It takes guts and lots of love for rock avant-garde to try and cover VELVET UNDERGROUND – and also venture beyond obvious choices for your versions of Lou Reed’s classics. Thankfully, SONIC YOUTH cofounder Lee Ranaldo knows his way around this repertoire so, when Catalan music journalist Ignacio Julià wanted to augment the world premiere of his book “Linger On” – dedicated to the legendary New York ensemble – with what he considered their original dynamics, in a live performance, Ranaldo and French experimental composer Pascal Comelade conspired to evoke just that, in the company of a local drummer Ramon Prats.
RAMON PRATS,
LEE RANALDO –
Velvet Serenade
Introduced to each other on the day of the presentation, they created “a non-nostalgic reinvention of a musical legacy that takes an influential past into the future” on the spot and delivered it, after a few runs, before the crowd gathered at Banyoles’ “Auditori del Ateneu” on April 27th, 2022, as well as the following evening. As per Julià’s request, they didn’t play straight covers; instead, the trio wrapped the songs – including Lee-penned “Lou’s Blues” – in minimalistic ivories and guitars, so “Velvet Serenade” – the platter which will be released on June 23rd – is the most fitting title for the mesmeric end results.
1. All Tomorrow’s Parties
2. What Goes On
3. I’m Waiting For The Man
4. Lou’s Blues
5. Ocean
6. Femme Fatale
