What's New(s)?

Andy Warhol directed clip of a 1967 Velvet Underground concert surfaces

Last week was a very good week for the Velvet Underground. First there was the well publicized news that a 1966 acetate of the band's "Scepter Sessions" was going up for auction, and now Spin is reporting (with help from Open Culture) that a 33-minute film of the Velvets performing in Boston in 1967 was posted last Wednesday on YouTube.

Simply entitled The Velvet Underground in Boston, the Andy Warhol directed footage was found by the artist's museum in 2008 and premiered at New York's MOMA in 2010. Since then it was essentially gathering dust until a YouTube account called "John Colon" liberated it from the museum on the 21st. Shot at Boston's Tea Party Club, the clip bursts with sudden pans, zooms, and abrupt edits that are as jarring as the band's lacerating wall of noise. In fact, "noise" or more appropriately "noise rock" is the best way to describe VU's set since nothing is distinguishable behind Warhol's constant knob twiddling. Considering very little complete footage exists of the band, any performance is a complete revelation.

Raekwon debuts new collabo "Call of Duty" with Akon

 

If the Wu-Tang Clan really is forever, then today is one of those days that offers unassailable proof.  This morning saw Ghostface Killah teaming up with BADBADNOTGOOD and Danny Brown for a brilliant round of freewheeling; this afternoon Ghost's frequent Wu-collaborator Raekwon dropped the latest effort from his upcoming sixth LP FILA (Fly International Luxurious Art). 

Entitled "Call of Duty", the track features a riotous hook from R&B singer Akon and Raekwon nimbly recalling "roughed up stones" and "murders by number in Monaco." He even crafts a slight allusion to his recent feud with RZA, saying, "When we go, yo, we go together; whatever is said, it’s still combat boots on the door." Not even internal disputes can bring the Wu down.

(You can listen to "Call of Duty" here and look for FILA to drop later this year.)

 

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What's New(s)?

Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace criticizes Arcade Fire's clip for "We Exist"

Against Me!'s lead singer Laura Jane Grace (formerly Thomas James Gabel) has been remarkably open about her own personal battles with gender dysphoria, discussing the fight at length on this year's Transgender Dysphoria Blues. 

Today that personal exploration and advocacy turned to criticism, when Grace slammed Arcade Fire's video for Reflektor cut "We Exist". In the clip which debuted last week, Amazing Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield plays a young person struggling with gender identity while living in a small town. Over the duration of the 6 minute video Garfield's character is seen: dressing up in women's clothes, getting into a bar fight, dancing, and ultimately stepping onstage with the Canadian band at Coachella. Instead of criticizing one particular scene Grace raised issue with the casting of Garfield, saying on Twitter: "Dear @arcadefire, maybe when making a video for a song called 'We Exist' you should get an actual 'Trans' actor instead of Spider-Man?" No one from Arcade Fire has responded to the criticism yet, though fans of the band have pointed out to Grace that transgendered classical pianist Our Lady J was an acting coach for Garfield throughout the filming process.

(Opinion section: I understand where Grace is coming from on this issue and she raises a salient point not far-removed from Spike Lee's initial concerns about a white filmmaker directing Malcolm X. When dealing with the portrayal of anyone that's in any minority, you want the picture that's captured to be as honest and real as possible. I personally think that's what Arcade Fire has done with this video and if I'm wrong, I'd love to read comments as to why I'm wrong in the comments section.)

Rare Velvet Underground acetate previously sold for $25,000 is going back up for auction

 

Fans of groundbreaking band The Velvet Underground start scrimping and saving now. Rolling Stone is reporting that an acetate featuring band sessions from 1966 is going up for auction on Ebay through Chicago record store Shuga Records. On the site the record store specially created for the auction, Shuga points out the record was recorded in secret by producer Norman Dolph and initially pitched as a "finished album" by VU manager Andy Warhol to Columbia Records executives.

The tape, one of two known to exist (drummer Moe Tucker owns the other), was originally purchased by record collector Warren Hill in 2002 for 75 cents. Four years later Hill sold the Scepter Sessions album on Ebay for $25,ooo after a $155,401 bid was deemed fraudulent. Now it seems the record is on the move again and though the seller has chosen to remain anonymous, they have made it clear that 10% of the proceeds will benefit an animal rights charity. And considering the amount of interest around the band since founder Lou Reed passed away, that donation could be sizable.

Listen to the Scepter Sessions below:

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What's New(s)?

Justin Bieber teams up with Chance the Rapper

If Chance the Rapper's partnering with British post-dubstep singer James Blake for "Life Round Here" wasn't head-scratching enough for you, maybe this will do. Last night, pop-megastar Justin Bieber posted a new slinky new track entitled "Confident" featuring none other than the Chicago spitballer. Bieber drifts further into futuristic R&B territory, crooning about lip-stained shirts over a wonky bassline and wah-wah guitars. For his part, Chance rattles off a seemingly stream-of-consciousness verse where: twerk lessons are taught, Thanksgiving/Christmas classic Plane, Trains, and Automobiles is namechecked, and doctor's note are loosely handed out. In other words, it's a typical Chance verse and one that puts an exclamation point on a breakout year.

 

Macaulay Culkin has a pizza-themed Velvet Underground tribute band

Continuing today's unintentional child-star trend, Macaulay Culkin (of Home Alone/Pagemaster/Richie Rich fame) has a new Velvet Underground tribute band. But as you can see from the headline, this is no ordinary tribute. Culkin's group has lovingly taken VU classics like "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "I'm Waiting for The Man" and recrafted them as pizza-obsessed tracks, appropriately dubbing themselves "The Pizza Underground". So instead of "Femme Fatale" we get "Pizza Gal" and "Walk on the Wild Side" is reheated as "Take a Bite of the Wild Slice" where Culkin breaks out into a kazoo solo. The whole thing is pretty incredible and likely to cue up more than a few Home Alone pizza jokes. 

The band's demo is out on Bandcamp now and you can check out the tracklist below along with the demo.

The Pizza Underground Demo:

1. "Papa John Says"
2. "I'm Beginning to Eat the Slice"
3. "Pizza"
4. "I'm Waiting for Delivery Man"
5. "Cheese Days"
6. "Pizza Day"
7. "All the Pizza Parties"
8. "Pizza Gal"
9. "Take a Bite of the Wild Slice"

Nicolas Jaar creates hour-long John Lennon memorial mix

 
Yesterday marked the 33rd anniversary of John Lennon's tragic death outside of the Dakota Hotel in New York City. To honor the music-legend, electronic music producer and one-half of Darkside Nicolas Jaar dropped a mix entitled Our World through his Other People imprint.

The hour-long set splices vocal drones, sweeping film pieces, and meandering piano lines together with John Lennon's appearance on Monday Night Football, Howard Cosell's breaking news update of his passing, and concludes with a Jaar remix of the Imagine cut "Oh My Love". Almost 21 minutes in, Jaar also manages to incorporate a Black Friday clip into the mix. The entire thing is touching and a fitting tribute to the fallen Beatles member.

 


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R.I.P. Lou Reed

 

There are countless "classics" I'll never be able to remember where I was the first time I heard them. It's a true test of my mettle to remember my locale when "Like A Rolling Stone", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Born to Run", or "Rapper's Delight" first spilled forth into my consciousness. I'll never forgetting hearing the Velvet Underground's "Heroin" for the first time. I'd bought the first LP on a whim, assured by every mythos-building review I'd read it was a transformative record. As it ebbed and flowed from delicate pop to snotty protopunk I was already convinced of the power every review promised, but nothing could have prepared me for "Heroin". 

The opening shimmer of Reed's guitar in the song remains some of the purest playing I've heard on record, made more "ironic" by the impending maelstrom. Reed was never a great singer in any traditional sense, but the opening line of "I don't know just where I'm going" delivered in his beatnik croon possesses an unmistakable, if fractured beauty. It's a line imbued with the same uncertainty as Dylan's "how does it feel in?" howled in "Like A Rolling Stone", but masking a quiet rage courtesy of that shimmering guitar. Those iconic two chords continue on for the song's seven minutes, ratcheting up as Reed's vocals become more frenetic. When I first heard them hit that frantic crescendo, where any pretext of arrangement flies out the window, I can remember being genuinely terrified. Frightened that such a skilled band was so doggedly committed to throwing everything out the window to chase their muse into a repellent world of: howling viola, galloping caveman drums, and feedback burdened guitar. The "crazy sounds" Reed sneered about was a classic undersell. 

Hearing of the passing of Lou Reed and re-listening to "Heroin" I can't help but sit in amazement. One of my friend's simply responded with the message "Lou Reed shouldn't be allowed to die". In the pantheon of performers like Iggy Pop or Keith Richards, Reed's swagger seemed larger than life. More than anything his passing at 71, reminds me of his mortality, and then I marvel that any mortal would be capable of such Herculean efforts.  Second only to Hendrix, Reed advanced the guitar further than anyone could've ever imagined. Where Hendrix teased the promise of feedback, Reed and the Velvet Underground fully delivered. For the Andy Warhol endorsed band, feedback wasn't a side-attraction, it was the main event. Reed would push the limits of guitar to it's extreme on 1975's solo effort Metal Machine Music, like a sadistic child playing with a Stretch Armstrong figurine. However, he hit the perfect dosage on "Heroin". And while such a self-assured debut only yielded some 30,000 copies sold, music luminary Brian Eno mythically summarized the album's impact "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band." So whether you know it or not, "Heroin" is likely in your blood, and you have Lou Reed to thank.

          

The sweep of Reed's career certainly extends far beyond this song's expansive seven minutes, and I'd encourage you to listen to any of his VU or solo work to fully appreciate the man. Listed below are a few choice cuts to get you started.

1. "Femme Fatale"- The Velvet Underground & Nico
2. "Venus in Furs"- The Velvet Underground & Nico
3. "European Son"- The Velvet Underground & Nico
4. "White Light/White Heat"- White Light/White Heat
5. "Here She Comes Now"- White Light/White Heat
6. "Sister Ray"- White Light/White Heat
7. "Candy Says"- The Velvet Underground
8. "What Goes On"- The Velvet Underground
9. "Pale Blue Eyes"- The Velvet Underground
10. "After Hours"- The Velvet Underground
11. "Sweet Jane"- Loaded
12. "Rock & Roll"- Loaded
13. "I Found A Reason"- Loaded

Solo work
14. "Perfect Day"- Transformer
15. "Walk on the Wild Side"- Transformer
16. "Satellite of Love"- Transformer
17. "The Kids"- Berlin
18. "The Bed"- Berlin
19. "Crazy Feeling"- Coney Island Baby
21. "Coney Island Baby"- Coney Island Baby
22. "Street Hassle"- Street Hassle
23. "Waves of Fear"- The Blue Mask
24. "Average Guy"- The Blue Mask
24. "Turn to Me"- New Sensations
25. "Dirty Blvd."- New York