Lav's Music Corner

Earl Sweatshirt & The Alchemist are two well-respected legends of the hip-hop underground whose paths have crossed before. Now for the first time, they're releasing a collaborative album, though many won't hear it as it dropped exclusively on the Gala music streaming platform.  Review by Lav: No, I did not pay any money to listen to this album or to buy whatever NFT ass shit they're selling the individual tracks as. Was it slightly inconvenient for me, sure. Was I going to do it for Earl? Definitely. I've been a big fan of both for a while and when operating at or even near their peak they have the potential to thrill. Does this album feature them at their peak? A few times. But it's pretty solid even without that perfect consistency throughout.  That peak pops up a few times. All The Small Things  is a fascinating track with vintage key blips and slow drums that feel almost vaporwave-inspired. Earl is pretty damn lethal on the track delivering some of the album...

As a wise woman once said on her EP's of the year list last year, "EPs are fun little guys full of fun little songs" and while they are so often overlooked sometimes when it rains it pours and a number of short form projects that I want to talk about all drop around the same time. so lets get caught up in the world of extended plays.  This Thing Of Ours 2 EP - The Alchemist Earlier this year legendary underground hip hop producer The Alchemist released an enjoyable if slightly inconsistent EP featuring a number of high profile rap collaborations and this is the highly anticipated sequel. This time MAVI, MIKE, Vince Staples, Zlooperz and Danny Brown's Bruiser Brigade serve as the five vocals heard across these five tracks which add up to just under 12 minutes.  Instrumentally speaking the EP is full of exactly what you'd expect, low key and lo-fi jazz rap beats rich with samples of classic brass instrumentation, drums and obscure vocal samples. The issue I have wit...