Trailer for the movie here:

[www.berlinthefilm.com]

Great! Thank you!

Lou hasn't mellowed with age:


[nymag.com]


Lou Reed Wants to Talk About His New Radio Show, Does Not Want to Talk About Money

Last month Lou Reed became the latest rock icon to foray onto satellite radio when he launched "New York Shuffle," a weekly free-form show on Sirius co-hosted by producer Hal Willner (who also collaborated on Reed's new concert doc, Berlin). We spoke to Reed about the show, which broadcasts an eclectic mix of music from Animal Collective to Ornette Coleman to Solomon Burke to Peaches, and — less successfully — his financial stake in the struggling company.

How did this show come into being? Did Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin wine and dine you?

I've always wanted to do a radio show, and I was talking with Hal Willner about doing the kind of radio show that once was here in New York where the guys played whatever they really liked. You know, I did it when I was in college. I liked being a D.J. I think the radio is amazing — I learned to play from the radio. The Sound of the Hound, Magnificent Montague, Alan Freed, people like that.

What kind of audience do you envision when you're doing a show? The commuter from Staten Island?

You're joking, right? Look, they have thousands of people who do things like that. We're just there playing music that we think is really great. I mean, I was just listening to some theremin music that Moog puts out on a DVD sampler and I've got to play this, it's so astonishingly beautiful. I was listening to another group the other day called the Books that was pretty good. And then Willner played this amazing old Solomon Burke track. Ah, fantastic. Wouldn't it be great if there were like hundreds of people playing it like that, turning you on to some really good shit?

Your show is called the "New York Shuffle." As music has been migrating from local stores and radio stations to satellite radio and the Internet, do you think there's still such a thing as a New York sound?

I think these days it's more of a Brooklyn sound. It's not out of New York anymore; it's all out of Brooklyn. I go out there to listen to music. A lot of the stuff we played, when we checked out where it came from, it was from Brooklyn.

The music industry is going through a lot of turmoil, obviously, with labels closing and record stores shutting down all over the country. What role do you think radio plays today?

Stations should pay attention to what people really want to listen to and not have these restrictive playlists. That's what I think. I'm not usually the one someone turns to about advice on how to make money.

Sirius's impending merger with XM is anticipated to boost earnings. Do you own any stock in the company?

What are you, a @#$%& @#$%&? I'm here telling you the truth about music and you want to know if I have stock in the @#$%& radio? You @#$%& piece of shit. What did I do to deserve that?

Moving on. You've got a film out, you've got your radio show, you've got a new book of photography coming up — is there a new album in the works?

No. Nothing I feel like talking about. Good-bye.

looking forward to the film's release in the US, in July I believe.

I actually thought the later shows in Australia were looser, musically, but I was at one of the Brooklyn shows, so that'll be nice to see. I hope at least portions of the film have effects from Schnabel such as are on this trailer. A straight concert film would get dull for all but big Berlin fans like me, I would think.

July is correct and it does sound like it won't be a straight concert film -- more info here:

From The Sunday Times
June 8, 2008

Lou Reed: Waiting for the man

Lou Reed's live version of Berlin, now a film, is hailed as his masterpiece. So, is he any easier to interview? Not really...

To anybody unfamiliar with the stratagems that Lou Reed regularly adopts to unsettle journalists, the scene unfolding in this chic Greenwich Village restaurant would seem pretty weird. Even I, a veteran of four previous encounters with one of rock's most truculent interviewees - and hence no stranger to his bleak stares, sudden interruptions and blank refusals to answer this or that - am confused.

We were scheduled to meet at 12.30 to talk, over lunch, about Lou Reed's Berlin, a concert movie directed by his friend, the artist and film director Julian Schnabel, which opens in UK art-house cinemas in July. After various phone messages to the effect that "Lou is running late", at 3 o'clock a middle-aged stranger walks up to my table, introduces himself as Reed's manager and leads me over to another table on the terrace outside, where he and his client are tucking into their tagliatelle starters. Reed looks up briefly, mumbles something and resumes his conversation with the manager.

Perched beside them, cradling the glass of mineral water that has kept me company for the past 2½ hours, I soon realise that there will be no lunch for me today, and possibly no proper interview, either. What is the old goat playing at?

It's not as if the press, or anybody else, has been giving him a hard time recently. The reviews for his sellout tour last summer, when he performed his 1973 song cycle Berlin in its entirety for the first time, were unanimously glowing. The story of junkie Caroline's grisly relationship with Jim, told with the help of a 25-piece orchestra and a children's choir, was hailed as "one of the most chilling but absorbing shows in rock history".

Reed's status as rock royalty has been honoured since by an appearance in March as a keynote speaker at America's hottest music event, the South by Southwest festival, at which he also joined Moby on stage for a dance update of Walk on the Wild Side. In the same month, his friends at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame invited him back to induct Leonard Cohen. Then, in April, he got another big thumbs up when his companion of the past 10 years, Laurie Anderson, became the third Mrs Reed in a private ceremony in Boulder, Colorado.

At 66, Reed looks better now than he did for most of his middle years. His bad-hair decade, the 1990s, during which he persisted with a dyed black mullet, is behind him. He is now back with a greyer version of the tousled mop he wore in his Velvet Underground days. He has long since kicked all of his bad habits, smoking being the last to go, in 2001; and, thanks to his exercise programmes, tai-chi work-outs and fastidious eating habits, his lean, slight figure means he can just about get away with the teenage gear he is wearing today – a noisy ensemble of baggy, brilliant-white tracksuit bottoms, orange and green trainers and a khaki windcheater.

Reed has now finished his starter and, hallelujah, the manager signals that an interview can proceed. The first 10 minutes pass uneventfully, as Reed explains how the collaboration with Schnabel came about. "We've known each other for 15 or 20 years, and he now lives across the street from me. Julian's always loved Berlin, and talked about wanting to make a movie movie, not a concert, because I think he saw the story intertwining with his life in some way. But nothing came of that."

When a plan to perform Berlin at a former church, St Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, took shape in 2006, Reed asked Schnabel to design the sets and film the event. Schnabel, who at this point was in Paris directing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, agreed: "He said, 'One way or the other, I'll get this done.'" Schnabel flew back to New York and invited Reed over to his studio. "He'd hung these couches and Chinese prints from the 24ft ceiling and dripped resin over them. It was perfect. He'd got the look of Caroline's hotel, with the greenish walls and the bathroom down the hall." Schnabel's other big contribution was to project filmed images of Caroline - played by Emmanuelle Seigner, the actress and wife of Roman Polanski, who stars in The Diving Bell - across the back of the stage. "She more than fulfils how Caroline should look and act," Reed says. "She just has 'trouble' tattooed across her forehead."

He certainly knows a thing or two about that. No sooner has Reed started to recall the conversations he has had over the years with Bob Ezrin - Berlin's producer and arranger, who originally suggested that he weave the songs into "a film for the ear" - than another, more painful memory barges in. He fixes me with a fierce stare. "Did you write that review of The Raven [Reed's last studio album, from 2003] which said, 'Don't quit your day job'?" He stares down my startled denial. "I remember these things. I don't mean to, but people send me this stuff. It's like your great-aunt just loves to see your name in the paper. But anyway ... Look at that!"

Reed has just spotted a new Mini Cooper driving past the restaurant. "They're really fun to drive, but you don't wanna be in one for more than an hour. You can't see out the back and you can't move." Cue another scenic detour, in which Reed reminisces fondly about his biker days, and in particular a trip to Australia with a group of fellow Harley-Davidson enthusiasts in the 1980s. He gave up motorcycling, he says, after breaking his fingers in a crash two weeks before going on tour to promote his 1984 album New Sensations: "That was stupid stuff. They had to set my fingers so I could strum." Reed says he hasn't owned any vehicles since 1992, when he moved back to Manhattan after his second wife, Sylvia Morales, took the car and his three motorcycles as part of their divorce settlement. He then tells a rather old-fashioned joke about a man who turns up in hell after his death, but resists all of the devil's attempts to frighten him. "The devil says, 'Why aren't you scared?' And the guy says, 'I've been married twice!'"

It's highly unusual for Reed to allude in interviews to his private life, and, sensing an opportunity to get the interview back on track, I interrupt his enjoyment of his fish dish to ask whether the character of Caroline might have been based on a real person? (The attempted suicide of Reed's first wife, Betty Kronstadt, in 1973, has often been cited as the inspiration for the gruesome finale of Berlin.)

"Why would I tell you?" Reed shoots back, stony-faced. "It's just writing. I really love acting, and, if I could have, I would have done that, but I do it in my songs instead. I write monologues for myself. Nobody else will, so I do. I've had a lot of bad luck. There are maybe seven women who make up Caroline. But these 'Did it really happen?' questions really don't interest me. That's what everybody kept asking me when I did a Q&A at South by Southwest. I got off a couple of one-liners, like, 'I've got a BA in dope, but a PhD in soul.' I'm good at those. Nowadays, they call them soundbites." Reed pauses, then produces another of his eccentric non sequiturs. "Very few people ask me anything any more. I'm kind of out of fashion."

Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. Reed is as highly, and widely, revered now as he has ever been. Hip young bands such as Killers and the Raconteurs have recently invited him into the studio to record with them. The avant-garde German string ensemble Zeitkratzer has transcribed and rerecorded his 1975 feedback opus, Metal Machine Music. Berlin has spawned one of the most successful tours of his career and, now, his first big-screen movie. And, in the week I meet him, the New York edition of Time Out is, yet again, celebrating the Velvet Underground as the city's most important rock band of all time.

As the manager announces that Lou has to leave for an important meeting on the roof of his apartment building, with his tai-chi instructor, I ask Reed whether the murky content of his most famous songs feels different to him now that he has banished murk from all areas of his life?

"That's complicated," he says. "I don't know that the context makes much of a difference. I like the undercurrents running through them." Reed has baited the hook, and, like a sucker, I duly ask how would he describe these undercurrents? "I wouldn't."

Lou Reed performs Berlin in the UK this month. Dates include Edinburgh Playhouse (June 25), Nottingham Royal Centre (26) and Albert Hall, SW7 (30). The film Lou Reed's Berlin opens nationwide on July 25

god, why does he still do interviews like this? He only comes off like an enormous, spoiled ass, and as the writer notes, his work is well reviewed anyhow.

Obviously he does it for promotion, to let people know about the movie. Anyone who's interested in the first place is *not* going to skip it just because Lou can be a prick to journalists.

yeah, but there must be some counterproductive effects of promoting oneself as such an ass.

Yeah, I keep on 'atin'him, I've done that since Day One.
He once said on Jim Morisson:
"I didnt feel sorry for him not even when he died."
Thats the words of a jealous man.

Quote
cc
yeah, but there must be some counterproductive effects of promoting oneself as such an ass.

That's the way Lou is though, and always has been. His interviews with Lester Bags were slugfests.

yeah, in a way it seems like he's denying his age by continuing to behave like this, as if to suggest we're still in the days of the slugfests with Bangs, as if we're all still emotionally invested in the Lou Reed image of the 1970s, and he's not just a cranky old man when he's not making music.

I'm still waiting for someone to post any Boots from the original '73 Berlin tour. Years of asking and waiting, and nothing.

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cc
yeah, in a way it seems like he's denying his age by continuing to behave like this, as if to suggest we're still in the days of the slugfests with Bangs, as if we're all still emotionally invested in the Lou Reed image of the 1970s, and he's not just a cranky old man when he's not making music.

He's cranky when he IS making music. Don't know what happened to the recording contract he signed with Sanctuary.

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Nikolai
He's cranky when he IS making music. Don't know what happened to the recording contract he signed with Sanctuary.

poorly put on my part--I meant that to us (or at least me), he's just a cranky old man, except for the fact that he still performs worthwhile music.

His show here in DC recently was a major snooze and a ripoff. 95 minutes and see ya. Can I have my money back?

He was a hero of mine, but now he's just a pompous old brat. His Raven thing a few years ago was laughable, and nearly everything else that he's done since broke up the Velvet Underground again in '93 has been a ponderous disaster. Ecstacy, my arstacy!

I saw him in mid-80s, Roskilde. So-so.

Quote
baxlap
His show here in DC recently was a major snooze and a ripoff. 95 minutes and see ya. Can I have my money back?

He was a hero of mine, but now he's just a pompous old brat. His Raven thing a few years ago was laughable, and nearly everything else that he's done since broke up the Velvet Underground again in '93 has been a ponderous disaster. Ecstacy, my arstacy!

I actually think The Raven was underrated, several good songs on there, and Ecstasy is excellent, an album that needs to be considered alongside his major ones from the past. Set the Twilight Reeling, the only other album he's done in the period you mention, was not among his best, but I wouldn't call it ponderous. The first 2 cuts are called "Egg Cream" and "Hooky Wooky."

I heard most of the shows from the tour and thought the band sounded great, with some inspired song selections. Lou did sound somewhat tired... but he's what, 65? Were you expecting the Rock and Roll Animal? He's much closer to top form than the Stones. I think the only thing you can complain about is the price, which unfortunately kept me from seeing him this time in NYC.

Quote
baxlap
His show here in DC recently was a major snooze and a ripoff. 95 minutes and see ya. Can I have my money back?

He was a hero of mine, but now he's just a pompous old brat. His Raven thing a few years ago was laughable, and nearly everything else that he's done since broke up the Velvet Underground again in '93 has been a ponderous disaster. Ecstacy, my arstacy!

The Raven was a misfire, I agree, but not without some great songs. Who Am I, in particular, is exceptional.

Ecstasy is - in my opinion - one of Lou's greatest ever albums. A middle aged, bitter divorcee version of Berlin - albeit with some f-ing hilarious lyrics, and some of the best music he's written since New York.

What is the music in the trailer?

music in trailer is 'like a possum' from ecstasy album.

I got a hole in my heart the size of a truck
It won’t be filled by one-night fu*k
Like a possum
Like a possum

all 18 mins of it was played on repeat b4 the Berlin concerts. settin da moods

[www.npr.org]

a recent show to hear live in entirity. about 25 mins in the song ecstasy has a Reed solo that beggars belief.

top of his game alright

cant wait for the film



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-06-12 15:09 by gerrox.

The truck-fvck rhyme was used by his rival already back in late 60s:
Sunday trucker, Christian motherfvcker.
But ok, sounds good. Like most here say: as long as he sticks to the music.

Think I'm gettin' some kinda déja vú-expereince here..

Quote
gerrox
music in trailer is 'like a possum' from ecstasy album.

I got a hole in my heart the size of a truck
It won’t be filled by one-night fu*k
Like a possum
Like a possum

all 18 mins of it was played on repeat b4 the Berlin concerts. settin da moods

[www.npr.org]

a recent show to hear live in entirity. about 25 mins in the song ecstasy has a Reed solo that beggars belief.

top of his game alright

cant wait for the film

Ah, you've heard that stunning version of Ecstasy from his recent tour? It's a jawdropper, isn't it?

I think he's only ever played Like A Possum live once.

or the version of ecstasy on the recent live animal seranade cd. freekin ****!!

what reed can do w a guitar and an amp and a zillion pedals and effects and love of noise....

lou can solo as mean and sweet as the best of em.

like a possum live? mmmm

I agree with the positive ECSTASY assessments posted above and will add that the live ANIMAL SERENADE was exceptional.

Just saw him for the first time in Memphis last month, I was impressed!


I'm not a huge fan of his, but it was certainly worth seeing. No "Walk on the Wild Side" though which disappointed some folks.

Went to iTunes to buy "Like A Possum" and wouldn't you know, the album is available but that song isn't. It's a partial album. Guess I'll have to hit the CD store this weekend.

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jomo297
Went to iTunes to buy "Like A Possum" and wouldn't you know, the album is available but that song isn't. It's a partial album. Guess I'll have to hit the CD store this weekend.

ITunes don't tend to sell the longer songs from albums individually, I've found. You won't regret buying Ecstasy, I think.

It's not even listed as being part of the album on iTunes.

Went to the store and picked this up today. $4.99 in the used rack. This is some good stuff. Never really heard much Lou other than the Underground and WOWS. This is not what I expected. Good stuff. May have to explore Lou Reed a little more.

nice pick-up, jomo. It's one of his heavier rocking albums, sort of a 70s rock sound with noisier guitars. My favorite album, The Blue Mask from 1982, is also a great guitar album, but with a more Velvets-y edge, and tighter songwriting.

going back into the post-Berlin 70s, Coney Island Baby, Street Hassle, and The Bells are all creative and interesting listens and have held up really well. All more gritty and serious than "WOWS" but with their mellow moments too.