Nosferatu Man

Just listened to 'The Gift' from White Light/White Heat. Truly one of the weirdest things I have ever heard.

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Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Farfisa

How about that... Doug Yule? *waits for shitstorm*

clutnuckle

i h8 pop music and therefore i h8 doug yule

death 2 commercialization!!!

also their self-titled hits me in weird places these days. lazy day music made transcendent in a lot of ways...

Moon Pix 1985

I used to like them but Im older and over the whole 'godfathers of indie rock' thing now. There are a lot of bands that I would rather listen to.

The live version of "What's Going On?" from Live1969 is untouchable though. My favourite stuff by them was the live stuff post-Cale when they were trying to be a dance band.

Farfisa

I actually liked him in "Sweet Nothing" and "Candy Says". I've also heard some of "Squeeze" and I was astonished that it wasn't nearly as bad as people made it out to be. Reed wanted more of a pop sound, and that's why they kicked Cale out of the band. If anything Reed should be blamed for their change in sound, not Yule.

TockTockTock

I'm pretty sure The Velvet Underground were more than just the "godfathers of indie rock." I didn't know you could outgrow them either.

Moon Pix 1985

They are. They were a great band that revolutionised music and they were a big deal to me when I was about 19 and getting heavily interested in the history of alternative forms of rock and pop music. They are a part of that whole canon but I havent bothered listening to them for years. Now Im older I have a better idea of what my favourite music is and Im less influenced by what Kurt Cobain and Lester Bangs said or what Thurston Moore likes.

Im a lot more able to just like what I like now. Im a lot less bothered about 'the canon of indie rock' than I used to be. I don't even listen to Sonic Youth anymore.

Farfisa

I like their more pop sound, it is different and refreshing. I'm not saying Reed is a horrible person, but to anyone who wants bitch about the poppier sound, he's the reason.

Captain Ron

what did he do to penn and teller?

VEGANGELICA

I was reading today about the effects of drugs on the type of music that musicians make, and the author mentioned Velvet Underground's music as an example of "narcotica." I had never heard a Velvet Underground song before (as far as I can remember), and the information made me curious about the sounds that someone using heroin might prefer.

According to the source, "narcotica" music, which is music that people prefer to make or listen to when using narcotics such as heroin, has a very different sound than psychedelic rock, reflecting the mental changes caused by narcotics vs. hallucinogens:

Intrigued, I listened to "Heroin" and was surprised to find I like it, although I felt they could have cut out a minute or two from the repetitive beginning of the song. I decided perhaps I may like narcotica much more than psychedelic rock, which I usually hate.

The Velvet Underground - "Heroin"
I felt this song has a sweetly sad, innocent sound with its droning viola and sudden energy bursts. I listened for 4 minutes before I considered stopping because it was getting repetitive and predictable (slow, fast, slow, fast, etc. etc., with the viola droning the whole time)...but I went ahead and listened to the rest and found that I especially liked the wild abandon of the chaotic, noisy, scratchy strings at the end of this song.

EDIT: The song also feels sad to me because it shows the way heroin must wash away a person's priorities and concerns. It reminds me of a close friend's brother who died of a hot shot when he was a young man.


The Velvet Underground - Heroin - YouTube

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