The UK's Far Out Magazine has posted the playlists of 27 songs that Lou Reed was listening to when he died in 2013 of liver disease.

Reed continually kept his finger on the pulse of contemporary and popular music. Taking a hands-on approach to the developing technology around him, Reed controlled his own Spotify account which hosted several different playlists of songs he liked from the radio, or, alternatively, general songs he was listening to at that time.

Entitled ‘What I’m listening to’, Reed’s final contributions to his creative Spotify account was to curate two playlists for his followers. Combining some more predictable selections with the likes of Roy Orbison, Prince, Tom Waits and more, Reed also managed to raise a few eyebrows when he includes artists such as Nicki Minaj, Robyn and more.

Read the rest of the piece and access the playlists here.

Image: Danny Norton, CC BY 2.0 Read the rest

A book of John Wilcock comics is now available

A variety of Warhol Moments of 1965, including the filming of Poor Little Rich Girl and Beauty #2 with Edie Sedgwick, Nam June Paik's video delay prank, and the first meeting of The Velvet Underground with Andy Warhol, which John witnessed in person, during the band's stay at Rick Allmen's Cafe Bizarre. From John Wilcock, New York Years. Read the rest

On what would have been Lou Reed's 75th birthday today, his widow Laurie Anderson announced that the New York Public Library has acquired the musician's complete archives. To celebrate, the NYPL is hosting displays and events celebrating Reed's life and work. Details here. Meanwhile, the good people at indie record label and publisher Anthology tweeted that they will work with the library and Reed's representatives "to publish new works!" From the NYPL:

The Lou Reed Archive includes:

• Original manuscript, lyrics, poetry and handwritten tai-chi notes • Photographs of Reed- including artist prints and inscriptions by the photographers • Tour itineraries, agreements, road manager notes & paperwork • 600+ hours of live recordings, demos, studio recordings and interviews • Reed’s own extensive photography work • Album, book, and tour artwork: mock-ups, proofs and match-prints • Lou Reed album and concert posters, handbills, programs, and promotional items • Lou Reed press for albums, tours, performances, books, and photography exhibits • Fan mail • Personal collections of books, LPs and 45s

The collection documents collaborations, friendships, and relationships with Delmore Schwartz, Andy Warhol, John Cale, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison, Mick Rock, Robert Quine, Sylvia Ramos, Doc Pomus, Václav Havel, Hal Willner, John Zorn, Robert Wilson, Julian Schnabel, and Laurie Anderson.

More at the New York Times: "Lou Reed Archives Head to New York Public Library"

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A cameo-filled page from John Wilcock, New York Years. With Ed Sanders' Arts Magazine, Edie Sedgwick arriving in NYC, and Nico fainting on stage.

"As I mourned by the sea, two images came to mind, watermarking the paper- colored sky. The first was the face of his wife, Laurie. She was his mirror; in her eyes you can see his kindness, sincerity, and empathy. The second was the 'great big clipper ship' that he longed to board, from the lyrics of his masterpiece, 'Heroin.' I envisioned it waiting for him beneath the constellation formed by the souls of the poets he so wished to join."—Patti Smith: Mourning Lou Reed. [The New Yorker] Read the rest

Artist and musician Laurie Anderson wrote a memorial for The East Hampton Star on Long Island. It's the local paper for the area where she and her late husband, Lou Reed, spent much happy time together. Here is her remembrance, in full: Read the rest

David Bowie. John Cale. Salman Rushdie. Samuel L. Jackson. The BBC has more; here's Lou's final Facebook post. Read the rest

One of the greats is gone. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, poet, and artist Lou Reed has died. Reed underwent a liver transplant in May. He was 71. Update: He died of liver disease, report the New York Times and other sources.

From Rolling Stone's obituary, the first report online:

With the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties, Reed fused street-level urgency with elements of European avant-garde music, marrying beauty and noise, while bringing a whole new lyrical honesty to rock & roll poetry. As a restlessly inventive solo artist, from the Seventies into the 2010s, he was chameleonic, thorny and unpredictable, challenging his fans at every turn. Glam, punk and alternative rock are all unthinkable without his revelatory example. "One chord is fine," he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. "Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz."

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