Lana Del Rey

don't know how I feel about this yet; not crazy about the rap cameos, they seem really poorly integrated. I love the song with NIcks, and like the one with Sean Lennon a lot until the groaner self-referential line. But I listened to this in the car (twice) and it's not very well suited for driving around. Will listen more carefully today. Oh I also hate the 'take off take off all your clothes' line, ugh, particularly since it sounds exactly like the 'hello, hello, can you hear me?" line in 'Without You'

oh I don't know. Lana and A$AP can be my generation's Marvin and Tammi if they want.

the rap cameos are a better fit than sean lennon

why? hehas a fairly innocuous voice that blends in fine in that song. granted I have no bias against Sean Lennon, I like him fine.

yeah i'm not entirely sure how i feel about 'summer bummer' either. would have been a fine b-side, but it feels a bit out of place on the album. i will give her credit for experimenting though: i considered "west coast" and "freak" to be largely unsuccessful attempts at combining trap and hip hop. a combination that she executes successfully all over this album

the chorus for lust for life reminds me of kiss me by sixpence ;-/

the opening motorbike sound on that track prolly an intentional nod to shangri las

"i considered "west coast" and "freak" to be largely unsuccessful attempts at combining trap and hip hop" really? I think West Coast is the best song on Ultraviolence and one of her best songs ever.

I like Freak

I'm not sure how West Coast sounds like that, seems completely different

sorry, i meant "high by the beach" and "freak" /-:

"west coast" does indeed rule

kind of figured, didn't want to assume

those are actually two of my faves ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also meant "combining trap and trip hop" instead of "combining trap and hip hop" heh should've proofread that post a bit

I've liked individual tracks in the past but been bored by the albums -- they have tended to blur together for me. This one holds my attention more, I think maybe there are more hooks scattered through that make the songs more distinct from each other. The hip-hop flourishes actually work better than I expected. (It may also be that this is the first LDR album I've listened to while under the influence of David Lynch -- with Twin Peaks on, this feels like the right album for the summer.)

'cochella' uses, I think, the same kids-cheering sample that was on Off to the Races.

anyway I spent more time with this listening more carefully. I think it's a good album, backloaded certainly. The earlier tracks def relying on her sad girl persona and the rap bits still seem...kind of like an afterthought to me. The second half is a lot more like Honeymoon, but lyrically I think she's writing about more interesting things as well; there is nary a red dress, nail polish, high heels or summertime in the second half of the album.

She's also writing about decadence being less fun in Heroin

"Oh, makes me feel like I can change
Oh, ho ho ho, all of my evil ways and shit
Oh, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sick of it"

I usually go out of my way to ignore lyrics, but I find hers very interesting. The line "And when he calls/He calls for me and not for you" from "Shades of Cool" has always stuck with me.

I really like the way she employs multiple versions of her own voice to comment on each other. Like, the verse will be sung through one type of hazy reverb, and then the background vocal will be filtered some other way, and the chorus a third way, so they all sound like different women.

A lot of small sonic touches on this new album remind me of Tricky's Pre-Millennium Tension - there's a track where LDR sounds uncannily like Martina, and another where a background vocal sample sounds like the demonic-laughter background voice from "Tricky Kid."

agree w/ you unperson

love the way she sings the chorus on "In My Feelings" which uses the same "yeah" vocal from Cherry, much like she regurgitated that one vocal loop all throughout born to die - which this album reminds me of the most. It doesn't deviate too much into the more solemn and reflective Honeymoon or Ultraviolence without quickly picking back up.

anyone else noticed how her enunciation and delivery have really changed over the course of the last few albums? I'm guessing part of this is up to voice coaching, but it makes me wonder how much of it was her own pronunciation versus an affectation

in which ways mh?

good interview

http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness-a-conversation-with-lana-del-rey/

def warming up to this but prob gonna delete the joint w sean lennon I just cant

"In My Feelings" and "Get Free" are the best tracks; "Heroin" strikes me as self-parody.

It fascinates me how Rick Nowels has co-written songs with her and Madonna and gotten different electro-pop results from each. Guess it says something about the artists' self-possession.

i get a locomotion vibe from parts of Get Free. In My Feelings is my favourite xpost

He's got writing credits on almost everything on this album and Honeymoon, iirc? xp

Ross, her enunciation is a lot crisper and some of the earlier songs I get this kind of "ooeeww" slurring on... well, I'm lacking the linguistic terms here. "Years" and "tears" sound more like "yeahwws" and "teahwws". I think "Gods & Monsters" is the one I notice it the most on. "Scared" is more "sceehhwed" (kind of a schwa sound)

Alfred otm, I think co-writers have definitely helped her with structure but I had to scroll past another "but what about her writers?" facebook comment doing the classic "she doesn't write her songs" bullshit ploy and rolled my eyes

She's been working with Nowels since Born to Die. He's one of her two- or three-member core team.

good pts mh, i can see that

listening to this on shuffle is opening it up for me a lot, to the extent that I almost like "God Bless America" and "Groupie Love" now

He's got writing credits on almost everything on this album and Honeymoon, iirc? xp

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.),

yup!

I can't believe you guys don't like Tomorrow Never Came, that's one of the earwormiest things she's ever recorded.

Never really enjoyed Sean Lennon doing his lazy-ass John impersonation

I love it. That one, When The World Was At War and Get Free are my current favourites. I like the optimistic side to this album a lot.

it might grow on me! who knows

"Get Free," "Change" and "In My Feelings" might make a LDR POX for me

Heroin does have that bit of self parody in the lyrics, but the chorus itself is very affecting, particularly the very last run through that ends the song. I love how unpolished that is, how there are intentionally like three vocal tracks, she sings slightly out of tune, nothing quite lines up (on the "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sick of it" line). That's one of my favorite parts of the whole album.

I'm confused how Heroin is self parody? She takes a different approach in this song than her others by not embracing a hedonistic lifestyle, but saying she's growing weary of it. The lyrical themes on this album show Lana has evolved beyond her earlier persona.

has she ever not been cynical about hedonism, though

Simulating the heroin haze on a track called "Heroin" sounded facile to me, but I take your point. And she's never struck me as someone who isn't aware about the dangers of the sybaritic life. At any rate it's not one of the album's strongest tracks.

agree with both of you re: her awareness.

was just surprised to hear her cop to being sick of the evil shit, which seemed more direct. Overall I definitely find this album one of her more positive

"Get Free," "Change" and "In My Feelings" might make a LDR POX for me

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.)

My current LDR POX would be..

Ride
Radio
Video Games
Shades Of Cool
Sad Girl
Dark Paradise
Get Free
Brooklyn Baby
Terrence Loves You
Love

Freak and West Coast should be in there too.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/36906/1/lana-del-rey-may-release-a-25-song-album-of-leaks-faves

oh man that would be dope as hell

https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-sue-lana-del-rey-for-allegedly-copying-creep/

Radiohead are suing Lana Del Rey over similarities between her Lust for Life song “Get Free” and their 1992 hit “Creep.” After reports of the suit emerged earlier today, Lana confirmed the news on Twitter. “It’s true about the lawsuit,” she wrote. “Although I know my song wasn’t inspired by Creep, Radiohead feel it was and want 100% of the publishing - I offered up to 40 over the last few months but they will only accept 100.” See the tweet below. The credits for “Get Free” currently list Lana Del Rey, Rick Nowels, and Kieron Menzies as co-writers. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Lana, Nowels, and Menzies for further comment. Representatives for Radiohead offered no comment to Pitchfork.

Following the release of “Creep,” Radiohead were allegedly sued by the Hollies over the single’s similarities to their 1972 song “The Air That I Breathe.” After an out-of-court settlement, the Hollies’ Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood were listed as co-writers of “Creep.”

mentioned before it also sounds like the locomotion..but this is fucking lame

what pricks

hollies had the hit in '74 and hammond / hazlewood are not members of the band iirc

wtf. i dont' hear any similarity at all.

...really?