Lav's Music Corner

While this wasn't the biggest week I've ever covered it also wasn't necessarily slow and highlighted by a few very high profile announcement singles, there was quite a bit to talk about this week. 5.  Gary Ashby  - Dry Cleaning I was worried a bit about Dry Cleaning's short turnaround from album one to album two when I started to hear singles that sounded VERY familiar. Turns out they could circumvent the problem by just reusing ideas that I didn't mind hearing again. This new song which evokes pretty strong Scratchcard Lanyard  comparisons is a solid reimagining of that track's fundamentals in a shorter and slightly less pessimistic fashion.  Listen 4.  We Let It In  - Brian Eno Continuing Eno's ongoing return into the world of vocals he brings along his daughter for a very gentle and expansive duet. The song didn't really connect with me at first but the more I observed it's gentle tones and the remarkable sonic restraint shown throughout, I was ul...

Every once in a while there is just a week like this. Not only were there very few high profile singles dropping this week but even some of the few that did failed to live up to the hype. So here is probably the lamest rendition of this list in 2022 so far.  5.  Shake The Feeling  - Iceage It's such a slow week that a single from a B-Sides & Demos collection has cracked the list. But to give the band credit Iceage has been one of the most consistently great modern post-punk bands around and I'm not the least bit surprised they have plenty of great material just lying around. The raw and bouncy taste of the compilation is certainly good enough to warrant having been slipped into the tracklist of either of the bands two most recent records.  Listen 4.  Mania  - Daphni Another consistency of 2022 has been Daphni singles being just alright. While I don't think there's been a true flop in the bunch I also think none of the tracks, including this one, have st...

Sons Of Kemet is one of the numerous projects of contemporary jazz pioneer Shabaka Hutchings. The project has been active for almost a decade but saw it's biggest moment in the spotlight when they released their third album 2018's Your Queen Is A Reptile  which brought in universal acclaim and was ultimately nominated for a mercury prize.  Review By Lav: While I may not be the biggest or most knowledgeable jazz head on earth I still have a strong appreciation for many of the genres classics both conventional and experimental, as well as it's newest and brightest voices. Shabaka is one of those brightest voices by any metric so when The Comet Is Coming, Sons Of Kemet or even Shabaka and The Acestors drop music, I pay attention. The last Sons Of Kemet record was a world class jazz experience so my expectations going into this album were pretty high and at points it really does live up to those standards. But it does have an undeniable lull in the middle that holds it back fro...