Since her big break in 2011 with the hit YouTube video for the song “ Video Games”, followed by the success of her first album under a major record label, “Born To Die”, Lana Del Rey has been heating up the charts and making a name for herself in the music industry. With her sultry, emotive sound and bombshell good looks, Lana Del Rey is definitely making waves and getting noticed.
Initially, I didn’t understand all the hype surrounding Lana, but being the music lover that I am, I decided to give her music a try. I honestly did not know what to expect prior to listening. I assumed she was just a hipster pop singer, with a cute face, but I was surprised by how much depth her voice had and her interesting lyrics. There is just something really captivating and sexy about her and she brings something very different to music right now. Additionally, I was impressed by the artistic quality of her music videos and how well they encapsulated the message and overall feelings of her songs.
Last Week Del Rey released a new music video for her fifth single “National Anthem”, which features up-and-coming rapper A$AP Rocky and is being released just in time for the Fourth of July. The controversial 7:40 music video directed by Anthony Mandler, depicts Del Rey portraying both Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O, while A$AP plays JFK. Yes, the First Family is multiracial, a rapper is the President of the United States, and there is a reenactment of the JFK assassination. Quite a way to make headlines, right? Del Rey sings of wealth, glamour, romance, innocence (or rather the loss of it), and death, themes popular in her music, over a catchy, symphonic beat. The video is shot to look like a collection of vintage home movies of intimate family moments and wild, lavish parties, all while paying homage to life in the lap of luxury, and the Kennedy dynasty. In other words, it contains the makings of a Hollywood mini-movie.
Like Del Rey’s other music videos, it is an Instagram user’s dream. The video is initially shot using a black and white filter, before transitioning into a gritty sepia tone filter to give it a nostalgic, yet edgy and modern feel. Watching the music video makes you feel like you are watching an old 1960’s docudrama. The video is shot with great attention to detail and has a real touching quality to it, not to mention it connects well to Del Rey’s lyrics, which include: “Money is the anthem of success”, “Money is the reason we exist”, and “Winin’ and dinin’, drinkin’ and drivin’, excessive buyin’ overdose and dyin’”.
~Darien Headen ‘15
The Tallest Man on Earth has been on the music scene for quite a while, but only started making ripples in it a couple years ago in 2010, when his second full-length LP The Wild Huntwas released. The album featurers the now famous “Love Is All”, “King of Spain”, and perhaps most notably, the title track, which according to the Tallest Man himself was written in a fury in about fifteen minutes. Little do most people know though that this man, whose real name is Kristian Matsson, was not always the acoustic folk troubadour that he is today. He used to be in a full-out rock band called Montezumas way back in the mid-2000s. They never got very far, and Matsson had a suitcase full of original songs, so he left the band and made himself into a solo act, labeling himself The Tallest Man on Earth (to answer the obvious question, no, he is only about 5’7’’).
Ever since Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s released their first full-length album, Up from Below, I have been a huge fan of their distinct folk style. Songs like, “40 Day Dream ” and “Om Nashi Me,” had a certain carefree power that made me want to go out and enjoy the day, while other songs like, “Brother,” and “Desert Song” had a more reflective aura about them.
The CunninLynguists. First introduced to me by my friend Simon at Tufts,
this group really stuck with me mainly for the name. Even before I began even
listening to their music, I thought the group name was insanely clever and definitely
a group that I wanted to lend an ear to.
I know I’m not the only one impatiently waiting for them to drop the new album.
- G.J. Vitale
The Drifters and Ben E. King-This Magic Moment
this started playing and it made me so happy. what an amazing song.
(via oldfilmsflicker)
This is big, this semi-final.
Die Mannschaft (Germany)
Gil Azzurri (Italy)
Given the relative quality (or lack thereof) of yesterday’s Spain-Portugal tilt, do we think today will have a bit more flair, a bit more attacking prowess, a bit more fun? Most importantly, we ask as always, WHO YA GOT?
Basement Fridge
