Velvet Underground: Live & Redux
By: Neil Kull |
Friday March 17, 2006 |
| The high points are the extended dueling solos between Lou + John throughout the show. Watch "Hey Mr. Rain" and "Some Kinda Love" pieces that capture the essence of the Velvet Underground. |
| These days, it seems like music critics are quick to compare every new rock band to the Velvet Underground. Sometimes the comparison is valid, other times it sounds like rampant name-dropping on the part of the reviewer, almost as if they're trying to prove their "indie roots." Regardless of the intent, it's undeniable that the Velvets are still highly influential more than three decades after their original breakup.
What's the appeal? After all, atonal sound experiments, dark lyrical subject matter and rough recording styles all make the Velvet Underground more of an acquired taste. I recall once reading that the Velvets admitted to making more money playing on the streets of New York than they ever could on stage. So what's changed since now and then? Why are so many people talking about the Velvet Underground these days? Why are artists praising VU as a key influence in their work? In the past 30 years, popular opinion has opened up to embrace attitudes which illustrate more sinister topics. For every song on the radio talking about love and happiness, there's now one talking about being lost in your own culture. Alienation and paranoia are now hand-in-hand with happiness and acceptance. In fact, the line between the two has become so blurred that artists can now sing about both in the same lyric without a trace of irony. Whereas back when the Velvets were first realized, the dominant subjects in pop music only occasionally touched upon dark themes, but never enough to keep a group off the charts. On the rare occasion that a song became successful about, say, heroin addiction - it was always with a thinly-veiled implication of the idea, dressed up in a nice little folk tune (America's "Horse With No Name" comes to mind). The Velvet Underground, however, didn't bother with any sort of disguise. When they sing about the ups and downs of modern living, they made damn sure you understood on both intellectual and emotional levels. Not only would the lyrics tell you flat-out what they were after, but the music was designed to capture the feeling of being in the same situation as the authors. Was this music meant to be a warning? Or an invitation? Or simply a plea for those of us listening to mainstream pop music to understand what it's like to be a survivor of the underground scene? And therein lies the genius of Velvet Underground: the space for personal interpretation is written into every line of their music. The Velvet Underground's recorded works are essential listening for anyone who desires a sense of music history (the Peel Slowly and See box set is a wonderful place to start). Unfortunately, their albums were recorded in small, crude studios with little hope of capturing the dynamic range created by the group's various sound experiments (when you're not charting hits, nobody's gonna give you the keys to Abbey Road Studios to play in, ya know?). Most eyewitness accounts to the Velvet's original shows insist that they were much more impressive live - with extended jam sessions between the band members exploring new directions in sound. However, video cameras weren't very accessible back in the late 60's, and precious little footage of VU live exists today. Which brings us neatly to this DVD. Redux Live MCMXCIII was recorded nearly 20 years after the Velvets finally called it quits and the members went their separate ways in the world: John Cale pursued work as a producer, collaborator and soloist; Nico sang for a bit before her death in the late 80's; Mo Tucker became a mom; Sterling Morrison became a teacher, and Lou Reed went on to equally excite and frustrate both audiences and record labels with music that went from straight-up pop to hardcore noise. Throughout all this time, VU's recorded work slowly gained popularity as music fans continually discovered how many new directions in both style and content the group addressed. Artists such as Bowie, Eno, Siouxsie Sioux and more began citing the Velvet Underground's impact on their work, and occasionally the band members would hint about a possible reunion tour. In 1989, Lou Reed and John Cale performed together in a heartbreaking tribute to their former mentor and friend Andy Warhol in an album entitled Songs For Drella. Afterwards, the two former collaborators decided to try a few VU reunion shows and see what developed. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before egos began to clash once again and the tour collapsed before reaching the US. Shortly thereafter, Sterling Morrison succumbed to cancer and passed away, which so shocked the remaining band members they permanently ceased any more work on a Velvet Underground revival. Thankfully, the group was at least able to record this video before Sterling's passing for those fans unable to catch the reunion. Redux Live MCMXCIII is a gem from start to finish, containing everything you would hope to see. There's no stage posturing - no unnecessary shout-outs to the crowd outside of a simple "Hello!" from Lou. Instead, we see a more classical approach to the performance, which could be considered pretentious from any other band - but not from these older, more seasoned avant-garde artists. There are numerous moments of brilliance from start to finish: Sterling Morrison's guitar solo during "White Light/White Heat"; Mo Tucker giving a good shot at singing "I'm Sticking With You"; John Cale singing a haunting version of "Femme Fatale"; Lou Reed's insane array of guitar effects processors linked together to create some truly mesmerizing noise. For me, the high points are the extended dueling solos between Lou + John throughout the show. Watch "Hey Mr. Rain" and "Some Kinda Love" - these pieces capture the essence of the Velvet Underground: two simultaneous solos drifting around each other, exploring various applications of music theory in two very different ways, finally coming together in a climax tacked to Mo + Sterling's dedicated rhythm sections. These performances offer the clearest view of what it is like to sit with a professional group, jamming their way into new musical territory. Redux Live MCMXCIII was originally released on VHS 20 years ago, and it's an immense pleasure to finally have this performance in a non-degradable digital format. It's a wonderful introduction to the group for those who've only heard of the Velvet Underground, as well as a treasure for those of us who have already developed a committed interest in the group's work. Hopefully, someone will soon re-release the aforementioned Songs For Drella. Both are wonderful companion pieces to each other, and will continue to influence musicians and performing artists for decades to come. |
