Posts Tagged Lou Reed
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September 26, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Mistrial/Innocent Man
This teacher in high school told us all to write out the lyrics to our favourite song and bring a tape or CD into class to play the tune. We’d read the lyrics out and play the song to the class – talk about why we choose it – what it was about. She played […]Archive
August 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Nils Lofgren: Blue With Lou
Nils Lofgren Blue With Lou Cattle Track Road Nils Lofgren’s always been one of the great guitar-heroes of songwriting – which is to say he’s a hell of a player and a decent songwriter and he knows how to combine the two; maybe he’s learned a bit from serving at the feet of masters, certainly […]Archive
May 1, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 312
Lou Reed, Berlin (1973) I got to this one pretty early in my Lou Reed worship – I guess because I was reading the bios and whatever I could get my hands on…I approached the discography in a giant scatter-grab; trips to Auckland to the ‘big’ record stores to get whatever I could, armed with as many names […]Archive
September 2, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: decade
The first time I thought about what a decade meant – what it truly, actually means – is when I heard Neil Young’s compilation, called “Decade”. It’s a double tape, or CD – and a triple album. I first heard it when I was about 12 or 13, a decade on I was still hooked […]Archive
August 21, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Ezra Furman: Lou Reed’s Transformer (33 1/3)
Lou Reed’s Transformer (33 1/3) Ezra Furman Bloomsbury Academic The death of the album – so greatly exaggerated. And the 33 1/3 series of books in tribute to classic albums (old and new) continues to trot out the titles. Here, musician Ezra Furman looks at Lou Reed’s Transformer album in this volume of the same […]Archive
June 5, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 402
The Velvet Underground, VU (1985) I know I’m not alone in thinking that this is the best Velvet Underground album – and yes I know it’s a compilation; posthumous even – one that was responsible for one of the first waves of re-appreciation, or even appreciation. But I bought this pre-internet, when, as a Lou […]Archive
November 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Music on Mastermind: What Would Your Mastermind Specialist Topic Be?
“I’ve started…so I’ll finish…” I was an avid fan of Mastermind. Couldn’t get into the re-boot. As a kid I watched it – obsessed. Even the topics/questions I didn’t really understand. I certainly ‘got’ that people were smart, passionate, engaged, a bit mouth-breathy at times…but it was just inspiring watching these nerds dribble out the […]Archive
October 30, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Shilpa Ray: Door Girl
Shilpa Ray Door Girl Northern Spy Records “You know where the heart went? The heart went/On makin’ the rent!” Shilpa Ray passionately sings, early on, on Door Girl, the second full lengther from the band Shilpa Ray, a vehicle for its singer/songwriter also named Shilpa Ray. Where previously, some Nico-esque harmonium was draped over the […]Archive
July 17, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Remembering Lou Reed’s New York Album
Writing about Lou Reed’s New York album in 2017 brings with it painful reminders that the album was released over 28 years ago (January 1989) and the last studio album to feature Lou Reed was his collaboration, last year, with Metallica for the extended practical-joke they called Lulu. New York was, in many ways, my real introduction to Lou Reed. I grew up listening […]Archive
May 4, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Write On: Aiming To Keep Going
I can remember the very first thing that made me want to write about music, the very first experience. It was a school assignment. Sixth Form Journalism – and we’d get these weekend assignments. One time we’d have to do a lifestyle feature on a living grandparent, or interview a pet or whatever. A mate […]Archive
March 21, 2017 by Simon Sweetman