Tease from LITA

[iaredatsun]

It’s possible that they just need to negotiate with UMG, Sony, Warners for releases of material that overlap those contractual periods. It also could be that such material becomes co-releases with LRA and the other rights holders. Whatever way it might happen, maybe it is this that is really holding things up.

I think that's reasonable. They have certainly hinted they have a number of releases planned. I'm just worried that lack of interest in HRWM might take the wind out of the project (though a Grammy win for Words and Music could help!).

It’s a very odd choice. Feels like they are shooting themselves in the foot with this.

A Grammy for best packaging would be ironic and sad, given how uninteresting the actual content of the album turned out to be.

[MJG196]

[kotexjukebox]

Honestly, as someone who sincerely likes Lou’s late career instrumental music, I’m also a little disappointed. I have only really bothered to purchase this release if only to help boost sales enough to see more releases. But I do find it a wasted effort because this album isn’t exactly hard to get your hands on. I assume it’s only being released because some licensing deal expired. That said, why not go all out and release ALL the tai chi music in a set so that all of its out there? Because I doubt anyone would want these slow dripped over the next several years. There’s a whole album’s worth from another Tai Chi DVD he did the music for. There’s (from memory) one or two more tracks from another DVD he did. Even from a business end I’d imagine “rare tracks/unreleased album” moving more units than “his last solo record long out of print” would. You could even market it as “the complete Tai Chi Recordings” and I’m sure it’d boost book sales as well.

I’m just a bit baffled because I’m aware that I am someone who does enjoy this material and but also know I’m in such an absurd minority here and I’m still not pleased with this release. Maybe there were issues on the back end I’m not aware of but there were better ways of doing this for sure.

I’m worried now that we’ll get the Metal Machine Trio album rereleased or The Stone: Issue 3 when what I’d like in its place would be a compilation of unreleased Metal Machine Trio performances. That’s not even factoring in what the average Lou Reed fan wants. They’ll probably have to wait until some copyright dumps at the end of the next few years.

All said, I hope this series continues but I hope those in charge get a glimpse of the feedback and maybe adjust their approach. Words and Music wasn’t bad for what it was. And releasing the EP along with it was smart. The Grammy nomination was well earned as well. I just hope the focus stays on brand with the “archive” angle instead of whatever this is.

[hkmartin]

"Lou Reed Official" posted an interview with Laurie Anderson from Vanity Fair about guiding Lou's legacy. A lot of "there was a soft side to Lou that the public never saw" kind of stuff. Some hints at releases to come, but no real details.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/laurie ... eed-legacy

There are a bunch of things that we found in the archives that we’re going to put out. The Lou Reed archive is at the New York Public Library, and anybody can go in and hear anything they want. They can hear the first Velvet Underground rehearsal. It’s all free. You can just go in and geek out. And that, to me, was very important. It’s not a white-glove thing. And people really use it.

(I'm not really sure what she's referring to as "the first Velvet Underground rehearsal".)