About a month and a half ago, frequent commenter Dana noted that The White Stripes seem to show up on Random Weekends in numbers higher than blind chance would suggest.
Indeed, at that point seven of their 40 songs in my music library had made the Random Weekend cut, three times as many as you’d expect. I’m not sure how today’s selection — their eighth Random Weekend appearance — affects the math, but they are definitely up there as one of the most represented acts.
Demolition, Ryan Adams’ collection of outtakes from earlier albums, is as solid as many artists’ top tier work. Today’s track is a particular standout, a song about a man tentatively moving on after a failed relationship (he personifies the women as cities in these lyrics).
This is the second Ryan Adams song to pop up on Random Weekends since he was exposed as an alleged predator and harasser who derailed the careers of many female artists. It’s hard not to at least mention that fact, even as I appreciate his work.
Concluding my countdown of the songs on Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell.
2. ‘How to disappear’ – This is another track that was released, in a way, well before the album came out, when Del Rey and Jack Antonoff performed a piano-and-vocals version live at an Apple event. That recording is a thing of beauty, but the studio version is just as transcendent, adding ramshackle instrumentation that reminds me of the work Jon Brion did with Fiona Apple back in the 90s.
Continuing my countdown of the songs on Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell.
5. ‘Mariners Apartment Complex‘ – This was the other single released a full year ago, and it has been a definite favorite of mine ever since. In fact, if I had heard this song for the first time as an album track it may well be at the top of this list. But I’ve known it for so long now that I’m giving the newer songs an edge for the accompanying sense of discovery.
Continuing my countdown of the songs on Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell.
8. ‘Venice Bitch’ – One of the first singles released, a full year ago, ‘Venice Bitch’ clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, with most of that running time devoted to a swirling, ethereal electric guitar part. When I wrote about this song back in February, I predicted that I would likely skip the back half during future listens. Interestingly, I never have… it has such a glorious vibe I can’t help but see it through every time. As Del Rey told her label when they balked at releasing such a long song as a single, “end of summer some people just wanna drive around for 10 minutes and get lost in electric guitar.”
