Search And Destroy: Lou Reed

DON: There was always much more to our music than what met the eye or ear. Beyond the smooth surface lurked a heart of darkness, observing and reporting about all the dirty dealings on the West Coast. So naturally there was a feeling of kinship--and perhaps a little competition--with Lou Reed, who had the East Coast wrapped up in that department.

GLENN: The one I couldn't get over was Metal Machine Music...I just knew we could top that! So one weekend over at La Fontaine, we cleared out the den, rolled in the Marshalls, and busted out every acoustic guitar they had available at S.I.R. Things were going well until Linda [Ronstadt] called and invited out to see a production of Plaza Suite. Next thing I know, we're doing Don's Hotel thing as our next album instead of Cool Winds, Acoustic Waves.

DON: Well, yeah.

Lol

A coworker told a story last night about an incident (years ago) in which their wife was fawning over someone's dog on the street ("Oh, what a cute dog!," petting it profusely, etc.) – then as they walked away, they noticed that the dog owner was Lou.

― subject matter expert (morrisp),

Thought you were going to say "The dog was Lou."

The dog was Iggy

That’s what I was figuring.

"New" Lou! Trigger warning: Tai-chi!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz4irXJFc4c

Guessing this is a "Mistrial"-era demo

hell yeah, hopefully a preview of a multi-disc Mistrial deluxe edition.

Me: "Man I would kill for a 'Take No Prisoners' box!"

Don Flemming: "Next best thing, Mistrial outtake about Tai-Chi!"

Assuming this is more book tie-in then taste of things to come

Haha yeah, they were probably like "now or never to release this one!"

My phone woke me up at 3 AM with an alert about this so at least the algorithm works

this mf spittin fr

"tai is very pret-tay"
tai chi is very slooow
tai chi can make you healthy
and sexier, you know"

"I wanna be black belt!"

#IKnow

I sometimes feel a little guilty about my own Lou Tai-Chi fatigue so it makes me feel a little less alone in this to see others expressing something similar.

He missed out not making this song the single from Hudson River Meditations.

i actually think hudson river meditations is good for kind of zone out ambient

How'd it take me so long to get to Live in Italy? This is great!

Quinefest

Absolutely.

FWIW, this concert video is worth getting - again, with Lou, Quine, Saunders and Maher, I think in support of The Blue Mask at the Bottom Line in NYC. One of my favorites, and before things went sour between Lou and Quine:

https://www.discogs.com/master/613485-Lou-Reed-A-Night-With-Lou-Reed

Probably my favorite official live release from Lou's solo career, and even if you buy the DVD new, it's priced fairly low.

My 18yo son has been on a comprehensive solo Lou dive during the past week. He was already fully versed in VU. So far the primary effect is he went out and bought a vinyl copy of Street Hassle.

good move

What does he think about I Want To Be Black?

My 13 year old daughter loves Transformer and asked if she could borrow my CD copy. I handed her Metal Machine Music and told her that it was made around the same time and to let me know what she thinks. I heard it squalling from her room for about five minutes and then she came back with a confused look and told me that the CD was messed up.

hahaha

What does he think about I Want To Be Black?

We had a whole conversation about it, that it's about a white fantasy of "blackness," but also that it's more than a little problematic and definitely wouldn't fly in 2023. He mostly skips it when it comes on because he's appropriately ambivalent about it.

Also he loves Metal Machine Music, but I expected that because he's kind of a harsh noise fanatic/connoisseur.

oh that's right isn't he the one that's into like Merzbow and Hijokaidan and such?

Yep. These days he's into super extreme contemporary stuff, things you can only order on cassette. I appreciate his enthusiasm even if I don't share it. (I was initially a little worried about the whole white supremacist side of noise, but instead he's found what seems like a really tight-knit queer-friendly scene. Lou would approve.)

I'm afraid to ask, but what's the white supremacist side of noise? Is it something that's catching on?

https://jeanhugueskabuiku.substack.com/p/about-vatican-shadow-link-with-the

(that link was re: yr 1st question, answer to the second is "not any more than in metal, maybe less"

I am playing the first Lou Reed LP, LOU REED.

It's good.

Thanks sleeve. Disturbing stuff, hopefully more journalists will call it out.

I didn't know about those connections and I wrote a lengthy profile on Fernow for The Wire in 2011. Pissed me off quite a bit to find out.

Yeah I was bummed because while my exposure to that musical world is very dilettantish, I actually like Vatican Shadow and saw him perform once.

I mean it goes back to Boyd Rice/Non, Whitehouse etc

New NYT piece up that's taken from Will Hermes's in-the-works biography, covering the time between the Velvets and Transformer, more or less.

Oh wow, I was starting to think he had given up on that project.

Ha I'd been half thinking that myself at points but I saw various posts from him that it was still happening. Just was putting in the work!

It’s here!

Hermes bio is stellar — definitely the best Lou bio ...

Also! This thing I put together ...

https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2023/10/03/sad-song-lou-reeds-berlin-at-50/

I met him in 2015 at Pop Con and he was already working on it.

(xp) Funny you should mention Fassbinder, and I might have mentioned this before, but this scene from "Beware of a Holy Whore" always reminds me of the cover of "Berlin".

https://peterburnett.info/images/film_stills/beware_of_a_holy_whore/beware_of_a_holy_whore_041.JPG

Wasn’t Berlin supposed to be a double album and the label said “hell no”? Is there any idea what that tracklisting would have looked like?

That's the story but I have never actually heard of what else was recorded for it and not used and I suspect it might be one of Lou's fairy stories (no pun intended).

the beginning and end of that mix I made has the only real Berlin outtake I've heard — which is just a quick instrumental of "Berlin". I think the acetate that floats around has slightly longer edits of some tunes, but nothing too major.

Re: fassbinder, I do have a fantasy of him filming a Lou concert sometime in the 1970s. Could've been GREAT.

Hermes bio is stellar — definitely the best Lou bio ...

i interviewed him for a yet-to-be-published thing — they sent me the book a few months back.

nice!

Cool! Started reading from the beginning but now just skipping around and my jaw is dropping at how good it is, the organization and level of detail. Not really too surprised though, since I loved loved loved LOVE GOES TO BUILDINGS ON FIRE.

Looks like this is yet another step up in his fine, fine, superfine career.