Lav's Music Corner

Review By Lav: Moor Mother is a Philly-based poet and versatile jazz musician who has spent more than a decade pushing the boundaries of both her songwriting and the often increasingly abstract and experimental sonic palettes she lends it to. I've enjoyed the past two Moor Mother albums quite a bit in particular her 2022 effort JAZZ CODES . But The Great Bailout  might surpass that in terms of both conceptual ambition and sheer intensity.  I would consider this record more sonically experimental than its predecessor, but not because it has more going on. In fact, the album sort of kills with quiet sometimes. Guilty  is a riveting start to the record where Moor Mother teams up with Lonnie Holly who contributes surprisingly eerie vocals to this chillingly minimal instrumental space. I love the fluttering strings that exist in the sucking isolation and how challenging they come off despite how sweet they sound.The repetition of the phrase "did you pay off the trauma" sets up...

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.  WE GOT THE JAZZ  - Moor Mother While Moor Mother's songs still don't necessarily work as the best singles in the world, this first taste of her upcoming deluxe version of last year's great Jazz Codes  proves that the well of creativity ran even deeper than I thought. It's once again an indulgent but extremely impressive performance clearly surrounded by talented musicianship on all sides.  Listen 4.  Paradise Is Mine  - Swans Even having never been the biggest Swans fan in the world I can certainly find plenty to like about this song. I love the combination of some hellish sounds that are placed sparsely enough to not completely overtake the song. I appreciate the methodical repetition which sort of heightens the song's energy and even if it once again feels like it's on the more indulgent side than I would have personally made, it's kind of the band's style at this point.  Listen 3.  TV In The Gas Pump  - Wednesday The 4th single from th...

Moor Mother is a Philly poet and musician who has been on a streak of massively acclaimed underground releases across the past few years. Her solo studio albums, collaborative projects and dozens of notable features have made her one of the definitive critical darlings of the past five years. Jazz Codes  is her 6th true solo studio album and second for Anti-, as well as her second release of 2022 following her 700 Bliss collaborative album with DJ Haram last month.  Review by Lav: I've enjoyed quite a lot of what Moor Mother has done and she's on a particularly hot streak. Even though I wasn't as thrilled by 700 Bliss' Nothing To Declare  as I hoped I might be, the good faith from records like True Opera , Black Encyclopedia Of The Air , and BRASS  is still strong and it came backed by a handful of great singles in the lead up to this record.  Jazz Codes  is 18 tracks a number of which are quite short given that the full runtime fails to even reach 45 minut...

If you like big names, this week had them. If you like reoccurring favorites, this week had them. If you liked random ass flips of chance, this week had them. These are the best of it all.  5.  Run  - YG (Feat. Tyga, 21 Savage & BIA) Talk about a roster with potential. If you're familiar with YG's music you're gonna hear a lot of qualities you're familiar with in both the instrumental and his lyrical approach but it's still quite an infectious sound. Two artists who can certainly deliver on a feature show up on the back end of the song and frankly, Savage and BIA deliver.  Listen 4.  Blacklight Shine  - The Mars Volta If you're the type of music fan who didn't really care that Beyonce released a new single then you're probably also the type of music fan who was really excited for The Mars Volta to come back after a decade hiatus. What they returned with might not have the same kinetic energy of some of their best tracks but it has an instrumental var...

While this may not have felt like a big week for singles Thursday night, when you take the entire weeks trickle down of anticipated new songs and album announcements into consideration it is actually pretty significant, so lets try and work through it. Enjoy <3 5.  RAP JASM  - Moor Mother (feat. AKAI Solo & justmadenice) moor mother just continues being one of the most unique, creative and innovative voices in all of hip hop and all of music in general. While this new song plays it a little bit straighter than her typical outing if anything it only makes her credentials as a hip hop renaissance woman even stronger.  Listen 4.  Ricochet  - Preoccupations One of the most acclaimed post-punk acts of the 2010's is back after a four-year absence and what they've brought with them is one of the most lively songs of their entire career. With clearer vocals and drums that punch through the blurry guitars in the mix this certainly isn't the Preoccupations you reme...

I'm pretty sure there's more rap music out there than I could possibly critique in a single calendar year, much less alongside all the other stuff I'd like to review. Once again I'm doing my best to cover some of the more critically acclaimed and relevant hip-hop records of the underground this year. Nothing To Declare  - 700 Bliss 700 Bliss is a collaborative project between queen of the underground Moor Mother and DJ Haram. The project's first release was the Spa 700  EP all the way back in 2018 and they're now adding on to a very prolific streak for Moor Mother in the past few years with a full length debut. Like many Moor Mother projects, this one is particularly hard to define with conventional genre labels and even across the record's first run you'll get tracks with stuttering electronic beats that are more dance than hip hop and features singing muddled but easily identifiable pop melodies. The relatively short song lengths and 16 tracks that mak...

Moor Mother is the musical project of Camae Ayewa a Philly based artist who has dabbled in numerous experimental takes on hip hop, jazz and spoken word across 4 studio albums. In 2020 she ramped up her output with a pair of collaborative records, first teaming up with Mental Jewelry for the Moor Jewelry record True Opera . Then followed it up with the billy woods pairing BRASS . Her experimental sound and sonic fusions have made her a critical darling across the last few years.  Review By Lav: I was late on Moor Mother I'm willing to admit that. 2016's Fetish Bones  slid by me and I didn't hear it until 2018 at which point I still didn't fully get it. Last years Moor Jewelry project was what really made it click for me and revisiting some of Moor Mother's older records at which point I really came around to her discography. That plus a couple of singles that I really dug got me excited for Black Encyclopedia Of The Air  and that proved to be for good reason. The rec...