Music Banter - View Single Post - Glancing Over...
View Single Post
Old 08-09-2009, 12:18 AM   #11 (permalink)
Gavin B.
Model Worker
 
Gavin B.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,248
Default

I wish I could interest a few forum members in reviewing a Velvet Underground album, other than VUs first album which is over-reviewed to the point of banality. Everything that is insightful about Peel Slowly and See has been said 1000 times over in 100,000 reviews of the album over the past five decades. I wish I could have been first to say some of those insightful things about VU, but older and better music critics beat me to the punch a long time ago.

This is in no way a commentary the quality of Schizotypic's review. I'll read it later a probably keep any thoughts about his review to myself, unless he says anthing in the review that is innacurate by the historcal record, or if he says somthing insightful enough for me to respond to.

My comments are more of reflection on the lack of imagination we all exercise when we choose our subject matter for review. I'm as guilty of it, as the next person and will often select an artist or album that been heavily reviewed, just to get my 2 cents in.

I rarely see reviews of VU's next three equally superb albums White Light White Heat the untitled album known as Velvet Underground, and Loaded VU's final album with Lou Reed at the helm.

Personally I can't write about VU anymore, having collected nearly every concert review, VU flyer, and record review written about VU from 1966-1984 as a favor to Gerard Malanga when he was writting his own autobiography about his involvement with the Factory and VU.

Some of that collected material is in Gerard's archive at archives malanga. The archive has contains the answer to nearly anything you've ever wanted to know about Andy Warhol, VU, Edie Segewick, the Factory or Gerard's own considerable contributions to both VU and Warhol's art.

Gerard was right smack dab in the middle of it all running Warhol's art print operation, his movie production company and whip dancing on stage with VU's Exploding Plastic Intevitable as his night gig. Someone should do a review of him.

I won't even post my earliest reviews of nearly all of VUs albums in MB or anywhere else, because they were written long enough ago to make me embarassed by the poor quality of the review. My days of writting about VU are pretty much over and I've only made one or two exceptions (to the highest bidder) to that rule. Nothing is ever sealed in stone but for now, just listening to them is the only VU related activity that I can still enjoy and I do...every day of my life without exception.
Gavin B. is offline   Reply With Quote