Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lav: Idles' first two albums get better every time I hear them. They were capable of conjuring a sheer blunt force intensity that felt completely unmatched and I got hooked on the adrenaline rush that came along with listening to their music. It's probably no coincidence that my favorite songs from their following two albums Model Village  and Car Crash , are the ones that most resemble that initial sound. To be fair to the band I don't think their 3rd or 4th albums are bad but too often it felt like their quest to expand their sound came up empty and the best moments saw the band relying on old staples. After coming away from the singles on this record pretty mixed I wasn't really sure what to expect from this new batch of tracks. Unfortunately, even though the potential they always flash is still there, this isn't exactly an improvement from the band. The trio of singles from this record left me pretty confused. Dancer  features James and Nancy from LCD ...

5.  The Dream Of Delphi  - Bat For Lashes I was already a Bat For Lashes fan and even I wasn't prepared for this. Hearing her step further than ever before into this specious opulent dreamy landscape is very compelling and her vocals are ready to meet the moment. By the time reaches it's eerie shimmer of electronic instrumentation and the fluttering nature sounds on its way out it feels entirely beyond what I thought Bat For Lashes Was capable of.  Listen 4.  All The Same  - The Voidz Never accuse The Voidz of being predictable. After releasing a hard-hitting, blistering hard rock jam last year of course the band would shift focus to an electronic-tinged autotune ballad for All The Same . In a new era that's bizarre even by their standards, this might be the strangest song yet. Even though it doesn't blast you away with any truly random sounds is does seem to jangle it's way through a number of seemingly easy listens that get fed through The Voidz filter and com...

I've had people ask me in the past why some of the biggest rap albums around always get lumped into rapid fire reviews. The main reason is that most of them are supremely boring and trying to conjure full reviews on almost any of them would be impossible. An even better reason is that they are so god damn long it's fucking ridiculous. And unlike some of the good long albums I've covered in recent years so many of these records trail over the same territory over and over. So once again, here are some reviews of big rap albums that I don't have the time or patience to cover in full. INSANO  - Kid Cudi I haven't liked anything Kid Cudi has done in a LONG time. There's a spare track or two off of his 2016 album Passion Pain & Demon Slayin  that I thought were pretty good as well as a few Kids See Ghosts songs I think are okay. But for the most part I haven't come away from a Cudi record with positive feelings since literally the first Man On The Moon . I tho...

*mwah* 5.  I'm A Man  - Kim Gordon It seems like the uncompromising nature of the first single from this new Kim Gordon album was no accident. This second single is arguably just as intent to grab you by the throat and hold on tight. The instrumental once again featured rattling drums and rumbling bass but it's even more brash in its presentation. While the refrains here aren't quite as catchy as its predecessor they arguably set up for even more intense moments.  Listen 4.  Brown Paper Bag - DIIV In a world where a lot of music fans were excited for other things. I was hyped for the return of one of my favorite shoegaze outfits of the 2010s. DIIV's new lead single certainly fits in with the sound and style I was expecting to hear, but in a sense, that's why I'm not head over heels for it. While the slowed down and heavier demeanor is welcome, sonically parts of this song still feel like the band leaning into what they know they can do well. It's hard to see...

Prelude To Ecstasy  - The Last Dinner Party Last year, one of the most talked about debut albums of the year was Chappell Roan's The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess . While I wasn't nearly as crazy about the record as most fans. seemingly all of those fans have immediately shifted directly into The Last Dinner Party this year. Because the appeal seems to have translated so vividly into yet another new artist I didn't want to miss the chance to cover this one in better time. One thing that translates over from Rise And Fall  is the sheer drama of absolutely everything. The baroque pop instrumentation across the opening intro and even the early stages Burn Alive  are reminiscent of The Anchoress at her most expansive or Marina at her most melodramatic. Moments like that are contrasted hard by songs like Caesar On A TV Screen  which begins like an Angel Olsen ballad before bouncing into something much dancier. But even though I like the song it's an example of ...

Review by Lav: Chelsea Wolfe is an artist whose music I've enjoyed for a long time, though I feel like I haven't gotten to review her at her best yet. I thought her 2019 album Birth Of Violence  was just okay and though I enjoyed her Converge collaboration more it featured less of the hallmarks of Chelsea's music than her own material. That's why I was so excited for She Reaches Out  which featured some of my favorite of her singles to date. The album that resulted is cohesive but still impressively distinct and the best thing Chelsea Wolfe has dropped in a long time.  Describing the singles from this record as "good" honestly kind of feels like an understatement, they're fantastic. Lead single Dusk  serves as the closing track and it's still remarkably good. I can't think of many other tracks that manage to be this chilling and occasionally obtuse while also being so irresistible and well-written. The album opens with another single I loved Whispe...

Review by Lav: Little Simz has EASILY been one of my favorite artists of the 2020s so far. The intense and lyrically sharp rapper kicked the decade off with her impressive Drop 6  EP which I liked a good bit and landed on my EPs of the year list at the end of 2020. But following that project she kicked it into another gear. In 2021 she dropped her masterpiece Sometimes I Might Be Introvert which would easily land among my favorite albums of the decade so far. She followed it up with the more direct and also pretty impressive No Thank You  just over a year later. Now she's returning to the EP format for a series of shorter songs that see her working out some impressive new directions. The most defining shift on the album is a turn towards darker beats and stiff drum machine. That starts right out of the gate with Mood Swings  which sees Simz matching that sonic palette with a quieter but still intense delivery. It frequently erupts out of that sonic style only to return to...