sticking with me more and more. It's far from the best either are capable of but it's a plenty serviceable collaboration.  Listen 4.  Undergrowth  - Squid If hearing the funk rock riffs and the repeated Limp Bizkit ass "melt" hook on this song immediately activated your gag reflex, you're not alone. My first reaction to the song was pretty garish as well. In fact it took me a few times of hearing it with completely shifted expectations to realize there a...

5.  Same Problems?  - A$AP Rocky While Rocky has been far from silent over the past few years. this song's live debut last month and the serious nature of its subject matter feels like the biggest sign of future endeavors since Rocky dropped 2018's Testing . That's exciting enough on its own, making the song's meditative style an interesting choice, but one that grew on me as the week went on. Ultimately, how much I enjoyed the messaging of the track and how well it fits the presentation won me over.  Listen 4.  brrr  - Kim Petras Like a lot of recent Kim Petras singles there are things I don't like about the track, they're just overpowered by the things I do. The instrumental here is basically a "we have SOPHIE at home" type beat, though if I wasn't so familiar with Sophie's work I might be a bit more interested in the beat because it really does match the song's icy demeanor. What really sells me on the song as usual is Kim's confiden...

After easily the worst release weekend of the year so far thankfully this was a big one, both a deep collection of new songs and a handful of really high profile artists. Enjoy <3 5.  The Ending  - Brockhampton Despite the drop in spot on the list, I think this is an improvement over the first "Brockhampton" single. I put the air quotes up because once again this is really just a short Kevin Abstract song and while it has all the personality you'd expect plus the addition of a grand gospel sampling instrumental, it is still pretty stripped down.  Listen 4.  Insomnia   - Parannoul Parannoul's follow-up to last year's brilliant breakout album To See The Next Part Of The Dream has been something I've been thinking about for a while and finally we have a taste. While the song starts off slow with a much more whimsical and meditative sound the lo-fi sonic intensity you'd expect finds its way into the track and it does on and when paired with the soaring synt...

It's A week at least. I'm on time you gotta give me credit for that. Enjoy <3 5.  Love On The Run  - Broken Bells The latest and likely final single from Danger Mouse and James Mercer in the lead-up to their return as Broken Bells is yet another that lulls you in and grows over time. The wandering composition and spacey echoing instrumentation aren't likely to blow you away immediately but every time I heard the song I found myself enjoying it more and more as it went on.  Listen 4.  Belinda Says  - Alvvays Alvvays continued dive into the world of shoegaze has resulted in heavier and heavier singles and with one hit after another, it's easy to hope they never look back. The noise isn't just there for the sake of it either these songs are an all-out rush that never get less exciting. If hype for the record is the goal of their continued single rollout, it's working.  Listen 3.  All I Need To Hear  - The 1975 the second slow-burner single from Th...

Kim Petras is a German born pop star who first emerged as a voice in the underground hyper pop scene in the late 2010's with collaborations alongside artists like SOPHIE and Charli XCX. Since then she has shifted her focus a bit towards the mainstream with a debut album that focused largely on more conventional electro pop and a series of singles with a more mainstream pop appeal. Early in 2022 she began her new era which saw her leaning heavily into sexuality and sexually charged themes. Review By Lav: Where do I even start with this one? It's obvious that I've enjoyed Kim's music before, I reviewed her debut album pretty positively, I called Malibu  one of the best singles of 2019 and her song Future Starts Now  was on my singles of the year list last year. Maybe there's some trans bias involved but I've been calling Kim one of the brightest voices in pop for years. It's also no secret that I'm a big fan of sexually charged music and am known to act li...

Singles are the engine upon which the music industry runs. From stan Twitter to the Hot 100 the best way to drum up hype and all the revenue that comes with it is on the back of a great single. For the 5th straight year  it's time to look at all the great singles released by artists new and old throughout 2020 and rank them. Unlike the songs and albums lists that will follow this one over the next 2 days this isn't strictly about the best in terms of sheer quality alone. The list takes quality into consideration alongside cultural significance. reception within an artists listener base and how the songs fit into the context of a band or artists image or discography at large. With all these factors combined I put together my list of the 100 best singles I heard in 2020.  100. Waxahatchee - Fire I've been an enjoyer of Waxahatchee's music for years now and in 2020 she added Fire  to the high end of singles in her discography. The song is a vocal wonder that shows off Kati...