I’ve been a casual fan of Lou Reed for years, but my knowledge of him was pretty well confined to his best-known stuff: the Velvet Underground’s first album, “Perfect Day,” “Satellite of Love,” “Walk on the Wild Side,” etc. Oh, and I’d read some disturbing things regarding his, ahem, unusual appetites*. Just recently, though, I started digging in and exploring more of his work, and I’m absolutely blown away by this album:

The Blue Mask

I’m no audiophile snob, but you really do need to listen to this with a pair of good headphones (fortunately, I have a bucks-up set of Sennheisers given to me by an ex; I guess ONE good thing came out of that relationship) because the magic is in the mix. Lou Reed teamed up with my all-time favorite guitarist, Robert Quine, and then mixed their guitars onto completely separate channels; you get Reed in your right ear and Quine in your left and they duel it out in your brain.

Quine’s playing fascinated me from the first time I heard Blank Generation; the man was a wizard. There’s some special quality to his work that no one can really describe, though the word “angular” comes up whenever an attempt is made. The best way that I can explain him is to say he was so good he could do everything “wrong,” break every rule with utter impunity, and produce brilliance. I wish I could wrap my brain around music theory well enough to understand what he did.

That said, it’s hardly surprising that my favorite songs on the album are the tracks where Quine and Reed really square off and slug it out: “Underneath the Bottle,” “The Blue Mask,” and especially “Waves of Fear.” If that last one doesn’t give you goose bumps, check for a pulse; you may well be dead.

If I could afford to ship out a copy of this CD and a set of headphones to everyone on my blogroll, I’d do it; it’s that good. Unfortunately, all I can do is urge you to beg, borrow or steal a copy and give it a listen. Quine and Reed made one more album together, Legendary Hearts. I haven’t heard it yet, but I need to.

* Gross example of said “appetites” behind the cut; you’ve been warned.

Artist Duncan Hannah on meeting Reed for the first time:

… And he said, “Well, look, why don’t you come back to my hotel with me?” I said, “And?” He said, “And you can shit in my mouth. How’d you like that?” I said, “I don’t think I would like that.”