Lav's Music Corner

Producers are getting more and more credit in the modern music landscape. While that was already going on when I first started doing this list in 2016 the trend is accelerating with some of the most acclaimed names in contemporary music production receiving more attention than ever before. So with awards named after last years recipients we will once again jump through a handful of genres to highlight some of the biggest and best moments of great production this year.    The Charli XCX/A.G. Cook Award For Production In Pop - Album Grimes -  Miss Anthropocene Last year Charli XCX and A.G. Cook wowed everyone with their futuristic take on the world of pop music as a whole on Charli . This time around Grimes pushed the sound of pop music even further into the future with her dystopian electronic interpretation of the genre. With a dark and icy sound palette Grimes is effectively writing pop songs but they refuse to be as accessible as their hookiest moments. These tracks hav...

Back when I started making this award series a few weeks ago it was because I, and many others in the know, felt that producers were doing an incredibly important job and never quite receiving the recognition they deserved for it. I tried to in a small way highlight some of the best work I heard from producers in a particular year and all three years I did it, the list became one of my most viewed End Of Year features. So even though hip hop has inspired a huge turn around in how we think of the Producer position at least from a commercial sense, I'm hoping to continue to highlight some of the best production work you can hear in 2019 with this list. Each award is named after the artist who received it last year and begins with a description of what may have changed between then and now for the award, and gives yet another nod to some of the fantastic work we heard in 2018.  The Joseph Mount Award For Production In Pop Music - Album Winner: Charli XCX & A.G. Cook - Ch...

Nobody in the music industry does as much for as little recognition as producers, so every year we decide to play out our production highlights for the year. Giving out awards named after last years recipients we tackle production choices across genres and in the broader spectrum of music to see who's influence behind the scenes is driving the music we love. The Jack Antanoff Award For Production In Pop Music (Album) Winner: Joseph Mount - Honey   Pop production is so often all about the hooks, who can work the catchiest beat and mix it into something captivating enough to get stuck in your head but not enough to confuse or turn off your average radio listener. So while pop producers often get scoffed at by indie fans and rap die hards their job is two fold, not only to make good music, but to make music that is as universally appealing as can be. Robyn's Honey  is an album full of long songs that heavily loop their beats in tradition with Sweedish house music which ...