8/14/2019 Sobre La Muerte DeLou Reed

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Sobre la muerte deLou Reed

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Outsider Whose Dark, Lyrical Vision

Lou Reed, the singer, songwriter and guitarist whose work with the Velvet

Underground in the 1960s had a major influence on generations of rock musicians, and

who remained a powerful if polariing force for the rest of his life, died on !unda" at

#he cause was liver disease, said $r% &harles 'iller of the &leveland &linic in (hio,

where 'r% Reed had liver transplant surger" this "ear and was )eing treated again until

a few da"s ago%

'r% Reed )rought dark themes and a mercurial, sometimes aggressive disposition to

rock music% *+ve alwa"s )elieved that theres an amaing num)er of things "ou can do

through a rock -n roll song,. he once told the journalist /ristine 'c/enna, *and that

"ou can do serious writing in a rock song if "ou can somehow do it without losing the

)eat% #he things +ve written a)out wouldnt )e considered a )ig deal if the" appeared in

a )ook or movie%.

e pla"ed the sport of alienating listeners, defending the right to contradict himself in

hostile interviews, to contradict his transgressive image )" idealiing sweet or old

fashioned values in word or sound, or to present intuition as )lunt logic% 2ut his earl"

work assured him a permanent audience%

#he Velvet Underground, which was originall" sponsored )" 3nd" 4arhol and

showcased the songwriting of 5ohn &ale as well as 'r% Reed, wrought gradual )ut

profound impact on the high+%%, lowvirtuosit" stratum of punk, alternative and

underground rock around the world% 5o" $ivision, #alking eads, 7atti !mith, R%8%'%,

the !trokes and numerous others were descendants% #he composer 2rian 8no, in an

oftenuoted interview from 19:;, suggested that if the groups first al)um, *#he

Velvet Underground < =ico,. sold onl" >0,000 copies during its first five "ears ? a

figure pro)a)l" lower than the realit" ? *ever"one who )ought one of those >0,000

copies started a )and%.

'an" of the groups themes ? among them love, se@ual deviance, alienation,

addiction, jo" and spiritual transfiguration ? sta"ed in 'r% Reeds work through his

long run of solo recordings% 3mong the most noteworth" of those records were

*#ransformer. A19B;C, *2erlin. A19B>C and *=ew Dork. A19:9C% #he most notorious,

without uestion, was *'etal 'achine 'usic. A19BEC%

2eloved of 'r% Reed and not too man" others, *'etal 'achine 'usic. was four sides

of electricguitar feed)ack stro)ing )etween two amplifiers, with 'r% Reed altering the

speed of the tape recorderF no singing, no drums, no stated ke"% 3t the time it was

mostl" understood, if at all, as a riddle a)out artistic intent% 4as it his truest selfG 4as ita jokeG (r was there no differenceG

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'r% Reed wrote in the liner notes that *no one + know has listened to it all the wa"

through, including m"self,. )ut he also defended it as the ne@t step after La 'onte

Doungs earl" minimalism% *#heres infinite wa"s of listening to it,. he told the critic

Lester 2angs in 19B6%

=ot too long after his first recordings, made at 16 with a doowop )and in Hreeport,=%D%, 'r% Reed started singing outside of the songs melod", as if he were giving a

speech with a fluctuating drone in a =ew Dork accent% #hat sound, heard with the

Velvet Underground on songs like *eroin. and *!weet 5ane. and in his postVelvet

songs *4alk on the 4ild !ide,. *!treet assle. and others, )ecame one of the most

familiar freuencies in rock% e pla"ed lead guitar the same wa", straining against his

limitations%

'r% Reed confidentl" made artistic decisions that other musicians would not have even

considered% e was an aesthetic primitivist with highend audio o)sessions% e was an

8nglish major who understood his work as a form of literature, though he distrusted

overl" poetic pop l"rics, and though distorted electric guitars and drums sometimesdrowned out his words%