Lav's Music Corner

Amine   is a Portland based hip hop artist who first broke out back in 2017 with his hit song Caroline  and a spot on that years XXL freshman list. Since then he has released a debut record in 2017 and a follow-up mixtape in 2018 as well as a number of features. He has effectively managed to keep a foot in both the world of commercial hip hop while managing to be experimental and alternative in his own right, making him one of modern raps most interesting characters.  Review By Lavender: Man was I excited to hear this record. Even before the singles came out and were pretty good I was so interested in Amine's career progression. Ever since his last mixtape featured Rico Nasty and since he's teamed up with Injury Reserve twice for killer songs in Campfire  and Jailbreak The Tesla . This had me anticipating what aspects of experimental rap music he may work into his sound on his next record, and once it was announced my expectations for Limbo  were high. As it tur...

The Soft Pink Truth is the side project of Drew Daniel, most well known for his work with experimental and conceptual electronic duo Matmos. As The Soft Pink Truth he has focused more on house and dance oriented music which is usually less thematic than Matmos albums . Sinning  is the first Soft Pink Truth record of fully original material since 2004.  Review By Lavender: Given how big of a fan I am of Matmos I was excited to learn years ago that The Soft Pink Truth side project existed, and while I liked Drew's first two albums they didn't stick with me the way so much of Matmos' music has. Despite that I was excited to give this record a listen once I figured out it even existed after it had passed me by when it was initially released. While some of the music here is once again pretty solid the record doesn't hit all the right notes.  The album gets off to a pretty solid start on its first two tracks. Shall  is the opener and it sets a strange ethereal tone for th...

Dominic Fike is a Florida based hip hop & R&B performer whose profile has grown majorly in the past year after featuring on numerous tracks from the Brockhampton camp and being signed to Columbia records. After being featured on a major commercial release earlier this year with Halsey's Manic , he geared up to release his debut record while his hype was at its peak. Review By Lavender: I was pulling for Dominic Fike, after he made some very solid contributions to Kevin Abstract and Brockhampton records last year and I enjoyed his Kenny Beats collaboration Phone Numbers . But when singles started dropping for this record it became very clear to me that Dominic was mainly looking to craft some quirky tik tok anthems with short simple refrains and heavy vocal manipulation. As much as I wished the entire record wasn't going to be like that, it is, and it's one of the worst thing I've heard this year. The lead single should have told me everything I needed to know ab...

Alanis Morissette  is a Canadian singer and song-writer who is most famous for her unique and recognizable vocals, as well as her landmark 1995 album Jagged Little Pill . Since then Alanis has released a number of other records to moderate critical acclaim with her last being 2012's Havoc And Bright Lights .  Review By Lavender: It would have sounded really weird at one point to call Alanis overrated but in 2020 I feel like its appropriate. With a growing online indie community refusing to give her due credit for her excellent Jagged Little Pill , alongside a few of the other records in her discography also not receiving credit for how creative they are and how unique and captivating her lead vocals can be. I was excited going into this record given that I liked a few of the singles and have been hoping for her to get more credit this time around. While this record didn't blow me away it is a solid collection of tunes that puts her talents on display effectively.  The sin...

Lana Del Rey is a California based pop singer who needs no introduction at this point. After a decade of critically acclaimed and commercially successful pop records she continued to push her sound to even greater heights on her most acclaimed release to date, last years Norman Fucking Rockwell . Now she is reaching into a new venture entirely releasing a book of poems paired with spoken word recordings of her readings backed by compositions from frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. Review By Lavender: Of the 200+ albums and EP's that I heard in 2019 I only rated one of them a 10/10. Norman Fucking Rockwell  was an obvious shoe in choice for my album of the year last year and that meant that whatever Lana was going to do next I would be looking forward to it. Even after getting into some hot water over word choice regarding double standards in the music industry earlier this year she delivered on a promise that raised the eyebrows of many pop fans when she first made it last year, ...

Neck Deep is a Welsh pop punk band who emerged in the second half of the 2010's as a new voice in the genre pulling heavily from bands like Fall Out Boy and Blink 182. Their true to form pop punk sound has found success with both old and new fans of the genre.  Review By Lavender: Normally this band wouldn't really be my thing and if not for a killer recommendation from a good friend I may not even have known about the group at all. That recommendation was to listen to the bands 2015 sophomore record Life's Not Out To Get You  which featured some of the most instantaneous songwriting and fiery emotionally rich performances I had ever heard on a pop punk album. Unfortunately that great album stands alone in their discography as despite having 2 albums and more worth of other material not much has resonated with me. After the records 2nd single really resonated with me I got my hopes up that this record may be a return to the bands high, but the result wasn't it.  First l...