In Defense Of Lana Del Ray

I sort of feel like Daniel Webster today, as I put pen to paper...errr...well you know what I mean. And like his Seventh of March speech I rise not as a rock lover or an indie rock lover but as a music lover. And what I wish to speak on is Lana Del Ray.

For those not in the know, Lana Del Ray is a strange mix of sexpot, lounge singer, and weirdo pop singer. Her voice is to put it mildly an acquired taste. She's not beautiful, I'm not even sure if she is really pretty, but she is still alluring and sort of mesmerizing to look at, kind of like a Salvador Dali painting. I am not really sure if she's real, but evidently Axl Rose loves her.

Here's the video for "Video Games" the shot-across-the-bow in DelRayDom:

I don't think she'd get any traction if she didn't look like she does. I think without the weird vamp thing going on she'd be lumped in with the Regina Spektor's and Nellie McKay's and the Joanna Newsom's of the music world. But she is who she is so she gets to be on Saturday Night Live before she even has a record and becomes British GQ's Woman of the Year. Hey good on ya!

So is it worth all the fuss? Entertainment-wise it's without a doubt interesting. Just singing a line like "my pussy tastes like Pepsi cola" with a straight face warrants applause. Her whole thing is her schtick. Does the music stand up? In places. Her first record, Born To Die, is just that...a first album. There's some clunkers for sure, but there's some great stuff. "Video Games" is a great track. "Diet Mountain Dew" is better; it has a great slinky Hollywood-trash thing going. "Radio" is a great track. She just released a companion to that record called Paradise gets help from big shots like Rick Rubin on "Ride."

Again, is it worth the fuss? I think it's pretty good. She's an interesting artist for sure. According to the liner notes she has a songwriting credit for all the tracks. Except for a (apparently super-obligatory) cover of "Blue Velvet."

Does she deserve all the attention, be it positive or negative or whatnot? I think some of the negative attention veers toward mean-spirited. Her SNL performance left many underwhelmed to put it gently. I thought she looked really nervous. I'd be nervous if I was asked to go on SNL. Is it fair that she gets the attention that other artists don't get? Probably not, but that's been going on ever since records started getting made. I've read stuff about her not having worked for it and not deserving the place she has in the music sphere, as if deserve has anything to do with it. Like any artist she was the right person at the right place at the right time.

But rock n roll isn't just music. There's also image and style and all that stuff. And she has a strangely interesting image. If you're one of those who don't think image is part of rock n roll, that it's all-about-the-music-man, I give you this, and this, and this, and this. And this just because it makes me laugh a lot! HAHAHAHA! Back to the point: I sympathize with the substance-over-style crowd, but I give LDR a break because she's onto something different and weird. For me she is a helluva lot more interesting that Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and OneDirection and the rest of the claptrap in the modern pop music-sphere. While writing this I am listening to Paradise and damn my indie rock street cred if I ain't diggin it. Sue me.