Tag: "Lana Del Rey"

With The Great Gatsby bringing in over $50million at the box office this weekend, it doesn’t take a genius to realize the soundtrack isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. We know not everyone can sneak away during a weekday to catch a movie, so today we suggest letting the video for Lana Del Rey‘s soundtrack contribution “Young & Beautiful” entertain you instead.

Thematically perfect for the themes of longing, fear, and love that run rampant throughout Gasby, “Young & Beautiful” is as fitting for the latest film adaptation as it is Del Rey’s personal catalog. Her near-whisper croon matching soothing orchestral instrumentation and thunderous percussion with lines filled with questions about what happens when young loves begins to age. The visuals match the emotional intensity of the song, but the most notable imagery is without a doubt two glittery tears placed on Del Rey’s cheek. You can view the clip below.

The soundtrack for The Great Gatsby is in stores now and expected to top the Billboard charts. If you enjoy this song, give the album a spin. Continue reading ‘Lana Del Rey Debuts “Young & Beautiful” Video’

After weeks of promotion, teasers, and only a handful of leaks, the full soundtrack for the upcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby has been made available for streaming online.

NPR has the honor of hosting the Jay-Z executively produced release, which hits stores Tuesday, May 7. Everyone from Lana Del Rey, to Will.i.am, to the Jigga man himself makes an appearance, but don’t let that roster of modern favorites lead you into a false idea of what to expect. This release perfectly balances the modern flavor added to the upcoming adaptation, while keeping the spirit of the story’s era well in tact. Click here to experience the album.

The Great Gatsby arrives in theaters May 10.

Warner Bros. has been hyping their adaptation of The Great Gatsby since 2012, but their latest marketing attempt is turning the focus from film to music.

In addition to starring a quintessential who’s-who of Hollywood, the forthcoming May release of The Great Gatsby will be accompanied by an equally star-studded soundtrack. The latest trailer for the film promotes this, with selection from new music by Beyonce (featuring Andre 3000), Lana Del Rey, and Florence + The Machine being teased alongside the footage. You can stream the trailer below.

The Great Gatsby arrives in theaters nationwide May 10. Continue reading ‘New Music From Beyonce, Lana Del Rey, and Florence + The Machine Featured In ‘Great Gatsby’ Trailer’

If there is a better way to start Thursday than watching three-plus minutes of Lana Del Rey being her fantastic self I have yet to hear about it. Frankly, I’m not sure I would want to.

Keeping things classy and opting to not go with the typical overhype of new music, Lana Del Rey quietly released a video this morning for her cover of Leonard Cohen’s classic ballad, “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” Her rendition is as hauntingly beautiful as might expect, with soulful vocals that lightly echo above soft acoustic accompaniment. The video matches this feel, and will likely spawn thousands of gifs showcasing Del Rey’s knack for looking depressed. You can view the video below.

Fun fact: Billboard says the song is originally about Cohen’s one-night-stand with singer Janis Joplin. Continue reading ‘Lana Del Rey Covers Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2;” Releases Video’

• R. Kelly’s terrifying octogenarian transformation.
• More Lana is always good.
• And Rush Limbaugh is so much more respectful of women…
• A kangaroo dance would definitely not be as popular.
• Biden!
• Jackson vs. Jacksun.

Who is Lana Del Rey? Is she Lizzy Grant, Sparkle Jump Rope Queen, or one of the other pseudonyms that she used while performing in New York city clubs only several years ago? Questions about Lana’s authenticity reached a fever pitch in 2012, with some decrying what they saw as her corporately constructed version of hipsterdom, and even questioning the integrity of her body. With the beautifully lush video for her latest single “Ride,” Lana indirectly addresses speculations about her shifting identity, while offering a visual love letter to America and a barely-veiled description of the lonely transient touring life of a newly minted pop starlet

In the languid monologue that opens the video’s shots of neon–lit urban decay and sun-stroked open highways, Lana describes being “a singer, not a very popular one, who once had dreams of becoming a beautiful poet,” and laments how ”there’s no use in talking to people who have a home; they have no idea what it’s like to seek safety in other people, for home to be wherever you lie your head.” Though Lana isn’t really playing herself in the video, the gist of her moody soliloquy is clear: being a pop star who is constantly on the road can be lonely and sad, even as all of your supposed dreams are becoming real. Over the course of the video, she appears as a drifter, biker, killer, and lounge performer; she floats through a vast sprawling American landscape that is as varied as her own identities. A rebellious biker girl on the western freeway, an enigmatic chanteuse onstage, and a lonely transient on the dirty city streets, Lana changes with each new locale. She is all of these people, and in being so, is none of them fully. She is neither Lizzy Grant, nor Lana Del Rey, nor her earliest incarnation as May Jailer, but a nebulous entity who can perform whatever role is desired of her. After all, this is exactly what pop stars do, and it is America and its endless sense of possibilities that lets them do it. E pluribus unum: out of many, one. America is truly one nation, under pop. “I believe in the country America used to be. I believe in the person I want to become,” Lana intones towards the end of the video. Thanks, Lizzy. It all makes sense now.

Lana fans: check out OurStage artist Sheila Star for more sultry pop tunes.

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• Lana Del Rey’s SNL Appearance: A Mainstream Gambit
• Sound and Vision: Why Lana Del Rey Might Be the Most Important Thing to Happen in Pop Since Adele

• Lana just can’t seem to get a break.
• Festivals are fun…when you’re the one drunk in the sun.
• Earmuffs, Kanye.
• Guess it’s no longer edible. Well, maybe it never was.
• An appropriate choice.
• Wacky, cool, and very Dirty Projectors.

• Lana Del Jag.
• MIA stays political.
• Those are some “swift” sales. We couldn’t resist the pun.
• Dee’s not gonna take it.
• Anthony Bourdain’s always down for a good time.
• Better frame that note forever, Eric.

For at least another year or two, all of the U.K.’s up-and-coming sisters (and brothers) with voices will have their work cut out for them. As if it’s not already tough enough to rise above the pop pack, they’ll also have to contend with all of those inevitable Adele comparisons.

Is she (or he) the next Adele, the future of U.K.-bred pop talent hoping to achieve global domination?

Admit it: You wonder, too—every time a great new voice emerges from the British music scene. With the ruling pop diva of the last two years now between albums (perhaps she’ll be back in the autumn singing the theme for the next James Bond film, Skyfall) and expecting her first child with boyfriend Simon Konecki, the battle is on for the keys to the kingdom that the princess hasn’t even yet vacated.

If you’ve got a great voice and/or a slightly unconventional pop sound and/or look, if you’re more substance than style, to the front of the line you go. It’s the latest greatest aspiration in pop since the days when it was all about being the next Amy Winehouse, whether you sounded anything like her or not. Challenging Adele might be as scary a proposition as walking in the late Winehouse’s scuffed shoes might have been (terrifying for reasons that had everything and nothing to do with Winehouse’s talent), but at least fans are in for some great music. Recently, I heard a Rumer (the off-the-beaten-pop-path singer behind 2010′s Seasons of My Soul and this year’s Boys Don’t Cry), and my first thought was “Is this it?”

Rumer isn’t the only talented singer who’s making me listen and wonder. Here are three others:

Emeli Sandé (Current hits: “My Kind of Love” and “Next to Me”) In June, a friend sent me the video for Sandé’s recent single, “Next to Me,” on Facebook, with a short and sweet message: “love…” After watching the clip, my first impression was “Sara Bareilles with a really dated look.” White on black is so mid-‘90s! My second impression: How is it that everybody all over the world doesn’t already know her name (which, incidentally, is actually Adele Emeli Sandé)?  Continue reading ‘Is the Next Adele a Guy?’

Listening to good music that other people already know about is totally overrated nowadays. This week, OurStage’s own hipster correspondent Kristin has built us a playlist that’s more anti-mainstream than PBR and lens-less wayfarers. This playlist was developed around the supernatural hipster ability to discover great music before anyone else has the chance to hear it. By studying the hipster in its natural habitat, we can learn about how songs start to become trendy at the earliest stages, and predict what music is on the rise based on what hipsters are listening to currently. SoundTrax’s Hold Me Closer Tiny Hipster features popular music that these groovy trendsetters were listening to months ago, before it was cool (of course) and songs they’re listening to now that’s sure to catch on to mainstream popularity soon enough. As an added bonus, there are also a few tracks that were previously overlooked by conformist popular culture that hipsters have attempted desperately to keep to themselves. Sorry for spilling the beans, hipsters.

Post up in a local coffee shop on your MacBook then work on your Avant-garde screenplay while listening to these awesome tunes by Lana Del Rey, Bronze Radio Return, We Were Lovers, Imagine Dragons, and many more.

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• Bronze Radio Return Celebrate Summer With “Down There” Video