Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Playboi Carti is a rapper who rose rapidly to popularity around 2016 on the back of a few viral hits on his self-titled debut mixtape. That was followed by two records that played with unique sounds in the highly-populated world of trap music and both garnered substantial critical acclaim. 2018's Die Lit remains a personal favorite of mine whose woozy psychedelic beats remain undeniable to this day. That was followed in late 2020 by Whole Lotta Red  which substantially switched up Carti's sound and became highly influential in the worlds of vamp and rage. After several release dates were announced and never followed up on and a series of singles were uploaded to YouTube last year, we've finally arrived at Carti's follow-up. Music , by comparison, is even more all over the place than its predecessor though it delivers a comparable energy. What it doesn't deliver is anywhere near as dramatic a progression in his style or ethos as I was hoping for. ...

Review by Lavender: The Weeknd is a superstar of the highest order. After breaking through as a critical darling of underground R&B he launched into fame in 2015 and has had a consistent string of absolutely massive hits ever since. That culminated in 2020's After Hours  an album that features his biggest hit to date "Blinding Lights" and was both a critical and commercial landmark. He followed such a monumental project up strangely, with the divisive oddball concept album Dawn FM , which I personally liked even if it's the weaker of the two. Now he's back with the massive 22-track 84-minute conclusion to that trilogy Hurry Up Tomorrow . One thing I want to get out of the way immediately is that this album isn't as good as it could have been. What I thought at the time would be its lead single "Dancing In The Flames" was ultimately left off the record, likely due to its underperforming on the chart,  which is a shame because it very likely would ...

Had 30 songs on the shortlist this week, wish me luck.  5.  Driver - Soccer Mommy While Soccer Mommy has never really consistently dazzled me the way some of her singer-songwriter peers do, she is pretty good at delivering something consistently solid. That's the case with her second single of the year which features a punchy instrumental marked by brash cymbal clashes and a great guitar solo on the bridge. But even more than that, it's her killer vocals on the hook that really sell the song.  Listen 4.  Ballet  - The Garden After loving the most recent Garden album WAY more than anything the eccentric pair had done before I'm glad to see them keeping their momentum up on this new single. They once again combine punk snarl, synthetic drums and dizzying production to serve up a short but incredibly memorable song that's just as punchy as it is catchy at every moment.  Listen 3.  Dancing In The Flames  - The Weeknd While this may not have been the m...

Travis Scott is one of the biggest rap superstars in the world. He's managed to be both a massive hitmaker and a critical darling relative to his peers. UTOPIA  comes two years after Travis Scott found himself at the center of the Astroworld  music festival tragedy. Despite the festival's shortcomings and his maligned public reaction to it, fans were extremely excited for UTOPIA . The album was released with an impressive collection of featured artists and producers and has spawned extensive discussion among rap fans online. Review by Lav: It's hard for me to put into words how excited I was for Astroworld . After Rodeo  turned me into a big Travis Scott fan and the years he spent building up to its actual sequel generated so much hype, how could I not be excited. I stayed up till midnight to listen to the album with my friends and unpack all the features and credits that were initially hidden. But here's the thing, Astroworld  lived up to every bit of the hype. I st...

5.  Sodom & Gomorrah  - Dorian Electra Dorian is one of the artists I flip back and forth on the most and following the recent "Sodomy" merch drop I was particularly skeptical that this might be just as phoned in. Turns out this track is actually kind of a banger which sees Dorian cleverly conjuring and satirizing the religious imagery over a ripping beat. As is so often the case I think Dorian has been inconsistent as of late, but this is a highlight.  Listen 4.  Skeleton Is Walking  - Blake Mills After producing so much good music for other artists in the past few years Blake Mills is back with a new solo project led off by a wonderful lead single which blends together the sounds of classic folk with a biting electric guitar solo. It's nearly six minutes of song that absolutely breezes by with both thematic and textural detail in nearly every moment along the way.  Listen 3.  Popular  - The Weeknd, Madonna & Playboi Carti Is The Idol ...

King's Disease III  - Nas Unlike the bar on the opening track where Nas says he "doesn't drop often", this is the third album in the KD series in as many years. The combination of Nas and Hit-Boy has been pumping out songs recently and while I thought the first King's Disease  was just okay, the second one really did impress me . So if Nas took another step forward on the third edition it has the potential to be one of his best albums since Illmatic . At the very least Nas pulls off the level of lyrical proficiency you'd expect, as does Hit-Boy with the beats. Even when this record isn't operating at its best it does at least sound good. One of the primary issues I have with the album gets back to the recent over-exposure of Nas as this record sounds extremely familiar. From the beats to the hooks to the subject matter Nas is rapping about there's just a lot here that feels closer to routine. Thankfully, I still find the music here pretty exciting, and...

FKA Twigs is one of the most acclaimed voices in all of contemporary R&B music. Across two studio albums she has teamed up with a world class selection of producers to create a futuristic and off kilter style of R&B entirely her own and has been met with massive critical acclaim for almost everything she's done. Caprisongs  was carefully marketed as a mixtape rather than a follow-up studio album and trades out grander thematic concepts for shorter tracks that cover a wide variety of different sounds and styles. Review By Lav: Like most people on Earth who have ever heard FKA Twigs music I really enjoy it. A few years ago I called Magdalene  a top 5 album of 2019 and in that same year called her single cellophane  my single of the year. Her talent is absolutely whimsical and manages to display truly raw vulnerabilities but with a staunch and occasionally even intimidating confidence that is absolutely mystical. On top of that she has an ability to conceptualize pro...

The Weeknd has spent the last few years transitioning from an influential voice in commercial R&B to a full blown pop superstar. The massive success of his After Hours  album and its resulting singles in 2020 turned him into one of the biggest stars in the music industry and he looks to continue the upward momentum on this new album which was dropped with only one pre-release single and a week of promotion. Review By Lav: I've loved The Weeknd for a long time. For years the narrative surrounding his music was that of a singles artist, who had hit after hit but his albums never quite lived up to the quality standard of his original trio of mixtapes. He bucked those trends on After Hours  dropping a genuinely fantastic pop record with commercial high points and a deep selection of compelling album tracks. This combined with his excellent single last year Take My Breath  had me incredibly excited for what he would do in 2021. Turns out I didn't have to wait long because ...

The five best tracks that came out this past week listed below: 5.  Waiting  - PUP The newest single from the PUP catalog is an absolute rager that explodes with jagged instrumentation and that classic punk attitude and flair we've come to expect from the band. They pull off a surprisingly emotional edge to the whole thing as the songs wonders why you continue to wait around for someone, when all signs tell you to just go. It's a punk song with more to it than meets the eye.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHG36NyvaUk 4.  La Fama  - Rosalia Feat. The Weeknd The latest in Rosalia's seemingly infinite streak of high profile collaborations is R&B crossover king The Weeknd. It actually follows the pairs collaboration on last years Blinding Lights Remix  but takes a much less pop approach sonically. It deploys a much darker instrumental palette reminiscent of Abel's early days but with a distinct Latin sound, and the blend pulls you in from it's very first ...

This weekend absolutely fucking ruled. I ended up with more then 15 songs just on the list for consideration for the best tracks of this week so please do yourself a favor and look around for all the great stuff that came out this weekend. The best new tracks of the week are below: 5.  Smokin Out The Window  - Silk Sonic This track relies on the one thing that Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars have in spades, charisma. On the surface it's a male music classic story of female money chasing and betrayal that comes from exactly as shallow a perspective as you'd expect. What makes it work is both their voices which can deliver narrative hooks and team up for beautiful harmonies on the hooks. If you can ignore the icky premise that the entire track is built on it's buttery smooth.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7fLOmlhYg 4.  This Side Of The Sun  - Shame Shame have never been a gentle band but on This Side Of The Sun  they dig in on some of the best lyricism yet....

So I took a week off to recover from consecutive Ty Segall, Cloud Nothing, Idles and Black Midi moshpits. I think I deserved it. But now we're back and given how weak the last two classes of singles have been I decided to just combine the last two weeks and find the best five songs of the bunch to present to you here. Hopefully next week we will be back to regularly scheduled programming.  5.  Tarantula  - Azealia Banks While it can be hard to predict what Azealia will do outside of her music career, generally speaking when she drop new tracks the tend to deliver and Tarantula  is no different. Just in time for Halloween she delivers an eerie club jam with monotone vocals that come off more threatening than most songs trying to be genuinely scary do. The stiff club beat and organ style synths clear up a track with an alarmingly tight aesthetic.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmAyCwgl_gQ 4.  Moth To A Flame  - Swedish House Mafia Feat. The Weeknd Swed...

The five must hear singles of the week: 5. Blue Heaven  - Public Service Broadcasting (Feat. Andreya Casablanca) The longtime instrumental rock band are returning next month for their first new album in three years and this single further displays the change of sound they set up with the lead single earlier this year. Gone is the sample heavy mostly instrumental rock palette as this is the second single to features a guest vocalist who handles much of the track. The track has an almost dance pop like flare but with the crescendos the band have always been known for worked into the mix for a quite triumphant finale.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv2CGLIj0t0 4. In Blur  - Deafheaven Deafheaven continue to embrace their shoegaze and dream pop side on a fittingly blurry third single just two weeks before their highly anticipated new album. While the change in vocal style has certainly been a controversial once amongst fans the heavy walls of sound and blistering instrument...

Musically the album is king. While singles top charts and generate radio play it's the album that fans stay up all night waiting for and constantly ask for online. Everything about these collections of songs seems just as innocuous as well, a collection of songs. But what they mean to us and what they meant to us specifically in 2020 is immeasurable. I listened to just over 250 albums this year and reviewed almost 200 of them and as usual there were tons of records I just didn't have time to get to. As much as I wish I could have listened to absolutely everything, this list is the best of everything I actually could listen to this year. These records range from solid and slightly inconsistent experiments to some of the best and most groundbreaking music of the year, and is neatly arranged into a 100-1 list as best as I could do, enjoy. 100. Freezepop - Fantasizer One of the premiere synth pop bands of the 2000's returned in 2020 with Fantasizer . While it came completely ou...