THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: BEST WORK?
Psych! Thanks for posting these, Dada! :D
You’re quite welcome.
Re: that last one I posted — I’m just amused to the core at the prospect of Lou Reed being referred to as ‘Louis’.
Sweet Jane. I can embed this video. Sigh.
Anything live over 17 minutes that permits you to realize they were the world’s greatest jam band.
too bad none of the bootlegs are of sufficient quality to do their live shows justice. Though LIVE IN COLUMBUS 1966, LA CAVE 1968 and END OF COLE AVE are pretty decent. There’s a great Reed, Cale, and Nico recording called BATACLAN that’s fantastic, if not quite VU. And the ‘official’ release The Bootleg Series discs recorded by Robert Quine are really excellent.
Check out Olivier Landemaine’s definitive site
http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/bootlegs/cds/bcds.html
@Prudence
So then you’ve been able to locate Bataclan at the correct speed? At least a few of the printings of the (more or less) official CD were mastered too slow and any of the downloads of it I’ve tried are the same.
Their first album will always be my favorite. The others are good too, for sure, but the 1st one has the songs that stick with me the most. And “Heroin” is definitely my favorite song they have ever done.
Funny this thread popped up, I just listened to the “Unripened” version of their first album yesterday!
The sound quality of the Hilltop Festival boot is okay, albeit clearly an audience recording. And the version of ‘What Goes On’ slays. Depends on your tolerance for bootlegs.
For my money, this instrumental is as lovely as anything ever gets.
FYI: for anyone who’s unfamiliar with the VU and would really like to get more into them (and who isn’t fussed about original studio albums, etc), I’d recommend Peel Slowly and See.
I think this article could fit in this thread, I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of Angus MacLise,,,
Everything pre-Squeeze is equally perfect.
As for Squeeze… let’s just not talk about it.
Though if I had to pick a favorite to listen to, I’d go with what Matt just posted above.
What makes the VU the greatest band of all time is that they could pull off a sonic assault like “Sister Ray” and then record something like “Pale Blue Eyes” only a year later. As for favorite song, I’d have to go with “Some Kinda Love” (the “closet mix” version).
Re: Angus Maclise, go see INVASION OF THUNDERBOLT PAGODA if you are in NY when it screens at Anthology. Rules.
By the way, perhaps steering this in a new direction, what are users’ favorite post-VU albums?
FEAR by John Cale
THE END by Nico
STREET HASSLE by Lou Reed
Would love to hear more suggestions from folks!
Love John Cale and have a bunch of his stuff, Lou Reed and Nico when she did the Proto-Goth thing:
With Reed, I really like some of the later stuff: The Blue Mask, New Sensations, New York. And of course the Cale-Reed Warhol tribute collab Songs For Drella is excellent.
Songs for Drella — I saw Reed and Cale perform them live in Brooklyn years ago, it was fab!
Oh God, yeah, SONGS FOR DRELLA is as good as it gets. The live versions from the Ed Lachman concert movie are a little different from the album, and I would love for them to get a proper release rather than having to rip them from youtube clips. Must have been amazing to see, Odi. I had a chance to get a ticket for Reed’s BERLIN performances a few years ago and didn’t snatch it up because of the cost or something…really kicking myself for that.
Ditto. Songs for Drella is a criminally underrated album.
Every video ovi has posted in this thread is wonderful.
I don’t know about “best” but I certainly have favourites and they change depending on what sort of mood I’m in and why I’m listening to that album or song.
I’m not going to post a list but one song that I do enjoy at times is Rock & Roll from Loaded. I was listening to it a couple of days ago and found this video which seems to want to suggest Godard caught my attention…
It’s probably worth mentioning that when it comes to The Velvet Underground album, I really prefer the original Val Valentin mix rather than Lou Reed’s cheeky remix of the tracks. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Lou Reed’s reworking but it does sound more like a Lou Reed album than a Velvet Underground album to me.
Also, although much less heralded, Moe Tucker’s Playin’ Possum, Life in Exile After Abdication, and I Spent a Week There the Other Night are quite good.
Going on a posting spree now, starting with Trouble With Classicists:
!!
Aflwydd, Kenji, and all Welsh people on Mubi, this is for you, from an admirer of John Cale:
DADA WEATHERMAN
This is like when Lucy is trying to get Linus to play Jingle Bells: