Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Friday Music: I like your old stuff better than ...

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  • Paul Campbell, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Laurie Anderson's short but sweetly heart-breaking obit for her husband.

    Yes that's the obit I was pointing to above - the image that accompanied the original was great:
    http://www.easthamptonstar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/400xY/loureed.jpg
    The editor, a friend, of the small town paper that appeared in is struggling to keep his paper's website alive at the moment

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Jim Welch, in reply to Geoff Lealand,

    I have sent away for a large supply of needles.

    Lou would undoubtedly approve.....

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 43 posts Report Reply

  • Robert Fox, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I’ve only seen the Fall twice (back in the Early 90’s) and both shows were exceptional, however viewing footage of more recent show’s I’d have to say that Mr Smith may be spent as a live performer. God knows he’s tried pretty hard to achieve that aim over the years. There is a difference between live performance and studio work though. Age and increasing substance abuse induced de crepitation is less of a barrier to recording good stuff to performing it live for obvious reasons. I loved Bowie’s latest stuff but I wouldn’t be queuing to buy a ticket to see him live though and you’d never rule out the Fall from producing an absolute gem again, if Mark E Smith hangs in there for long enough, even though it may be too painful to endure him performing it live.

    Since Nov 2006 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Having not bothered with any Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails since around 1995, I gave the album he/they released earlier this year a listen on the internets, and was very pleasantly surprised. For those that like that sort of thing.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Punks raged against the status quo, but there was nothing in the music of the Beatles to suggest they were remotely interested in bringing down the “system”. The most they did was mock it in a good-natured manner [...]

    I could gather plenty of documentary evidence that a non-trivial number of The Beatles' contemporaries thought anything but, if I had even the slightest suspicion du Frense would let that muck with his thesis.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • RaggedJoe,

    Psychedelic Pill is as good as if not better than anything Neil Young has done for years, (in some cases not a high bar I admit) and he rocked the recent concert in Auckland, good energy for 67!

    A world without Lou..not so good...at least I can still play Rock and roll Animal at will (and at volume!). The intro to Sweet Jane remains a personal fav.

    City of Sales • Since Sep 2008 • 72 posts Report Reply

  • Robert Fox, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Ok against my better judgment i just took a minute to read that Du Frense blog piece and now understand your perversion. The guy is a 24 carat plonker.

    Since Nov 2006 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • AndrewLong,

    Dunedin, New Zealand • Since Oct 2011 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe,

    Laurie Anderson’s piece from the heart is touching; doing the form with his hands as he was dying.

    Whenever I’ve read more recent Lou Reed pieces (not much because the music was always the thing with me) I had the sense he would wearily put on his Lou Reed armour then take it off in the garage at home before going inside. His journey as person interests me more than the endless who-did-who-and-what tales. That he was a genuine tai chi master makes sense given his past. This guy (discounting the self-puff) seems to have got close to capturing Lou in the last quarter century;
    http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/lou-reed-cranky-almost-to-the-end.html

    Not sure I could have concentrated if Lou was doing the form next to me!

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    ...a trove of emphemera

    Russell
    is this like ambergris
    something coughed up
    from the past?

    remembergris a result of
    memorabiliousness perhaps?

    ;- D

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Alan Perrott,

    502. That’s an error.

    The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.

    Please try again in 30 seconds. That’s all we know.

    I’ve never seen YouTube crash so hard before.

    STOP PRESS: Luckily they've fixed it pretty quickly.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Alan Perrott, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    is that from the youtube clip?

    throw this is the subject line.

    DAKOTAS SOUNDHOG EDIT The Spider And The Fly 1968

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 438 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Hebe,

    This guy (discounting the self-puff) seems to have got close to capturing Lou in the last quarter century

    FFS, so Stein walked up to Reed - a complete stranger - at a party. He wasn't feeling terribly chatty, and forstalled the conversation brusquely but not (IMO) in a manner that justified a whiny little bitch on a gossip site.

    I mean, it wasn't as if we thought Lou Reed would be nice and chatty but he was cold and scary and he hurt our feelings. How could Laurie Anderson put up with that?

    Um... obviously well enough to be in an intimate relationship with the man for the best part of fifteen years. Which you weren't, bubelah.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Chip Matthews,

    If you do check out and enjoy that Noah Slee track, head along to soundcloud.com/noahslee where you can check the rest of this EP released earlier this year. Mighty fine stuff.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 46 posts Report Reply

  • Jason Kemp,

    Transformer came out when I was in high school in the '70's. Courtesy of classmates older siblings we listened to Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Guess Who, Wishbone Ash, David Bowie, Elton John and Lou Reed. Back then music seemed to be very much dominated by the big acts and in our little town mostly UK.

    Music was a form of time travel then and a kind of ticket to worlds we didn't know about.

    It is hard to remember / imagine what the mid '70's pre internet NZ world was like now but that Transformer album was hugely influential. To small town NZ it was all a bit shocking but exciting at the same time.

    I rather liked this Robert Christgau piece from 1996

    "The core of Reed's sensibility is his visceral aversion to corn. This isn't to deny his goopy side--part of him does wish ladies still rolled their eyes, and "spirit of pure poetry" is his phrase, not mine. But over and above his New York sarcasm and the all he's seen, Reed seems possessed by aesthetic distance. He's never more powerful than when his rock and roll heart transcends his detachment without rejecting it--in cruel yet compassionate touchstones like "Street Hassle" or "The Kids." Usually, however, he settles for something homelier. Whether the topic at hand is joysticks or jealousy or nuclear holocaust or dirty boulevards or ouija boards or s&m or love l-u-v, his pointedly flat plainspeech is more meaningful and evocative per se than his forays into imagery. And what he took away from his apprenticeship with the El Dorados and Pickwick International is just as conversational--an intimate knowledge of the vernacular chords of r&b, adjusted to a deadpan sprechgesang that excised any hint of the soulful expressionism toward which every other white band of the era aspired. Formally, there's an acceptance and a reflexively democratic respect built into this approach that more than counteracts Reed's pretensions and his equally reflexive if visibly diminishing mean-spiritedness. It's equally well-suited to s&m and love l-u-v, to transgression and redemption and just getting by."

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 368 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Yeah all that was crap; the itch to edit made my finger twitch. The last three paragraphs was the good part.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Jason Kemp,

    Music was a form of time travel then and a kind of ticket to worlds we didn’t know about.

    Well put. Some of us went and found the worlds once we knew they existed. I found Transformer via a soldier with a big British bike in the Kiwi Gothick suburbs and a bottle or two of foul liquor. About as far away from the wild side as you can get. So I went looking.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Neil Finn has released a new song, "Dive Bomber". It's not your typical Neil Finn/Crowded House tune, and even fans are having "WTF" reactions. It's a bit prog.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Nik Dirga,

    I'll agree with the "music matters most when you hear it young" meme, and that's why I actually find my favourite Lou Reed albums are the "New York"/"Songs for Drella"/"Magic and Loss" trifecta of the late '80s/early '90s when I first discovered Lou. Have always loved the Velvet Underground who were broken up before I was born (!) and Lou's solo '70s work, but the ones that speak to me most PERSONALLY are those later works. Listened to all three this week and boy, they still hold up wonderfully -- "Magic and Loss" and "Drella" speak to me about life and death at 42 even stronger than they did at 22, with a few more years and losses under the belt.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 26 posts Report Reply

  • Tim Michie,

    Reading around the wikis and obits Neil Gaimen interviewing Lou Reed (via boingboing via Wil Wheaton) is a gem and reflects nicely with what some of us have been saying upthread.

    Auckward • Since Nov 2006 • 614 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    And there’s a cool video …

    Hullo Dunedin Sound! Where you been hiding...

    Great stuff.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    It’s a bit prog.

    Oh goodness, you had me worried there. I thought we were going to have a million time signatures and lots of "virtuosity". But it's... huh. I think it might be all right. A bit bombastic though.

    Nik, I too bought Magic & Loss when it came out but haven't listened to it for years. I imagine it will continue to resonate though, now that I'm staring 40 in the face next year. "Life's good, but not fair at all."

    In more cheerful news, I am STOKED about Dolly Parton coming to town and I intend to be there with bells on. Not merely for the kitsch value (although that is certainly part of it) but because she's a great songwriter and singer. I have been fond of her since childhood and have grand dreams to visit Dollywood one day.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Ken Double, in reply to Jason Kemp,

    Christgau actually wrote his own farewell to Lou in Spin.

    Wellington • Since Dec 2012 • 119 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    That Jean Knight rework isn't TOO hugely different from the original, which just goes to show that Stax was pretty much The Greatest Label in the World Ever Amen. I don't wear band tees often anymore but I'll still break out the Stax label shirt every now and then.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Duncan Greive has expanded and updated his Metro profile of Lorde for Australian music website Faster Louder. So if you never got around to reading the Metro version, now's your chance.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

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