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Music News: Inside the massive Lou Reed archive at the New York Public Library

The New York Public Library's limited-edition Lou Reed library card.
The New York Public Library's limited-edition Lou Reed library card.New York Public Library
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by Jay Gabler

March 20, 2019

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A massive Lou Reed Archive is now available to the public under the auspices of the New York Public Library. To learn more about what this entails, I spoke with Jonathan Hiam, curator of music and recorded sound at the New York Library for the Performing Arts, where the archive resides.

"The Lou Reed Archive," he said, "consists of materials related to the life and work of singer, songwriter, poet, photographer, all-around New-York-based artist Lou Reed. These are materials that date back to as early as his high school years — there's some personal memorabilia such as yearbooks and photographs — up through his passing in 2013. At the core of this archive are the daily business papers related to his life and work as an artist."

I asked Hiam what items from the archives most excited his team at the library. In addition to material like the original agreements among members of the Velvet Underground, said Hiam, some of the fan art is simply spectacular.

"One of my favorite examples, and that of the staff, are three hand-painted posters that were created in honor of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson and their dog, Lola, for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. They are these banners that have [the artists] painted as mer-people and...mer-dog?"

Items from this remarkable archive are now accessible at the New York Library for the Performing Arts — and for a limited time, eligible patrons can also pick up a special Lou Reed library card. Here's one of the hardest-rocking songs from Reed's classic 1989 album New York, "Dirty Blvd." A selection of items related to that album are now on display at the library.

Woodstock 50 lineup includes veterans and newcomers

The official Woodstock 50th anniversary festival has released its lineup, and, as promised, it includes a mix of both veteran artists and newcomers. The biggest name, though, is neither an old head from the original Woodstock nor a young up-and-comer. It's Jay-Z, one of several prominent hip-hop artists booked, along with Chance the Rapper, Run the Jewels, and the very peace-and-love-minded Common.

Artists returning from Woodstock '69 include the Grateful Dead (at least, those surviving members who now play as Dead and Company), John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival), and Santana, who will hopefully bring their hippie pal Rob Thomas. The rest of the lineup ranges widely across the musical landscape, from the Black Keys to Miley Cyrus to Janelle Monáe to Anderson East to Brandi Carlile.

The festival will happen at Watkins Glen over the 50th anniversary, Aug. 16-18, at the same time as a much smaller festival takes place at the original festival location, Bethel Woods. Artists playing that festival include Ringo Starr and Santana, who apparently are not going to let any radius clause keep them from celebrating a half-century since they helped define a generation.

So, with Canned Heat ready to release another blast, it's time once again for "Going Up the Country." (Rolling Stone)

Lollapalooza 2019 teases lineup with puppies

Lollapalooza is doing its part for puppies, and teasing its 2019 lineup at the same time. The festival has released a teaser video showcasing dogs that are available for adoption at the animal shelter PAWS Chicago. Each dog pushes balloons aside to reveal one of the artists booked for this year's festival, taking place Aug. 1-4. Among the artists playing Lolla this year: Janelle Monáe, Lil Wayne, Tenacious D, and Slash. Tickets are now on sale, and the rest of the lineup is promised "soon."

Maybe the biggest artist teased by the puppies is also one of this year's Coachella headliners: Tame Impala, who are prepping a new album. For now, let's hear a track from their most recent release, 2015's Currents. Here's the all-too-apt "The Less I Know the Better." (Stereogum)

New Stranger Things trailer goes back to the '80s with...the Who?

For today's viral clip, we've got to go with pretty much the only video anyone's talking about this morning: the trailer for the third season of Stranger Things, dropping July 4. This new season takes us to 1985, but the song you hear throughout most of the trailer is from 1971: the Who's "Baba O'Riley," more commonly known by its chorus, "teenage wasteland." Because...the kids are teenagers now, get it?

The trailer also includes Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home," and the reaction on Twitter by writer Jill Krajewski is pretty much what anyone in the music world thought, "what a music budget flex." It takes a lot of money to license huge songs for a huge series, and if anyone has that kind of money, it's Netflix, in part due to the success of the first two Stranger Things seasons.

Music has always been very important to showrunners the Duffer Brothers, who really wanted to evoke that authentic '80s ambience. For this season, that means recreating, in pristine detail, a shopping mall circa 1985. Talk about a teenage wasteland!


Audio sampled in podcast
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against The Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Canned Heat: "Going Up the Country"
Tame Impala: "The Less I Know the Better"
Lou Reed: "Dirty Blvd."
The Who: "Baba O'Riley"