Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lav: Nilufer Yanya is a British singer-songwriter who first caught my attention when the singles for her sophomore album Painless  began to make the rounds online in 2022. While I wasn't head-over-heels for the resulting record at the time, it's one that's grown on me immensely in the time since, spearheaded by great tracks like stabilise , midnight sun , and her masterpiece the dealer . As a result, I was excited going into this record and it seemed like with each single Nilufer zeroed in closer and closer to a spectacularly dynamic sonic contrast. It's one that pays off on the resulting album even if My Method Actor  gets off to a bit of a slow start.  The album definitely needs to be tackled in two parts, but it's not because the first half is a complete wash or anything. Opener Keep On Dancing  is more of a thesis statement than anything else. It's a start to the record that assures everyone that no matter what happens, Nulifer will keep dancing th...

This week featured some familiar faces that have popped up on the best new tracks segment all year, see if they made it again. <3 5.  Ruby Rosery  - A$AP Rocky (feat. J. Cole) So we're officially back in an era where Rocky is releasing music regularly and it's brought us to the reserved, J. Cole-featuring Ruby Rosery . Like Cole's appearance on Metro Boomin & Future's album earlier this year it's a more reserved moment than anticipated and yet his intimacy works well in this format. Both Rocky and Cole are casual but confident and as slick as ever on this memorable crossover.  Listen 4.  I Walk  - Mount Eerie It's been a noticeable few years off for Mount Eerie since Phil Elverum returned to The Microphones with a unique and conceptual project in 2020 that sought to tell the story of how the project evolved with one single album-length track. Now he's back as Mount Eerie with a sonic palette that still exists within the intimate folds his music always...

Was on vacation this week but I'm cooking up plenty of good stuff for the next week, let's do it. 5.  Vanessa  - Midwife If you're familiar with the brooding cloudy slowcore Midwife typically serves up then you basically know what you're getting with Vanessa . Across a full 6-and-a-half minutes Midwife makes use of swaying repetition to slowly weave together an impressively spellbinding cut that will swallow you whole if you give yourself to it.  Listen 4.  Garmonbozia  - Flying Lotus  I think everyone was anticipating a return from Flying Lotus, but I bet most people weren't expecting something like this. He returns by taking over lead vocal duties on a reserved and murky jazz number backed by his usual fluttering electronics. The slow pace and dark demeanor of the song actually plays to his strengths as a vocalist, even if its plodding pace feels a tad dry by FloLo standards.  Listen 3.  Shake It Like A  - Frost Children (feat. Danny Brown)...

5.  Gold Coast  - Moses Sumney Moses Sumney's immense talent has persisted through basically everything he's ever done. That's why it's nos surprise that he once again delivered a hit on a second consecutive single. With  Gold Coast  he dials things back a bit with a near whispered tenor met by some fluttering strings. But underneath it all the track is still a beautiful, swaying and irresistibly elegant R&B jam.  Listen 4.  Electra  - Public Service Broadcasting The incredibly strange career of Public Service Broadcasting has taken the sample-driven and largely instrumental rock outfit to all kinds of strange places. But this time they're going back to something we all know they can do well, a song about a plane. Much like one of their breakthrough tunes  Spitfire ,  Electra  is a beautiful and fittingly soaring tribute to aircraft that comes with all their emotional instrumental poise and perfectly selected samples.  Listen 3....

5.  New Species  - Iglooghost Earlier this year Iglooghost released a song that I didn't exactly see the appeal of. In a sense, I can kind of identify a similar issue with this frenetic banger if I think about it for too long. But I consider thinking about this for too long to be a cardinal sin. The song is a high-tempo pummeling of wiry electronic that was always happy to hear in the moment. Listen 4.  Like I Say (I runaway)  - Nilufer Yanya It must just be a heavy week. Nilufer's album indulges with sound in a way many singer-songwriters don't want to and she managed to do it without getting the way of her poetry. Now the sounds are even louder and even at moments when it feels emotionally overpowering, it's magnetically aligned. She continues to sound not only unique, but vibrant.  Listen 3.  Mirage  - Gel Last year Gel used subtle interpolations of different genres and styles to add meaningful flavor to their brand of hardcore. The debut album that...

Hey girlies. I'm trying to catch up from a weekend where I did basically nothing on this blog or really on any of my other creative projects. That's because I was enjoying Shaky Knees music festival so what better to return with than some rapid fire reviews of a few artists I saw while there, and really enjoyed. <3 (watch my moves)  - Kurt Vile It doesn't feel like it's been 4 years since Kurt Vile's last album, but time just moves differently when it comes to him. His psychedelic meets folk music style feels like it's always been around and despite fading pretty heavily out of the public eye when between album cycles it just always seems like Kurt has a prescence in the world of indie music. Given how consistent his discography is and how universally appealing his style is I was excited for this album, even more so after a few singles I enjoyed. I'm not sure why but I wasn't expecting this thing to be as long as it is turning in 15 tracks that stretc...