the velvet underground & nico

i think brian eno said this album only sold like thirty thousand copies when it first came out, but everyone who bought it started a band. the music is great it its own right, but i do think there’s something especially special about how generative it still feels—whenever i listen, i want to write a new song, try out a new form of art, start a third or fourth or fifth band, etc etc.

(i think nico adds more than people give her credit for.)

shoutout to brooks forsyth who used to cover the velvets at my high school’s open mic nights when i was first starting to take music seriously and was getting into rock history and art rock and such. what a revelation it feels like to go from thinking led zeppelin was the pinnacle of rock to jamming on lou reed songs. things can be so much more than you think they can be! what an idea! imagine that! and hey, who says you need three chords and the truth? “heroin” only has two! in conclusion, technical virtuosity be damned—go make something!