Lou Reed's Final Interview Was "Sponsored Content"

A sign of the times.

View this video on YouTube

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A legendary rock musician, and one of the cornerstones of contemporary alt/indie culture, Lou Reed passed away at the end of October. He was an incredibly important artist, and even if he'd never recorded a single solo record, the four albums he made with the Velvet Underground would qualify him as one of music's most original voices.

This week, a video surfaced of the artist's last interview, and, in keeping with the times, it's not an interview by a music publication. Instead, it was done by Parrot Zik, a company that makes "the most advanced headphones." The interviewer and Reed seem a little at odds—early on, he answers questions brusquely:

Why did you do music?

But his answers throughout the rest are honest and serious, and despite more or less being turned into a commercial for a headphone brand, it's a really touching interview.

Lou Reed on the importance of bass:

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"I just remastered every album I have to take advantage of the new technology. It was so beautiful it made me cry. I am very emotionally affected by sound."

Lou Reed on shifting technologies:

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It's very moving, and certainly worth reading. It is also quite surreal that you can't help but feel like you're watching a man's last interview on this mortal coil take place in the context of a commercial.

Although ironically, Lou Reed wasn't even praising the headphones in this particular instance, as explained in the YouTube comments:

"A few months ago, I asked Lou Reed for his opinion. He told me that the headphones were well tuned for classical music but not for rock. And he told me he could help. So on September 30th, 2013, I travelled to his studio in New York; it would be the last time I would see him." —Henri Seydoux, CEO of Parrot

This post has not been sponsored by Parrot Zik headphones.

[via Revolt]

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