Monicker

So often when i read interviews with her i get this image of someone gawking at her with furrowed brows, probing her with a stick, looking underneath her, turning her over, spinning her around, tapping her, asking aloud, "What is it? What do we do with this?" I find the underlying attitude toward her in a lot of interviewers really tiring. Maybe i'm just misreading them though, i don't know. Does anyone get this impression?

Hmm, that seems plausible. Maybe we should ask evil about this? He probably had similar experiences when he was first learning about the internet. I bet he could provide some insight into the thought process of old people.

Nice. I learned how to sing from a decade+ of obsessively listening to/studying The Beach Boys (though i still can't pick apart their harmonies). This is such a great way to learn, singing along, in a mindful and kind of analytical way, to an artist with whom you're really familiar. It may be a slower process than traditional methods, but it's a great, indispensable teacher. It goes for music in general too--nothing is a better music educator, i think, than just obsessively listening (critically) to records.

I don't really either. This place might implode in a matter of days.

Well, you see, you may not have noticed but there are a couple of new arrivals who appear to be spreading their seed quite thoroughly.

^ Yeah, totally. You guys would be publicly getting into the bootleg business and jeopardizing the entire forum. Think about this, kiddies. Though i'm not too worried--i really doubt that any of these companies/websites are going to fulfill your order.

You don't need to ask. Pressing mp3s on a record (and i'm guessing this site is using cheap vinyl because it's for self-published stuff?) is pointless. It is not in any way taking advantage of the medium. And as theFuture noted, music has to be mastered differently/specifically for vinyl, which they would not be able to do even if they offered that service (which they wouldn't at that price). Regarding time length, it's not like an actual limitation the way it is with the amount of data/time that can physically fit on a CD-R--you can technically press a long album on a 12" but the more music you put on it, the more the quality suffers. So it's not that it can't be done, it's just not done for a good reason. I advise you all not to waste your money on this unless you’re doing it solely for the novelty of having your own personal copy of a quasi-unreleased album on a big, black plastic disc, which seems to be the case, so i guess carry on. Oh yeah, and then there's copyright issues...

256 kbps mp3 quality with lots of surface noise from (probably) low grade vinyl that will probably already come slightly warped and have a lot of anomalies

Naw, i wouldn’t go that far and say that i corrected you. We’re just talking and exchanging ideas here. You stated your opinion, i disagreed with it and i explained why. Your opinion is no less valid or correct than mine or anyone else’s. And no need to apologize for your post, haa. Continuing on this subject though, because i think there's a lot of good stuff to talk about here, something i love so much about Lana Del Rey is how much of a ‘90s/early 2000s kid she is. Nirvana, Britney Spears, Guns N' Roses, Biggie Smalls, but with that very crucial component of having one foot planted firmly in the past, and all the inspirations and obsessions that come along with that--Elvis, Americana, old Hollywood, etc. She’s a little too old to have grown up with the internet and YouTube, but she’s still very much a product of it. That is just so apparent in all her homemade videos. And part of that is the whole webcam aesthetic: kids sitting in their poorly-lit room in front of the computer, un-self-consciously hamming up the camera, knowing you’re alone in your room, that no one is looking, you’ve got your ridiculous wigs on and you’re dancing like a fool. There are no pretenses there about the “right” lighting and camera angles and even picture quality. Forget that, leave that to the people who already shot the footage that she’s stealing and splicing into her videos. And i even love the fact that rather than, say, scouring for old VHS videos at the library and thrift stores, she just gets the footage directly off of YouTube, including the atrocious quality and compression artifacts. It’s like she’s wearing it on her sleeve and reminding us that she’s of her generation and time. It’s great, i don’t think she’s trying to fool anyone or pretend as if she transcends her era or anything. And i think this is where a lot of the magic in her whole persona, artistry, and aesthetic comes in--that highly idiosyncratic conflation of influences, styles, and ethos that form something without precedent. She is neither here nor there, but at the same time, as i mentioned before, she’s totally right here in the present, sort of holding a mirror up to the past--albeit a highly romanticized one. She could not have materialized as the artist we have come to know as Lana Del Rey any other way or time but the here and now. Oh, and what you said about how she pushes your buttons...that, too, is why i’m here right now. She’s flawed and a lot of her choices are rather questionable. But that’s exciting. I don't want some perfect package that is always doing the right and artistically-sound thing. I want the hiccups, missteps, the warts and all. The Brite Lites video, a little embarrassing? Sure. And like you yourself said, awkward. But that’s a real person sitting in their home without any pretenses, and that sort of clumsy, incongruous pairing of music style and imagery is refreshingly baffling and inviting. At least i think so.

Aw, that is sweet, i am touched. Haven't let go of that dream just yet. YOU GUYS JUST WAIT.

Hmm, it's been a while since i've read a post in which i am in complete disagreement with every single aspect and detail, as well as the way in which the opinion has been formed. It seems to me that you're projecting your thoughts and values on aesthetics onto her process, and assuming that she was attempting to approach her music videos in the same way you would have made them. How do you know her point was to a) take into account cinematographic considerations and quality in the same way that a director of photography on a film set would, and b) "convince the viewer that the overall odd scene is taking place in an ancient, somehow vintage-ish, setting"? I've always taken her videos as a melding of old and new, past and present, and i think that point comes through pretty clearly when watching them. There is a considerable span of time and culture that is seen throughout all her videos. I don't see any evidence anywhere that she is trying to hide or distort time/era/place in the shots of herself. Also, did you forget, perhaps the most telling and obvious example, Video Games, which is replete with footage of skaters, paparazzi shots of young actress Paz de la Huerta, and, of course, contemporary video games? As for the hooker wigs, you may have missed this detail, but Lana Del Rey and kitsch are inextricable. I've said this a few times on here before and i'll say it again because it pertains exactly to this: Lana Del Rey is a quintessential postmodern artists. That whole "vintage" aesthetic that people love to reduce her to is stifling and, most importantly, not even accurate--there is no way that someone like her could have existed in any other time but the present. She's not just rehashing old tropes. I wouldn't be here right now if that's what she was about.

What is this about reworked/rerecorded versions of Mermaid Motel, Little Girls, and Smarty? This is news to me. Where are you getting this info from? Are you sure you're not just thinking of alternate registered titles or even possible demos? You're saying you have concrete evidence that after she finished the AKA album she went back and rerecorded those three songs?

Nothing, i was just being playful. I wouldn't take me too seriously. I love that song (and arrangement, recording, performance, etc.). But, yeah, ultimately i wouldn't say no to anything being rerecorded. I really love the idea of multiple versions of songs, no matter how perfect it already was the first time around. Pardon?

320. You need it? My heart and brain are bleeding.

Wasn't there some joke about Brazil always complaining/whining/(insert any other synonym) about Lana not ever going to Brazil? Is this thread going to break out into a riot?

Come on, hip hop with a thumb piano? Who in the world does that? And those effected guitar chords that sound like a freaking omnichord and the backwards synth. That is such a great backing track. And her vocals are perfect.

Oh gosh, i always sense with this stuff that it's teetering on the verge of turning into a nationalist thing. Yeah, Lana luvs my country and that's why she cums here, and she just doesn't lyke yours, so get over it LOL.

Ha, that's great I do occasionally dress like him circa 1967:

It's pretty amazing what a name change can do, huh? It's as if it makes people forget that musical artists typically evolve.

lola has already shown her face, or at least partially, if i recall. What, were evil and i supposed to look alike? And, you bastard, you lightened the photo, ugh. Naw, it's fine, i had already thought of that and saw what it would look like if it was lightened, so i already knew that you still wouldn't be able to make anything out. Gotta think ahead.

Totally stealing TPD's tactic, but with a twist: I feel like this just turned into a game of chess.

Ugh, so tiny. But still a good idea of what you look like. Now no one will vote for you, good maneuver there, very clever.

I don't know, let's look at the options. Excluding evilentity because he has already promised to post a picture, and anybody else who has already shown their face before, here are, i think, the top contenders: Madrigal TrailerParkDarling Neal Monicker PrettyBaby Trash Magic Hellion European ednafrau Am i missing someone? I think Neal would steal this one, no?

I don't remember that. I think you're fibbing. Oh my god haa, this is a great idea. Let's do it (i don't think i will get voted)!

Oh, come on now, evil and i are little boys compared to the older man archetype that Lana and others are into. EDIT: Ha, i was posting that while you were posting yours.