6 ms·

Lou Reed's New Public Archive

66 points by tintinnabula 10y ago

mmjaa 10y ago
Like all rock legends, Lou continues to inspire every single time .. they don't make 'em like they used to. EDIT: I mean, who doesn't still use tape, amiright kids?
- quakeguy 10y ago
  Latest Aphex Twin EP (1) was sold on cassettes, so you are not far off :) (1) https://warpnet-media.s3.amazonaws.com/86a1a1adb9a901ee16566b8129d684ac99cab90b06c424611901ab38_485 https://warpnet-media.s3.amazonaws.com/86a1a1adb9a901ee16566...
  - Neliquat 10y ago
    Still better than when Cheap Trick(?) Had their new album put out on 8-track a few years back.
    - mmjaa 10y ago
      Wake me up when we can print our own tape. Until then, there's not much difference between an SSD and a tape-roll; bother are not something I can grow in my kitchen.
zipperhead 10y ago
It's easy to forget that most of the Velvet Underground stuff was done in the 60's. So radically different from what was going on at the time. And so influential on what came after. From the article - I'd love to see this stuff: Surprises seem to come out of nowhere. A Sony Walkman lightly coated with rust turns out to be a special edition, presented to Reed by the company, with a custom silver case made by Tiffany. A reissue copy of the Byrds' 1966 raga-jazz single "Eight Miles High" has a handwritten note inside the picture sleeve: "Thought you might enjoy a little more Coltrane." It is signed "Jimmy Page" – an early Reed fan who, as a Yardbird in 1968, was covered the Velvets' "I'm Waiting for the Man" on stage.
jackhack 10y ago
I've never been able to tolerate Lou Reed's music; the stuff I've heard on the radio (esp "Walk on the Wild Side") strikes me as pretentious and not especially lyrical nor musical -- but I feel like I must be missing something as he is continuously heralded as a radical innovator of rock & punk music. Help me here. What am I missing? What should I listen to in order to get a good cross-sampling of his work? Are those two tunes just "pop" or not representative of his work, or something else? I want to give him another chance, so to speak and I could use the guidance. Is there a particular song or two that showcases what he's all about? Neil Young is another example. I can't stand his music, however, I like Bruce Springsteen and I've heard the same remarks about his work. Go figure. (edit: lol! I always thought "warewolves of london" was Lou Reed.)
- dmschulman 10y ago
  i always thought 'the murder mystery' was a cool velvet underground song, especially the way they utilize the left channel and right channel to tell different parts of the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHvBSqfnVs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHvBSqfnVs
- intopieces 10y ago
  It's a little hard to get a sense for how out-there The Velvet Underground was now that the kinds of sounds they were making in the late 60s are 'normalized,' so to speak. The best thing I can recommend, if this aspect interests you, is to listen to the top 10 songs from 1969: 1. "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies 2. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension 3. "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations 4. "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones 5. "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone 6. "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe 7. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly & the Family Stone 8. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Tom Jones 9. "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations 10. "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells And then listen to VU's "The Velvet Underground" the same year. It's like they were living on a different planet. At the end of this experiment, you might not emerge a Lou Reed fan. But you will at least be able to appreciate the vision, and to hear the influences VU had on later artists. Edit: Reviewing your comment, I'd like to ask you to clarify what you mean by "pretentious" in reference to Walk on the Wild Side, a song that reference a transgender actress who exhibits remarkable composure while performing fellatio? The subject matter of the song -- black women, New York sexual deviants, hitch-hiking, pimping, being strung out on drugs... it strikes me as a the precise opposite of pretentious. Capturing a time and place, the sound and atmosphere, to anyone with an ear.
Pica_soO 10y ago
Heroine.. its my wife and its my life.. The song covered it all the sedated bliss and depleted defeatedness of a addict...
pizza 10y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaAd59PiiQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaAd59PiiQo early in the morning, I'm so free early in the evening, I'm so free I'm of the opinion that a lot of his most famous songs sound better on this live cd (lo mejor de lou reed) than the studio versions - Estoy Esperando Que el Hombre, Estoy tan Libre, Vicious, Sweet Jane, Heroina, Rock n roll, etc..

66 points by tintinnabula 10y ago

mmjaa 10y ago

Like all rock legends, Lou continues to inspire every single time .. they don't make 'em like they used to. EDIT: I mean, who doesn't still use tape, amiright kids?

quakeguy 10y ago
Latest Aphex Twin EP (1) was sold on cassettes, so you are not far off :) (1) https://warpnet-media.s3.amazonaws.com/86a1a1adb9a901ee16566b8129d684ac99cab90b06c424611901ab38_485 https://warpnet-media.s3.amazonaws.com/86a1a1adb9a901ee16566...
- Neliquat 10y ago
  Still better than when Cheap Trick(?) Had their new album put out on 8-track a few years back.
  - mmjaa 10y ago
    Wake me up when we can print our own tape. Until then, there's not much difference between an SSD and a tape-roll; bother are not something I can grow in my kitchen.

zipperhead 10y ago

It's easy to forget that most of the Velvet Underground stuff was done in the 60's. So radically different from what was going on at the time. And so influential on what came after. From the article - I'd love to see this stuff: Surprises seem to come out of nowhere. A Sony Walkman lightly coated with rust turns out to be a special edition, presented to Reed by the company, with a custom silver case made by Tiffany. A reissue copy of the Byrds' 1966 raga-jazz single "Eight Miles High" has a handwritten note inside the picture sleeve: "Thought you might enjoy a little more Coltrane." It is signed "Jimmy Page" – an early Reed fan who, as a Yardbird in 1968, was covered the Velvets' "I'm Waiting for the Man" on stage.

jackhack 10y ago

I've never been able to tolerate Lou Reed's music; the stuff I've heard on the radio (esp "Walk on the Wild Side") strikes me as pretentious and not especially lyrical nor musical -- but I feel like I must be missing something as he is continuously heralded as a radical innovator of rock & punk music. Help me here. What am I missing? What should I listen to in order to get a good cross-sampling of his work? Are those two tunes just "pop" or not representative of his work, or something else? I want to give him another chance, so to speak and I could use the guidance. Is there a particular song or two that showcases what he's all about? Neil Young is another example. I can't stand his music, however, I like Bruce Springsteen and I've heard the same remarks about his work. Go figure. (edit: lol! I always thought "warewolves of london" was Lou Reed.)

dmschulman 10y ago
i always thought 'the murder mystery' was a cool velvet underground song, especially the way they utilize the left channel and right channel to tell different parts of the story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHvBSqfnVs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHvBSqfnVs
intopieces 10y ago
It's a little hard to get a sense for how out-there The Velvet Underground was now that the kinds of sounds they were making in the late 60s are 'normalized,' so to speak. The best thing I can recommend, if this aspect interests you, is to listen to the top 10 songs from 1969: 1. "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies 2. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension 3. "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations 4. "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones 5. "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone 6. "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe 7. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly & the Family Stone 8. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" by Tom Jones 9. "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Foundations 10. "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells And then listen to VU's "The Velvet Underground" the same year. It's like they were living on a different planet. At the end of this experiment, you might not emerge a Lou Reed fan. But you will at least be able to appreciate the vision, and to hear the influences VU had on later artists. Edit: Reviewing your comment, I'd like to ask you to clarify what you mean by "pretentious" in reference to Walk on the Wild Side, a song that reference a transgender actress who exhibits remarkable composure while performing fellatio? The subject matter of the song -- black women, New York sexual deviants, hitch-hiking, pimping, being strung out on drugs... it strikes me as a the precise opposite of pretentious. Capturing a time and place, the sound and atmosphere, to anyone with an ear.

Pica_soO 10y ago

Heroine.. its my wife and its my life.. The song covered it all the sedated bliss and depleted defeatedness of a addict...

pizza 10y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaAd59PiiQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaAd59PiiQo early in the morning, I'm so free early in the evening, I'm so free I'm of the opinion that a lot of his most famous songs sound better on this live cd (lo mejor de lou reed) than the studio versions - Estoy Esperando Que el Hombre, Estoy tan Libre, Vicious, Sweet Jane, Heroina, Rock n roll, etc..