xp yeah it's pretty rare to run into someone who is being marketed as a pop singer by a major label where you can call the competence of the singer and/or producers into question! but it's really the only explanation i can come up with for some of the stuff on the record
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:31 (twelve years ago) link
wu lyf explained
All the best bands walk off after a groundbreaking peroformance, take nirvana for example when they did territoriality pissings, they just all fucked off after, WORLD UNITE!
BommyBum13 2 weeks ago
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:32 (twelve years ago) link
hahahah ty for that historical perspective bommybum
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:32 (twelve years ago) link
the drummer likes lightning bolt, the guitarist is a godspeed you black emperor fan, the singer likes coldplay and arcade fire, and...okay, i don't even know what to think about that band.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
Thread revived for everyone's enjoyment:
Wu Lyf
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
the singer seems like a legit strange person
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
i did not enjoy that band at all no
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:38 (twelve years ago) link
well i sort of did
he seems like a prat who would like to be thought of as a legit strange person but no he's just a prat
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link
probably time for triphop comebacks in general anyway.
creep!
i could imagine creep ft. lana del rey very easily actually
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link
i think the production is too much, actually - very little is as sparse as "video games", too often the songs are sort of slathered in unnecessary strings and get corny vaguely hip-hop beats and samples tacked on to them.
agreed
― dmr, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:40 (twelve years ago) link
the wu lyf perf is similar to LDR's failures in that you can see them reaching for some weirdo indie guy grail but if coldplay is watered down radiohead then wu lyf is watered down coldplay and that is very weak tea indeed
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:42 (twelve years ago) link
I have "radio" stuck in my head today, that'll teach me to listen to a pop record
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link
wu lyf reminds me of mumford and sons after a bender, when they get to the 'let's just sing drinking songs and bang on shit' part of the night
― maura, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 19:37 (twelve years ago) link
LOL @ "wu lyf" on letterman.
that mono video -- the 90s really were a while ago huh?
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 19:51 (twelve years ago) link
Off to the Races ... holy cow, really the worst ... just like, my jaw was dropping
― dmr, Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:24 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
fuck ya, horrifyingly bad. shocked that something so painfully wretched would be given the #2 slot on a "major" album.
― his hands are a dirty fountain through which lives spurt (contenderizer), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 20:29 (twelve years ago) link
oh man thank you for reminding me about Mono
― I spend a lot of time thinking about apricots (DJP), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 20:29 (twelve years ago) link
xp yeah that one is a low point for sure
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 20:30 (twelve years ago) link
― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Wednesday, February 1, 2012 7:52 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lex otm. LDR would have been much better served by something sonically closer to the chris isaak/julie cruise/david lynch touchstones she obviously draws on. the best-sounding and least awkward tracks are those that emphasize space, darkness and restraint: "video games" and "million dollar man" in particular. not that the latter is a particularly great song, but the production at least seems suitable.
turns out it's not a terrible album, but nor is it a great one. seems to use a trite distillation of 90s trip hop to sort of split the difference between "modern radio pop" and the retro signifiers in which the singer seems inclined to couch herself. it's a bad move, imo, resulting in an album with no clear sonic identity or personality.
in addition to "blue jeans" and "video games", i kind of dig "national anthem", "radio" (which is just okay, really) and "this is what makes us girls". the rest goes by in a wash.
― his hands are a dirty fountain through which lives spurt (contenderizer), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
Yep, definitely a mistake to put Kid Cudi/Eminem's producer at the helm. Too bad Angelo Baadalamenti has been semi-retired for 8 years.
"Off to the Races" is sitting in my recycle bin.
― Sanpaku, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
spotted at tesco this morning:
http://f.cl.ly/items/2y1N1e013f02111V0A0J/10_97.jpg
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 2 February 2012 10:36 (twelve years ago) link
£10.97!!!!!
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 2 February 2012 10:46 (twelve years ago) link
Actually the deluxe version is 13.97, I know because I went to get it from there on Monday and had to ask someone to do a price check for me. I left empty handed and headed straight home to Amazon where the regular version cost me 8.20 from a seller.
Still really enjoying this album. Radio and Dark Paradise are my two favourite tracks at the moment.
― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 2 February 2012 10:59 (twelve years ago) link
No wonder Tesco are struggling.
― Michael Jones, Thursday, 2 February 2012 11:07 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, 69p for Popz Butter Popcorn is daylight robbery
― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Thursday, 2 February 2012 11:10 (twelve years ago) link
Someone replaced the official round 'Security protected' stickers with bootleg square ones.
― James Mitchell, Thursday, 2 February 2012 13:30 (twelve years ago) link
we participate in a civil debt recovery scheme
― lag∞n, Thursday, 2 February 2012 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, this is nowhere near as awful as the narrative would have you believe, but still pretty mediocre taken as a whole.
― Gonjasufjanstephen O'Malley (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 2 February 2012 15:01 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr52zTBp3oo
― markers, Friday, 3 February 2012 14:31 (twelve years ago) link
Okay, yeah, the more I listen to this the more the clunky lyrics glare out at me. The awkward chorus of "Off to the Races" makes me think of Annie's "sexy" song in that glee club episode of Community.
― Gonjasufjanstephen O'Malley (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 3 February 2012 14:33 (twelve years ago) link
Way good.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 3 February 2012 14:35 (twelve years ago) link
lol @ the ldr string quartet and dave trying to boost her self-esteem
― call all destroyer, Friday, 3 February 2012 14:49 (twelve years ago) link
that was MUCH better than snl though
yeah the talent is unambiguous there, it's just that the material is still kind of terrible
― I spend a lot of time thinking about apricots (DJP), Friday, 3 February 2012 14:55 (twelve years ago) link
it still blows my mind that like 20 minutes before the LDR performance SNL ran the 'You Can Do Anything' sketch where entitled YouTube performers declared "I tried, and therefore noone should criticize me." it's like they knew what was going to happen.
― some dude, Friday, 3 February 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/272x408/s_v/VogueMar12_V_31jan12_b_272x408.jpg
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:05 (twelve years ago) link
"fascinating"
― johnny crunch, Friday, 3 February 2012 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
why is her head taking the place of the letter G?
― some dude, Friday, 3 February 2012 15:07 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/the-culture-edit/2011/10/20/lana-del-rey-interview
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:07 (twelve years ago) link
VOgangstanancysinatraUE
per the vogue blog post i think you mean "Ghetto Monégasque"
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:31 (twelve years ago) link
she is good at coming up with these taglines for herself, cf "Hollywood sadcore"
"she" is good at coming up with the taglines "for herself"
― Gonjasufjanstephen O'Malley (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:32 (twelve years ago) link
haha again with the puppet business
― Critique of Pure Moods (goole), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:37 (twelve years ago) link
Not the puppet thing, but come on, those taglines reek of PR people.
― Gonjasufjanstephen O'Malley (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:38 (twelve years ago) link
"I had no idea about the fashion shows," she told us. "But I think they chose Video Games because it embodies summertime sadness. Fashion is inspired by youth and nostalgia and draws inspiration from the best of the past. I think both the song and the collections touch on the light and the dark side of life."
she is definitely very shrewd about marketing herself, while at the same time not shrewd at all about how to not make it feel like marketing
― some dude, Friday, 3 February 2012 15:38 (twelve years ago) link
her interviews are like a wordcloud of the phrases she wants people to associate with her
― some dude, Friday, 3 February 2012 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
actually kind of brings me back to something i thought about Vampire Weekend a couple years ago -- like they were almost TOO savvy about not just what they were going for in terms of image/signifiers to the point of spelling it out for people constantly, which might have almost motivated people to get all meta about it because critics already had so much of the work done for them of just covering the basic surface level aspects by the artist
― some dude, Friday, 3 February 2012 15:42 (twelve years ago) link
ok strike the "not just" from that sentence, kind of awkwardly hanging there unresolved
― some dude, Friday, 3 February 2012 15:43 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know, I'd blame Myspace for all that more than marketers. How many indie rock bands had "crunk" or "hip-hop" in their description?
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 3 February 2012 15:53 (twelve years ago) link