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Posts Tagged VU

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June 29, 2022 by Simon Sweetman

Going Back To Lou Reed: Time To Revisit His Strange, Wonderful, Weird Catalogue

It was strange when Lou Reed died. I wasn’t all that sad, concerned, upset; he was 71 – he started cheating death in his 30s. And though he’d been a clean-living portrait of near-enough-to-health for the last 20 years and most of the last 30 years, time was always going to catch up; the indulgences […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Blog, CDs, Going Back To Lou Reed, Going Back To Lou Reed: Time To Revisit His Strange, Lou Reed, LP, Music, Records, The Velvet Underground, Time To Revisit His Catalogue, Vinyl, VU, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, Weird Catalogue, Wonderful ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico, Album Review, Andrew Bird, Bobby Gillespie, Courtney Barnett, Covers, I'll Be Your Mirror, I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico, Iggy Pop, Kurt Vile, Matt Berliner, Matt Sweeney, Michael Stipe, Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Thurston Moore, Tribute, Tribute Album, V/A, V/A: I’ll Be Your Mirror - A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico, Various, Various Artists, Verve, VU, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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.
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Apple, AppleTV+, Documentary, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground: Film, Todd Haynes, VU, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1975, Crap Albums, Feedback, Lou Reed, Lou Reed “Metal Machine Music”, Metal Machine Music, Shit That's Good, Shit That's Good - Crap Albums I Love, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 46, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 46 – Lou Reed “Metal Machine Music”, Velvet Underground, VU, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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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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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July 30, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

The Best Guitarist in The World: # 4 – David Kilgour

It was only recently, a couple of years ago, that I stumbled onto the best way to describe David Kilgour: his approach, his playing, his position. I considered him a nonchalant phenomenon. In fact I’d borrowed the term – overheard it on a Paul Kelly song many years earlier. But it seemed to sum up […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Barbara Manning, Best Guitarist, David Kilgour, Dunedin, Facebook, Flying Nun, Guitar, Hamish Kilgour, Kilgour, Lambchop, Paul Kelly, Phantom Billstickers, Sam Hunt, The Best Guitarist In The World, The Best Guitarist in the World # 4, The Best Guitarist in The World: # 4 – David Kilgour, The Clean, The Heavy 8s, Velvet Underground, VU ·
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