Lav's Music Corner

Kim Petras is a German pop singer who has had a huge 2019 after releasing her long awaited debut album Clarity  to critical acclaim this summer and is now following it up with the second part of Turn Off The Lights  a series she started with her Halloween mixtape last year. Turn Off The Lights  is a full album that consists of both last years release and over 20 minutes of new material. Review By Lavender: It's no secret to anyone that I have been enjoying Kim Petras a lot this year. I gave her album Clarity  a 7.5 and retrospectively that may even be low considering most of all my complaints of the record came off just a few tracks. While I've been almost all positive this year towards her output it hasn't always been that way and when Turn Off The Lights   Vol. 1  dropped last October I wasn't head over heels for it. The mixtape had its moments but didn't flow quite like a mixtape should and had a few tracks that seemed doomed from the start. Thank...

Kero Kero Bonito is a British indie pop trio who became one of the rare acts to transcend blowing up on the back of a meme as their song Flamingo  went viral in 2015. But since then the band has released two critically acclaimed albums that have established them as one of the sweeter and more reliable voices in indie music. 2016's Bonito Generation  was a bubbly and bright j-pop fusion record that caught the indie world by storm with its infectious songwriting, while 2018'a Time N Place  was a turn for a much more indie rock infused sound that featured more conventional instrumentation paired with shrill and shimmering electronics. After dropping a great single in the lead up to this new EP KKB has the potential to take on any number of sounds going forward. Review By Lavender: I have been enjoying Kero Kero Bonito's music since 2015 and the groups ability to blend and transcend genres has only proven how creative they are. After dropping a very solid EP and album ...

Sturgill Simpson  is a Kentucky based country music singer-songwriter who has made waves in the past few years for combining country music with numerous other genres and pushing the genre forward with his Best Album Grammy nominated 2016 record A Sailor's Guide To Earth . Review By Lavender: I first stumbled upon Sturgill Simpson based on a recommendation for his last record and it turned out to be a really positive experience. I was glad to see him score a Grammy nomination and some well deserved recognition on the back of that record and was excited to see what he had coming next. Unfortunately the record has all I needed to hear about the blaring 70's rock influence that appears across this entire album, and it works far less often than it doesn't. The album honestly gets off to a decent start with its first handful of tracks and a moment right at the end. Ronin  is the opening track and a very interesting start to the record with some blistering psychedelic g...

Remo Drive are a Minnesota based emo band who blew up in 2017 with their record Greatest Hits  and its breakout indie darling tune Yer Killin Me . After the band released a well loved EP the next year they followed up their debut with a second record earlier this year that many saw as a disappointment that lacked the energy and creative songwriting of the bands debut, this EP contains two songs from the same sessions as that record and a re-recording of one of the songs that appears on the groups second record. Review By Lavender: I was really excited for Natural Every Day Degradation  earlier this year but it falls far short of the expectations that the band had set up to that point. I wasn't thrilled for this EP given that only a few tracks have really stuck with me since I heard the record earlier this year but the tracks here definitely could have improved the record and I ended up really enjoying two of the three. Romeo  opens the EP off with a solid st...

DaBaby is a Charlotte based rapper who has blown up in 2019, scoring a top 10 single on the hot 100 with Suge  a number of high profile features, and an impressive spot on the XXL 2019 Freshman list. Baby dropped a record earlier this year Baby On Baby  that was commercially successful and turned around quickly to transition into Kirk . Review By Lavender: I've wanted to like DaBaby since he first showed up on the hip hop scene, he's from my home town of Charlotte after all and I have to represent. However I have been pretty mixed by what DaBaby has brought so far. I'm not in love with his breakout hit Suge  and I ended up choosing to skip reviewing his first record Baby On Baby  because it didn't do nearly enough to stand out from the sea of trap records that come out seemingly every day now. I have enjoyed a few of his tracks and a handful of his features this year though so now that he is more popular than ever I figured I would give this album a fair shot,...

1. Travis Scott - Highest In The Room The long awaited Highest In The Room  is finally here and more than well deserving of Travis Scott's first #1 of 2019 after dropping one of the best contemporary raps albums of the last few years with Astroworld 2. Danny Brown - 3 Tearz  (Feat. Run The Jewels) Typically singles that release the same week as albums don't tend to perform as well on the charts but seeing Danny link up with RTJ is just too much starpower to hold the track back even after Danny has had two number ones in the last month. 3. Clipping - Blood Of The Fang Clipping may have one of my most anticipated albums of this entire year but I will say their last two singles have come out in busy weeks by hip hop standards, Clipping debuts its third song in the top three yet only one has been a number one. 4. Poppy - I Disagree After dropping the best EP of the year so far and following it up with another great single in Concrete  there should be no debate whats...

The New Pornographers are a Canadian music collective that has been releasing acclaimed indie records for almost two decades now. The bands 2000 and 2005 records Mass Romantic  and Twin Cinema  are well respected and critically acclaimed records that most indie fans of the 2000's are very familiar with. The band received a boost in popularity in this decade when one of their long time member Dan Bejar found massive critical acclaim as a solo artist under his Destroyer moniker in 2011 with Kaputt  and again in 2015 with Poison Season . Review By Lavender: The New Pornographers are one of the most consistent artists in the modern indie scene, despite not really having a commonly agreed upon single classic record the band has a sound all their own and execute on it pretty well one album after another. Even a full decade after their debut the band was still making good material on their last two records, 2014's surprisingly solid Bill Bruisers  and 2017's decent W...