Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Review: Lana Del Rey, 'Born To Die'

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  • Pete,

    if someone's going to tickle my balls, I'd rather they tickled my balls for good.


    Ewww


    Please Russell, I have an imagination and it feels rather soiled right now

    Since Apr 2008 • 106 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Pete,

    Please Russell, I have an imagination and it feels rather soiled right now

    Sorry dude. Can't be unwritten now.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • James Butler, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Sorry dude. Can’t be unwritten now.

    Channelling our elusive Italian friend, it's the Internet! Anything can be unwritten!

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Keir Leslie,

    It is getting worse. A year or two ago I heard an interview with a professor from VUW’s music school. As an experiment in the first class he’d play his first-year students music in a range of formats, with a range of engineering treatments. It was the tinny mp3 which they liked the best, because their ears were most accustomed to it.

    Yeah, but if people like it, then surely saying worse is slightly tendentious. It might just be a thing you don’t like.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report

  • James Butler, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    Yeah, but if people like it, then surely saying worse is slightly tendentious. It might just be a thing you don’t like.

    This is a fair cop - I freely admit to getting unusually hung-up about wanting to hear a recording of the performance, not a recording of the post-production. If musicians are using heavy compression/digital artefacts for artistic reasons, full power to them - I'm not going to complain about that, any more than I complain about Kanye West or T-Pain using Autotune (or eg. a guitarist overdriving their amp). But I don't believe these are artistic decisions - I think they're commercial decisions at the expense of the art.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Geoff Lealand,

    I know the backstory about LDR but, just occasionally, popular music comes up with an achingly beautiful love song like this. Maybe we could all nominate our favourite--I would offer Nick Cave's Into My Arms

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report

  • James Butler,

    To clarify: The britpoppers (especially Nigel Godrich) did compress for artistic effect, just not one I liked. My last complaint was aimed at those who produce modern pop, where the putative artists probably don't even know what compression is.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Lilith __,

    I love Video Games, and I was deeply disappointed with LDR’s performances of it both on Later and on SNL but I can appreciate that the song on the video is a crafted artefact as much as it’s a performance.

    Likewise, I love this song, with it’s dynamic and vocal range:

    But listen to Peter von Poehl live, arrgh!! Ok it’s probably a poor recording, but still.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report

  • Andre,

    You downloaded it on Twitter! OMG! Now awaiting a US law enforcement authority rendition?

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Geoff Lealand,

    beautiful love song

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Andre,

    You downloaded it on Twitter! OMG! Now awaiting a US law enforcement authority rendition?

    The link was on Twitter, the file was one MediaFire.

    Which is, y'know, one of the good file-lockers. I figured it wouldn't have stayed there if someone had really wanted it taken down.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • George Darroch, in reply to Lilith __,

    With:

    What you all appear to have missed - but was revealed at Midem last week - is that Lana del Rey is 100% CGI.

    And:

    The file was one MediaFire.

    Which is, y'know, one of the good file-lockers. I figured it wouldn't have stayed there if someone had really wanted it taken down.

    I've only one question: is Lana Del Ray on The Pirate Bay yet?

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Geoff Lealand, in reply to Sacha,

    That too. Also Tom Waits Martha, The Shirelles Baby, It's You, Al Green Belle and Bryan Ferry Let's Stick Together

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report

  • nzlemming, in reply to Sacha,

    +1, even on crappy laptop speakers.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to James Butler,

    To clarify: The britpoppers (especially Nigel Godrich) did compress for artistic effect, just not one I liked.

    I bought What's the Story, Morning Glory? and actually traded it because it annoyed me so much. I didn't understand why until I read about the Loudness Wars.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sacha,

    The interesting thing about 'Not Given Lightly' is that it was -- as Chris has told it -- a deliberate attempt at producing a highly accessible, radio-friendly pop song.

    It wasn't really, and radio still ignored it, but it became something much bigger than radio.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • nzlemming, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Martin Philips said something similar about "Heavenly Pop Hit", I believe

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • Raymond A Francis,

    I take no interest in what passes as pop music now I don't think it is written or played for me and can just imagine the huge cringe if some old bugger had expressed an interest in it when I was young

    But I love Video Games, heard it first on the radio (natradio) and it was bang just like when the Beatles and the Stones arrived
    So the "back story" is manufactured, what's new suckers! I

    45' South • Since Nov 2006 • 578 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    I have a couple of songs that bring tears to the eyes every time. I won't inflict Simply Red on anyone but one of the songs that do it for me is this one:

    And certainly, this one:

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to nzlemming,

    Her polygons need tweaking.

    Down boy.
    ;-)

    Anyhoo. When I was a junior sound engineer, too many moons ago to mention, limiting and compression were two of the best tools we had at our disposal. Back in the day, as they say, we all got our new sounds from the radio, in most cases the kids listened on a pocket transistor radio, the better ones having a "huge" 2.5 inch speaker. The only way for it to sound "good"was to compress the fuck out of it. We had what was known as a squawk box in the studio, a "massive" 3 inch speaker in a cardboard box, if it sounded good on that, it would sound good on the radio.
    That was then and this is now, these days producers trying to get that 60's sound will miss the point completely and make stuff sound like the old stuff played on a good studio system which, as you all can guess, sounds like shit.
    These days, of course, we have "Autotune"..... God help us.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    I have a couple of songs that bring tears to the eyes every time.

    Me too and this is one of them...

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • hot_grits,

    The modern major label underground buzz plant project. Been going strong since Alanis Morrisette (remember her being played on bfm and those videos where you couldn't quite see her face?).

    Still, good thing is you can alway just judge the music as it lies. I mean, Arctic monkeys were still decent after everyone found out they weren't really some organic indie success story, right?

    Vietnam • Since Dec 2011 • 4 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    I won't inflict Simply Red on anyone

    appreciated :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher, in reply to hot_grits,

    The modern major label underground buzz plant project. Been going strong since Alanis Morrisette (remember her being played on bfm and those videos where you couldn't quite see her face?).

    Yes! The marketing of Lana Del Rey reminds me a lot of the hype around Alanis. But both Alanis and Lana (ooh, similar names) are driven, hardworking singers and certainly greater than the hype. Alanis has been working solidly, with five albums under her belt and a loyal fanbase. And she got her hair out of her face.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Yamis,

    I had only vaguely heard of her before, and I'd seen the Video Games video on TV once or twice. But the music is OK and I don't really give a stuff who wrote it and how organised it is these days. I would have more in the past. I guess it's the whole deception thing.

    For some reason this 'issue' is making me think of this recent Grantland (Bill Simmons is the man) article analysing the Royal Rumble.
    http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7509896/the-wwe-royal-rumble-chris-jericho-controlled-chaos

    Bit random, but something to do with the whole fake passed off as real but then it's kind of real anyway.

    I'm also stuck on the ball tickling line. I encourage such use of words.

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report

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