Fluorine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_5b5BLT1CM
 
She's my #1 hope for great pop music in 2013. Everything she's teased us with so far has been truly amazing, and I'll be so sad if her full-length fails to deliver. (But there's virtually no chance of that happening, right?)
 
Earlier this year, I bought tickets to Coldplay just to see her and Marina open. ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_5b5BLT1CM
 
She's my #1 hope for great pop music in 2013. Everything she's teased us with so far has been truly amazing, and I'll be so sad if her full-length fails to deliver. (But there's virtually no chance of that happening, right?)
 
Earlier this year, I bought tickets to Coldplay just to see her and Marina open. ^_^

I have never heard some of these songs you're all talking about, and I think I need to do something about that. Are they on Tumblr/YouTube?

I just have the "Born To Die" iTunes deluxe, "LDR aka Lizzy," and both iTunes remix EP's ("Video Games" and "Blue Jeans"). I feel like a flop fan because my entire collection is digital, when I'm usually such a sucker for physical copies.
 
I'm definitely making sure I get the Paradise Edition on CD, though.

Awesome! I'm happy so many people are at least curious about her. Some of the "casual" searchers had to have been turned into fans, right?

Awesome! I'm happy so many people are at least curious about her. Some of the "casual" searchers had to have been turned into fans, right?

They're really incredible. I've been obsessed with "Fineshrine" since I got it free from iTunes, and (sadly) am only just now getting really into their stuff. I'm obsessed with their perfect bleeps and bloops!!!!
 
Like you said, Fluorine, the album works best as one listen--like Pitchfork said, it's a work that builds upon itself.

I'm really drawn to "For K Part 2." That little clarinet(?) sample adds so much creepy atmosphere.

Apart from "Bel Air" and maybe "Body Electric," nothing on "Paradise" is as haunting as the best moments on "Born To Die."
 
I'm not necessarily disappointed in the EP, since I like almost everything on it. It just doesn't get under my skin as much. "Born To Die" is one of those rare albums that can still give me chills long after the point I should have overplayed the thrill out of it. I'm not sure if "Paradise" will hold up the same way yet.

St. V is always a pleasure to see (I even ran into her at the Fiona Apple show!), Joanna blew my mind and needs to get her ass back on tour so I can see her again, and PJ is someone I had been wanting to see for many years before I finally had the chance last year. She was brilliant. Tune-Yards was really fun! It was a year before her second album came out, so she was playing a lot of those songs, but most of them didn't have names at the time. I would LOVE to see Leonard Cohen, but his tickets are SO expensive.
 
 
Great list! I actually saw Cate Le Bon opening for St. Vincent, but I didn't include openers because I can't remember all of them. Yeasayer, Daughn Gibson (I am OBSESSED with his album), Zola, Depeche Mode, and Bat For Lashes (hopefully she announces US tour dates soon) are all on my list of artists to see. So cool that you saw TLC too! I was obsessed with them when I was a kid!

I think it's "motel speed sprees." Like binging on drugs in a seedy motel.

"Roc Me Out" is a nod to her record label, Roc Nation. Rita Ora, her labelmate, has the similarly titled "Roc the Life."
 
The others are just slang/Twitterspeak.

I finally got to see my ultimate fave live for the first time last night.
 
We had 2nd Row seats along the left side of the "outer triangle," which was where she seemed to do the very best parts of the show! Well worth the wait, especially since she did my two "wishlist" songs that I've waited for YEARS to see ("Express Yourself" and "Open Your Heart"). The new songs really came to life, too, especially a stripped-down version of "Love Spent" and (somewhat surprisingly) GMAYL.

. 

And I'm a "Celestica," "Baptism," "Untrust Us," "Reckless," and "Intimate" kind of chick. You know, the ones with lots of layered synths.

This is really disturbing, actually. Kudos to you for rising above it.
 
PS) I would totally buy you a copy of the Paradise Edition if I knew there was no way it could get you in trouble.

19. When there's a war in your mind, just ride.

Thank. God.

Nice detective work!
 
Very interesting about the Nevada Reservation --- I bet that's where all the "Nevada" references come from, like the alternate title for LDRAKALG. That means we have one more part of her history that we know is grounded in fact.

I'm really drawn to "For K Part 2." That little clarinet(?) sample adds so much creepy atmosphere.

This one time--it was in Nevada if i recall--i was pole dancing while i was on meth and everything just looked so beautiful, you know, and it didn't even matter that my daddy's rich or anything because i'll always have Mr. Campbell. I guess when i think about it all, these memories and experiences seem kind of Lana related in a way, you know?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Uhm, i’ve just generally enjoyed the (fairly quick) journey of getting a few of my friends into Lana’s music because most of my friends (as well as i) don’t generally listen to a lot of pop stuff. I enjoy their reactions and enjoy playing the role of the their supplier. Pretty scant with the Lana related experiences/memories, i guess. None of these friends even live in my same state. And it's, like, three friends. Look, i'm an isolated person with very little human contact, okay? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

I don't mean that people shouldn't be allowed to be inspired by their own heritage. That makes for great art, too --- look at Lana's Americana obsession! Instead, I was taking issue with the stance that they should be limited to their own cultures when finding artistic inspiration, something that is quickly becoming impossible as the world globalizes.
 
For example, when a Japanese singer decides to make an R&B record, isn't that technically "cultural appropriation?" Hardly anyone would say so (I think), but that's where this line of thinking eventually ends up. So much of art is cultural theft, and I'm personally against telling people what "should" or "shouldn't" be used in art just because it may not be considered politically correct by everyone.
 
Besides, things like caricatures and stereotypes are far more damaging than someone from one culture borrowing from another because they find beauty in it, as Lana has done here. This creates a positive association, not a negative one.

I knew those bored/pressed social justice majors on Twitter and Tumblr would go after her for wearing that. Most of them aren't even from the groups they claim to get offended on behalf of, which makes them super tiring IMO.
 
I'm glad she's able to defend herself by explaining that it has personal significance to her, but those types need to realize that individualized "culture" is dead in our globalized society and the future is just one big blender. All modern art is appropriation, especially in the post-internet age.

I don't mean that people shouldn't be allowed to be inspired by their own heritage. That makes for great art, too --- look at Lana's Americana obsession! Instead, I was taking issue with the stance that they should be limited to their own cultures when finding artistic inspiration, something that is quickly becoming impossible as the world globalizes.
 
For example, when a Japanese singer decides to make an R&B record, isn't that technically "cultural appropriation?" Hardly anyone would say so (I think), but that's where this line of thinking eventually ends up. So much of art is cultural theft, and I'm personally against telling people what "should" or "shouldn't" be used in art just because it may not be considered politically correct by everyone.
 
Besides, things like caricatures and stereotypes are far more damaging than someone from one culture borrowing from another because they find beauty in it, as Lana has done here. This creates a positive association, not a negative one.

I can relate to this. Both of my parents are Cuban, i am ethnically 100% Cuban. Though i was born in America, i was raised in a Cuban household, learned Spanish before English, was immersed in a specific Cuban community, but i really haven't felt any connection with Cuban culture since i was very, very young. I have essentially had an American experience, that is, i am culturally American. And i have certainly gone through times when i didn't necessarily feel American either.
 
When it comes to identity, for me personally, the truth is that, as a white, middle class, heterosexual, cisgender male, it hasn't been important, it's not really an issue. Of course that's because it's not a necessity to me, being that i belong to the demographic that holds the most influence and power around the globe. I am of the dominant, privileged group. It's often an uncomfortable thing to negotiate and reconcile with myself. Fortunately, i don't feel the need to blame myself for these things that i was born into, and i'm still figuring out the different ways in which to think about my position in society, in the world.
 
It would be insane to believe that the world is only what i see and experience. Despite the amount of time i spend on it, i really, really, REALLY dislike the internet. It depresses me, it overwhelms me, it makes me feel hopeless, etc. One of the biggest factors in my feeling this way is seeing how homogenous things have gotten and keep getting, and the way that it all becomes so oversaturated, and so rapidly. Sometimes it seems that everything is melting into one, that the same things reach everyone, that everyone thinks the same, that everyone is the same person. Then i remind myself that there are always specific things--ideas, places, people, etc. that i gravitate toward, which are contributing to and shaping my limited reality. I am only exposed to a very small facet of culture and life. Most of us are. Humanity is so diverse, the human experience so varied, that it makes my head spin.
 
What's the point of all this? To all of us: get the fuck off of tumblr.