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Lou Reed

Art

Collectors, Lou Reed, Other Rich People Won’t Stop Suing the Andy Warhol Foundation

By Reid Singer on

When he passed away, Andy Warhol left behind the Warhol market, an ecosystem within itself. Sometimes, collectors and speculators in the Warhol market find themselves in dispute with the Andy Warhol Foundation, which has been dedicated to research, and to granting funds to projects that are in keeping with the generous and forward-thinking spirit of Warhol’s work. The latest of these disputes characteristically stinks. … Read More

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Music

Hilarious (And Often Adorable) Photos of Debauched Musicians With Cute Animals

By Tom Hawking on

A couple of weeks back, we amused ourselves (and hopefully you too) with a bunch of hilarious photos of debauched rock stars with cute kids. Ever since, we’ve been mulling over the natural follow-up — photos of debauched rock stars with cute animals. Click through for pictures of suitably party-loving musicians enjoying tender moments with dogs, cats, tortoises, three-toed sloths, and one terrified… Read More

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Music

Fascinatingly Bizarre Radio Ads for ’60s and ’70 Bands

By Tom Hawking on

We were fascinated to see yesterday afternoon that Dangerous Minds’ latest YouTube discovery was… a vintage radio ad for The Velvet Underground. Quite apart from the fact that the ad in question is weird as hell, we were amazed by the simple existence of such a promo for a Velvet Underground album, and the whole thing got us thinking: If Lou Reed et al were getting plugged on radio back in the day, surely there must have been other, similarly unexpected slots? Sure enough, looking for radio ads for ’60s and ’70s bands turns out to be one hell of an awesome YouTube rabbit hole. Record companies shelled out to promote bands you’d never, ever expect, and there’s a certain bizarre charm to the resultant commercials — especially when it’s clear that whoever wrote the ads didn’t know what on earth to make of the band in question. We’ve shared a selection of the best! … Read More

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New York

The Velvet Underground Members’ Top 10 Post-VU Albums

By Jason Diamond on

[Ed. note: In honor of John Cale's mini-residency at BAM this week -- including an all-star tribute to Nico on Wednesday and performances of his 1973 solo album, Paris 1919 on Friday and Saturday -- Flavorwire New York has embarked upon a week-long celebration of all things Velvet Underground.]

While there is no dearth of books, magazine articles, blog posts, and record store conversations as to just how important the LPs put out by The Velvet Underground were and continue to be to modern music, the various members of the group have also amassed a pretty remarkable string of albums since the band’s first record came out in 1967. Below, we rank the band members’ top ten most essential post-VU releases. … Read More

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Pop Culture

Merry Photos of Pop Culture Icons and Their Christmas Trees

By Emily Temple on

If you need a little inspiration for your holiday conifer, or just like peeking into the homes of the rich and famous (we know we do), we’ve put together a little peek at the Christmas trees of a few of our favorite pop culture icons, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Snooki. Yes, we are equally interested in both of them. Check them out after the jump, and have a bright and shiny… Read More

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Music

10 Fascinating Early Demos by Famous Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

We do still read the NME, god help us, and as such we were interested to see this feature about dodgy demos of classic songs on their website a couple of days back. Setting aside the question of whether anything ever recorded by Muse can ever be considered a “classic” (spoiler: no), the piece did get us thinking about early demos from our favorite musicians, especially in light of the recent reissue of Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights, which comes with a bunch of studio outtakes and other rarities. Anyway, we thought we’d run with the idea and share some early demos by some of our other favorite bands, which we think make for pretty fascinating listening. Let us know if you have any you’d like to share. … Read More

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Photography

Casual Photos of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed Partying

By Marina Galperina on

Resist the urge to Photoshop yourself into these images. If your coworker or roommate notices that you’ve sloppily pasted yourself amongst these very, very cool partying rock stars, they will think you spend entirely too much time on the Internet looking at vintage photographs of very, very cool partying rock stars. Taken by Mick Rock and highlighted by the Retronaut, these snap hots of David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop, encircled by a scene comrades and admiring randoms, are very endearing and casual. See David Bowie’s immaculate, graceful poise shine through in every picture. See Lou Reed with a furrowed half-grin and permanent indoor sunglasses that do little to hide his I’m-a-little-too-awesome-for-this glare. See Iggy Pop rubbing his nose. What’s wrong with your nose, Iggy Pop? Enjoy these photos in our slideshow, and if you can afford it, purchase limited-edition prints of your favorite shots here. … Read More

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Music

Extremely Silly Photos of Extremely Serious Musicians

By Tom Hawking on

If you’ve ever wanted to see Blixa Bargeld hanging out in the kitchen, Joy Division pretending to be Monty Python, or Leonard Cohen wearing denim cut offs, then click through and get… Read More

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Music

15 Hilariously Negative Early Reviews of Classic Albums

By Tom Hawking on

Everybody likes reading a really nasty review every now and then, but sometimes critics get it wrong. Here’s a look at misguided reviews of albums that’d go on to be acclaimed as… Read More

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Music

10 Bands Whose Shows We Dare You to Sit Through

By Tom Hawking on

With a relative minimum of fanfare, resurgent post-rock overlords Godspeed You! Black Emperor have snuck out an album this week — ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! is their fourth studio album and their first since 2002′s Yanqui U.X.O. We’ve always been big fans of the band, and we’ve jumped at every opportunity to see them live since they got back together in 2010 — their epic shows are the stuff of legend, frequently stretching past two hours and always very, very loud. But we do appreciate that their shows aren’t for everyone, and that even if they are for you, you kinda have to be in the mood for them. In this spirit, then, we celebrate (and/or gently poke fun at) a selection of bands whose shows are something of an endurance test, either in a good way or just in a rather tiresome one. As ever, let us know if we’ve missed anyone. … Read More

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