Lav's Music Corner

Arca is a genre blending producer and vocalist who first made a name for herself with productions credits on albums like Kanye West's Yeezus , FKA Twigs LP1  and Bjork's Vulnicura . In the past few years she has risen to fame as a leading voice and frequent collaborator in the hyperpop movement, culminating in last years critically acclaimed KiCk i . Throughout the 2nd half of the year Arca dropped numerous singles from a trilogy of sequels and then released the projects one day after another in the week leading up to their originally scheduled release, followed by a surprise fifth entry into the series.  Review By Lav: While Arca may not be one of the most high profile voices in music anyone who has been paying attention knows that she's contributed as much as anybody in the past decade. At first it was largely in the shadows as a virtuoso producer, in recent years she has had a major coming out party not only with her own music, but her own personality. Given that Arca is...

The best new tracks released this weekend below: 5.  Scripture  - Eartheater After experiencing a pretty significant breakout across her last two albums Alexandra is back with a new Eartheater sound that combines some of the beautiful vocal melodies she's so well known for with a highly digitized and jittery instrumental. It's certainly a strange and unique combination of sounds that benefits from shimmering sonic textures in the backing walls of synths.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMGyY6ufADE 4.  Born Yesterday  - Arca (Feat. Sia) In perhaps the most unlikely pairing of the week Arca's newest single sees the experimental producer teaming up with pop's gold standard in songwriting who was responsible for the controversial Music  film last year. The jittery electronic production we've come to expect from an Arca song is still but distant among the spiraling synth lines and Sia's trademark vocal harmonies. It's a combination that surprises throughout and...

A.G. Cook is a British songwriter, producer, and head of the highly influential PC Music label. Alongside influential PC Music acts like Hannah Diamond, GFOTY and umru as well as close collaborations with artists like SOPHIE, Charli XCX and 100 Gecs, Cook and his collaborators have been the driving force behind the meteoric rise of Hyperpop in the 2010's. Despite this 7G  is the first true solo album from Cook and is delivered in the form of a versatile 7 disc record.  Review By Lavender: If you've been reading my reviews for any significant length of time you'll know that I am a big fan of PC Music and pretty much all the artists listed in the bio above. I was excited for this record but also cautious as we had never heard much true solo music from him, and a nearly 3 hour record is a bold way to introduce yourself as a primary solo artist. As it turns out the quality of 7G  depends a lot on which section of the record you're in, as it is split into 7 discs each with a...

LSD is a collaborative effort consisting of British singer and rapper Labrinth, Australian pop singer Sia and american producer and Major Lazer member Diplo. The collaboration was announced last year with a critically acclaimed lead single and after more than a year of singles, delays and remixes the full album has finally arrived with less momentum behind it than many initially expected.  Review By Lavender: I had no idea what to do coming into this collaboration. Labrinth has never really impressed me with his work. I thought his solo album was just alright and most of his features and singles seem like nothing special. Sia on the other hand I'm still a very big fan of and she's consistently released loud and proud pop albums for the past decade that I enjoy like clockwork. Mixing this in with the even more volatile Diplo, who has to be one of the busiest guys in the music industry and has some soaring highs next to obnoxious lows in his discography.  Thankf...