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LISTEN: Feist & Friends Cover Velvet Underground

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The Velvet Underground’s 1967 debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico, is one of the most important albums in rock history. Its crude yet gorgeous proto-punk sound and dark, risqué lyrics about sex and drugs – in songs like “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “Heroin” – influenced generations of later bands. Feist and members of Radiohead, Air, and Supergrass recently covered songs from the LP at an all-star gig in Paris. Listen to their version of “Femme Fatale” below.

Although “The Velvet Underground Revisited” concert took place July 7, the audio just leaked online. But it was worth the wait: Feist delivers a dazzling performance, nailing Nico’s seductive vocals. The instrumentation from Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, Air’s Nicolas Godin, and the Hotrats (Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey) mimics the original.

Photos from the gig depict the all-star group performing in front of projected psychedelic images, like VU did at their early shows and later at the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a multi-media event hosted by the band’s biggest supporter, and manager, Andy Warhol. In 2006, The Velvet Underground & Nico was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.