Pitchfork

Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Lou Reed is bringing his 1973 album Berlin back to the spotlight, with a little help from Matador Records. Almost two years ago, Reed performed the album in its entirety for the first time at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. The performance was captured by director Julian Schnabel for a documentary film, Lou Reed's Berlin. Now, that film is coming out on DVD, and Matador will release the companion soundtrack.

The performances of Berlin that serve as the basis for the film featured musical contributions from Antony Hegarty, Sharon Jones, Rupert Christie, Rob Wassermann, Fernando Saunders, Steve Hunter, a seven-piece orchestra featuring Eyvind Kang and Jane Scarpantoni, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, among others.

Matador will release the soundtrack, Lou Reed's Berlin: Original Film Soundtrack, digitally on September 30 and on CD October 7. In addition to the Berlin songs performed live in their entire original order, the soundtrack features three encore tracks: "Candy Says", "Rock Minuet", and "Sweet Jane".

The film comes to DVD via the Weinstein Company on October 6. It's making its way through UK theaters now.

Lou Reed's only scheduled show at the moment is a September 2 gig with avant-garde jazz figurehead John Zorn at NYC's Le Poisson Rouge. You can also catch him in a cameo in the new Wim Wenders movie Palermo Shooting.