Sunday, June 13, 2010
"Metal Machine Music" Is Official Theme of 2010 World Cup
by Wayne Robins
Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" has been named the official theme of the 2010 World Cup. The intentionally monotonous, droning, two-LP loop of electronic feedback has been played consistently throughout each televised game of the cup. Sunday, its volume drowned out the voices of the ESPN/ABC announcers during the Germany-Australia match, which is why this fan turned the game off with Germany comfortably ahead two-nil in the first half.
Noted Reed scholar and sparring partner, the late Lester Bangs, had many descriptions for "MMM," but he nailed it in a Creem article in September, 1975, writing: "You know when you get so tense and anxiety-ridden that all the nerves at the back of your neck snarl up into one burning ball? Well, if that gland could make music, it would sound like this album."
And that's what it sounds like listening to the games. According to sources ranging from the Guardian in the U.K. to the Tehran Times in Iran, international soccer governing board FIFA is considering a ban on the vuvuzela, the iconic but terminally irritating plastic South African air horn, on which World Cup spectators have been doing unprecedented live performances of "Metal Machine Music" from first kick to final whistle.
Google News
Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" has been named the official theme of the 2010 World Cup. The intentionally monotonous, droning, two-LP loop of electronic feedback has been played consistently throughout each televised game of the cup. Sunday, its volume drowned out the voices of the ESPN/ABC announcers during the Germany-Australia match, which is why this fan turned the game off with Germany comfortably ahead two-nil in the first half.
Noted Reed scholar and sparring partner, the late Lester Bangs, had many descriptions for "MMM," but he nailed it in a Creem article in September, 1975, writing: "You know when you get so tense and anxiety-ridden that all the nerves at the back of your neck snarl up into one burning ball? Well, if that gland could make music, it would sound like this album."
And that's what it sounds like listening to the games. According to sources ranging from the Guardian in the U.K. to the Tehran Times in Iran, international soccer governing board FIFA is considering a ban on the vuvuzela, the iconic but terminally irritating plastic South African air horn, on which World Cup spectators have been doing unprecedented live performances of "Metal Machine Music" from first kick to final whistle.
Google News
