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Norman Fucking Rockwell - Post-Release Discussion Thread + Poll

Norman Fucking Rockwell!  

1,050 members have voted

  1. 1. What are your favourite tracks from NFR?

    • Norman Fucking Rockwell
      379
    • Mariners Apartment Complex
      396
    • Venice Bitch
      569
    • Fuck It, I Love You
      362
    • Doin' Time
      256
    • Love Song
      346
    • Cinnamon Girl
      515
    • How to Disappear
      238
    • California
      540
    • The Next Best American Record
      209
    • The Greatest
      523
    • Bartender
      379
    • Happiness is a Butterfly
      385
    • hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it
      247


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Antonoff: At this point, Lana and I have done quite a few songs together, and [“Norman Fucking Rockwell” has] always been my favorite. Because when we got together and started dreaming about the future, that song is the closest thing that sounds like what was in our heads together. It’s a Cliffs Notes for the whole album.

That album was made in one specific room, with one specific piano, a very specific 12-string guitar, very specific drum kit, very specific patch on the Mellotron that went through a very specific tape echo. We landed on a couple sounds that really sounded like this thing we had thought of, and then we put a helmet on all of them: Nobody touch this drum kit. Nobody move the mic from the piano. The way that piano moves is really loose but doesn’t lose you. That tempo shift going into the chorus I really love, because that was the moment that really didn’t work until it did. The flugelhorn, the strings, her vocal at the end—it sounded like the heavens opening up. Every note, every word, brings me right back to the moment in California when we were doing it. You go in, do the things that feel great, and not think about what anything sounded like. What ended up happening was this bizarre folk album.

 

Kornhaber: At one point in the song, there’s a feeling like something almost falls on the piano.

Antonoff: There’s a banging on the piano in the low register, and that’s going through this special tape echo. The whole ethos: If this is the part where we need to put an 808 or a smashing sound, let’s go into the room and bang on the wall. Let’s hit the piano. Let’s make it all, right here.

Kornhaber: How did you react to Lana’s lyrics?

Antonoff: Gorgeous. There’s a lot of room to be very classic with some of the production, because she’s saying things that whip it back into modern time. Right away:
“Goddamn, man-child / You fucked me so good, I almost said I loved you.” She’s right here, right now.

Kornhaber: Do you have anything to say about Lana’s relationship with the vocal processing and reverb?

Antonoff: She has, I call them, bat ears. She hears things that disgust her, and she hears things that thrill her. She’s extremely clear on how she wants her vocals to sound. When it comes to reverb, and what’s dry and what’s going to be ethereal, we played with what the lyrics were doing. Does this lyric feel like someone’s talking directly to you, or does it feel like the voice of God?

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/12/jack-antonoff-taylor-swift-lana-del-rey-and-more/603517/

 

 

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What ended up happening was this bizarre folk album.

 

Yup.

 

This interview is honestly a bit weird to read. It's like he keeps talking about the production of the record as if it's this amazing and revolutionary thing for Lana and for the music scene, but:

  1. Lana, from a production point of view, as worked with producer that pushed her sound much farther than she has on this album. Producers that created a far more elaborate, intricate and beautiful soundscape. Like to me there are nice instrumentals on NFR, but a lot of them they end up sounding a bit muffled, flat, dry and weirdly mixed. I personally do not find the sound of the album to be atmospheric, as opposed to her first three records, on which she created a very specific, detailed and complex sonic environment.
  2. The production on NFR, if not compared to Lana's album, is extremely lackluster compared to the tens of thousands of albums released this decade. I can honestly name 10 albums from different artists that are far more elaborate sonically, but also actually cohesive and coherent production and stylistically wise.
  3. Jackoff seems to value his so called production creds, and the music he makes, a little too high. I mean he's not a bad producer per se, and he's a good musician. But, let's not pretend like he made some of the most elaborate melodies for this album, for the most part they are quite simplistic. Besides like the long musical outro of Venice Bitch and the chord progression/chorus in The greatest: the rest is actually quite basic. For instance: the piano track on the title track, HIAB, are quite plain and simple. 

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Oh for fuck's sake, someone please take her goddamn phone away. She can't be parading around with her cop boyfriend from Oklahoma right in the middle of awards season. 

 

Omg I cannot actually believe that we agree for the second time. Christmas miracles, they exist.

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Just hours after finding out she received two GRAMMY nominationsLana Del Rey joined the Nashville GRAMMY U Chapter for an intimate performance and discussion. Fresh off a show the night before at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, Del Rey played stripped-down versions of "Norman F*****g Rockwell" and "Bartender," both off her GRAMMY-nominated sixth studio album, and invited Nashville native and friend, Nikki Lane, to perform Lane's "Look Away" with her.   



Touching on topics ranging from the #MeToo movement to genre-crossing, Del Rey spent much of the conversation chatting about her recent album, Norman F*****g Rockwell! (up for Album Of The Year), which actually got its start at the Clive Davis Pre GRAMMY Gala. Del Rey shared with the students that she first ran into Jack Antonoff (who produced much of the album) at the party and began working with him right after. When asked what songs on the album stand out for her, she said "Norman F*****g Rockwell," nominated for Song Of The Year, was melodically one of her favorites and had enough humor to balance out the album. She also cited the very personal album closer "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it."


As the discussion moved towards the business side of the industry, Del Rey shared that she read "All You Need To Know About the Music Business" by Donald S. Passman when she was starting out and found tips – such as not combining your publishing with your record deal – very helpful. (She put this tip into practice when signing her first record deal.)  


When asked what advice she would give a room full of students entering the music business, Del Rey noted how important it is to find mentors wherever you can. In her case, some of her best mentors have been people outside the music industry who genuinely wanted to offer her advice without a dog in the race. 


As the conversation ended, Del Rey took the time to speak with students individually about their current classes and music industry goals. It was clear from the students' reactions that Del Rey provided them with invaluable guidance about the industry. The Nashville GRAMMY U Chapter could not have been more excited to share such a special day with her.


https://www.grammy.com/membership/news/lana-del-rey-offers-music-industry-advice-grammy-u-students-nashville


 


 

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Oh for fuck's sake, someone please take her goddamn phone away. She can't be parading around with her cop boyfriend from Oklahoma right in the middle of awards season. 

 

EcstaticPracticalEuropeanfiresalamander-

 

Finally something we can agree on.


into your eyes tumblr_olomd1pIFG1u8tvjvo2_500.gif my face remains

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This I agree with: "Right album, right time". Lana is at a pivotal moment in her career. After year of being considered and regarded as a problematic figure on the music scene, I genuinely believe that some of her most fervent critics have finally softened up to her. Also, lyrically, NFR happens to be her least "controversial" effort thus far, it's much less tainted with sense of mystery/mysticism but also the so called "edgy" lyrics of her first three records. I still don't think critics "get her", I think they would still give subpar reviews to her first three records to be honest.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree on this though. I do not get a sense of the classic, let alone grand feeling, nor the same level of intricacy both lyrically and melodically than what she has displayed on Born To Die/Paradise, Ultraviolence and Honeymoon. NFR doesn't stand out like that in her discography in my opinion. Though it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb much like Lust for Life, to me it still feel very underwhelming and somewhat lackluster in many regards. But to each their own.

 

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Antonoff: At this point, Lana and I have done quite a few songs together, and [“Norman Fucking Rockwell” has] always been my favorite. Because when we got together and started dreaming about the future, that song is the closest thing that sounds like what was in our heads together. It’s a Cliffs Notes for the whole album.

That album was made in one specific room, with one specific piano, a very specific 12-string guitar, very specific drum kit, very specific patch on the Mellotron that went through a very specific tape echo. We landed on a couple sounds that really sounded like this thing we had thought of, and then we put a helmet on all of them: Nobody touch this drum kit. Nobody move the mic from the piano. The way that piano moves is really loose but doesn’t lose you. That tempo shift going into the chorus I really love, because that was the moment that really didn’t work until it did. The flugelhorn, the strings, her vocal at the end—it sounded like the heavens opening up. Every note, every word, brings me right back to the moment in California when we were doing it. You go in, do the things that feel great, and not think about what anything sounded like. What ended up happening was this bizarre folk album.

 

Kornhaber: At one point in the song, there’s a feeling like something almost falls on the piano.

Antonoff: There’s a banging on the piano in the low register, and that’s going through this special tape echo. The whole ethos: If this is the part where we need to put an 808 or a smashing sound, let’s go into the room and bang on the wall. Let’s hit the piano. Let’s make it all, right here.

Kornhaber: How did you react to Lana’s lyrics?

Antonoff: Gorgeous. There’s a lot of room to be very classic with some of the production, because she’s saying things that whip it back into modern time. Right away:

“Goddamn, man-child / You fucked me so good, I almost said I loved you.” She’s right here, right now.

Kornhaber: Do you have anything to say about Lana’s relationship with the vocal processing and reverb?

Antonoff: She has, I call them, bat ears. She hears things that disgust her, and she hears things that thrill her. She’s extremely clear on how she wants her vocals to sound. When it comes to reverb, and what’s dry and what’s going to be ethereal, we played with what the lyrics were doing. Does this lyric feel like someone’s talking directly to you, or does it feel like the voice of God?

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/12/jack-antonoff-taylor-swift-lana-del-rey-and-more/603517/

 

 

The Word of The Lord. Thanks Be to God


https://i.pinimg.com/736x/59/40/90/5940903240da03ab6f8c1a9c79a31773.jpg

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It's me your little bat-eared bitchhhhh


 

That album was made in one specific room, with one specific piano, a very specific 12-string guitar, very specific drum kit, very specific patch on the Mellotron that went through a very specific tape echo. 

 

Where is this room? I want to burn it down. 


ur legit gonna look the same stop buying oil of Olay face cream

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Anyone know where to find the full version of this? You have to pay to access the site I think. Sorry if it's been posted before.

 

 

https://mixwiththemasters.com/itt35

 

Why didn't Born To Die or Ultraviolence get this kind of treatment??? Those two albums were worthy of a Grammy each. 

 

I like NFR and all but it's nowhere the masterpiece that BTD or UV is. I feel like because Jack produced NFR, it's the reason why it's getting all this attention. 

 

giphy.gif

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Happiness is a Butterfly just getting better and better after each listen.

 

can't say the same about California  :smokes:

 

California needed more instruments. Especially in the part about "party all night long". It's just needed ore instruments. Sounds too much like a demo. 

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The woman can't even be bothered learning the words to her own songs and you expect ... a Grammys campaign?

 

:oic2:

I was going to say this. lol What makes you guys think she’d put in the work and do it well if she left the label? She said it, and her team said it: Lana’s in charge of her own work. So if things aren’t to your liking, that’s on her. lmao

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