DanCastro

Another work in progress...not sure what to do with it xxx

 

Drunk editing, turned out pretty cool xxx

 

Queen of Twitter Instagram
  http://www.instagram.com/p/BIbyuK9DDHt

I listened to Lana Del Ray again tonight, for the millionth time-- my feelings haven't changed. This album is genius, and it definitely saddens me that Lana will likely never return to this set of aesthetics and style of music.
 
However, the genius of AKA is not *just* Lana. I give a sizable part of my respect for the album to David Kahne, as well. While Lana created killer melodies, lyrics, and concepts that would work extremely well under the guidance of any producer, Kahne had the perfect touch to push the songs from "excellent" to "god-like", in my opinion. 
 
It definitely deserves repeat listens-- some subtle flourishes Kahne brought in are best noticed after you've been bowled over a few times by Lana's handiwork with the stories told and pictures painted here. To me, the perfect example of Kahne's "Midas touch" on AKA is "Pawn Shop Blues". As evidenced by a live performance and a demo, PSB was a staggeringly beautiful, tender, and poignant track when Lana was doing it on her own. However, Kahne took it to another level-- while PSB in its raw state is mournful and brimming with sadness, Kahne's instrumentation gives it depth-- it goes from being a "sad" song to something better described as "bittersweet". With the angelic echoes and trembling guitars, Kahne doesn't detract at all from Lana's lyrics-- instead, he gives them deeper meaning and manifold facets. Pawn Shop Blues becomes, all at once, a hopeful look at living for a purpose outside of yourself, a melancholy assertion on the nature of love and loss, and a somber reminder of how one can lose it all for nothing. With these extra dimensions, the track becomes infinitely interesting, as it's hard to tell where the hope begins and the desperation ends. 
 
I'm rambling-- my point being, AKA is an absolutely genius record that I'll love 'til the day I die, and both David Kahne and Lana are geniuses for putting just the right elements in just the right places to create an album that is cohesive yet kaleidoscopic, and that has so many facets and subtleties that it demands repeat listens. Fabulous. Please continue sharing info and thoughts on AKA here, because it means the world to me and I want to know all there is to know about it!
 
Thanks for reading all this 

Firecracker Playlist

 



 

Heartbreak Galore Playlist

 

Drunk editing, turned out pretty cool xxx

 

Drunk editing, turned out pretty cool xxx

 

for one of my playlists

 

playing around

 



 

Just for laughs xx 

 

Drunk editing, turned out pretty cool xxx

 

WOW this is great! 

Demos cover

Sketched a still from lizzy index mag interview video always loved that look. only my second ever digital drawing or w/e so

omg this SLAYS, pls do more.  and i want this tattooed somewhere on myself 

was so nice to read those comments - thank you. I'm so self critical its what stopped me from drawing so it was encouraging to read that you liked it. I will totally try to do more although i much prefer traditional drawing to digital. I love looking at more obscure sources for material etc so they'll probably all be from homemade music videos / webcam selfies 

Another work in progress...not sure what to do with it xxx