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Various
Artists: After Hours: A Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed
Its easy to be cynical about tribute records; the focus is placed on a songwriter or band, but the real attention is often meant for the groups involved and the record label that feels the need for yet another take on this particular brand of kudos. And they usually stink. Orif youre luckyitll have a couple of decent re-models. Unfortunately, A Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed wont change your perceptions either. To be fair, most of the covers here arent overtly bad; theyre just not overtly good either. Most are just straightforward takes of songs by one of rocks most important songwriters, but these are songs that deserve greatrather than run-of-the-milltributes. Lou Reeds work with the Velvet Underground (and to a lesser extent as a solo artist) changed rock-n-roll (there would be no alternative or underground rock scene without his contributions), so why listen to (or for that matter record) re-makes that dont offer up much of anything new when you have the original that you know and love? Most of the guilty will go unnamed here (there are too many to mention), except for those who really dropped the ball. Like Joe Seinta. His decision to emulate the studio chatter found on the Velvets Temptation Inside Your Heart for his own version is like one of those ideas that pops into your head just before you crash-out after a night of beating your brain with liquor and drugs, but is ultimately best left forgotten once you greet the morning light. Not funny. Oh, and the singer of The Underhills, who must have spent more time emulating Reeds vocal delivery for Turn to Me than Peter Laughner ever did (and to lesser effect). Whats good? Radio Caroline offer up a suitable alt-country (or whatever) rendition of Pale Blue Eyes, Vicious is given a surprising African pop (?!) arrangement by Okapi Guitars, while Satellite of Love is remade-to-dance by Kowtow Popof (with some cool keyboard lines to boot). Most notably, The Special Agents attempt to save the day with their Chantays-do-VU surfing re-tool of the normally doom-n-gloomy, All Tomorrows Parties. Ultimately a novelty, but well take what we can get here.
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