Omicron Records // The Velvet Underground, Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico

They say that anyone who heard any of the Velvet Underground’s music was moved to start a band of their own. While that seems like something that just couldn’t possibly be true (what’s the opposite of tautological? antitautological? contradictory?) I know I was certainly moved to make my first recording (now lost) because of that Velvet Underground track about that book by von Sacher-Masoch. Venus in Furs? Venus in Furs. I was nineteen; the song was called Apartment.

Now there’s a Cannes-type documentary about the band that launched a thousand bands on Apple TV. It’s called the Velvet Underground, and it’s got an interesting approach to telling an interesting story about an interesting band made up of an interesting set of characters – Lou Reed, Nico, Andy Warhol, John Cale, etc. It’s shot in a frenetic style reminiscent of the New York scene that introduced the world to all of the above names (although I was reminded more of the freneticism of the No Wave movement from a little under a decade later). Each frame of the movie, though, is clearly made in the spirit of New York’s wing of the American avant-garde.

However, the documentary does remind me of something. Nothing related to the Velvet Underground will shake you (I mean me) like the first time you (I) hear (heard - you get the drift) or heard 1967’s Velvet Underground and Nico. The introductory glockenspiel (correction, celesta) notes of Sunday Morning leading to the frantic shuffling of Waiting for the Man. The hands on the shoulder and shake-shake-shake of the aforementioned Venus in Furs, and the slightly-adjacent-to-pop stylings of Run Run Run and There She Goes Again. Nothing will compare to your introduction to those strange sounds.

That said, I’ve got to say this movie is looking pretty good.