Kurt Vile and the Violators Cover Velvet Underground’s ‘Run Run Run’

Kurt Vile first lined the Velvet Underground’s “Run Run Run” when he was 18 at a present in Landsdowne, Pennsylvania — full with “take a drag or two” subbed out for the native crowd-pleasing “Landsdowne Avenue.” He then carried out it with the Velvets’ John Cale in 2017 in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of The Velvet Underground & Nico. Now, he’s contributing a brand new take — together with his band the Violators — to I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico, out September twenty fourth by way of Vile’s new label Verve Information.

“Lou Reed/the Velvet Underground had been most likely my earliest basic rock affect,” Vile tells Rolling Stone. “I liked it. The primary time I heard them, I’m certain I used to be most likely stoned. Whenever you hear music like that, so natural and uncooked, however you understand, so assured, all these issues mixed, [it’s] so cool. So unapologetic. It simply has an impact on you that you would be able to’t even essentially detect in the meanwhile.”

Vile recorded the duvet on tour with the Violators a couple of years in the past and eventually blended the observe throughout the pandemic. “We acquired fairly hypnotic with it,” he says of the comparatively trustworthy rendition of the grooving, guitar-heavy observe.

I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico additionally options covers from Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop with Matt Sweeney, St. Vincent and Thomas Bartlett, and Sharon Van Etten with Angel Olsen; it was executive-produced by the late Hal Willner and marks the final report Lou Reed’s outdated pal and producer labored on earlier than his his death in 2020.

“The VU are a basic a part of Verve’s historical past, and their fearless method and musical integrity proceed to encourage all of us on the label,” head of Verve Information Jamie Krents stated in a press release. “We had been so fortunate to accomplice with the late Hal Willner to pay tribute to the band’s iconic first album. It’s an absolute honor to have each considered one of these artists on a Verve recording and we hope this album finds a welcome place within the report collections of VU followers new and outdated.”

“The fantastic thing about the Velvet Underground is that the chances are limitless,” Vile says. “You’d by no means knew till you confirmed up that day and began taking part in what precisely it was going to sound like. That’s the great thing about that type of music. Reacting within the second. That’s an enormous a part of what I really like in regards to the Velvet Underground.”

I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico Tracklist

1. Sunday Morning – Michael Stipe (3:50)
2. I’m Ready For The Man – Matt Berninger (3:44)
3. Femme Fatale – Sharon Van Etten (w/ Angel Olsen on backing vocals) (4:43)
4. Venus In Furs – Andrew Chook & Lucius (6:55)
5. Run Run Run – Kurt Vile & The Violators (6:59)
6. All Tomorrow’s Events – St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett (4:52)
7. Heroin– Thurston Moore feat. Bobby Gillespie (7:24)
8. There She Goes Once more – King Princess (3:29)
9. I’ll Be Your Mirror – Courtney Barnett (2:27)
10. The Black Angel’s Dying Tune – Fontaines D.C. (3:12)
11. European Son – Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney (7:45)