OK, Let's Talk Lana Del Rey...

Quique · Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:43 pm

Last night I was f*cking around on the internet since today is a holiday and a day off from work. I occasionally visit the music video site Vevo when I'm ultra bored and am in the mood of seeing what's out there currently in the pop music world. I used to have interest in both musical theatre and pop as well as Latin pop some years ago, but the dire state of the two former and the unexciting newer musicals have made me regress into 1990s Broadway and 1980s British musicals-land for nearly a decade now.

The last semi-refreshing pop music I discovered was selections from Lady Gaga. That wore thin and boring very, very quickly and her act is tiresome to me these days.

But, man, why haven't I heard of this Lana Del Rey before? I believe she emerged out of nowhere in late 2011 and has been performing in smallish clubs and standard theatres in the U.K., Australia, New York, and Los Angeles for all of 2012. She released her first full-length studio album earlier last year and made a much-criticized appearance on SNL way back in January that same year. She is currently booked for a dizzying international tour, where she will be playing ginormous arenas from Stockholm to Manchester, U.K. A second Paris performance was added after the initial date sold out in a minute and a half.

I am not posting this thread as a fan in the typical sense, well, because I'm not sure how I really feel about her, hence the soliciting of other reactions. I can say her voice is incredibly refreshing in its understated monotony. It's very Nancy Sinatra, so I wouldn't call it original but it's not a voice that's very much around anymore these days and that makes it seem revelatory.

I will admit I am put off by her as an artist because she is the most shamelessly manufactured pop star in recent memory. And with really, REALLY manufactured fare such as Lady Gaga and this tiresome uber seriousness and melodrama that many acts are adopting these days, you'd think it can't be topped. This Lana Del Rey tops 'em all, alright.

What do you think of this chick, "Lana Del Rey"?

For those of you who haven't heard of her, I know her name sounds Latino but she is far from it. Just saying that because that was the first thing that I wondered upon seeing her name. It's a stage name, which isn't anything new but it's interesting her label slapped her with such a name. There has been controversy surrounding her, um...looks. She is undoubtedly, er....beautiful? I keep wanting to say that seriously, but I just can't for some reason. I will say she disturbed the crappola out of me upon first seeing her in this music video of an early song that became a hit in 2011; "Video Games"...

I had read that she had obvious plastic surgery done to her lips and nose. At first, I honestly didn't see it but then it sort of just popped out at me in that video. The first video of her's I ever saw, in fact, the first of anything of her's I ever saw, was this...

"Born to Die"

That's my favorite song from her so far. I cannot deny that it's catchy as all hell and not for the usual reasons such as melody or addicting hooks. It's very moody and evokes a strong response, sort of what I get from Les Miserables, only packaged in a purely pop style that is meant for consumption and eventually to be discarded.

Apparently she made the music video for "Video Games" I posted above herself, from random clips she found and edited together along with clips of herself she shot using a webcam. I don't believe it for a second. Sorry, I just don't. It's obviously something created by her label. Other things created by her label that are wonderful examples of the incredibly sloppy marketing job they've done for her includes a tacked-on dramatic personal history that has her suffering from alcoholism and meth addiction at 14 and her stint living in a New Jersey trailer park. Oh, puh-leeeeeease. :roll:

I might've believed that had it not come out that her father is a multi-millionaire, haha.

I guess you can say I am both intrigued and annoyed by this pop tartlet Lana Del Rey, or Elizabeth Grant, her real name.

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OK, Let's Talk Lana Del Rey...

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