Category Archives: MUSIC

The title harkens back to Notorious B.I.G. “Quite accidentally, I might add,” she demurred, when asked.

A beautiful young woman with a transcendent talent, a distinct look, and a stage name—one that seemed hotwired to the finely tuned smoke and mirrors of arcane pop theatricality—Lana (née Lizzie Grant) inevitably caused online contention. She was subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous Web-speak. Again, the dolorous texture of rumour around her seemed to have informed a new serenity in the singer. Hey, we all have a past. I suggested that the Oscar Wilde quote “the only thing better than being talked about is not being talked about,” might be playing into her hands. “Oh no, honey,” she rebuked gently, “I have had an entire life of not being talked about. That’s fine.” She seemed to mean it, too.

“You talk about all these things that have happened to me in this short space of time, but the one thing that has really changed is that I now have an audience. I turn up in Glasgow or Manchester or Amsterdam and there are good people waving at me from the crowd. That’s amazing. There are people outside the venue at sound check that want to chat and take a photo.” She has found peace in this response. “Someone showed me their ticket stub and asked me to sign it. You know how much it costs to come and see a show?” She paused. “These people really wanted to see me.” She sounded quietly flabbergasted.

“I’m not competing with those girls,” she said of her MTV-flooding generational contemporaries. “I’m not competing with anybody.”

Prior to meeting her, Lana’s management had sent me a link to some twenty-odd songs she had in a locked file, accessible only by password on the Internet. It has since been deleted. I liked the way she sounded bred on witty hip-hop rhyme schemes and subjected them to the confines of classic songwriting, like Carly Simon incubated in the early ’80s Bronx. I loved her simultaneous reading of high and low culture. When we had said farewell at that bus stop in London, she told me she was flying to L.A. in two days to meet a heavyweight hip-hop producer that wanted to work with her.

“I decided not to,” she said in Cologne. “I’ve kept it family. The beats are being looked after by my beat man. The arrangements are being done by my string man.” There will be no industry grooming for the current and future pop star Lana del Rey. Mostly, she came to the conclusion of this at the record’s playback. You really want to know why Lana del Rey suddenly found Zen?

“I made a really good record. That’s my defense,” she said. That is all. Paul Flynn

Born to Die is available in January from Interscope

Fashion editor Jay Massacret

Makeup Pamela Cochrane using Chanel (OBrepresents)
Hair Anna Cofone using Shu Uemura Art of Hair (Emma Davies)

Manicure Mike Pockock using Nail Rock (Streeters)
Digital capture Edouard Malfettes (Digit Art, Paris)
Photo assistants Antoni Ciufo and Antoine Breant
Stylist assistants Olivia Kozlowski, Mara Palena, Vera Calcagno, Maria Sbiti
Colorist Marc Ramos  Makeup assistant Katie Nixon
Retouching Imagin’  Location Spring Studios, London
Creative consultant Johnny Blue Eyes (OBrepresents)
Special thanks Andy Silva, Kimberley Brown (Purple PR),
Town Hall Hotel and Apartments

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Fool’s Gold Radio – November 2011 Mix by A-Trak

It’s that time of the month again. Time for a fresh mix of uptempo goodies in the form of Fool’s Gold Radio. Got some more exclusives here, including the premiere if my remix for Laidback Luke & Sander Van Doors “Who’s Wearing The Cap”.

Tracklist:
1. Kid Gloves “Music Power” (A-Trak Edit) (Fool’s Gold)
2. P-Money & Dan Aux are Disco 3 “Your Kinda Lovin”
3. Volta Bureau “Alley Cat” (Nervus)
4. J Paul Ghetto “Imma Let You Know” (Magnetic)
5. Butch “Drummers Drama” (Rekids)
6. Claptone “Make Me Feel” (Exploited)
7. Kassette Boys “Ah! Yeah! Oh! Yeah!” (Oliver $ Remix) (Kassette)
8. Zombie Disco Squad “Pianoman” (Made To Play)
9. Scuba “Adrenalin” (Hotflush)
10. Malente & Zero Cash “I’ll Be There” (Light Year Remix) (No Brainer)
11. L-Vis 1990 feat. Teki Latex & Para One “Fill The Void” (Extended Club Mix) (PMR)
12. Bart B More & Rubix “Ari” (BMKLTSCH RCRDS)
13. Cubic Zirconia “Take Me High” (Bart B More Remix) (Fool’s Gold)
14. Plump DJs “Gobbstopper” (Grand Hotel)
15. Maelstrom “Draggin” (BNR Trax)
16. Sound Of Stereo “Opal” (TWR72 Remix) (Lektroluv)
17. Pleasurekraft “The Main Ingredient” (Hotfingers)
18. Laidback Luke & Sander Van Doorn “Who’s Wearing The Cap” (A-Trak Remix) (Mixmash)
19. dOP “Your Sex” (Supplement Facts)
20. Friendly Fires “Blue Cassette” (Tiga Remix) (XL)
21. Floorplan “Baby, Baby” (M-Plant)
22. Bok Bok & Tom Trago “Time Master” (Sound Pellegrino)
23. DJ Funeral “Bounce Dat” (Body High)
24. Kastle “So You” (Silverback)

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If you’re anti-Tyler, the Creator, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to hear that the Odd Future frontman’s forthcoming album Wolf will be less about raping and murdering and more about “hippie music.” In a recent sit-down with Spin, Tyler spoke about what to expect.

“Talking about rape and cutting bodies up, it just doesn’t interest me anymore… What interests me is making weird hippie music for people to get high to. With Wolf, I’ll brag a little more, talk about money and buying shit. But not like any other rapper, I’ll be a smart-ass about it. Now it’s just girls throwing themselves at me and shit, but I got a girl back home. People who want the first album again, I can’t do that. I was 18, broke as fuck. On my third album, I have money and I’m hanging out with my idols. I can’t rap about the same shit.”

Nice to see that the young buck already realizes that it’s all about progression and moving forward. It will no doubt be interesting to see the outcome of the project.

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