Vertimus

There's a jazz musician called Greg Abate who wrote and produced a longish jazz number also called 'Buddy's Rendezvous,' but I can't find the year it was released. Didn't someone report here that 'Buddy's Rendezvous' was an actual place, an old-fashioned nightclub or bar, in, I think, Michigan? It certainly sounds like the name of an out-of-the-way nightclub frequented by the cognoscenti. I grew up in South Florida, and, at the time, there were several places like that in the middle of nowhere; they didn't want to attract tourists, the average person, or too many locals.

I forgot to mention all the songs written and produced for BB/RCW that she suddenly dropped from the album, and reconfigured it with the older tracks ('Living Legend, etc.) and then released it as BB. So there's the 'bombastic' songs she recorded with JA but hasn't released, the 'political' songs cut from LFL, and now at least a handful of recorded songs from 'Rock Candy Sweet' that were dropped when it was reconfigured as BB. AND whatever else Lana has floating out there about which we know nothing.

That could all be. She really never made her "revenge" album, though there is a little revenge on BBS and WFWF, against her critics and her mother. And there's the "bombastic" songs she made with JA but never released. To beat a dead horse, there's all the "political songs" that never made it to LFL. Let's hope she's creating all-new music with JA and whatever other producers, if any, she's currently working with. I can't help but see some comparisons to Tori Amos's long career, in which many of Amos's best songs were cut from the albums they were intended for at the last minute and ended up in limbo until released much later on compilations, or leaked. During COVID, Amos wrote and recorded a new album and then decided that "this is not what the world needs now!", and so wrote and recorded an entirely new album, which she released about 8 months ago, the mediocre 'Ocean To Ocean.' I'd love to hear the one she adandoned. On principle, I support whatever Lana does, but it seems the more we know about her actual writing and recording processes, the more exhausting it all gets sometimes.

Maybe we're completely mistaken to believe that LDR9 is in the works at present; maybe it's one of the 'side projects' she's going to release next. Since JA produced the first poetry album, perhaps they're working together on the second. Or it could be the American Standards album, which I can certainly see her father participating on, since at least some of the songs would likely be from his own youth. Imagine a double album of American Standards and Folk classics. I'd love to see how Lana tackle some authentic jazz standards with brass, and go into torch singer mode again, which suited her so well on 'Yayo' and 'Wait For Life.' Whenever LDR9 arrives, I hope it's scorching, but I can't help feel that it will continue in the 'mature' mode of COCC and BB, though that doesn't necessarily mean piano ballads or acoustic songs a la 'Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost.'

That's a beautiful song and he sings it very seductively, especially the outro.

That's the scuttlebutt. I don't think anyone has proof of that, and the rumor was probably started by one of the 'insiders.' It's just as possible that she had the 'master' files, or what passed for the master files, and just released those without remastering them or otherwise tinkering with them. Many of us had copies, why wouldn't she?

I didn't know some already have it, though of course that makes sense. It seems to me impossible that it will not leak.

Are they being released simultaneously, or will the physicals follow after 1-2 months?

How soon can we expect Buddy's Rendezvous? It's almost April. Has Lana's version been pushed back until the physical copies are released?

So what about the ‘Paris’ post someone made yesterday?? Were we supposed to realize that was bunk or a joke?

It was also a huge city for hippies and 'The Summer of Love,' as well as one of the first gay meccas with the Castro district, and it was also an important city for Alfred Hitchcock, who set 'Shadow of a Doubt,' 'Vertigo,' and 'The Birds' in the city proper, or in the immediate area. 'Vertigo,' his most critically-acclaimed film, utilized the urban landscape, its steep streets, cablecars, and the Golden Gate Bridge more than the other two.

It seems odd she would release 'Paris' aka 'Take Me To Paris' now. It's hardly one of her most memorable songs, unless she's reusing the name. If she is, let's hope it's not a bad copy taken off Youtube. The other song, is it the one made famous by Brigitte Bardot? Hardly an 'American standard.' Could it be the cover song from a new album, the one cover song? It's pretty upbeat.

I think Lana can only go so far into the "[Despite my wealth] I want to live a happy, comfortable middle class life of television, malls, green tea macchiatos, and yoga with my friends and family" with losing her Stans and alienating the rest of her public. But she may not care about that. Maybe she'll do it brilliantly.

Personally, I didn't find BB emotionally or lyrically heavy, except for WFWF, and even it has a great catharsis at the end that released a lot of energy. Part of the reason BB is one of my favorites of Lana's is that it's fairly light---'Arcadia,' 'Beautiful,' 'BBS,' 'IYLDWM,' 'VFR,' 'SC'--these are new songs, or new to us, and each, to me, shows a lot of strength and decisiveness. 'Dealer' is not heavy to me---I find it somewhat comic and bordering on being a novelty song--and the four older songs are sensitive but powerful statements; only 'NOTG' leaves her feeling 'lost,' but her clarity in this state doesn't leave me feeling so. Likewise, 'TB,' to me, seems to come from a position of strength, whatever was going on in her life that she's alluding to. Unlike some others, I don't interpret "Let's rewrite history, I'll do this dance with you/You know I'm not that girl, you know I'll never be/Maybe just the way we're different could set me free/There we were, screamin' "Black Lives Matter" in the crowd/By the Old Man River, and I saw you saw who I am" negatively. So that leaves the title track, which I don't care for, and admittedly reflects an emotional disappointment and period of sorrow in her life. So if LDR9 is like BB the album, great. I loved COCC, but BB was more energetic and lively, and I wouldn't want another album as subdued as COCC for LDR9. If I had to chose between NFR!, COCC, and BB for the general sound of LDR9, I'd easily chose BB.

Close!

What about HIAB and it’s “rabbit in the alley wew who who”? For me, HIAB is Lana’s worst released non-cover track.

I'm indifferent to JA, though I admire his work on 'Solar Power.' 'Bleachers' doesn't do anything for me. I didn't find his production great across NFR. It was much better, I thought, on COCC. BB proved to me she can do better without him, or at least as good. I'd prefer she move on, personally. Of course I will accept whatever choices she makes.

Thanks, GLF. That makes sense. Still, what a reservoir of 'drafts' to pull from she must have. I wonder if the 'political songs' she's mentioned that she cut from LFL were finished, and will ever see the light of day, in some way?

Yeah, that's my sense as well, that if she wrote 100 odd new songs, some of them had to have been reworked for her next three albums. She seems to have an incredibly large pool of unreleased songs to chose from, many of which we have no idea of whatsoever.

'Ethereal' was a clever choice of words on Rob's part, because it is such a subjective word, and can mean almost anything (within limits). Now we know where Lana gets her broad, often inaccurate, descriptive ability when it comes to describing her own forthcoming albums. Question: did Lana say she wrote over 100 songs for LFL, or did she say she actually produced 100, or some part of a 100? I hadn't heard that. That's pretty impressive, whatever the facts were, if true.

The piano ballad being strong (good) or weak (bad) depends on the melody, as I see it. 'Old Money' had a beautiful melody, striking, dramatic lyrics, and a 'committed' vocal, so it was fantastic. And the same is true of the Paradise version of 'Yayo,' though I know many here prefer the original. The melody of 'Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems' is beautiful, and, at least for me, the song works. 'Change,' on the other hand, could have used a lot more work and better phrasing ('human be-ins' always stings my ear). It was last-minute and rushed, and sounded that way. And in this case, the obvious roughness didn't add anything. 'Violets For Roses,' for me, is one of my Top 5 of Lana's released songs--again, it's something like 'fully realized' and the melody is beautiful. So many of Lana's songs are piano-based; it's the first instrument we often hear, and probably partially how she composes. Like so many members, I'd like something edgier at this point, something more dynamic and energetic. Since her 'revenge' album didn't materialize (much) with BB, maybe we'll hear some of those outtakes on LDR9. Fat beats indeed. Exactly.

I agree that "every [LDR] album has a highlight." Today, most artists have 2-3 good songs out of 10 to 12 (and some 0 out of 12), and it's always been that way to some degree for most artists, for a long while. Lana has had a much higher 'quality' rate per album than most. I try to curb my disappointment by not expecting more than 3-4 tracks I really like on any upcoming LDR release, but I loved all of BB except one track, and all of COCC except one track. I think we're all deeply tied to her personality and emotional expression---she's the perfect anima figure for us-- deeply wounded, but strong, resilient, sometimes profound, struggling towards balance, and with a Romantic point of view, which is key for me. I'm amazed at how even presumably unfinished songs like 'If I Die Young' and 'French Restaurant' affect me. If Lana didn't exist, we would have had to invent her.

Personally, if Lana is moving or evolving in an organic fashion, then I see her steering away from non-traditional genres, which isn't to say that's what I'd like her to do. Looking back, after 'Honeymoon,' I'm surprised she wrote and produced 'Serene Queen' at all at that stage of her career. I'd definitely like to see something livelier, like 'Serene Queen,' but does she still want to project the kind of images those lyrics and music suggest? It doesn't seem so. Her age may be a factor, if she's maturing. It seems she doesn't want to portray herself as a 'triple-headed goddess' anymore, but someone looking for someone else to walk home from the mall with. And watch "tv."

I had a dream that it was about 10 years in the future, and Lana was a regular cast member of a 'Real Housewives of Southern California' show.

Actually, Lana covering Leslie Gore's 'California Nights,' with its weird, 'atonal' notes that go sideways, would be awesome.