[Reaper16]

8. Lazerbeak – Lava Bangers

It feels weird to me putting this album this high. It’s just a beat tape, after all. But it’s a Lazerbeak beat tape, which helps explain its placement. Lazerbeak is one of Doomtree’s two main producers, and he’s absolutely a top 5 producer in all of hip-hop. Dude makes ****ing killer beats. Lava Bangers is an album of short instrumental sequences that Lazerbeak made, with no one rapping over them. I don’t know a lot about the various genres of electronic music. All I know is that I listened to this CD more than any other album this year. This is a list of favorites, right? I'd say this album is a heavy favorite. Each of these tracks are ****ing awesome, but the real magic lies in the sequencing. From the start of the album to the finish, this is phenomenally, perfectly sequenced. This feels like a true album. Some of the song combos are especially transcendent; the track “Smash Hit” leading into “LRL” is a top 5 musical moment of the year for me. Go drive around to this. Go exercise to this. Do anything in your life ever to this album, because it’s ****ing great.