Lav's Music Corner

Karen Dreijer aka Fever Ray is a Swedish electronica and experimental music artist who began as one half of electronic music duo The Knife alongside her brother. In 2009 during a long studio album drought from The Knife she took to writing and creating music on her own under the solo moniker Fever Ray with her 2009 self-titled album. After nearly ten years and a new Knife record in 2013 Fever Ray returned with a second solo record in 2017 as well as an extensive tour backing it. Live At Troxy is a live show recorded last year made up on tracks from both Fever Ray records and marks her second live release as a solo artist. Review By Lavender: I was just a bit young and my taste a bit under-developed for Fever Ray to be on my radar in 2009, but by the time The Knife dropped their epic Shaking The Habitual record in 2013 I was all ears. Returning to all of the old Knife and Fever Ray records proved very useful in the coming years when Karen saw fit to release the second Fever Ray r...

Car Seat Headrest is the Will Toledo fronted indie rock act who took the indie world by storm in 2016 with the release of their highly anticipated Matador records debut Teens Of Denial  and again in 2018 with the re-release of their critically acclaimed Bandcamp masterpiece concept album Twin Fantasy  re-recorded in studio format. They announced this live album recorded from shows played in the past two years just days before it was released and dropped it without a single. Review By Lavender: I went to see Car Seat Headrest at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in September of 2016 and I really enjoyed the show. It was right at the height of Teens Of Denial  craze and I got to sneak right up to the front row to watch Will Toledo and company play a plethora of songs old and new. In the three years since then I have dished out praise to a handful of their new singles and the remastered version of Twin Fantasy  which littered my songs of the ...

Beyonce is well, Beyonce. One of the biggest stars in the world and a pioneering force in pop music. After missing her original Coachella headlining set due to her pregnancy and being replaced by Lady Gaga she returned the next year and played one of the most electric and exciting headlining sets the festival has ever seen. Now just over a year later Homecoming  is the recorded performance of that very show as well as an accompanying concert video released on Netflix.  Review By Lavender: This is gonna be a quick review as this is a brilliant live album, but one I wouldn't recommend listening to right away. Beyonce delivers one explosive performance after another as she takes a deep dive through the biggest hits and fan favorites across her entire career. The performance features guests appearances from Jay-Z, Solange, Destiny's Child and J Balvin and is a brilliant collection of Beyonce tunes that will go down as one of the great live albums of modern music. But th...

LCD Soundystem is the James Murphy fronted legendary New York dance punk band that came to prominence in the mid 2000's in the scene of the same style which they helped to develop.  After dropping three fantastic albums between 2005 and 2010 the band announced that they we're retiring and would play one final show in New York's Madison Square Garden. This became what many believed to be the band final release, the live album taken from the event. One that was critically acclaimed upon release and was compared to LCD inspirations like Talking Heads and their fantastic live outputs. LCD reunited and dropped their 4th studio album American Cream  to critical acclaim in 2017 numerous songs from which land on this live project. Review By Lav: I absolutely LOVE LCD Soundsystem, lets get that out of the way immediately. I consider all 4 of their albums to be among the best of their respective decades and their sophomore effort Sounds Of Silver is one of my favorite albums...