(PR) Lou Reed and German contemporary classical avant-garde chamber music ensemble Zeitkratzer are to release a live CD/DVD entitled "Lou Reed: Metal Machine Music - Performed by Zeitkratzer Live". The CD/DVD will be released by Asphodel Records in the UK on Monday 3rd September and in North America on Tuesday 4th September. Avant-Garde German saxophone player, Ulrich Krieger, transcribed Lou Reed's original 1975 studio album Metal Machine Music to create an acoustic music score for the ensemble to play live. Zeitkratzer premiered Metal Machine Music 'Live' at MaerMusic Haus Der Berliner, Festspiele, March 17, 2002. Lou Reed plays guitar on on track 3. The DVD includes the entire concert mixed in 5.1 Surround and includes an exclusive 25-minute interview with Reed.
Reed's original 'Metal Machine Music' may be the most misunderstood work ever created by a popular musician. The original album, released in 1975, was mostly noise: feedback squalls, amplifier hums and the tortured screech of electronic gadgets. At the time, many felt it wasn't music, but a protest by Reed to his then, record label, RCA.
Avant-garde musicians like John Cage, LaMonte Young, Iannis Xenakis and Reed's Velvet Underground partner John Cale had a considerable influence on the way he approached composition, even his more accessible rock songs. Metal Machine Music was a logical extension of atonal romps like "Heroin" and "Sister Ray." Today, Metal Machine Music is highly regarded by the avant-garde for its contribution to the "noise" movement in popular culture.
