Thursday, July 22, 2021

Michael Stipe, St. Vincent, Fontaines D.C. contribute to Velvet Underground and Nico tribute album

Verve Records, original label home of The Velvet Underground, will unveil the new tribute album I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico on September 24 with tracks from Michael Stipe, St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten and others. Preorder HERE.

The first track is “Run Run Run” by Kurt Vile & The Violators, out now; listen HERE and watch/share the accompanying video HERE. Limited autographed items including vinyl and vinyl test pressings signed by Kurt Vile and other featured artists will be available HERE.

I’ll Be Your Mirror was overseen and executive produced by Hal Willner, Lou Reed’s friend and producer who passed away last year. Willner was a master of the tribute album, with each project he worked on extending the magnitude of the artist or work under consideration. In particular, he very much viewed himself as a primary curator of Reed’s legacy. I’ll Be Your Mirror is the last album Willner worked on.

The release of I’ll Be Your Mirror starts a campaign of Velvet Underground activity in 2021. The tribute album was conceived in 2017 at the same time as Todd Haynes signed on to direct The Velvet Underground, the highly anticipated Apple Original film that just premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews and marks Haynes’ first foray into the documentary space. It debuts in theaters and on Apple TV+ worldwide on October 15, alongside a soundtrack curated by Randall Poster and Todd Haynes via Republic/UMe.

The 1967 release of The Velvet Underground & Nico, the Velvet Underground’s debut album with its iconic Andy Warhol-designed peel-off banana cover, was a seminal event, kicking off a process of aesthetic infiltration that continues to this day. The record single-handedly redefined the boundaries of what rock & roll could achieve and express, inventing the very notion of alternative rock and laying the blueprint for punk, grunge and every rebellious underground gesture to follow.

Kurt Vile, who recently signed with Verve, says: “I literally covered “Run Run Run” when I was a kid. In my late teens with my band at the time. So it was pretty cosmic, let’s say. There is a direct connection to certain indie bands and beyond w/ the Velvets. That’s why the Velvets are a classic. You know it can have doo-wop in there and things like that, but it can also have this jagged noisy thing, and it immediately let me feel like I could do anything. The possibilities are endless. You’re completely free. Unapologetic and effortless."

Verve Records will donate to Amnesty International USA, a global grassroots organization of millions dedicated to demanding human rights for all people. Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed was an active support of Amnesty International USA.

Track listing:

1. Sunday Morning – Michael Stipe (3:50)
2. I’m Waiting For The Man – Matt Berninger (3:44)
3. Femme Fatale – Sharon Van Etten (w/ Angel Olsen on backing vocals) (4:43)
4. Venus In Furs – Andrew Bird & Lucius (6:55)
5. Run Run Run – Kurt Vile & The Violators (6:59)
6. All Tomorrow’s Parties – St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett (4:52)
7. Heroin – Thurston Moore feat. Bobby Gillespie (7:24)
8. There She Goes Again – King Princess (3:29)
9. I’ll Be Your Mirror – Courtney Barnett (2:27)
10. The Black Angel’s Death Song – Fontaines D.C. (3:12)
11. European Son – Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney (7:45)

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