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Posts Tagged The Velvet Underground

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September 16, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love: #7 – The Velvet Underground, “Squeeze”

The Velvet Underground, Squeeze, 1973   Traitor albums! My cousin told me that Led Zeppelin’s Coda album was not to be listened to because it was “a traitor album” – he surely meant a posthumous album; they existed before Coda, there have been thousands since. But I liked his attempt at purity. Is the faithful […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1973, Crap Albums I Love, Crap Albums I Love: #7, Doug Yule, Ian Paice, Shit That's Good, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love: #7 – The Velvet Underground, Squeeze, The Velvet Underground, Velvet Underground, VU, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 1970s, 1972, 33 1/3, 72, Andy Warhol, Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury Academic, Book, Book Review, Classic Album, Ezra Furman, Ezra Furman: Lou Reed's Transformer, Ezra Furman: Lou Reed's Transformer (33 1/3), Gay, Icon, Iconography, Lou Reed, Lou Reed's Transformer, Lou Reed's Transformer (33 1/3), Music, Mythology, Queer, Seventies, Sex, Sexuality, The Velvet Underground, Transformer, VU, Walk On The Wild Side, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1985, Compilation, Foggy Notion, J.J. Cale, John Cale, Lou Reed, LP, Record, The Velvet Underground, The Vinyl Countdown # 402, The VU, Velvet Underground, Vinyl, VU, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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January 10, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

It Was The Best Gig Ever # 16: John Cale, Auckland 2007

Sometimes you just have to be there. You have to get along. To see the legend. Someone that has meant a lot to you – their music, their place in it, and in your life as a result. It doesn’t have to be a mind-blowing gig to make an impact; the real impact is when […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 2007, Akld, Auckland, Auckland 2007, Best, Best Gig, Gig, It Was The Best Gig Ever, It Was The Best Gig Ever # 16, It Was The Best Gig Ever # 16: John Cale, North Shore, Phantom Billstickers, Stub, Stubs, The Velvet Underground, Velvet Underground, VU ·

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March 21, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

What Value Do You Place On Recorded Music?

It was a couple of years ago, but I remember being in the local record store when a customer was inquiring about Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. He wanted to know if it was available on vinyl and was shown a sealed copy of the latest reissue; a double LP. The price? $59.99. The customer – […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Bitches Brew, Cassette Tape, CD, Daniel Johnston, Download, Downloading, DVD, iTunes, Loaded, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Recorded Music, The Velvet Underground, Value, What value do you place on recorded music? ·

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February 11, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Velvet Underground’s Loaded: Loaded/Fully Loaded, 45 Years On And Still Going…

Those four studio albums by The Velvet Underground all made a huge impact on me. But the sentimental favourite is Loaded – it was the very first CD I purchased. I was a tape buyer, right through until the early-1990s, I wasn’t going to give up that tape collection…I had a tape-deck in my car […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged [45], 45 Years On And Still Going..., Billy Yule, CD, Deluxe Edition, Doug Yule, Fully Loaded, I Found A Reason, Loaded, Loaded/Fully Loaded, Lou Reed, Mo Tucker, Rock'n'Roll, Spotify, Sterling Morrison, Sweet Jane, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground's Loaded, The Velvet Underground's Loaded: Loaded/Fully Loaded, Train Round The Bend, Velvet Underground, VU ·

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January 30, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Lou Reed’s Mistrial: The Starting Point

Sometimes it’s the first album you hear by an artist – it has you hooked. It might not be that artist’s best album, you might not even know that at the time (and brilliantly, you won’t care) but it will become the one you know best, refer to, remember fondly. It’s your starting point… My […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1986, Lou Reed, Lou Reed’s Mistrial: The Starting Point, LP, Mistrial, Record, The Starting Point, The Velvet Underground, Vinyl, VU ·

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January 4, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

John Cale: Leading From The Fringe

I was a fan of Lou Reed first; then The Velvet Underground and then John Cale. Truth be told – and I don’t mind admitting it a) I was young b) there was no internet then – for a while I thought John Cale and J.J. Cale was the same person. I was 12 years […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Avant-Garde, J.J. Cale, John Cale, John Cale: Leading From The Fringe, Leading From The Fringe, Modern Lovers, Patti Smith, Producer, Punk, Songwriter, Stooges, The Velvet Underground, Velvet Underground, VU ·

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October 2, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 816

Lou Reed and John Cale, Songs For Drella (1990) Okay, here’s an album I owned on tape and then CD and now vinyl…there are a few like that, where it’s never enough…it’s always gotta be there. But also, with this one, check it out: A good friend buys me a copy of this as a […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged "It's Work", 1990, Andy Warhol, Carl Shuker, Hello It's Me, John Cale, Lou Reed, LP, Matt Couper, Matthew Couper, My Favourite Piece of Work, Record, Songs For Drella, The Velvet Underground, The Vinyl Countdown # 816, Vinyl ·

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July 21, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Radio Nowhere by Michael Ross: # 2 – I Love Lou, I Love Lou Not: Lou Reed’s Street Hassle

It occurs to me I’ve given pretty much every ‘important’ artist an honest try over the years. Not intentionally, it just happened. I liked Hendrix, so I sought out Jeff Beck. Steve Earle mentioned Townes Van Zandt, so Townes sold another record in New Zealand. And God knows every word written in 1992 seemed to […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Bruce Springsteen, Dirt, Gimmie Some Good Times, Guest Blog, I Love Lou Not: Lou Reed’s Street Hassle, I Wanna Be Black, Lou Reed, Michael Ross, Music, Radio Nowhere, Radio Nowhere # 2, Radio Nowhere by Michael Ross: # 2 - I Love Lou, Street Hassle, The Velvet Underground, Writing ·

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June 11, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 876

Lou Reed, Legendary Hearts (1983) I was a Lou Reed fan overnight. I heard the album that came a couple after this first – Mistrial – one of the most (unfairly) maligned of his career. And from there it was to The Velvet Underground and one or two best-ofs, solo and VU stuff…and I was […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1983, Legendary Hearts, Lou Reed, LP, Record, The Last Shot, The Velvet Underground, Vinyl, VU ·

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August 27, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal

Parquet Courts Sunbathing Animal What’s Your Rupture? / Mom and Pop I like this! And the exclamation mark is there because I’m sorta surprised I like this. I mean, sure, it apes Pavement (the band’s name is enough of a clue I woulda thought) and perhaps Malkmus is still talking with his lawyers over one […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Jonathan Richman, Parquet Courts, Pavement, Stephen Malkmus, Sunbathing Animal, The Strokes, The Velvet Underground ·
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