Kurt Vile by Kate Taylor Battle
Kurt Vile’s superb cover of Run Run Run is leading off the announcement.
Kurt Vile is the first artist to present his tribute to the classic record The Velvet Underground & Nico.
“I literally covered Run Run Run when I was a kid,” he says. “In my late teens with my band at the time. So it was pretty cosmic, let’s say. There is a direct connection to certain indie bands and beyond with the Velvets. ”
“That’s why the Velvets are a classic. You know it can have doo-wop in there and things like that, but it can also have this jagged noisy thing, and it immediately let me feel like I could do anything.”
“The possibilities are endless. You’re completely free. Unapologetic and effortless.”
Vile’s occasional collaborative partner Courtney Barnett also features on I’ll Be Your Mirror, due for release on September 24th, as do the likes of Michael Stipe, Fontaines D.C., Iggy Pop and Sharon Van Etten.
Famously not causing a single ripple in the vast ocean of enduringly influential music which was being released in 1967, The Velvet Underground’s debut album now sits in its rightful place at that era’s top table, rising above the initial avant-garde, art-rock clique to be regarded as one of the greatest of all-time.
I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico tracklist:
Sunday Morning – Michael Stipe
I’m Waiting For The Man – Matt Berninger
Femme Fatale – Sharon Van Etten (w/ Angel Olsen)
Venus In Furs – Andrew Bird & Lucius (
Run Run Run – Kurt Vile & The Violators
All Tomorrow’s Parties – St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett
Heroin– Thurston Moore feat. Bobby Gillespie
There She Goes Again – King Princess
I’ll Be Your Mirror – Courtney Barnett
The Black Angel’s Death Song – Fontaines D.C.
European Son – Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney