John Cale
Eat/Kiss:
Music for the Films of Andy Warhol
[Ryko]
Rating: 8.3
All throughout the 1960s, pop artist Andy Warhol made several artsy (some
might say pretentious) silent films of things just happening. For example, "Empire"
was virtually still photography on video, showing only the Empire State Building
for like 12 hours until the sun went down. "Blow Job" showed a guy being fellated.
"Sleep" showed a guy just sleeping for several hours. Yeah, the film's titles were
pretty self- descriptive. A couple of other films Warhol made were "Eat" and "Kiss."
In 1994, three out of four members of the Velvet Underground (Lou Reed wasn't
invited) and six other musicians played some of these Cale- penned selections at
the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. This album was recorded in Lille, France
in 1995, sans Sterling Morrison, who died on August 30 of that year.
Incorporating string sections, keyboard drones and some incredible vocalists,
Cale has created some beautiful structures of sound and impressive orchestration.
Eat/Kiss is a dark, solemn piece that not only encapsulates the sadness
that washed over the city of New York with Warhol's death in 1987. Whether or
not this record's purpose is ultimately to mourn Warhol's passing (or Sterling's,
for that matter), it does so with sparkling results.
-Ryan Schreiber