Monicker

I absolutely love everything you've written here. This is one of my very favorite descriptions i've ever read of her. You really hit the nail on the head on a lot of points. Definitely a Beat and stream-of-consciousness thing going on, but, of course, filtered through her very singular lens. Great point about how it seems she's always writing, good or bad. That's a big thing about her, that idea that we get so many different levels of quality from her, the warts and all. I love that in artists. It's not too precious or overly calculated. She's not afraid to try out things and maybe fall flat. I love that she can have this amazing song sitting right next to something awful and kind of perplexing. And, as you suggested, there's a quickness, a spontaneity to it, that whole approach of just getting it out no matter what. Don't think about it too much, just get it out and it'll sort of figure itself out. That's a really big factor in her work, i think. And i think a lot of her charm lies there. And, yes, very much using her own codes, i think that's the first time i've heard anyone really nail that aspect of her artistry. There's also the repetition. This is what i've alluded to before as a kind of neurotic obsessiveness almost. I like the down to earth artist descriptor. And the paradoxes--shy and reserved, yet confident, assertive. Matches the wild variance of her musical and fashion styles, too. Complex person, artist, persona, the whole package. 

Wow, i hadn’t read this before and it’s one of the best pieces written on her, and from SPIN no less, who would’ve thought. Lots of good things said here, really pointing out a lot of the sexism which i think is at the root of a lot of the flak that she was receiving in late 2011/early 2012. The idea that someone as idiosyncratic and (truly) eccentric (not Gaga brand of theatrical, contrived “weirdness”) as her was constructed by a team of record label executives is totally absurd and beyond the realm of believability. How did that half-baked theory even get off the ground? 
 
I love this quote: "She has many different qualities that women in our culture aren't allowed to be, all at once, so people are trying to find the inauthentic one."
 
Also, "Bruce Springsteen in Miami"! Ha, i had never heard that one before. Oh, Lizzy. 

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

"Hmm, i've got an idea. I'm going to rerecord my very best recordings!"
 
–Elizabeth Grant 

Second Arrest in Lana del Ray Fan Community  
 
(Associated Press) -- A user on an internet forum dedicated to pop sensation Lana del Ray has been arrested for bootlegging concerts. The user, who goes by the alias "Evil Entity" [sic], was reported to have uploaded a post to the forum, detailing his elaborate plan to start up a bootleg business of del Ray's concerts, encouraging other forum members to join his enterprise. The arrest marks the second within the singer's nascent fan community, coming just months after the FBI's involvement in putting an end to another fan's hacking of the personal computers of both del Ray and another popular, female vocalist. At this moment nothing is known about the user "Evil Entity" aside from being very, very old and heterosexual--a rarity amongst the singer's primarily young, homosexual fanbase. The web forum, www.LanasBored.com, despite often being erroneously indexed as a pornography website, is a place where fans from all over the world have been known to gather to dissect the controversial singer's enigmatic past. The 25 year old del Ray is currently preparing her next single, the explicit track, Coca Cola, from her latest release Born to Die in Paradise. 

The pedant in me needs to weigh in here on the terminology (and i will suggest things that i think are truly befitting of the genre). 
 
“Surf Noir” as related to Lana Del Rey is bullshit. I think there are very little to no surf elements in the Lizzy Grant stuff. It’s always seemed to me like it’s just a catchy, grabbing name she came up with that ultimately is meaningless.
 
Let’s look at the term SURF from the genre of music and NOIR from the genre of film. Integral to surf music is a very straight, driving 8th note, fast 4/4 rhythm, though there’s definitely slower tempo surf stuff, and, of course, heavily reverberated electric guitars with lots of vibrato. There are other elements but those are the main, essential attributes, the telltale characteristics of surf music. And then there’s Noir, characterized by: darkness, shadow, bleakness, grit, mystery, and action. Carried out in ways that are expressionistic, gothic, off kilter, and even brutal.
 
That said, i don’t think there’s much music that actually fits the conflation of these two descriptors. I think that specific coalescence of surf and noir most likely has to come in a modern context because most surf music/other styles that incorporated surf elements from the late ‘50s/early ‘60s tended to be rather “lightweight.” The idea of surf + noir seems like a pretty postmodern one to me. But, again, i don’t think there’s much out there that is truly fitting of that mostly imaginary genre, especially in the way of vocal stuff. 
 
Here are a few things that, while having nothing really to do with the sound of the AKA album, are the closest to something that i think could be described as “surf noir.” Some of this stuff is a kind of natural evolution of Exotica: 
 
A surf style cover of a song by the black metal band Burzum. Truly as surf noir as it gets:

 
Actually, if you look up “trve kvlt surf” on youtube, you can find a lot of stuff in this style. Don’t fall for the joke in the description though--this stuff isn’t really from the ’60s!



 
 
Secret Chiefs 3 do a good amount of dark sounding surf stuff:

 
I couldn’t find this song on youtube, but it’s on grooveshark: http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Book+T+Orbital+Ballroom+In+The+Hall+Of+Resurrection/4kZK13?src=5
 
 
There’s a certain tension and some dark undertones in The Chantays version of Pipeline that i think can loosely fit a noir aesthetic: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omG-hZfN6zk
 
 
John Zorn also has done a good amount of surf related stuff in a kind of modern Exotica context that has a darkness and mysteriousness to it: 



 
 
There’s this too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybz7kHdmi1k
 
 
I’m sure i’m forgetting stuff but that’s all i can think of at the moment. Maybe try some Man or Astro-man? too and some Stereolab. Joe Meek often had elements of surf and he produced a ton of girl groups and singers. Possibly try some Vincent Bell too. Check out Jerry Goldsmith’s score to the movies Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967), they definitely have some elements of dark surf, and they’re both some of the best film scores of all time to boot!
 
But, again, this stuff isn’t in a Lizzy Grant pop vein.  
 
Oh! Maybe some Julee Cruise:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uq_ix7nfkc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dINbJL9HoII


 
 
By the way, on an indirectly related note, i saw recently on wikipedia that Kill Kill is being described as having elements of... ELECTRONICA? Who writes this shit? 

Sitar, don't get so serious with me. Please, i need you to love me. We still haven't touched dicks in the D-A-R-K dark 2nite.
 
All right, this is getting old. IT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.

Well then, here we have yet another thread that would make Elizabeth recoil in horror should she ever make it to these here parts.

And K is just a pony. All right, mystery solved. Reality pales in comparison to the fantasy. Next. 
 
Ponies, for some reason, always make me want to cry. 
 

Why are misheard lyrics so unbelievably funny? I have a headache now from laughing.
 
 
 
This is amazing. I want to make a song now called Ridin' His White Pony Named Kevin. This might be my very favorite misheard LDR lyric.
 
 
This just reminded me of when BEEPERS were around and people would beep 143 as a code for "I love you." 
 
 
Oh my god, take me to the German pig. Another song i'm going to make. 
 
 
Me too. 

Just hold on a second, he'll be in here shortly to answer this question. 

I have yet to see one single photo of her not wearing makeup. Y'all know what makeup looks like, no?

Evidence that music is completely subjective, that there is no good or bad, right or wrong. It's all an illusion.
 
For me, Video Games is almost entirely atmosphere. And it's a quintessential L.A. sound. The very first time i heard it, within the first two bars, that was the first thought that came to mind. We all have different reality tunnels, yay.

No ambiguity.


 

I have yet to see one single photo of her not wearing makeup. Y'all know what makeup looks like, no?

I don't know about her (or you guys), but filling out the MySpace info with absolute bullshit was a thing. At least i thought that's what a lot of people did? I certainly was not truthful about any of the info on my profile. Then Facebook came along and it was time to get SERIOUS. 

I feel groggy and i'm in a weird mood and i'm just going to ramble and spout out thoughts related to the direction that this discussion has taken. I should probably drink tea and move my body around, but oh well.
 
The subject of leaks is quite complex. There are so many variables and considerations to take into account. I've yet to form a definitive opinion on the matter, and that bothers me because i'd like to neatly wrap my stance on the matter in a pretty little bow, feel certain about it, be done with it and move on to something else. That said, what Baby V Alex said earlier today in another thread is one of the few things i can say i really feel certain about:
 
 
I don't think this point can be overstated. In general, a lot of leaked music isn't really "commercially viable" and we'd be unlikely to hear it otherwise. It's unfortunate how often a popular artist isn't fully represented because of what the label deems marketable. So, why not subvert capitalism, right? Sounds good to me.
 
However, that, of course, is not the only thing to consider here. There's the artist's thoughts and feelings about their unreleased material circulating; their financial standing can be a factor (though that can introduce a moral slippery slope); the moral issues of piracy; is intellectual property not property?; should music be free?; a real, tangible, full quality product vs. an inferior copy, and the relative monetary value of each. The list goes on and on, hence why it's so complex.
 
The thing is, the subject seems to be pretty elastic, varying from case to case, depending on an artist's own views and their situation. In Lana's case, leaks have certainly helped her develop a greater fan base. But as evilentity reminded us, we don't know her stance on leaks. It would be a different scenario if there was word from her saying that she's actively opposed to leaks (for whatever reason, be it she is embarrassed by her older stuff and doesn't want it circulating; she doesn't consider it finished and doesn't like the idea of people hearing works in progress, etc.) As i said before though, what we do know is that she hasn't exactly shied away from sharing her music throughout the years. Once an artist becomes a public figure though their back catalog, how it gets handled, and who has and should/shouldn't have access to it becomes a pretty hairy situation. But the control is pretty much out of her hands now. You'll recall that there have been times where even her posting a video to her own YouTube channel lead to WMG pulling it.
 
Being a professional musician/performer is a weird concept. What a luxury to get paid to make music! And how remarkable that we live in a world where it's even an option. I've never fully known what to make of this, and i say this as someone whose entire life revolves around music, whether it's creating it or appreciating it. Now, would i want my demos to slip out of my fingers and get into the public's hands? Ignoring the fact that most people probably wouldn't give a shit about my music, no, probably not. That's because i am very controlling about how i want myself and my work to be represented and heard. There are others, of course, who have a completely different view of the situation. Should the way that we approach leaks vary from artist to artist? Is that realistic or even possible? Really, at the end of the day, someone's demos and unreleased work is none of our fucking business. It's their or some company's property. But that's also not realistic, it's not the world in which we live. The proverbial can of worms or pandora's box has been opened long ago, and as things stand now, there doesn't really seem to be any going back, no? This is the culture now, it has been for a while, and is only moving more and more in a certain direction. I think the game just needs to be reinvented, and i am curious to see where things go in the next decade or so, because something fundamental in the system has to change. Maybe in the future we'll find ourselves purchasing vials of Lana's sweat in an attempt to have something tangible and personal amidst a cultural sea of sameness, all those 1s and 0s. Of course, that'll only be after some company has convinced us with their advertisements that we want and maybe even need Lana's sweat...
 
 
EDIT: I forgot to mention one very important thing--the one undoubtedly positive thing that has resulted from leaking in the internet age: third parties (bootleggers) hardly, if ever, get to profit from other people's music anymore. And that's a really great thing. Why should anyone profit from something they don't own, had no hand in creating, didn't fund, AND obtained illegally?

Imma kick back and watch this train run out of steam while people project their guilt onto others, assume Lana's motives and intentions, and pretend to know how the music industry works. All, of course, over a tall glass of maple syrup lemonade, a mountain of spaghetti, and a slice of lemon pie cake.
 
NO, but 4 seriously guyz, this is, uh, insane. Pooling money together so that one person can make a trip to DC to hear some old recordings and then report back with a verbal description of them? There's liking an artist's music and then there's being pathologically obsessive. That said, i'm not trying to stop anyone here. Be merry and carry on.
 
To those who moralistically recoil at the mere thought of tracking down these songs, and cite the "personal" nature of her unreleased music as evidence for leaving it be: these songs are registered at the LOC, not sitting on an old hard drive of hers in oblivion. Throughout the years leading up to getting signed to a major, she has distributed her music, whether at shows, giving physical copies to acquaintances and colleagues, or putting them up online. And now she's a major artist. You think a signed artist has the agency to just release whatever music whenever they desire? What do you think record labels, label executives, and distributors are for? She's under contract, of which we don't know the terms--she can't just "release" her music as she pleases, so the argument that because she hasn't done so yet she must not want to, is meaningless. That is flawed logic and a gross oversimplification.
 
Maybe she doesn't care for that old stuff. Maybe she doesn't even think about it anymore. Maybe she's embarrassed by it given the age at which it was recorded. But again, Sirens was given out to people, and these other unknown songs are registered with the LOC. The fact of the matter is that she is now a public recording artist with a back catalogue of registered music. This business about her old songs being "too personal" is hogwash. The idea being discussed in this thread wouldn't even cause material to leak. Now that is another topic altogether--the moral implications of pirating intellectual property. Why don't we discuss THAT rather than making shit up?

Well then...that is just the most awesome (1) thing i've read all week. MOSTAWESOME1? REALLY? Tubular.
 
Wasn’t MsSaintTropez the youtube channel that had Florida Dark that Jldr linked to on .fm or am i thinking of something else? Or am i smokin' crack?
 
How many licks does it take to get to thstdsjfdtv,ghkugggjjgjgjgjapwppowirlqp

Says the person whose point of reference for bangs is Katy Perry? I believe you have entirely missed the point of the contention with her use of the headdress. And i also don't think anyone was proposing self-censorship of her art.
 
Art with a capital A, d00d.

Can i just categorically say that Lana Del Rey is conventionally attractive? I mean, i think she is, but what makes a person conventionally attractive? Symmetry? Certain features being accentuated while others appear subtler? Vibrancy? The appearance of being healthy? A certain sense of style? Whatever the secret formula may be, it’s pretty clear that the good majority of her fans find her to be incredibly attractive. What prompted the train of thought that lead to making this thread was a further realization of how often comments and praise about her are centered on her (good) looks. Inevitably, that lead me to wonder how things would have turned out if she were less attractive--whether it was slightly so or a significant amount (however in the hell that may be measured). What if she was completely ordinary looking? Or what if she was rather homely? Would she be as adored? Would she have as many admirers? Would the makeup of her fanbase look very different? There are no ways to answer these questions, of course, but i just wanted to welcome some thoughts on this topic because i’m curious what others think. I, personally, tend to think that she wouldn’t be as successful, at least within certain strata of her fans, simply because, as i mentioned above, how much of the commentary regarding her is focused on her looks. What do you all think? When responding, maybe keep in mind the significant, crucial role that youth, beauty, and sexual capital play in being a successful woman in our society, and particularly in the entertainment industry.

I would have a handful of panic attacks and go off the grid before ever considering even poking my head in that forum! Guys, come on, stop! Just stop! Let me fucking do what i'm fucking doing!

Imma kick back and watch this train run out of steam while people project their guilt onto others, assume Lana's motives and intentions, and pretend to know how the music industry works. All, of course, over a tall glass of maple syrup lemonade, a mountain of spaghetti, and a slice of lemon pie cake.
 
NO, but 4 seriously guyz, this is, uh, insane. Pooling money together so that one person can make a trip to DC to hear some old recordings and then report back with a verbal description of them? There's liking an artist's music and then there's being pathologically obsessive. That said, i'm not trying to stop anyone here. Be merry and carry on.
 
To those who moralistically recoil at the mere thought of tracking down these songs, and cite the "personal" nature of her unreleased music as evidence for leaving it be: these songs are registered at the LOC, not sitting on an old hard drive of hers in oblivion. Throughout the years leading up to getting signed to a major, she has distributed her music, whether at shows, giving physical copies to acquaintances and colleagues, or putting them up online. And now she's a major artist. You think a signed artist has the agency to just release whatever music whenever they desire? What do you think record labels, label executives, and distributors are for? She's under contract, of which we don't know the terms--she can't just "release" her music as she pleases, so the argument that because she hasn't done so yet she must not want to, is meaningless. That is flawed logic and a gross oversimplification.
 
Maybe she doesn't care for that old stuff. Maybe she doesn't even think about it anymore. Maybe she's embarrassed by it given the age at which it was recorded. But again, Sirens was given out to people, and these other unknown songs are registered with the LOC. The fact of the matter is that she is now a public recording artist with a back catalogue of registered music. This business about her old songs being "too personal" is hogwash. The idea being discussed in this thread wouldn't even cause material to leak. Now that is another topic altogether--the moral implications of pirating intellectual property. Why don't we discuss THAT rather than making shit up?

And K is just a pony. All right, mystery solved. Reality pales in comparison to the fantasy. Next. 
 
Ponies, for some reason, always make me want to cry. 
 

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