Lav's Music Corner

I promise the rapid fire reviews are almost done. The next entire month is packed full of new releases I'm excited for and will be reviewing in full, but for the past few weeks I've mainly been playing catch-up before the year is halfway through. Euphoric Recall  - Braids Braids are an indie act that I've always been nicer to than most critics, at least dating back to their 2015 third album Deep In The Iris . Its follow-up five years later was even better and gave me plenty of reason to be excited for new music from the enigmatic trio, even if the four singles leading up to it didn't blow me away. Apple  is a song that grew on me over time. I love the beautiful vocalizations throughout but the short refrain it returns to over and over again never really did anything for me. The more I paid attention to the shifting tides of the instrumental the more I began to appreciate it. Evolution  has been the record's breakout hit of sorts and is already well on its way to bec...

playing w/ fire  EP - redveil Redveil is a Maryland rapper whose music I first became aware of last year when his Learn 2 Swim  album picked up some traction in online hip-hop spaces. I thought this project was decent and flashed some pretty serious potential but nothing about it begged me to cover the record in depth. So this year when Redveil ended up as the lone feature on the biggest underground rap album of the year so far, Danny Brown & Jpegmafia's Scaring The Hoes , it felt like an endorsement too big to ignore and I wanted to be sure to cover his next project. That project is this new EP which runs pretty scant at just 15 minutes across 6 tracks. It was preceded by a pair of singles which when combined with the grand sweeping opener stuck  makes for a dramatic first half of the project. Across this EP redveil is trying to show himself as a versatile talent and lead single giftbag is no exception as he sings the hook in a very Juice WRLD emo-rap flavored demean...

5.  Justify Your Life  - George Clanton Even though the issue I've always had with George's music, namely the songwriting, is still an issue on this song it might be one of my favorites he's made so far. I just can't deny the track's sunny, fuzzy disposition and rich assembly of instrumentation. Even if moments on the hook hit like a thud they quickly get blended into the gorgeous haze presented throughout the song.  Listen 4.  Time Ain't Accidental  - Jess Williamson This upcoming Jess Williamson album is quickly becoming one of my most anticipated of the year following last year's Plains  and one great single after another. This one isn't quite as instantaneous as the others but with each new subtle piece of instrumentation introduced accompanied by a string of memorable lyrics, it certainly worked its magic on me quickly.  Listen 3.  LIKED U BETTER  - Jeff Rosenstock The DIY king is back in action with a song that quickly ditches its acous...

PORTALS  - Melanie Martinez A few years ago when I reviewed Melanie's long-awaited sophomore album K-12  I called her a cult pop star because her dark and thematic songs attracted a cult following with the way they tackled adult subjects through childhood imagery, but they hadn't broken into the mainstream. In the years since however, Melanie's music has repeatedly gone viral and her fans have gotten a LOT louder. One thing that hasn't changed is my opinions on Melanie's first two albums. Crybaby  still deserves its cult status and probably deserves a lot more recognition in retrospect for how many indie and underground pop artists of today were clearly influenced by it. While her sophomore record K-12  is more inconsistent it's also rewardingly conceptual and the plotless but heavily stylized movie it was attached to is equally fun. In combination with those two albums and the fact that I still enjoyed the lead single DEATH  a good bit, I was fully anticipating...

KAYTRAMINE is a new collaborative project from producer KAYTRANADA who garnered massive critical acclaim for his electronica meets psychedelic debut album 99.9%  in 2016. and Amine a Portland rapper whose smooth flows and charismatic delivery have been charming fans since around the same time.  Review by Lav: To me, this album was a slam dunk. On top of loving the lead single, it also set me up with expectations that KAYTRAMINE  would be a collection of endlessly summery hip-house bops from Kay and Amine. While the actual album itself certainly isn't bad, it doesn't achieve the measure of consistency I was hoping for nor the specific style I anticipated.  In the album's defense, it does get off to a pretty strong start. Alongside the lead single 4EVA  is a strong opening song in Who He Iz  and a harder-hitting banger than I was anticipating in Westside . letstalkaboutit  is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for from the album with a glistening sunn...

I think it would be funny if this piece just included me reviewing all THREE of the projects Youngboy has dropped in the first half of the year but I already ruined it by covering the first one back in January, RIP.  WON'T HE DO IT  - Conway The Machine Griselda rapper Conway The Machine is on a hot streak. The first of his projects I formally covered was 2020s From A King To A God  which I thought was just okay but it didn't take long for him to one-up himself on the next year's mixtape La Maquina . He then turned around the very next year and dropped by far his best project to date and one of the best Griselda projects period God Don't Make Mistakes , so despite his prolific release schedule there was plenty of reason to be excited for this. Unfortunately, it becomes pretty clear on this record that Conway is serving up some form of leftovers with this tracklist as the songs feel consistently undercooked. The easiest place to tell is on the instrumental side of things...

This week had some VERY high-profile comebacks that I was pretty interested to dissect even though nothing sounded anything like I expected it to, for better or for worse. Enjoy <3 5.  Say Yes To Heaven  - Lana Del Rey Lana did the gays another favor this year by officially releasing a fan-favorite leak that's been floating around for a while. While this was never one of the Lana leaks I was totally head over heels for I'm glad she's putting it out in this capacity because it has the murky distinctive darkness of her Ultraviolence  era all over it. The gentle sway of the melodies and the practical visuals of the lyrics combine quite well.  Listen 4.  WHERE SHE GOES  - Bad Bunny I've been fooled too many times, I won't be late on Bad Bunny again. His new single is a pummeling cross-section of hip-hop and reggaeton that has hit written all over it, not just because of a star-studded music video either. Bad Bunny continues to use his beaming personality to ...