Posts Tagged VU
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December 2, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
V/A: I’ll Be Your Mirror – A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico
Various Artists: I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico Verve It’s been a wee while since I’ve found a great Various Artists tribute album – one that doesn’t feel try-hard, one that doesn’t run out of steam. So I was pleasantly surprise by this, feeling – on paper – it […]Archive
October 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
The Velvet Underground: Film
The Velvet Underground Director: Todd Haynes AppleTV+ Todd Haynes’ brand new documentary that is simply called “The Velvet Underground” started streaming on Apple TV+ over the weekend. John Cale’s abrasive viola strikes filled the room. A split-screen and black and white. I’m sold already.Archive
May 25, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 46 – Lou Reed “Metal Machine Music”
Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music, 1975 It’s probably cool now – in fact I know that it’s regarded as pioneering, it’s also been performed (in tribute) by large ensembles. There’s an official orchestra version. But that was never Lou Reed’s plan. And the album Metal Machine Music still exists as shorthand for Belligerent Artist Does […]Archive
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 […]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
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 […]Archive
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 […]Archive
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 […]Archive
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 […]Archive
July 30, 2015 by Simon Sweetman