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Posts Tagged VU

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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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June 28, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Stubs: #100 – John Cale, Auckland, 2007

One of the first times – as far as I can remember – that I flew to Auckland specifically to see a show. There had been other times where I’d cash in on seeing something while there, but the whole reason for this trip was to see John Cale. The first – and most likely […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 2007, Auckland, Bruce Mason Centre, Gig, Hero, John Cale, Live, North Shore, Stub, Stubs, Stubs: #100 – John Cale, Velvet Underground, VU ·

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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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December 16, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Lou Reed: Winter At The Roxy – The 1976 L.A. Broadcast

Lou Reed Winter At The Roxy – The 1976 L.A. Broadcast Goldfish Records Sooner or later everything becomes available right? Death certainly helps. Lou Reed’s no longer with us – cue “new shoes” versions of the old boots.  Winter At The Roxy makes official (well, kinda) a show that was cut in 1976 and edited […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 1976, Album Review, Bootleg, Live, Lou Reed, Michael Fonfara, posthumous, Radio Broadcast, Velvet Underground, VU, Winter At The Roxy, Winter At The Roxy – The 1976 L.A. Broadcast ·

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July 6, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 1086

The Velvet Underground, Singles 1966-69 (2009) Here is the most expensive record/s in the house that I’ve never listened to. $100 for this set of seven x 7” singles – reissued in 2009 – and still sealed. Quite what I’m hoping to achieve here is anyone’s guess. I love The Velvet Underground so much so […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 2009, 7, All Tomorrow's Parties, Doug Yule, EP, Femme Fatale, Here She Comes Now, I Heard Her Call My Name, I'll Be Your Mirror, Jesus, John Cale, Lou Reed, LP, Mo Tucker, Mono, Reissue, Single, Singles, Singles 1966-69, Stephanie Says, Sterling Morrison, Sunday Morning, Temptation Inside Your Heart, Velvet Underground, Vinyl, VU, VU Radio Spot, What Goes On, White Light/White Heat ·
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