John Cale – MRQE

Songs for Drella (V)

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of The Velvet Underground, and is dedicated to the memory of Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died unexpectedly in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by Warhol Superstar Ondine, a contraction of Dracula and Cinderella, used by Warhol’s crowd. The song cycle focuses on Warhol’s interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol’s first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. The songs on the album are, to some extent, in chronological order.

Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times (TV)

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times is a documentary about the life of Brian Wilson, the musical mastermind and songwriter for the Beach Boys. The film examines the ups and downs of Wilson’s life, including the early years of the Beach Boys, his years of substance abuse, and his long road to recovery. The film was directed by music producer Don Was, who also worked on the soundtrack for Backbeat, a film about the early days of the Beatles.

Punk: Attitude (TV)

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A documentary on the music, performers, attitude and distinctive look that made up punk rock.

****

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Photographed entirely in color, Four Stars was projected in its complete length of nearly 25 hours (allowing for projection overlap of the 35-minute reels) only once, at the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque in the basement of the now-demolished Wurlitzer Building at 125 West 41st Street in New York City. The imagery in the film is dense, wearying and beautiful, but ultimately hard to decipher, for, in contrast to his earlier, and more famous film Chelsea Girls, made in 1966, Warhol directed that two reels be screened simultaneously on top of each other on a single screen, rather than side-by-side.

The Velvet Underground

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Experience the iconic rock band’s legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the eras avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.

Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Feature documentary on the pioneering life and work of iconoclastic filmmaker/musician/composer/artist Tony Conrad.

Danny Says

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

DANNY SAYS is a documentary unveiling the amazing journey of Danny Fields. Fields has played a pivotal role in music and culture with seminal acts including: the Doors, the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, MC5, Nico, the Ramones and beyond.

Salamandra

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Writer-director Pablo Agüero’s feature debut follows Inti (Joaquin Aguila), a 6-year-old boy caught up in the madness of post-“Dirty War” Argentina. Upon her release from prison, Inti’s mother, Alba (Dolores Fonzi), a former dissident, whisks him away from his grandmother’s care. Still unsure of her own direction in life, Alba takes Inti to live in a hippie commune in Patagonia. Velvet Underground founder John Cale co-stars.

A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Esther Robinson’s portrait of her uncle Danny Williams, Warhol’s onetime lover, collaborator and filmmaker in his own right, offers a exploration of the Factory era, an homage to Williams’s talent, a journey of family discovery and a compelling inquiry into Williams’s mysterious disappearance at age 27.

Nico Icon

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A look into the many lives of Christa Päffgen, otherwise known as Nico; from cutie German mädchen to the first of the supermodels, to glamorous diva of the Velvet Underground, to cult item, junkie and hag. Many faces for the same woman, whom, you realize, just couldn’t bring herself to care enough to live.