Matador To Release Soundtrack to <i>Lou Reed's Berlin</i>

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Aug 18, 2008

Lou Reed is heading back to Berlin, but this time ’round he’s getting there via Matador Records. Today (Aug 18), the renowned indie juggernaut announced it would be releasing the companion soundtrack to director Julian Schnabel’s documentary, Lou Reed's Berlin, a film that captures Reed performing his classic 1973 album in its entirety for the first time.

The movie and now its accompanying soundtrack are culled from a four-day string of December 2006 performances at Brooklyn’s St. Ann's Warehouse, where Reed brought his decades-old work back to life. Alongside him for the ride was also an impressive cast of players, including artists such as Antony Hegarty, Sharon Jones, Rupert Christie, Rob Wassermann, a seven-piece orchestra and a youth chorus.

To get all pull-quote on you, the New York Times said that Reed "wasn't revisiting these songs as oldies or artifacts; he was reinhabiting them... Berlin carried Reed's music to an ornate extreme, but now its trappings are secondary. What comes through is the way it feels."

Now, courtesy of Matador, the audio side of all this will drop digitally on September 30 and on CD October 7, a day after Schnabel’s film hits shelves on DVD on October 6. Along with all the original Berlin tracks in their original order, the soundtrack comes sporting three additional encore tracks: "Candy Says," "Rock Minuet" and "Sweet Jane."

Lou Reed’s Berlin trailer

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