Arts Desk » Velvet Underground

The Pragmatist: Three Songs For Quietly Disappearing

Ryan Little — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:48:06 +0000

Whether you're a ghostly apparition, a hyper-vivid memory, or even a vision of a paternal, anthropomorphic cloud, there comes a point where you need to fade away. After you give your life-changing advice or sternly and mysteriously warn the protagonist to "take heed," you've got to make your exit. Rather than offering over-the-top melodrama, here are a few low-key songs for your quiet evaporation.

After leaving The Velvet Underground, John Cale put aside his brash experimentalism for a bit to explore more traditional songcraft. The soft balladry of "Antarctica Starts Here" would make an appropriate companion to your strange dissipation—the slightly unsettling ending to the tune only emphasizing the odd situation.

The aptly-named Low—who play Black Cat next week— always have something slow and gorgeous to offer. The careful harmonies and restrained tempo of "Little Argument With Myself" will make an alluring and haunting accompaniment to your departure.

Local hushed rockers Cigarette work well in a reverb-laden, slow atmosphere. Their smoky songs readily evoke the peculiar and melancholic mood of your withdrawal from reality. If you can delay your farewell for just a bit, be sure and chill with Cigarette tonight at Galaxy Hut.

Thank You, Alex Chilton

Jason Cherkis — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:32:16 +0000

Alex Chilton has passed away. Whether you know it or not, you owe half your music collection to that man. And indie rock owes almost everything.

Here is a clip of Chilton with Yo La Tengo in 2007. I was at that show. I can remember when he popped up on stage as one of the surprise guests. I can remember screaming like a kid. Now, watching this, it just gives me goosebumps.

Velvet Underground book author at Library of Congress Monday night

Steve Kiviat — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:33:47 +0000

In January Richie Unterberger was at the Library of Congress discussing his book The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film. Now he is back, tonight, Monday August 3rd at the Library to talk about his new detail-packed, 368 page book, White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day (I have not seen it yet). According to his own website, Unterberger drew “on about 100 interviews [he conducted] and exhaustive research through documents and recordings rarely or never accessed…” Unterberger is promising on his website that he will feature rare audiovisual material from throughout the Velvet Underground's career at the Library of Congress presentation.

Monday August 3rd at 7 P.M–writer Richie Unterberger at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg., Pickford Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Call 202-707-7833 for details. The Pickford has only 60 seats.