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

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

#101

Post by 5teev »

Nav_Panel wrote: post #38
mcphilip wrote: 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'm interested that "Heroin" was the song that made you feel like that. I've always felt that "European Son" (YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igWyYA_r06Y ) was the most experimental and noisy song on the album, and I always experience a real visceral thrill when listening to it (especially that part with the roar-ish thing and then the glass shattering). The guitar parts are absurd, the band sometimes plays straig…

Seconded. I also prefer "I Heard Her Call My Name" to "Sister Ray" from the next album.

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

#102

Post by christopheraden »

ledge wrote: post #99
Nav_Panel wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested that "Heroin" was the song that made you feel like that. I've always felt that "European Son" (YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igWyYA_r06Y ) was the most experimental and noisy song on the album, and I always experience a real visceral thrill when listening to it (especially that part with the roar-ish thing and then the glass shattering). The guitar parts are absurd, the band sometimes plays straig…

As someone who is a music fanatic, but had never heard Velvet Underground until right now, I find "European Son" quite interesting, but "Heroin" didn't do anything for me. I'll check out more VU, any suggestions for songs/albums in a similar vein (experimental, noisy, good guitar/bass interplay, heavily instrumental)?

If you're interested in experimental and noisy, you can't really beat Metal Machine Music. It's practically unlistenable ;).

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

#103

Post by csense »

bostonpete wrote: post #86
guiambros wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

As far as I can tell, the only things considered off topic on HN are (1) submissions whose title don't match the headline of the linked page, and (2) puns.

> puns

Did you hear about the latest research that shows adding a delayed version of a signal to itself [1] enhances the security of many existing encryption and anonymity protocols by adding an additional layer? Some people are considering adding it to the next version of popular Internet privacy software [2]. I don't understand how it works, though, so maybe I should:

Ask HN: Why comb in a Tor?

(Obviously I made this up just to set up the punch line. Or should I say, PUNch line?)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comb_filter

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)

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

#104

Post by Nav_Panel »

ledge wrote: post #99
Nav_Panel wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested that "Heroin" was the song that made you feel like that. I've always felt that "European Son" (YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igWyYA_r06Y ) was the most experimental and noisy song on the album, and I always experience a real visceral thrill when listening to it (especially that part with the roar-ish thing and then the glass shattering). The guitar parts are absurd, the band sometimes plays straig…

As someone who is a music fanatic, but had never heard Velvet Underground until right now, I find "European Son" quite interesting, but "Heroin" didn't do anything for me. I'll check out more VU, any suggestions for songs/albums in a similar vein (experimental, noisy, good guitar/bass interplay, heavily instrumental)?

As fun as "Metal Machine Music" is, it's a bit non-musical for my tastes -- you wont find interplay and solid musicianship, just noise. I suggest the next step you take is Velvet Underground's second album, "White Light / White Heat". It meets your feature requests fairly well, perhaps better than "Velvet Underground & Nico", the album "European Son" is from, would.

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

#105

Post by clarkm »

mcphilip wrote: 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…

"It always bothers me to see people writing 'RIP' when a person dies. It just feels so insincere and like a cop-out. To me, 'RIP' is the microwave dinner of posthumous honors."

-Lou Reed

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

#106

Post by wyclif »

Here's my fave obituary so far: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/10/27/l...

Jenny said when she was just five years old There was nothin’ happenin’ at all

It was the fifties. We were living in cookie cutter houses in the suburbs. Our parents will still recovering from the war, buckling down and making a better life for their children, with barbecues and trips to the beach and…

Every time she puts on a radio There was nothin’ goin’ down at all Not at all

The radio was primarily for baseball. They played music, but it did not change our lives and then…

Then one fine mornin’ she puts on a New York station You know, she don’t believe what she heard at all

It happened overnight. Sports became secondary. The music, the politics, suddenly life was full of opportunities and children were the leaders, not their parents.

She started shakin’ to that fine fine music You know her life was saved by rock ‘n’ roll

Imagine that. Not an iPhone. Not an iPad. The greatest exponent of technology was the transistor radio, almost no one had a color television set, never mind a flat screen. But that rock and roll music coming out of the tiny speaker or earphone…was enough.

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

#108

Post by lennel »

chimeracoder wrote: post #31
mcphilip wrote: 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…

Jesus and the mary chain is also hugely influential, do you listen to Spacemen 3 at all?

Heroin took me years to appreciate, once I "snapped" that the dissonance is a metaphor for the addicts' life I fell in love with it.

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

#109

Post by draegtun »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #35

We can discuss Lou Reed’s contribution to the Velvet Underground, I sure could fill hours and hours. He made some great albums later on as well. When I was studying English lit, Edgar Allen Poe’s works were covered. About 6 months later, Reed came out with his album ‘The Raven’. That was magical to me, deepening the experience I already had reading EAP’s work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven_(Lou_Reed_album)

Indeed The Raven is a very good album. Who am I? (Tripitena's Song) from the album is an extremely beautiful & touching song about life & death which strikes a poignant note right now.

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

#110

Post by saturdaysaint »

lcasela wrote: post #26

RIP. The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed's music really helped me during a hard part of my life.

Same here. Especially the s/t third album and Loaded. It's hard to imagine in our era of blog/Reddit culture, where pathos is kind of freely available if you know where to look, how brave it was to talk about the dark corners of everyday life. Reed proclaimed these things - depression, uncertain relationships, body image issues, sexual kinks (along with flashes of happiness) - in often gorgeous pop songs. Their portraits of characters dealing with these were still almost unrivaled in their vulnerability and believability when I listened as a teenager in the 90's.
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