Pages tagged “the velvet underground”

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23 Band Names Inspired by Literature

At Paste, we look for "Signs of Life" in all forms of art. And while we value each artform for its unique merits, it's always a treat when they overlap. So we decided to take a look at bands that derived their names from literature. Who knew metalheads were such scholars?  read more

Velvet Underground Enthusiast and Former Czech Republic President Wraps First Movie

Václav Havel, noted playwright and chief catalyst in Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, completed on-location filming Saturday of the adaptation of his stage drama Leaving....  read more

Ears We Trust: Nellie McKay

In this long-running feature, music-industry tastemakers tell us what they’re listening to and loving. Today’s columnist: New York songstress Nellie McKay…...  read more

Jangle Bell Rock: A Chronological (Non-Holiday) Anthology… from The Beatles and Byrds to R.E.M. and Beyond

It's hard to say exactly where it started, but The Beatles and The Byrds often get the most credit for starting the enduring subgenre that's come to be known as jangle pop. Of course, The Searchers and even The Everly Brothers were laying the foundations before them...   read more

The Velvet Underground Reunites for New York Public Library Chat

It’s been a long time since proto-punk legends The Velvet Underground started stretching the confines of rock ‘n’ roll in the late ‘60s, and while the band itself doesn’t have plans to reunite for a performance any time soon, they are doing the next best thing. Former frontman Lou Reed, bassist Doug Yule and drummer Maureen Tucker will make an appearance at the New York Public Library on Dec. 8 to chat with rock journalist David Fricke about the band’s legacy and impact on rock music’s evolution....  read more

Beck Revamps Website, Launches Record Club

Beck Hansen boasts a lengthy catalog of personal experimentation. These days, though, he's more focused on revisiting the work of others, and at rapid-fire speed. As part of an overhaul of his website, Beck has launched Record Club, a project for which he and fellow musicians will complete entire cover albums in a day's time, posting single songs once a week on the site. The first fruit of their labor is already up on Beck.com....  read more

Lou Reed: Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

A live opus, twenty-five years in the makingThe 1970s saw the heyday of the rock opera, with musical opuses by Genesis, Queen and Meat Loaf all vying to out-bombast The Who’s seminal Tommy and Quadrophenia and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. Lou Reed's contribution to the genre came in 1973 with Berlin, his psychodrama about a drug-addicted couple that mixed the titular German capital’s art-born-of-political-strife with an LES aesthetic—and nearly relegated Reed's post-Velvet Underground solo career to one-hit-wonder status. ...  read more

Rare Velvet Underground bootlegs sold despite questions

A rare bootleg recording of a 1967 Velvet Underground performance at New York City’s Gymnasium has resurfaced after 40 years, and the owner is selling a limited number of copies online. A seller on eBay listed 100 green vinyl copies of the album for sale last week (the online bidding has since ended.) According to LicoricePizza.com, the album contains a number of gems including a 19-minute version of “Sister Ray” and the previously unreleased “I’m Not A Young Man Anymore.” The album is also said to be the last recording from John Cale’s time in the band. The Gymnasium bootleg...  read more

Playback: The Velvet Underground

Given that the words “mystique” and “myth” sit next to each other in the dictionary, indulge me the fantasy of envisioning the good folks at Webster’s deciding to illustrate both words...  read more