Was it one of the iconoclastic rock 'n' roll innovator's greatest works, or was it his most flawed statement this side of Lulu? Was the double album a carefully crafted work that expanded on experiments made by the founders of minimalism a decade earlier, or was it a hastily conceived barrage of senseless noise? Did he really expect this caterwauling double album of loud feedback soup to be released on RCA's classical label Red Seal, or did he simply turn it in as a way of flipping off The Man — fully intending for this mess to upset his label enough that they'd break his contract with them? The answer to each of those questions is most likely somewhere in the middle. We do know for certain that Lou Reed's 1975 double album Metal Machine Music (RCA) was reviled by rock critics upon its release, and that most copies were returned, ...
Tagged: Chris Scoates, Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music
Read MoreBack in 1975, rock musician Lou Reed nearly drove his now revered career into the ground with the release of his fifth solo album, "Metal Machine Music." As one of pop culture’s earliest examples of experimental noise (meaning no songs and no structure), the controversial "Metal Machine Music" was largely hailed as a joke upon its release by fans and critics alike. It took decades before it was given proper credit for helping spearhead the idea of contemporary sound art. To help pay tribute to the widely misunderstood double album — a current staple of avant-garde music — Cranbrook Art Museum is hosting an exhibit called “Lou Reed, Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe” through March 26. Housed in just a small black room, the exhibit is made up of a live ambisonic 3D installation that utilizes 12 loudspeakers to create a fully immersive sound experience. It’s designed ...
Tagged: Lou Reed
Read MoreBloomfield Hills, Mich., Oct. 12, 2015- Cranbrook Art Museum announces its fall season of exhibitions today, which continue the Museum’s tradition of bringing innovative and interactive contemporary art to the metro Detroit area. Opening on November 21 (with a special ArtMembers’ Opening Reception on November 20) are the exhibitions Lou Reed, Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe; Andy Warhol: Empire; Him, a project by Liz Cohen; and The Cranbrook Salon. Then in December, the Museum will debut Simple Forms, Stunning Glazes: The Gerald W. McNeely Pewabic Pottery Collection. While the new exhibitions are being installed, the lower galleries of the Museum remain open, featuring the exhibitions Bent, Cast & Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia and Read Image: See Text. After an incredibly successful run, the Nick Cave: Here Hear exhibition closed yesterday.Photo by Amy-Beth McNeelyLou Reed, Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe November 21, 2015 – March 26, ...
Tagged: Lou Reed
Read MoreThis is the best news for fans of immersive sound, the Velvet Underground, and trip metal. Surely, we've all at least heard of Metal Machine Music by now. Once critically reviled, in time it's come to be understood as an important if idiosyncratic link between 1960s minimalism in New York and later developments in industrial and noise musics. As a teenager, I spent the better part of one summer listening to Metal Machine Music, daily (or as close to daily as I could, because family members did not share my enthusiasm for this overlapping collage of manipulated guitar feedback). It began as a challenge, and ended with me finding all kinds of pretty little seagull-sounding flourishes and repeated melodic themes inside of what at first seemed to be an uncompromising and indiscriminate wall of squealing shit.Anyway, what's the actual news? Cranbrook Art Museum will present an audio installation called “Metal ...
Tagged: Chris Scoates, Exhibitions, Lou Reed, Music
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