Lav's Music Corner

5.  shake my bones  - Matana Roberts Though this is a much shorter offering than the expansive single Matana led this era off with, the track is no less exciting. She continues to have a style of jazz deeply influenced by world music but firmly rooted in her fundamentals as a composer and the result is individual moments that absolutely soar over the familiar but impressively performed undercurrent of sounds throughout. It's quite a bit of excitement crammed into just 4 minutes.  Listen 4.  WUACV  - Tkay Maidza Tkay's newest short, thumping banger does feel a good bit like her past two as well as tracks in her past like Syrup . But that feels less like familiarity and more like experience on this song which wastes no time getting into some of its most lethal refrains. Could the lyrics be better, certainly, but that isn't really what you put on a song like this for in the first place.  Listen 3.  Mad-Dauber Wasp  - Matmos After releasing an album l...

5.  PARA PARA - CHAI While this song is too objectively cute to get left off my summer playlist, I don't think I would put it among Chai's greatest hits. The band often has such a strong knack for those infectiously catchy refrains but while this song is extremely sweet it hasn't gotten stuck in my head. I love some of the future funk flavors in the instrumental and how it just soars to an adorable conclusion on the hook. For the most part the song is exceedingly pleasant while its on but it doesn't stick with me.   Listen 4.  Damian  - Sun Kil Moon I definitely ignored Sun Kil Moon singles all year that absolutely should have been on these list behind purely the merit of the songs alone. I'm still not sure how to grapple with the legacy of perhaps my favorite songwriter of all time but as he continues to release music it obviously continues to be wonderful. This song channels one of his most strikingly beautiful outings ever Carissa  by paying tribute to a...