Dr. Dog, that is. Lou Reed's keynote address at this year's SXSW took the form of a interview/conversation with Philadelphia-reared record producer Hal Willner. Reed - who's in town to promote Berlin, the Julian Schnabel directed movie of performances of his 1973 classic album filmed in Brooklyn in 2006, was asked what music he was listening to. He mentioned Japanese noise rock band Melt Banana, Toronto electro-dance band Holy F***, and "the one I really like is Dr. Dog." The West Philly band will take part in a Reed tribute at the Fader Fort here Thursday afternoon.
The often droll Willner-Reed dialog ran the gamut from what instrument Reed wishes he knew how to play (saxophone, because "I'm in love with Lee Allen") to the Velvet Underground's early music making verboten list ("No R & B licks, no blues guitar licks") for its self consciously urban sound, to the nefarious rumors that he once worked as an accountant. ("I was never an accountant. I was a typist. My mother said take typing in high school, so you have something to fall back on.")
Reed, who plays the Electric Factory on April 19, had his tips for bands starting out in the music business. Record labels are "always going to say: 'We want the publishing.' And you must always must say no. That’s where the money is."
And as an audiophile, he also held forth on the mp3-ization of the listening experience.
"With mp3s, there's a lot available, and it sounds bad. It's like David Lynch talking about the iPod. 'Here's a movie, the size of a postage stamp.' Here's your song, reduced to a pindrop. People who like good sound are going to be looked on as some sort of strange zoo animal soon. It's like the technology is taking us backwards. It's making it easier to make things worse"
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