slang

Spotify, a user directed radio, has a fair amount of Bardot recordings. All you need is a facebook account to access the free (with commercials) streaming service. They don't have this album, but BB 1964 has the original for the LDR cover.

http://lanaboards.com/index.php?/topic/748-moije-joue-song/?hl=bardot&do=findComment&comment=14654 has other (and consistent/redundant) info to the interview based on PS tweets. I think they both deserve kudos for a fairly unrecognizable cover (extension, mutation, hommage, or whatever) of Brigitte Bardot's - Moi Je Joue song (1964?). The link below gets a video for Bardot's song, which seems quite different. LDR/PS song also samples Bardot's according to the post link I gave. I think that's likely but I'm no Bardot expert. The LDR/PS work seems solidly and deliberately produced (nice layers, interesting complex vocals). It's hard for me to believe it didn't come out as intended. While it's interesting to hear PS speak lowly of MJJ, I wonder if she's just trying to throw off interest in the track (meaning they do want to release it someday). This speculation is in the spirit of the words tattooed on LDR's right hand. As a WAG, Jealous Girl and Hit and Run could also have come from their sessions. Thanks for posting the interview.

My nerdly 2 cents: Sirens has at least 2 masterpieces (which are just songs I think are as good as her other “masterpieces”) and maybe 4 or 5 near misses. So Sirens would be an uncommonly good release relative to average, imo. It is a good example of her “colliding worlds” aesthetic, which I remember her mentioning in an interview (don’t know which one). That is, there are two meanings to the word “sirens”, one suggested by her moniker May *Jailer*, and songs like For K, and the other, of course, suggested by her and her face on the cover. Also some of the songs are both beautiful and tragic. While it can seem repetitive on one listen all the way through, the similar songs (for me) makes it harder to memorize, and perhaps the songs stay fresher longer for that reason. Sirens is an awesome contrast to what follows it (… AKA Lizzy Grant), both in song content and singing style. I don’t think the Jailer style of songwriting has left her. Not counting the unreleased songs in that style, Bel Air and Body Electric seem Jailer-ish, imo. As with … AKA Lizzy Grant, I wonder at the motivation for not having Sirens commercially available and/or I wish she would talk about it more.

Adele shows pop music isn't supermodel fixated, and granted Adele's voice is great and compensates her looks (which btw can sometimes be "hot"). However, Adele also sings in nostalgic R&B, which is neither too confrontational nor disturbing. Perhaps the comforting familiarity of her genre and her voice allow her to succeed (incredibly well). But what if Adele's song style (not her voice) hadn't been like that? Kate Bush may be interesting to consider. Her voice is as good as Adele's, and she's not too into obsessive love themes drawn from life experiences, so she might have written the same songs without supermodel looks. Did having those looks in her early career get her anything? Perhaps she could not have been as innovative/disturbing/challenging -- in pop music -- as she was, without them. Her physical beauty (including her voice) might have fixed mainstream attention long enough for the mainstream to appreciate the music. Or maybe her looks just allowed her to do what she wanted musically (for example, the non-commercial/avant-garde parts of Hounds of Love, although she still needed great pop songs there to succeed). When LDR is compared to Kate Bush (which happens sometimes), I take this to mean that LDR could be challenging/disturbing and have her looks/style sugar coat things long enough to be appreciated. The sexually charged nature of LDR songs is one way she might be "challenging/disturbing". However, another more interesting way, imo (and more in line with Kate, I think), is if she allowed songs like "Axl Rose Husband" and "Hit and Run" to co-exist on the same commercial CD. Or maybe she'll think of a different way to challenge and disturb, or maybe she'll become more conventional. Waiting on pins and needles to find out what happens.

I've never heard LDR say anything specific about Sirens. The closest I remember (don't have a source) was her referring to some material she brought to a bunch of labels, who then told her "it would never sell". Are there any good interviews with her specifically talking about Sirens? I voted AKA was better, but Sirens still made me love LDR's songwriting more, even after buying BTD and becoming familiar with AKA. I wish she'd release Sirens as is. If she's unsure of the quality, she could sell it digitally for a low price. I'm sure it would sell.

The Pitchfork interview snippet (posted earlier by burninparadise) says the leaked track was not the intended one, but rather a bad version of it. But if "My Bitch" really existed, and it was more in the style of AR's debut release (without the "cliched shit"), why wouldn't he have released it just to counter the leak? I'm thinking "My Bitch" is actually quite a bit like the leaked version, but he just couldn't make it fit his sense of the album. If Ridin is like My Bitch here are some idle speculations about why he may have felt awkward about it (based on about 2 listens of AR's release) : AR and LDR have significant rap parts in Ridin, whereas on the rest of AR's album other female "featured-artists" appear only as backing vocals/choruses/vocal beats. In contrast, featured male rappers actually get to rap (I think). Would this be giving LDR too prominent a role in the hip hop community? Ridin is happier (and cutesier) than most of AR's album (ironic given LDR's sadcore reputation). The song has a Kreayshawn catch phrase in AR's part ("one big room full of bad bitches", see Gucci Gucci and Bumpin Bumpin). Maybe he regrets that, although the nod to Kreay, given LDR's prominent rap, makes the song seem like a nod to female rapping in general (a good thing, imo). His release was pretty good without Ridin. But he should let Ridin go for a future LDR release. To my ears, it sounds mostly like her anyway.

Bird Condo King said: <I can't see a quote button, that post> "Honestly I think there are many casual fans that don't even know that she has had a released album under another name before, so I guess that I'm fine with the album never being re-released because it makes it special (I don't know if it makes sense)." Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette both have initial releases that they let go out of print. It didn't make them special; it just made them harder to hear. AKA should not be treated like that, imo. I just worry that not releasing AKA (as it was made) makes the wrong kind of statements, namely: the album was a failure, or that people that don't know it, won't like it, or that pop music should not be given the chance to go more that way.

This link backgrounds the strange case of this CD from perspective of 5 points: http://www.mtvhive.com/2012/01/30/lana-del-rey-first-album-5-points-records-interview/ It doesn't say why AKA disappeared, really. Member Myriam and Member IamThatGirlLily translated a recent French interview, which says something about why she doesn't re-release. I think I've quoted Myriam's but the link is to Lily's and Myriam's a little before it: http://lanaboards.com/index.php?/topic/1205-lana-covers-les-inrocks/page-2?hl=%2Bfrench+%2Btranslation&do=findComment&comment=29555 "Interviewer: Among these new songs, you chose to revive Yayo, one of the songs of your 2010 album under the name of Lizzy Grant. Will this album ever be re-released? LDR: Like I did for Yayo, I would like to redo certain songs like Kill Kill and Mermaid Motel. They mean a lot to me, they are the most autobiographical out of all the songs, my sprees to Coney Island … But I don’t like their production, I can’t re-release them as they are. I recorded them 6 years ago, an eternity… Yayo was a fundamental moment in my life, a trigger, my first video." Wanting to redo EVERY song on AKA might mean she wants to disconnect AKA's material from 5 points, but apparently it's just certain songs. I'd really hate to think that she'd leave any AKA songs behind. Also, I don't think Yayo was that much changed, supporting a disconnect idea. I'd hope she'd just redo what she wants and place it on new releases (like she's doing?). But I'd also hope she'd just let AKA resume at Itunes and Amazon right now. CDs would be nice, but if she's unhappy about it, maybe digital would be less painful. The original artwork and titles, something like "Lana Del Ray aka Lizzy Grant" copyright 2010 by Lana Del Rey, works fine for me, because it says it's not a new release, and historical accuracy is never bad, imo. If ever "May Jailer: Sirens" (2005?) were similarly released, people would realize that name changing is her authentic strategy (actually, it's the use of her real name that is inauthentic, LOL). To me a re-release of AKA is important. I want to get a legal copy, and a commercial buy says "hey, I like songs like this", and with enough of them the album can have an influence. For that reason, it matters more (to me, of course) that AKA have the chance to sell than whether it will sell a lot (rather douchey on my part, because it's not my career). One would also think re-releasing AKA (and releasing May Jailer) would make it easier for her to produce her leaks/unreleased catalog. She'd be less typecast to a style with her older stuff available commercially. And if she wants to produce newer stuff in parallel, who could complain about that!

Here's what the meanest US reactions were (according to the website below), as well as a counter from the same website with some nice reactions (including one from hipsterrunnoff, probably misinformed on that one, but the quote is nice). http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/26-meanest-quotes-from-reviews-of-lana-del-reys-n http://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyweber/13-nicest-quotes-from-reviews-of-lana-del-reys-ne I think we all agree she worked hard enough after her hype disaster that she can not be dismissed from pop music. I would say that some of the nasty reviews qualify as poor quality reviews (more about extra-musical issues than the music). Her response of letting the fans/marketplace defend her and not getting in the fray was the most appropriate. I don't think critics went as far as character assasination, but I do think personal attack is an appropriate description (I think she used those words in the recent German interviews, there are now two). Other than illuminati influence on the critics (LOL), I can't explain such reviews. Some other thoughts: The group of anti-fans is shrinking in number. The Paradise EP did not get dissed much. Both CDs are, in fact, charting right now. Touring is a complicated. At least in Europe she's touring with her boyfriend and travelling to exotic places. I don't think her not wanting to tour the US is a reaction to bad press. More like limiting an activity that is taxing. Also she did perform in the US before her "World" tour; she just didn't do it everywhere. Praise be to Youtube (and the fans that uploaded) for letting me experience some of it. Major pop artists seem to like/respect/recommend/tolerate her. They are on her side, not the critics. SNL performances were controversial and not bad. Saying they were bad, like it's a fact, isn't objectively true because at least as many people liked as disliked them. I for one went back to the SNL Blue Jeans (LanaDelReyVevo?) many times because I enjoyed it. Some critics even recognize this. A possible overreaction on her part, maybe, was changing her mind about re-releasing "... aka Lizzy Grant". If critical reaction did play a role, that would be a major bummer to me. I wish she would re-release that, and release May Jailer, and also put a dent in her unreleased/leaked catalog. It's the surest way to flip the bird at reviewers, who would get brain hemorrhages trying to figure out how to review them.