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When Manufactured Authenticity Goes Wrong | Lana Del Ray

Pitchfork is really stepping up their game in music journalism. Here are a few excerpts from their feature on Lana Del Rey, the indie scene's latest hot topic. But is she truly "indie," or is she merely a Britney Spears dressed in vintage store apparel?

"There's at least one thing I really like about singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. When she described her persona to a Guardian journalist as "Lolita got lost in the hood," the phrase sounded like a well-rehearsed product of the same elevator-pitch brainstorming session that brought us her primary tagline ("a gangster Nancy Sinatra"), or maybe even the artist's name itself. 

It turns out this isn't the most flattering way to approach Del Rey. It's not that there's anything "inauthentic" about her. (How can theater be "inauthentic?") 

It's just that the aesthetic references surrounding her-- Hollywood vintage, 50s Americana, the concept of fame, the tough-girl crooner, beers delivered in homes and pool played at bars, the whole faded cheer of a mid-century nation, a cave just to the left of the one in which David Lynch has spent years spelunking-- they're all already so pungent, evocative, and well-worn that it's hard to reshape them."

Read more: Why We Fight: The Imagination of Lana Del Rey

Steve Martin Turns Tweets Into Book

"The book will be called "The Ten, Make That Nine Habits, of Very Organized People. Make That Ten," and will be a collection of Martin's tweets as well as responses from followers, publishers Grand Central Publishing said in a statement."

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