Live data from Hacker News

Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

rollingstone.com

41–50 of 113 posts

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#41
post #16

The Velvet Underground's career can be summed up as: "Commercially unsuccessful, but enormously influential". On a side note, if you have a few minutes to spare, read Lou Reed's review of Kanye's Yeezus : http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/lou-reed It's interesting to read a legend's opinion on a modern pop-star.

I would say: "great artists; made beautiful music; some masterpieces". Not sure how anyone can get more successful than that.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#42
post #25
post #16

The Velvet Underground's career can be summed up as: "Commercially unsuccessful, but enormously influential". On a side note, if you have a few minutes to spare, read Lou Reed's review of Kanye's Yeezus : http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/lou-reed It's interesting to read a legend's opinion on a modern pop-star.

It is strange reading that about Yeezus, Kanye made Yeezus with a number of other musicians (the full list, according to Wiki: 88-Keys, Ackee Juice Rockers, Arca, Benji B, Carlos Broady, Brodinski, Ben Bronfman, Evian Christ, Eric Danchild, Daft Punk, Mike Dean, Dom Solo, Jack Donoghue, Gesaffelstein, Noah Goldstein, Lunice, Lupe Fiasco, Hudson Mohawke, No ID, Che Pope, Rick Rubin, S1, Travis Scott, and Sham Joseph).…

I think you're too readily writing off the role of the producer in the case of 'Yeezus.' Classics like Steely Dan's 'Aja', Quincy Jones' 'The Dude', and, in hip-hop, Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' were crafted in much the same way, a collaboration between producers with a grand vision and a cast of musicians who could see it to realization.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#43
post #2

I don't see how general celebrity deaths are hacker news. I would like to read about tech and computer news and ideas; if I wanted this, I would read general news sites.

Music appreciation and hacking go hand-in-hand. When I have a ten hour project to do, I put on my Quiet Comforts, queue up some good tunes, and get to coding.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#44
post #6

RIP Lou Reed, one of my favorite musicians. The song Heroin has so much dissonance and noise throughout that it's almost revolting to listen to. Over time it grew into one of my favorite songs in that I learned to find beauty in the clash of consonance and dissonance. At the risk of hyperbole, that mindset of finding something new from the conflict of opposing forces is something that now applies in far more areas of…

I came here specifically hoping that someone had already mentioned the song "Heroin". I got chills the first time I heard it, and I still do. I think my favorite Velvet Underground song would have to be "Here She Comes Now", because I get the same feeling from Kurt Cobain's cover of it[0]. > Over time it grew into one of my favorite songs in that I learned to find beauty in the clash of consonance and dissonance. Do…

It took me a while until "Heroin" got under my skin, but when it did, it got all the way under. You have to listen to it as loud as you can possibly stand, and not repeat it too often or it will give you an immaculate headache.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#45
post #6

RIP Lou Reed, one of my favorite musicians. The song Heroin has so much dissonance and noise throughout that it's almost revolting to listen to. Over time it grew into one of my favorite songs in that I learned to find beauty in the clash of consonance and dissonance. At the risk of hyperbole, that mindset of finding something new from the conflict of opposing forces is something that now applies in far more areas of…

> The song Heroin has so much dissonance

I bought the album in 1987 during a school lunch break. Someone saw, and wanted to play it in the common room. There are many really nice tunes on the album, but unfortunately Heroin was the first song that got played so that record got taken off pretty fast.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#46
post #2

I don't see how general celebrity deaths are hacker news. I would like to read about tech and computer news and ideas; if I wanted this, I would read general news sites.

This has been discussed many times, but as you've just joined, here's a PSA: On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. [1] Lou Reed was an amazing musician, and someone that promoted intellectual curiosity [2], hence the 20+ points. (too bad…

> (too bad one of the mods seems to disagree...)

This is back on the front page - and at the #1 - so my last mention doesn't make sense anymore.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#47
post #25
post #16

The Velvet Underground's career can be summed up as: "Commercially unsuccessful, but enormously influential". On a side note, if you have a few minutes to spare, read Lou Reed's review of Kanye's Yeezus : http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/lou-reed It's interesting to read a legend's opinion on a modern pop-star.

It is strange reading that about Yeezus, Kanye made Yeezus with a number of other musicians (the full list, according to Wiki: 88-Keys, Ackee Juice Rockers, Arca, Benji B, Carlos Broady, Brodinski, Ben Bronfman, Evian Christ, Eric Danchild, Daft Punk, Mike Dean, Dom Solo, Jack Donoghue, Gesaffelstein, Noah Goldstein, Lunice, Lupe Fiasco, Hudson Mohawke, No ID, Che Pope, Rick Rubin, S1, Travis Scott, and Sham Joseph).…

> It is strange reading that about Yeezus, Kanye made Yeezus with a number of other musicians

As with his music, Reed is assuming his audience isn't an idiot. In this case, Reed assumes that you can fully internalize what West's role was and understand his words accordingly.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#48
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So we probably shouldn’t discuss NSA surveillance ever again here on HN, right? I CAN ONLY DREAM.

Sure, keep working on point 4 of your S:N Improvement Program.

http://imgur.com/ab50rmB

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#49
post #25
post #16

The Velvet Underground's career can be summed up as: "Commercially unsuccessful, but enormously influential". On a side note, if you have a few minutes to spare, read Lou Reed's review of Kanye's Yeezus : http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/lou-reed It's interesting to read a legend's opinion on a modern pop-star.

It is strange reading that about Yeezus, Kanye made Yeezus with a number of other musicians (the full list, according to Wiki: 88-Keys, Ackee Juice Rockers, Arca, Benji B, Carlos Broady, Brodinski, Ben Bronfman, Evian Christ, Eric Danchild, Daft Punk, Mike Dean, Dom Solo, Jack Donoghue, Gesaffelstein, Noah Goldstein, Lunice, Lupe Fiasco, Hudson Mohawke, No ID, Che Pope, Rick Rubin, S1, Travis Scott, and Sham Joseph).…

Kanye has been pretty honest about his abilities as a producer. He was always a chopped-up samples producer and started bringing in musicians and other producers to layer original instrumentation over his samples on his first album. That style evolved with each subsequent album, with his albums prior to Yeezus being extremely orchestrated and huge.

There is absolutely no-doubt that Kanye is the ringleader in this. He puts a bunch of people in a room, and while he may not be the person pounding the keys, but he's putting it all together and making it cohesive.

I can listen to the Hudson Mohawke / TNGHT song that Kanye used in "Blood on the Leaves" and think it's an okay song. But the way it comes in on Blood on the Leaves with Kanye's rapping and the "Strange Fruit" sample left me floored the first few times I heard it. He made those TNGHT so much more powerful.

Kanye's influence over rap is enormous (the singing rap thing that Drake and others are using really didn't gain mainstream attention until 808's) and he's extremely successful commercially. It's not accident, nor is it the simple result of others' work. It's the work of someone who is meticulous in his craft, knows his limitations, and respects the work of others while pointing them in the direction he wants to move.

Re: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71

#50
1984, Pittsburgh's Syria Mosque. I saw just about anybody worth seeing back then (including The Who the night before the Cincinnati tragedy) but Sweet Lou was the only show after which I had serious hearing loss. It lasted for days. I recall being quite concerned at the time.
Post reply on HN