By Gary Graff and Jonathan Cohen
AUSTIN, Texas (Billboard) -
Lou Reed is lashing out at new
modes of audio technology, saying that "people have got to
demand a higher standard" than current MP3 music files.
The edgy rocker delivered the keynote speech at the South
By Southwest Music Festival + Conference, which is underway in
Austin, Texas.
Reed was interviewed Wednesday by producer Hal Willner, who
recently worked with him on the opulent "Berlin" concerts in
which the musician delivered a theatricalized concert version
of his under-appreciated 1973 concept album of the same name.
Those shows are the subject of "Lou Reed's Berlin," a
documentary by Oscar-nominated director Julian Schnabel that
had its American premiere at SXSW.
In typically glib and dry-witted form throughout the
wide-ranging 55-minute conversation, the bespectacled Reed
bemoaned the current state of audio and other digital
technologies, noting that "it's like the technology is taking
us backwards. It's making it easier to make things worse.
During the session, Reed said he plans to stage the
"Berlin" shows in Europe this summer but not in the United
States. The "Berlin" concert concept "wasn't an audition to do
more of these things" with any of his other albums, though he
said 1992's "Magic and Loss" and 1978's "Street Hassle" would
be good candidates if he did want to try it again.
Reuters/Billboard
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