Friday, July 8, 2011


Proposing a Slight Change in Plans: I need Some Darkness with My Summer

Hello dear readers,

As you may or may not know or remember, I had announced a series based on the Australian psych-rock band The Church, which was supposed to start after the impending conclusion of the Talk Talk Series. While I still intend to start such a series a little later in the summer (toward the end of the Tim Buckley series), I'm just not feeling it at the moment, and consequently, I want to propose a Velvet Underground series. I'm envisioning 25 posts that will include lossless selections from the Velvets' official and bootleg discographies, Lou Reed's considerable discography, John Cale, Maureen Tucker, Nico, and various collaborations and side projects. Don't get me wrong; I love The Church and I have some rare surprises planned for that series, but at this point in time, I feel like living with the Velvets for a while. Care to join me?

Lou and Nico making the most of a summer afternoon

33 comments:

  1. I'm glad I read this because I was thinking about posting 'Peel Slowly And See' but it sounds like a good series.

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  2. Awesome! I do own all the official albums on vinyl, so it'll be nice to have flac versions of these albums and most of all, it would be fantastic to discover bootlegs/live stuff that I haven't heard before. Thanks in advance!

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  3. I'd love that. There are lots of VU solo releases that I never sought out and would love to hear. Are you going to post Squeeze? :)

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  4. Looking forward to VU, but The Church is my favorite band of all time! So i´m exited to see what you will be able to put forward to the readers of this wonderful blog. I do belive that I only miss a few church related things.....do you know of the steve kilbey release Fake (named as a group called Fake )from around 94 ? I´ve yet to listen to it.....

    Cheers
    Peter

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  5. Hi!
    I've some Velvet covers in my pocket. If any interest...
    Visit my blog (in french sorry!)
    http://fracas64.blogspot.com/

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  6. Wow! Just thinking about the Velvets. I'm definitely on board. I hate making requests, since I like to trust people kind enough to do a blog to do their own things, but I sure hope that at some point the Velvets 3rd might appear in a non-closet mix. I own Peel Slowly, and have never bothered upgrading from 192 mp3s the album proper.

    Thanks again regardless.

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  7. A Velvet Underground Series would be great!! Looking foreward to the darker side of the summer ...

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  8. Absolutely! Lead the way... Kurt

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  9. At first glance I was anticipating you taking a break from this blog! HA! Velvet Underground paved the way.

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  10. In La Luna we trust, so let's go for it..!

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  11. If you need any help, I have a couple of their records that I could rip...

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  12. In my opinion this is an excellent idea, voixautre! The Velvets were so outstanding together and both Lou Reed and John Cale have a lot of solid, very original and interesting albums in their catalogues.

    Speaking of the Velvets, I know their regular studio discography quite well, but I've never heard "Squeeze" before and and I wonder if it's really so unbelievably awful as it's usually described.

    When it comes to Reed/Cale/Nico solo albums I heard some of them too, but I'll be definitely interested to become acquainted with more.

    Oh, and I just can't wait for your review of "Metal Machine Music". :)

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  13. Make it so. Maybe go light on the Nico side projects...

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  14. elliot, I have a vinyl rip of "Squeeze," though I'm not sure where it would fit in the series, but I might squeeze it in somewhere (pardon the pun) :)

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  15. Peter, don't worry, I'll start the Church series before the summer is out. In terms of Fake, like you, Ive heard of it, but never heard it. It doesn't seem to be available anywhere in cyber space, but I'll run it past a few of my Australian blog brothers

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  16. fracas64, thanks for the link! I'll definitely check it out

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  17. Jams Runt, I'll probably post each of the first three albums in multiple versions

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  18. scurfie, no way! This blog is all that keeps me going sometimes. I don't know what the hell I'd do with myself without it. Too much great music to share. Maybe I'll take a break next summer (or not) :)

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  19. Paulo X, thank you! I'll let you know, although I've got a massive VU archive

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  20. Michael, it seems several readers want "Squeeze," and yes, it's pretty dreadful, but I do have a vinyl rip. "Metal Machine Music," yes, that one will be fun. I need some strong coffee that night ;)

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  21. reindeer man, I have a few Nico's that will definitely be in the series, but I promise I'll be selective

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  22. great plan voixautre! i had a vinyl bootleg about 35 years ago, i think it was called "The Velvet Underground etcetera", if i remember rightly it had a lime green, orange and white cover. It had Cycle Annie, You're Driving Me Insane, Do The Ostrich and a few others that have bobbed up on "VU" and "Another View". But those three were fabulous songs, and i haven't heard them since. Hopefully you'll have them somewhere... cheers

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  23. thanks Bedlam, I'll look around for those

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  24. I have both the Fake CDs but unfortunately they're only 320 AAC. Let me know if you want them. Bring on the VU. I love them both. The VU's version of Heroin from the "Live '68" bootleg is amazing.

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  25. ha! those songs were stuck in my brain as i dozed off last night, and still there when i woke up, so i decided to hunt them down this morning...found some on youtube of all places. pre-velvet underground. and they still sound fantastic!
    You're Driving Me Insane
    Cycle Annie
    The Ostrich

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  26. Stefano, I'd love those if you have them uploaded somewhere

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  27. I would love to hear a copy of the song "Ride Into The Sun"--the demo, but with vocals which was released on the Australian What Goes On 3CD box set.

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  28. Anon. I look around for that box set. Sounds interesting. Is it a rarities box?

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