Lav's Music Corner

This time around on the week starting episode of rapid fire reviews it's time to dance with some she's and they's that I meant to review earlier in the year but never got the chance. Like the trap rendition I'm hoping once again to have another rendition of this specific format later in the year, tbd. Ultimately I was just happy to finally catch up to some of these albums that the girlies have been talking about for months.  Dancing With The Devil...The Art Of Starting Over - Demi Lovato I was always aware of Demi Lovato during the child star phase but not being a Disney Channel die hard I never really experienced any of their music or movies from that era. Since then I've always been loosely cognizant of Demi the pop star and TMZ headline grabber but not nearly as dialed into the music. After some extremely traumatic personal battles Demi had a triumphant comeback at last years Grammy's debuting the single Anyone  with a belting performance. Given that the song...

The best new tracks released this weekend below: 5.  The Unanswered Why  - William Doyle Following up his pretty solid album earlier this year former East India Youth frontman William Doyle announced a new EP this week and dropped a charming little lead single with this track. It ups the tempo from his standard outing but doesn't lose any of the poise with pleasant strumming electric guitar and sharp refrains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv1hF7dWYYI 4.  Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To  - Courtney Barnett Courtney's most recent single may be the most nondescript so far but that doesn't stop her from effectively capturing the breezy indie rock vibe that she's always been known for. The song has a slinky reverbed guitar lick and a swaying momentum that lulls you in from the very start.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTrdzqGHqu4 3.  Incendio  - Arca Arca came out of nowhere to drop a new track that deals in many of her typical stylistic lan...

Poppy is a Youtuber, singer, songwriter and wrestler? Not really. She is a genre and medium fuser known for elaborate visuals that connect to her music and a sound that blends together bubbly electronic synth pop and brash pummeling punk and metal. Flux  is Poppy's 4th studio album and follows an extremely prolific run dating back to last years I Disagree  which included a few EP's and a soundtrack album.  Review By Lav: You guys should be used to me talking about Poppy by now. I enjoyed her music during her distinctive synth pop era which saw her breaking into the music business after a pretty unique stint on YouTube. I enjoyed her sound once she started to push into heavier and heavier territory, and I really enjoyed her sound once she threw everything against the wall on a true experimental rock EP in 2019 . While I think it's nearly impossible to cover absolutely everything Poppy has had her hands in over the past 16 months or so I have at least heard all of it and tr...

Public Service Broadcasting are an English instrumental and progressive rock band known for their highly conceptual albums which in their early days made heavy use of recordings that were available on public record. Their breakout project was 2015's The Race For Space  a concept album that used instrumental passages and a myriad of audio recordings to tell the story of the cold war era space race across the record. They followed it up in 2018 with an even more narrative focused record following the collapse of the British mining industry. Review By Lav: This band has always felt like a little secret of mine. Sure they get more press in England than over here in the states but plenty of indie acts have managed to cross the Atlantic and achieve strong fanbases here. For some reason Public Service Broadcasting never seemed to have the level of acclaim that their highly conceptual and unique albums warranted. I liked their debut but The Race For Space  really blew me away a few ye...

Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine are a pair of signees to Sufjan's Asthmatic Kitty Records label. After releasing two decades of his highly acclaimed indie folk records on the label, Sufjan signed Angelo for the release of his 2nd album and to open for him on tour. Now the duo are collaborating for the most recent in a string of experimentations, side projects and collaborations that Sufjan Stevens has undertaken in recent years. Review By Lav: Like most fans of indie music I went through a pretty big Sufjan phase in my life. Somewhere between The Age Of Adz  and Carrie & Lowell  I took a deep dive into his catalog and fell in love with a number of his records. While I haven't quite been head over heels for a lot of what Sufjan has done in the years since Carrie , there is an understanding that a lot of the projects are one time experiments that see him pursuing his creative passions outside the world of indie folk, indietronica and folktronica and probably shouldn...

The five best new tracks released this weekend below: 5.  Big Energy  - Latto Latto's most recent banger is built around a feature of Tom Tom Club's Genius Of Love , yes you heard that right. It uses the songs indelible key phrase as the base for an impressively sung hook while Latto attaches her trademark charisma to the verses all themed around the title concept. It's like a more mainstream and more danceable version of Shygirl's BDE  from earlier this year.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GpG8C0YzA 4.  Nightfall  - Explosions In The Sky The best track so far from post-rock outfit Explosions In The Sky's new PBS affiliated soundtrack album is a short dreamy cut. It kicks off like a lullaby before driving into a wonderfully slinky and atmospheric conclusion, all in under two minutes.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FghKzKLgBlU 3.  U+Me  - alt-j Despite their extended break alt-j still sound just like themselves with an exciting and instr...

Clarence Clarity is a British singer and electronic music producer known for his bright, loud and detailed take on electronic music whose rise to fame slightly pre-dated hyperpop's peak in popularity, and occurred alongside frequent collaborator Rina Sawayama's. VANISHING ACT  follows his 2019 ambient album Dead Screen Scrolls  and his 2018 sophomore record THINK: PIECE . Review By Lav: Clarence Clarity is like my grade school crush of music. His exciting brand of experimental electronica completely wowed me on his 2015 debut and his adaptability in the pop music sphere with his 2nd album and work alongside Rina is just as impressive. After he dropped a pretty compelling ambient album last year I had to ask myself if there was anything Clarence couldn't do. I was pretty curious going into this EP if he would continue the trend he started on his 2nd album of taking his sound in a brighter more poppy and straightforward direction, or deep dive back into the insane experimenta...