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veniceglitch

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Posts posted by veniceglitch

  2. Posted

    I'm so happy you made this thread, because I was considering bringing up the G/LDR comparisons in its own topic (hence my "Lana is the Shirley of our generation" post the other day).

     

    I still feel #1 Crush is a song Lana must be aware of and subtly shaped by. Garbage has been exploring this terrain of sex, psychological surrender, masochism, power, sadness, perverse joy, and outsiderdom for almost 20 years. Once LDR posted a screenshot of an analysis of their song "Supervixen," so I think she's a fan.

     

    Their song "Sugar" from the last record, Not Your Kind of People, is so, so Lana.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXe9OhTU-Gk&feature=kp

     

    Give me sugar
    Give me, something deep
    Don’t make a habit
    Of crawling on my knees
    But this is different
    Can’t you see I’m in control?

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  9. Posted

    4/5 Sputnikmusic. This site used to count for metacritic, not sure if it does now.

     

    http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/62789/Lana-Del-Rey-Ultraviolence/

     

     

    Looking back at Lana Del Rey's accomplishments since the release of 'Born To Die', a few poignant issues with her music have come to light for many listeners, including myself. At times, moments of BTD were weighed down by the sheer lyrical melodrama they carried; 'Summertime Sadness' and 'Carmen' coming to mind immediately. In other areas, overtly simplistic and crass songwriting restricted the capacity for songs like 'Diet Mountain Dew' and 'National Anthem' from properly prevailing as the ambitious attempts of carving out a unique and likeable sound for Del Rey's rapidly growing audience. It is in the memory of these songs that many view Del Rey's status as a musician as mediocre at best and rooted so deeply in her character to hardly be taken seriously. However, from this Marmite-like album, songs such as 'Video Games' and 'Lucky Ones' emerged; displaying Del Rey's strong capability at producing songs with striking vocal performances and memorable, even emotive hooks. Taking her music with a pinch of salt and progressing through to the later EP 'Paradise', we could see a more developed sound to her music. Songs like 'Ride', 'Gods and Monsters' and 'Bel Air' showcasing a more mature and focused approach to songs, with her stylised persona boasting some impressive vocal performances over more established melodies that gave 'Paradise' a greater sense of variety and reflection upon lyrical themes and instrumentation. But the inevitable pop influence that was rife in 'Born To Die' crippled 'Yayo', 'American' and the absolutely absurd 'Cola' - leaving only a few diamonds in the rough of 'Paradise', yet hope for the future as well. 
    I'm happy to tell you that Del Rey has delivered upon that hope.

    Having spent 2013 delving into the world of film, producing her own short film/EP combo 'Tropico' as well as 'Young And Beautiful' and 'Once Upon A Dream' for 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Maleficent' respectively, 'Ultraviolence' has been a little later than expected for many. From the very moment you hit play, the time taken appears to have been well spent by Del Rey gaining greater appreciation for instrumentation along with widening her own influences. This is best shown in songs such as 'Shades Of Cool', with its James Bond-esque lead guitar fantastically establishing mood; 'Old Money', hearkening back to the beautiful 'Video Games' with Del Rey's immersive and emotive vocals combined with a soft piano melody and even 'West Coast', despite its awfully invading synthesiser section. Very surprisingly, Del Rey is further allowing external instrumentation to become an integral part of her songs. As a consequence, structure has been drastically improved, not always escaping the inevitable 'Verse - Chorus - Verse - Chorus - Bridge - Extended Chorus' pattern, but disguising this pattern, where it appears, in a very satisfying and dynamic manner that gives the songs a very pleasant flow (something that many of Del Rey's previous songs simply did not have due to their overtly predictable nature). You'll hear more than a few guitar solos on this album, and when they do strike - they are soaked in the nostalgia that Del Rey is aiming for with 'Ultraviolence'. Reminiscent of 70s rock and the progression of popular American music at the time, the range is outstanding for Del Rey to have indulged in; resulting in some of the highlights of the album; the hypnotisingly psychedelic guitar flourishes on the title track, merging seamlessly with a no-longer dominant orchestra and Del Rey's siren-like vocals. Later on in 'Money Power Glory', soaked in reverb (much alike her vocals), the guitar wails out a tortured solo beneath the bridge, making much more of the opportunities that Del Rey often laid to waste in her previous releases. Maturity on this release is abundant and it is a very impressive thing to see after two releases of very similar content with only a slight inkling of progression into greater diversification at an unexpected scale for her genre and style.

    Unfortunately, her appreciation for guitar and synthesiser to enable the mood she aims for, painting herself as an elegant singer of the 60s and 70s; results in the tempo for the entire album only picking up from a pace so slow that it practically makes the drums irrelevant in 'Brooklyn Baby' and '***ed My Way Up To The Top'. In the title track, it works to an almost ritualistic effect albeit elsewhere it promises little other than a mild base for the guitar to lead Del Rey through the song; emphasised by the elegant 'Pretty When You Cry' and Del Rey's retro-aspiring cover of Nina Simone's 'The Other Woman'. However, with the drums still serving their part with some grace and overall suitability; Del Rey sails through 'Ultraviolence' with a spectacularly diverse vocal performance. Opening track 'Cruel World' sees her soar from the moody, sobering vocal style of 'Ride' to delirious heights during the later choruses. The title track (I'm sorry for bringing it up again, I just love it so much) showcasing her capacity for incredibly delicate and beautiful vocal melodies to interweave with its backing music; resulting in a brilliant climax that captures the mood of the song fantastically. This euphoric nostalgia is perpetuated by 'Shades Of Cool's exquisite and angelic choruses (as well as its groovy guitar solo finale), the dizzying pitch of 'Money Power Glory's vocal melodies and the shadowy atmosphere of 'Sad Girl' of Del Rey's reverb-laden lyrical delivery. You really get a sense of effort from Del Rey to push the envelope of her genre by working on her music as a whole as opposed to leaving the instrumentation to work as a separate element to her vocals, ultimately resulting in some very satisfying, memorable and finely tuned performances from Del Rey.

    But it's not all sunny in Del Rey's nostalgic world, the aforementioned vocal performances unfortunately suffer in some areas. The prime suspect of this hideously annoying crime is 'I ***ed My Way Up To The Top' - the line 'this is my show' firmly embedding itself in my subcranial cortex like a pickaxe wielded by a clown, to niggle at the back of my mind forever as a frustrating line I wish she'd never written, much alike 'Oh that face, it makes me want to party' from 2013's 'Young And Beautiful'. Whilst the majority of the poor performance decisions have been made on this song, arguably the one 'cool, I'm using the F word regularly!' song - Del Rey delivers a much stronger lyrical base with her femme fatale character, exploring many more concepts than 'Born To Die' and 'Paradise' ever did. 'Sad Girl' digging into a significantly dark place unfamiliar to many LDR fans - "Being a bad bitch on the side / It might not appeal to fools like you / Creeping around while he gets high / It might not be something you would do", 'Money Power Glory' capitalising on all that her character desires in a suitably glorious fashion, 'Old Money' challenging its predecessor 'Video Games' in a bold and earnest plea for love and cry of nostalgia - "Blue hydrangea, cold cash divine / Cashmere, cologne and hot sunshine / Red racing cars, sunset and vine / And we were young and pretty". Sometimes this persona is hard to take seriously, associating the 'cool' with the 'crazy' in 'Cruel World' and furthering this to alcohol consumption in 'West Coast' (featuring some particularly disappointing stock-quality lyrics in the verses. Seriously - 'You've got the music in you, don't you?' Seriously!?), almost boasting what she knows about the period she is attempting to emulate in 'Brooklyn Baby' - "I get high on hydroponic weed / And my jazz collection’s rare / I get down to beat poetry". Del Rey slips into her old ways momentarily on the title track in a spoken section that seems jarring with the introduction of a Spanish line - however, it is deftly made up for by the final lines fitting the overall tone in a fantastic manner that seduces you into Del Rey's fixation with her 'cult leader' (who happens to be named Jim. Jim Jones/Jonestown, anyone?). On the whole; Del Rey delivers a much more mature and thoughtful reflection on her own life, love, struggle in prose that seamlessly fits the nostalgic 60s and 70s mood.

    'Ultraviolence' blew me away. I did not expect anything even close to the level of dynamism and progression that can be found across its eleven tracks (with an extra three bonus tracks I discarded for clarity but they're not bad) - producing some very memorable, catchy and meaningful songs that really belong to Lana Del Rey and not the image that she perpetuated so sharply and ignorantly in 'Born To Die' and 'Paradise'. There is an honesty in 'Ultraviolence' that I never thought I'd see from Lana Del Rey. There is experimentation that proves very successful in crafting a simultaneously delicate and poignant release. And there is an unflinchingly confident thing about this album that gives me hope for her future releases.

    Choice Cuts:
    Ultraviolence
    Shades Of Cool
    Pretty When You Cry
    Money Power Glory
    Old Money

    1

  11. Posted

    Garbage - #1 Crush

    NIN - Right Where It Belongs

    Hole - Doll Parts

    Portishead - Sour Times

    Nick Cave & Kylie - Where The Wild Roses Grow

    Mamas & Papas - California Dreamin'

    The Zombies - Time of the Season

    The Turtles - Happy Together (or You Showed Me)

    House of The Rising Sun

     

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  13. Posted

    I need more distance to give a fair answer, but right now Ultraviolence is serving as a sonic baptism for me and I am totally shattered by it. 

     

    Born To Die was the essential provocative pop riddle/paradox needed to first ingratiate the public. Now Lana has permission to do anything she wants, and she damn well may be able to bring guitars back into vogue with this record. Who would have thought?

     

    Anyone who doesn't feel her visceral power as a woman, poet, and human being on UV isn't even listening. 

    4

  14. Posted

    Really enjoying the Garbage-meets-Fiona-meets-Portishead essence of Sad Girl right now so voted that as my favorite, though I know it will fluctuate.

     

    The Other Woman is just a bit too Million Dollar Man jazz karaoke for me. But I think that's just a style bias on my part.

     

    Guns & Roses is pretty monotonous but there's something hypnotic about it, almost shoegaze-y.

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  15. Posted

    Kitty Empire 3/5

     

    http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/15/ultraviolence-review-lana-del-ray-more-same

     

     

    Ultraviolence review: Lana Del Ray delivers more of the same

     

    When navigating the shifting shallows that form the Lana Del Reyproject, it helps to remember that all pop is a fiction. Lana Del Rey – as distinct from her alter ego, Elizabeth Grant – is a character, the socialite gone wrong. Blessed with moneyed roots and a good orthodontist, the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" chooses the more dissolute path of bad men and great parties with detours to trailer parks. Del Rey sang about these bittersweet compromises on the massive, 7m-selling Born to Die in a breathy, opiated way; a detached but often trenchant observer of her own fall.

    Buy it from amazon-factbox.gif
    1. Buy the CD
    2. Download as MP3
    3. Ultraviolence.jpg
    4. Lana Del Rey
    5. Ultraviolence
    6. Polydor Group
    7. 2014
    1. Tell us what you think:Rate and review this album

    If you were looking for role models in her follow up, you would be advised to look away. She isno feminist, Del Rey, or a particularly deep thinker, although she is an accomplished vocalist, visualist, dramaturge and scene-setter. Tropico, Del Rey's between-album amuse-bouche, was a short film in which Adam and Eve land up in contemporary LA in a baffling riot of imagery. But as a writer, Del Rey could not imagine Eve as anything other than a virgin who becomes a pole dancer.

    "He hit me and it felt like a kiss," she quotes the Crystals on the title track, a moll numbed to the pain, "filled with poison and blessed with beauty and rage." She is – yes – pretty when she cries, avers Pretty When You Cry. "I'm a sad girl/ I'm a bad girl," muses a mistress on Sad Girl. By Money Power Glory, Del Rey is finally rousing herself from her alluring sprawl on the poolside chaise longue to demand something other than a cad's appreciation. "I wanna take them for all that they got," she reveals, adding the double-crossing minx to her list of antediluvian female tropes.

    So no new roles for women here. The title is exceptionally problematic. If, however, we can cope with the idea that Del Rey's second album is about a slumming deb who moves out to California, then it delivers mightily on that premise. The opening track, Cruel World, may overstay its welcome slightly at six-plus minutes, but it sets the scene: guitars chime sonorously, a relationship is over and Del Rey is multitracking Mazzy Star and Nico – cooing, soaring and exuding. "Get a little bit of bourbon in ya/ Go a little bit suburban and go crazy," she intones, as drums echo around her.

    Del Rey may continue to say "wit' you" rather than "with you", but if anything, UV sounds less contemporary than its predecessor, turning down the urban references and turning up the orchestral noir. The aforementioned Sad Girl is a jazz number, a genre to which Del Rey's voice is fabulously suited. Much has recently been written aboutBrooklyn Baby, her portrait of a sulky hipster that could be either homage or take-down: it really is hard to tell. "My boyfriend's in the band/ I get high on hydroponic weed," she pouts.

    The bad news is that the most accomplished track from Ultraviolencehas been out for some time. The engaging West Coast improves on every hearing, a clever two-in-one track rich with detail, rhythm, atmospherics and class. It's hard to gauge the input of producer Dan "Black Keys" Auerbach here, a man more skilled at focusing energy rather than diffusing it. He's working against type, as Ultraviolenceprefers to glide and swoop and reverberate around an idea rather than ramming it home. Even though there are half-a-dozen high points here, the stylistic shifts that kept Born to Die complicated are missing. The end result is stylish and cogent but, as a consequence, perhaps a teensy bit samey.

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  18. Posted

    The science of the P4K score is that the staff collectively votes on the score, and then the assigned writer reviews it. This is why sometimes a positive review can have a mediocre score, and vice versa. That said, I know some of the P4K writers and they've been snarky on their private Facebooks, so I'm not expecting generosity, open-mindedness, or general humanity from them.  I'm also concerned Maura Johnston is going to write a review for one of her many publications. She's been mocking the new era on her Twitter and seems bitter that other critics are warming to her. The girl-on-girl hate is just too f*cking high school, it's almost South Park-worthy.

    0

  23. Posted

    I REALLY wish this had been the full-context quote on feminism that the press would pick up on. Sigh. She's so articulate here, and it just confirms my belief that she's both intensely intelligent and intensely combustible. She's always going to have a tough time in this business. "Am I meant for this world?" Chills.

    0

  25. Posted

    "Black, white, blue" in National Anthem, which makes NO sense, but I like it.

     

    In Jump, I always wear "Hair thinning in the wind, Cadillac convertible we're in" as well as "You got the grin of a very hollow man."

     

    There's plenty more, but these sprang to mind.  :brows:

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