Aram Bajakian is a guitarist, composer and educator, who performed with the legendary Lou Reed during his 2011 and 2012 tours.

In addition he’s toured with Diana Krall, Madeleine Peyroux, and his known for his work with John Zorn and Dalava, the groundbreaking band he co-leads with Julia Uhlela.

On May 16 & 17, Aram will be interpreting the music of Lou Reed at the VIFF Centre, in two very different, and very special performances. The first of these is inspired by Reed’s much reviled 1975 album Metal Machine Music, an experimental noise record which was almost universally panned. (Though Lester Bangs opined, “As a statement it’s great, as a giant FUCK YOU it shows integrity — a sick, twisted, dunced-out, malevolent, perverted, psychopathic integrity, but integrity nevertheless.”

This show will not be for the faint of heart.

Aram says: “One of the last times I saw Lou, he said “I want to do a Metal Machine tour with you.” While I had already toured twice in his band, this felt like a new level of trust. While noise bands abound now, Metal Machine Music was revolutionary for its time. Lou loved noise and massive overwhelming sounds. We’d sometimes spend hours just playing the two chords of “Heroin” over and over. But he also had the sharpest wit of anyone I’ve ever met: when handing me the CD of Metal Machine Music he wryly quiped “You’re probably not going to want to listen to the whole thing.” We both cracked up. While I never got to play this music with Lou, I couldn’t think of any better Vancouver artists with whom to take on this task: Stefan Maier and Anju Singh. Bring earplugs.”

About the film: Berlin: Live at St Ann’s Warehouse (Julian Schnabel, 2008, 81 min)

After the live set and an intermission, there will be a rare screening of Julian Schnabel’s recording of Lou Reed performing the entirety of his seconed most reviled album Berlin, with Sharon Jones, Anthony, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus on backing vocals in December, 2006.

Celebratory… It’s a miracle Reed was able to turn one of the most hermetic albums of all time into a communal experience.

Pitchfork

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