Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender:  Tune-Yards is an Oakland indie-pop duo who emerged as a surprise critical darling in the first half of the 2010s with the combination of their frenetic, world music-inspired tunes and frontwoman Merrill Garbus' unique, striking vocals. Though their 4th and 5th albums weren't quite as acclaimed as projects like W H O K I L L and Nikki Nack , I certainly think both records have something of their own to offer, and I went into Better Dreaming expecting more of the same based on a strong trio of singles. But just as the album has its strokes of excellence, it also has some real head-scratching moments.  The trio of singles released in the lead-up to Better Dreaming got the record off to a really promising start. The best of the bunch is “Limelight,” an absolute fucking banger to kick the era off. It has an absolutely irresistible bassline and verbose, playful verses that just drill into my head. On the hook, it all erupts into an absolutely perfect chorus that...

Tune-Yards are a California based indie group who are now more than a decade into their career. They received massive critical acclaim for their 2nd and 3rd albums in 2011 and 2014 which brought a unique style combining up-beat and often unconventional indie instrumentation with African beat music influences and of course frontwoman Merrill Gabriel's unique vocals. The band made use of dizzying compositions and dense vocal layering to create an incredibly unique sound in the world of modern indie and after briefly dipping their toes into the world of film soundtracks in 2019, are back with their 5th studio album. Review By Lav: I love Tune Yards. I listed their album w h o k i l l  as one of my 50 favorite of 2011 just a few weeks ago and I will surely do the same with Nikki Nack  if the world is still turning in 2024. I wrote a pretty positive review of the bands 4th album I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life  back in 2018 and while I may have soured on some of the ...

Battles are a New York math rock and electronic rock band who got off to a great start with their first two records Mirrored  and Gloss Drop  being incredibly interesting, technical and unique pieces that captivated fans and critics alike. They released the very poorly received and incredibly maligned La Di Da Di  in 2015 and since then have dropped from a trio to a duo for the release of Juice B Crypts . Review By Lavender: There was a point in time where I quite enjoyed the music of Battles, the debut record Mirrored  was a wild experience that I enjoy to this day and the entire era of their second record Gloss Drop  including the two EP's released surrounding it. But part of the disappointment of 2015's La Di Da Di  also led to severely lowered expectations for me and many other fans, and it seems like the band has lowered their own expectations of themselves as well. I skipped detailed listening and analysis of the singles from this record due ...