[The Earl Of Slander]

Disclaimer: Time to gush. I searched to see if there was a thread about the awesomeness of John Cale's work outside of the VU, and the only one I could find was one that sets everything off on the wrong foot by making it a bitch fight between Cale fans and Reed fans. Let's not do that here. Reed is great, and Cale is great, and the VU was so amazing because it combined both of their skills. It's not a competition.

Currently so massively obsessed with this stuff. I've totally loved it for ages, but periodically I get on a ridiculously big kick for it, and it appears to have swung around again. The man is, to me, simply one of the great under-appreciated musical geniuses. Not to be fawning or anything, but his eclecticism and general success rate just stuns me. From 1964 to 1975 he was consistently involved in some of the greatest music ever recorded, not to mention some of the most influential, across a startling number of genres and styles.


The early solo “song albums” are flat out some of my favourite singer songwriter/rock stuff from the 70s, possibly ever. Paris 1919, and the whole of the Island Years release (Fear, Slow Dazzle, Helen of Troy, and bonus tracks) are especial favourites. The way he runs from tender ballads like Amsterdam and I Keep A Close Watch to these deranged schlocky horror rock classics like his version of Heartbreak Hotel, or Fear Is A Man's Best Friend is breathtaking. Everyone who doesn't have Fear at least, get it.


Then there's his “avant-garde” work. Church of Anthrax, with Terry Riley, is the obvious one to mention, and is again one of THE essential records of the 70s to me. Crazily fantastic dreamy/hypnotic minimalist rock jam tracks that just slay me every time, especially on the first side. The organs are bliss. Possibly even MORE amazing than that though is the 3 CD New York in the 60s box set that Table Of The Elements put out, which just KILLS me. Recorded between 63 and 65 (66?), in many ways it's very much in line with the whole La Monte Young/Tony Conrad school of minimalism, but it totally has it's own unique vibe. The first disc especially, Sun Blindness Music, is a strong candidate for my favourite minimalist release, partially because it has the audacity to jump from this mind blowing 40+ minute solo organ meditation to this completely shocking proto Rhys Chatham/Glenn Branca guitar thrash. Pretty much un-toppable.


And THEN there's his production credits, which are just beyond legendary. I mean, JESUS, he produced the first albums by The Stooges, The Modern Lovers, and Patti Smith, all of which are hands down CLASSICS! Plus, that pretty much means he was instrumental in laying all the foundations of punk that hadn't already been laid down by the VU. Oh, and his production on Nico's The Marble Index and Desert shore albums is a whole other kettle of amazing. I mean, they're some of the most haunting and wonderfully layered music I've heard, and that would be an amazing production feat on it's own, but then you realise that he basically wrote, arranged, and PERFORMED all of the backing for those albums on his own, doing all the different instruments. That's just ridiculous .


So, to recap, in the space of 10 years of so, he was one of the great early minimalist composers, a major player in the fucking Velvet Underground, released some other amazing experimental compositional work, recorded 5 classic solo albums that are by turn rocking and beautiful, and he produced a good portion of the most significant music that would influence punk. Yet he's still often not that well known by people, or thought of as something of a minor, second fiddle (no viola related pun intended there), artist. It just baffles me. Show the love people!!!