Monicker

We have HLH in 320, it was one of the very first things Jldr gave us on the first day of the forum opening up.

Not to imply that MP3 is "good quality."

Thanks again all of you for the kind words.

i think the way to get lizzy to hear your recording would be to send her the soundcloud link via her twitter or FB, but i think she has to follow you or friend you i'm sure someone here from lanaboards has direct contact, or an email...maybe they can help?

lizzy is gonna dig your version, i know it!

I don’t have a twitter. What do you think about a private message through youtube? Oh god, but then what if she lurks through my favorites?

It seems whatever the avenue, she probably gets bombarded with so much shit that it'll get lost in the shuffle. Ay dios.

I usually ignore covers

Me too!

But Mon, come on, I'm gonna need a stereo mix.

Ha! I swear to you that i KNEW you were going to ask me for a stereo mix. Maybe for you, Bill, maybe. I honestly haven’t even played around with the song even for a few seconds to get an idea of what it would sound like in stereo. The pan knobs haven’t once moved away from Center because the decision was made from the very beginning that it would be mono. And i’m really very pleased with the mix, i really like the blend, i think it’s the best mix i’ve done.

This was a really popular shirt when i was a kid, i would see it all the time. It was worn by, like, "cool" dads who frequently giggled moronically under their breath while making misogynistic sex jokes. Some of these dudes would buy it for their twelve year old son. I was scared of life.

I wonder how much of a spike in interest there's been in this shirt in the last two months.

Also, there was a promo from 2011 on eBay (before Put The Radio On leaked) and it included some other BTD era tracks on it. Does anybody happen to remember what tracks were on that promo either? There was a thread in this forum, but it has since disappeared.

I don't remember which tracks were on it, but some of the common titles that we already had at that point (i think Blue Jeans demo was one of them?) had different track running times than what we had. Also, that thread was on .fm, not here. I believe some people bid on the CD, but the price started going up way too high, so no one from the forum won the auction.

It's felt a lot like a playground around here lately. I wish people would stop paying any mind to some of these dramatic spazzes who have recently joined. Look at that, i'm doing it right now. This thread is now 32 pages...

Oh, i should also qualify my above post with the fact that there is also a ton of "drug music" that i fucking hate. It can go so many different ways.

I'd also like to try to preemptively steer this conversation away from a pro/anti-drug thing because the politics of it, for a lot of people, are often hard to separate from discussing facts and other people's histories. I myself don't do drugs and have never been a user, but a lot of my favorite music was made with the aid and influence of many different types of drugs, and it would be absurd for me to deny the prominent role that drugs have played in the creative arts (for hundreds and hundreds of years, mind) simply because i am not a user of them.

BAHAHAHAHA. I definitely did NOT think the arrangement was pretentious.

Ha, i guess you don’t remember the reference. Back on ye ole .fm i wrote a post (admittedly, one of my manic, ranting ones) where i listed the instrumentation i dreamed of hearing on the Body Electric studio version and you said it was “pretentious instrumentation.”

It honestly reminded me so much of something the Beatles would do. Your voice has a very Lennon quality to it- I think anyway. When I say classic- I guess thats what I mean. Classic, as in classic American rock singers. From an age many don't take vocal inspiration from anymore. Dylan and Lennon come to mind immediately. But you have a nicer tone than Dylan, I think. Anyone wanna back me up on this? Anyone see these similarities.

It’s funny because The Beatles and Bob Dylan are two of those “essential” stock classic artists that i never connected with. That's uh, putting it mildly.

Sitar knows it:

But UH-OH, Beatles comparison. Do not predict a happy outcome.

:hagirl:

But i'll take the compliment anyway!

YOUR GIVING ME STRAIGHT BEATLES TEAS ON THE HARMONIES AT 2:14.

No harmonies there (or anywhere else in the song)! Just a single line quadruple tracked

As a side note, with the exception of the xylophone outlining the chords (and creating a little countermelody) i added absolutely nothing new to the song harmonically and melodically--everything different about it comes from the color and texture of the arrangement and the way the arrangement alters the rhythmic feel of the song. Also, i was going for a total blend in the backing track so that nothing was really distinguishable, hence mixing it in mono.

And the xylophone is fucking genius... Whatever, I said it.

You like the xylophone!

monicker, this is amazing, i love it!! it's a bizarre carnival twilight zone version of the song and i like it better than the original! (FYI i'm dowloading it right now)

it could've been recorded here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW92t264eBM&feature=share

 

Better than the original! Oh, ednafrau. Haaa, i’ve never really seen Portlandia, but i laughed so hard at this. “These are the original keys used on Pet Sounds.” OMG. Who is the audience for this?? "That's a Neumann."

seriously, the beach boys would be proud

Yeah, I thought of Brian Wilson immediately!

Oh my god, you guys, WHAT?! You’re killing me here in the best way possible. You have to know that is the highest compliment in my book. My heart flutters. Really, that means a lot to me.

(Incidentally, it sounds great immediately preceding Lana's acoustic demo of Yayo in my iTunes.)

Am i officially in PrettyBaby's itunes?!

I think the style you went for was a great decision in complementing the song.

Glad you think so, i was going for a more sinister/foreboding feel than Lana’s somber tone. I wanted it to have more of an air of caution rather than sounding like a lament, like the original.

So guys, how can i get my recording to Lizzy? I want her to hear it.

I love when she looks like she’s the daughter of a member of the country club--white blouse with Peter Pan collar, Lacoste cardigan, skinny jeans, loafers. Oh my

I wish she's redo Afraid. I love the lyrics but I don't know what's going on with that instrumental.

OMG, i love the Afraid backing track.

Mo has me craving a carnival-esque Money Hunny, but his suffices for now :flutter:

Ha! Oh, you.

because as said before for her to actually write a song while on drugs is pretty counter productive, plus when your high im sure there's like a billion other things to be doing rather than writing songs, that are far more enjoyable while high.

How do you know what is and isn't productive for her? You do know that there is a lot of music in existence that most likely would not have been possible without drug use, yes? Also, "drugs" could be anything, uppers, downers, etc.

And there are probably a ton of drug users who are also musicians/song writers whose first order of business while on drugs is to write.

Two things:

1. There are countless examples of people writing (and recording) music while on drugs or intoxicated. It has been proven to be, at least for some period of time, very productive for some people.

2. Her demeanor during her live performances, those descriptions of her not being all there could very well be a manifestation of nervousness. That is not an uncommon way to come across when you're up on stage in front of a crowd and you're a nervous performer, you can look quite out of it.

The alliteration in this thread title

I am trying to not think about Diet Mountain Dew going into Mizrahi's mouth. Gross.

Thanks, you guys.

Jerome, i do wear glasses.

Hunter, i appreciate your comment because it’s very difficult to evaluate what one does objectively, you know? I would’ve never thought of my voice as classic sounding, so that is interesting (and bizarre) but very welcomed! Glad you liked the recording and didn’t think the arrangement was pretentious

The emotional quality (or lack thereof) in music is a purely subjective point, yes, but a large part of the premise of this thread/argument is absurd because Lana Del Rey has a relatively big vocal range, and i'm talking about her tessitura, so i'm not even including the extremes of her register where she still hits notes that are outside her vocal comfort. Yeah, she's not Yma Sumac, or even Mariah Carey, but those singers are rare in pop forms of music. She is also known for switching seamlessly between vocal styles, tone quality, and octaves within a song, sometimes even within one phrase. I wish people were familiar with the definition of a word before tossing it around so that is has absolutely no meaning.

What the HELL is going on in here?

They don't have to be loud and soaring, but they have to lead to a a climax, a suspenseful point, something. Her singing is very monotone and doesn't change AT ALL.

Singing and music don't have to do anything.

If you think her singing "doesn't change" you're not listening to enough of her stuff. Also, by definition, her singing isn't monotone.

I've been classically trained in music and choir for over 10 years now, so I know something about music.

Woops...

There's nothing wrong with having an emotionless, monotone voice, but there IS something wrong about idolizing it

 

Those people obviously have some deep psycho-traumaif they're touched by emotionless "singing"; being touched from something like that is not a normal reaction

Who are you? Who am I? Why am i responding to this? Will someone smash a cinder block into my head?

As promised, here is a download link of my cover of Money Hunny.

320kbps AAC (.m4a), mixed in mono (that’s right, bitches)

Thanks to evil for playing it on his spectacular show today (which, if you missed, you need to go listen right now) and for hosting the file on his soundcloud page. And, yes, whoever was asking before, that is me singing. A cappella mix is available over my dead body.

I got the magazine today Photos in the spoiler:

I was hoping you would be holding the pages open and that your nails would be showing in the pictures.

Thanks to evilentity for putting together an amazing, highly entertaining, and quite informative show with a great selection of songs! That must have taken so much time and energy to put together, and it really shows. Maybe in another 6 months we'll get another evil show

For those who asked about a download for my cover, i am going to do a minor remix to adjust a few tiny things (OCD never dies) and then i'll post a soundcloud link. Stay tuned. And thanks for the nice comments in the chat <3

OH! And Madrigal and TPD should post a picture of their face now that evil has shown his visage. I was serious before, you two do it and i'll go next. Then Neal will go after me, right?

I just saw this mentioned in a status and started to watch the video out of curiosity, but i couldn't watch more than a minute and a half of it. Jesus.

Dimitry, out of curiosity, when you go to listen to either Born to Die or Paradise, which one do you play? Do you have a go-to one for every time you want to hear the album or do you play various ones? Have you even played everything pictured in your collection? If so, you haven't noticed any differences between the different (CD) editions, have you?

I'm curious to hear the mastering for the vinyl.

Well, she did say that they recorded in the evening and at night so maybe they had to spend seven months on recording it.

Don't see what the time of day has to do with it. Most studios are open until very late into the night, and some even 24 hours. And that has been the practice, to my knowledge, since at least the '60s. It's totally common to have sessions at night.

He worked hard to get the vocals to where he wanted them to be. It was like any of those projects: there was a certain amount of friction between the artist and the producer.

I wonder about something. It's been stated before that there was a little bit of tension and friction between Lizzy and Kahne while recording the record. I wonder if most of it centered around the vocals, if he demanded a lot of takes out of her and if she maybe wasn't used to that and didn't like doing a lot of takes. I feel like i remember reading that she usually records a vocal (or likes to) in one or two takes (this was before she mentioned cutting the new Yayo in one take) and if maybe it was taxing for her to have someone demand more and sort of be a slave driver about it. That tends to be tough on a lot of people and it tires them out (though the results are usually very rewarding and totally worth it). And so i wonder if maybe this might explain, also, why there seems to be a lot more work put into her vocals pre-BTD. I know i've mentioned this a lot on here before, but there's a lot of stuff on BTD and Paradise where i cannot comprehend how the producer didn't ask her to do another take. There also seems to be more complex layering on AKA. I don't know, maybe Kahne worked her hard and she sort of resented that. He's definitely more "old school" than other producers she's worked with, and this is a quality seen more with older producers.

i do wonder where lana would be right now if 5-points records hadn't given her a chance to showcase her talent...would she have gotten her interscope record deal? i doubt it.

The age old question, eh? These sort of alternate reality scenarios could obviously go so many ways, but i feel another smaller label would have eventually come along regardless. But there's also being in the right place at the right time, which is crucial. If anything, i think it just would have taken longer, but i think it was inevitable.

When was AKA was recorded? I mean, I know it was recorded in 2008, but like, from which month to which month? Earlier I pointed out that the large gap in her performance history between November 18, 2007 and June 18, 2008 correlates well with the time she claimed to be in Alabama (after which she began listing New Jersey as home). But I also wonder if that's when she was busy recording AKA and if that's what accounts for the gap.

 

...

 

Also, I assume the desired name change, creative differences, and contract wrangling accounted for the almost year-long delay in finally releasing AKA digitally in January 2010, but is there anything explicitly saying so? David Nichtern also talks about taking time to hone her live act and build buzz.

From the German KulturSPIEGEL interview that was just translated and posted:

KulturSPIEGEL: And how did you get to your record deal?

Lana Del Rey: I took part in an amateur-songwriter-contest. I didn't win. But one of the judges had a little label and offered me a record deal and a producer. I took the pseudonym of Lizzy Grant and recorded an album at night for seven months that was shelved for two years in the hope that a bigger company would acquire the record. But that didn't happen. The songs were dark, not suited for a wide audience. Besides, the back-and-forth of the music managers was tedious: people that first tell you you're brilliant think you're missing something one week later. I then came to terms with not making any music. Except just for myself. I produced video clips with friends which I put on the internet myself. Just like "Video Games" with which I got myself a record deal after all.

Seven months is a pretty long time. That's interesting that someone unknown would be given so much time to cut a debut record. Do we believe Lizzy? Oh, the uncertainty.

Thanks for translating, lola. This was a bit of an uncomfortable interview. She seems so defensive sometimes. Which, i guess, is understandable, but i sort of feel that fuels the criticism more.

I’m glad a journalist finally asked her where she’d be without the internet, i think it's a good, if predictable, question. And i’m glad to hear her say that she doesn’t understand the internet. I mean, who does?

I love that she said this:

"I'll write a comment, ordinarily, under my real name. That will set off excitement on the internet. I just have to write 'Shut up' somewhere and Millions of people think it's great. I find that creepy."

It is weird and kind of unsettling how so many people jump on the tinniest little things that she does. It must be a fucking nightmare to be watched, scrutinized, and even admired like that on that level. I still don't fully understand how people could desire fame. I mean, i do, but at the same time i don't at all. It's like an abyss.

Trash Magic.

Hell no. The mood captured in that recording is so, so perfect and tantalizing. That song is done, finito, close the book on it, it's as good as it could ever be recorded and performed. That's the song (and recording) that i think really made me fall in love with our Lizzy. When i heard that i knew i was going down a rabbit hole and that it was a done deal.