Todd Haynes docu announcement

[searchin4mymainline]

Someone on another forum noticed this in the credits

‘there were two musical selections in the film sourced from 7 1/2 ips tape belonging to the Warhol Estate and Museum.’

This would probably refer to recordings with Cale in the band. Could this be the source of the live black angel’s death song mentioned?

It's possibly the Factory rehearsal stuff. Nico trying to sing "There She Goes Again" is included in the film, and there maybe another selection that I don't recall.

I saw a cinema screening last week. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I did. I don't think I heard any VU musical recordings that were new to me, but I don't even remember "The Black Angel's Death Song" being in there. I'd expect it to be the Matrix version though.

[iaredatsun]

Someone on another forum noticed this in the credits

‘there were two musical selections in the film sourced from 7 1/2 ips tape belonging to the Warhol Estate and Museum.’

This would probably refer to recordings with Cale in the band. Could this be the source of the live black angel’s death song mentioned?

It's possibly the Factory rehearsal stuff. Nico trying to sing "There She Goes Again" is included in the film, and there maybe another selection that I don't recall.

I saw a cinema screening last week. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I did. I don't think I heard any VU musical recordings that were new to me, but I don't even remember "The Black Angel's Death Song" being in there. I'd expect it to be the Matrix version though.

Yes - I remember the Nico rehearsal excerpt. There was a piece of music earlier i did not recognise. I’m pretty sure they did not use the Matrix version of Black Angel.

[peppergomez]

. I don't think there's any type of 'holy grail' for unsurfaced live shows, of any band, that I'd want more than a mid 68 show with Cale; to me it's the last type of revelation left for the band.

Agreed 100%. That was when they were at their peak IMO based on the few things I have heard from spring '68. WGO listed a few tapes from BTP in September'68 (Cale's last shows) but sadly those have never surfaced. And then there's the Kilmek guy who supposedly has more that he never made public. Ah well.

[Mark]

Saw the film at the weekend. Really enjoyed it. At this point it's hard to shine much new light (especially as far as nerds like us are concerned), but it was a very vivid and engaging re-telling of the story. Great to see Lou's sister and Shelly Albin contributing, along with a couple of Lou's old college friends / bandmates. There were some good insights into Lou's childhood and college days, and more background on the removal of Cale than I'd heard before.

The thing about Sterling being implied to have left before Lou was a bit odd, but equally I can see it had to be that way round for the shape of the film. The latter sections did seem a little rushed compared to the luxurious coverage of the early days.

In terms of musical content, it seems like they had access to the multitracks for the banana album - there were isolated instrumental parts from Venus, Heroin, Waiting (and I think ATP, not sure) played at various points. Not much new video content - a few photos I hadn't seen before, the Steve Nelson footage, and maybe a slightly longer clip of the colour newsreel footage of Nico which first appeared in either the 1998 Cale doco or Rock'n'Roll Heart. There was also a bit of the Tarot Cards film which was cool to see, plus Moe in Bondage. To be honest I've slightly lost track of the bits of BW footage of them hanging round the Factory (Danny Williams etc) - some of that might have been new as well.

Haynes clearly knows and cares for his subject here, and it feels like he's gone all-out for this film to be something worthwhile, not just another retread of the stories we've heard a thousand times. I think considering what's available (and who's still alive), it couldn't have been much better.

[Mark]

Oh, forgot to add - there were bits of Waiting for the Man and Wrap Your Troubles from Lou's 1965 'copyright' demo tape. I know Waiting has been leaked, but don't think Wrap Your Troubles has. It's not wildly different from the box set demo, but cool to here.

The Poor Richard's Heroin was much clearer than what's been heard before (although they mixed viola from another recording into it, which seemed a bit revisionist!). Maybe they had access to Ron Nameth's original tape - in which case it'd be interesting to know what else is on there.

[Mark]

Oh, and Shelly doing the Ostrich dance was a highlight!

[peppergomez]

Think that was Lou's sister doing that

[Mark]

Whoops, you're probably right there

[taxine]

https://slate.com/culture/2021/10/velve ... -plus.html

Here goes another worthy review,the more this thread grows more excited I feel about this DOC.and thanks for the cool tips guys!!

[jimjim]

I've been saying for years that no-one had yet done a decent VU docu. Aside from Feedback (which I've never seen and I doubt it has subtitles so I could appreciate it properly), the previous efforts have been very lightweight and factually incorrect in places. Plus there's the Doug Yule question - will they beef up his contribution or will they skim over his era as it's not as sexy as the Warhol/EPI/Factory/Cale era. So, I went into this somewhat sceptical.

Boy was I wrong. This was a real mind-blower - this does to music docus what U2 did to the live experience with the ZooTV tour (and it in turn was influenced by the EPI shows). I was pleasantly surprised by the way it shifted narrative & presentation, it was a truly visceral experience for this fan. Way more than I wanted or deserved. I was proud that one the best music docs I've ever seen was about MY band. 10/10 for me.

And the Doug Yule era? Well at least it was covered and done with respect but given the sheer power and energy of what went before it, I can forgive Haynes for keeping more focus on the sexy side of the VU (and they did use an interview of his so he did feature in it even without his consent).

I heartily recommend it if u have not seen it (and if so, who the hell are you?!).