While visiting Canada for last night’s Neil Young tribute concert in Vancouver, Lou Reed stopped by Q Radio earlier in the week to promote his new photograph book, Romanticism. Interviewer Jian Ghomeshi (who handled that confrontational Billy Bob Thornton Q&A last year) does a solid job at not getting rattled by Reed’s occasionally awkward silences, waiting patiently instead for the rock legend to add further musings on various subjects. You might think a talk with the former Velvet Underground frontman about photography, instead of music, would be frustrating, but the two art forms are actually quite related for Reed, which he explains at Ghomeshi’s request.

Though I highly recommend you download the podcast of the show here, as Reed’s voice and silences are intrinsic to his expression, here are a few teaser quotes if you can’t listen just yet…

Much to the chagrin of their manager, the Gorillaz’s first single, “Stylo,” from upcoming album Plastic Beach, leaked on the Internet last month, detonating a flurry of blog posts, articles, and good ol’ hype for the animated band. With a month left to go until the album’s March 9 release date, Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett, bassist Murdoc and company have dropped a few more album teasers for immediate digital consumption.

In a so-called “Pirate Radio” stream on their official site and elsewhere, bassist Murdoc played a brief clip of a song from the new record. Stereogum speculates that the vocal is Sweden’s Little Dragon, and they’ve pulled the clip for us to decide for ourselves. Check it out here.

As previously reported, Lou Reed has recorded a cameo performance on the track “Some Kind of Nature.” Still can’t wait to hear that song (or the whole album for that matter), but we now have Jamie Hewlett’s Gorillaz-ized illustration of the former Velvet Underground rock god (see above). Oddly, the image was originally posted on Reed’s official site, but was abruptly removed thereafter. Fan site Gorillaz-Unofficial grabbed it, though, so have a look here or above.

And finally (for now), those hoping for a closer look at the island world on the Plastic Beach album cover art (and likely upcoming music videos) should check out the band’s new “orchestral trailer” with an animated tour of the newest Gorillaz universe. Watch it here or below:

To celebrate the remastered release of his classic 1975 album Metal Machine Music on 5.1 Surround Sound, double vinyl, Blu Ray, and DVD Audio, Lou Reed will be joined by saxophonist/composer Ulrich Krieger and Sarth Calhoun for a string of performances of improvised music and soundscapes, specifically, “A Night of Deep Noise.”

According to a press release, the 9 European tour dates “will feature no songs and no vocals. The trio will utilise guitars, saxophones, continuum, plus an array of electronic treatments that will venture into deep acoustic space.”

The group (dubbed the Metal Machine Trio or MM3) has actually performed before in LA in 2008, but now Reed has regrouped with Krieger, whom he met at the premiere of the Zeitkratzer Orchestra’s Krieger-transribed/arranged version of the original Metal Machine Music.

For more info, specific dates, and pictures of MM3 jamming, go here.

‘Tis the season for Neil Young tribute shows: Not only do we have the MusiCares “Person of the Year: Neil Young” award show, which will feature performances by Wilco, Red Hot Chili Peppers (sans John Frusciante), CSN, and Jackson Browne, coming up on Grammy week, but now Vancouver’s Winter Olympic Games have organized their own rival tribute concert for the Ontario-born living legend.

We’ve known for awhile now that Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam, Sun Kil Moon, Vashti Bunyan, Joan as Policewoman, Ron Sexsmith, BSS’ Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, Julie Doiron, and a slew of other notable artists were set to take the Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage next month, but a certain legendary Velvet Underground member has now been added to the roster as well.

Lou Reed, whose wife, Laurie Anderson, will also be in town showing her “series of short mystery plays” called Delusion, has been added to Hal Willner’s tribute show lineup, according to the official Vancouver Olympics site (via Exclaim).

Check out the full lineup and purchase tickets thataway.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame threw a 25th anniversary party for itself at NYC’s Madison Square Garden this fall, complete with performances by a slew of their famous friends/inductees (Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, et al.). Sounds like a good idea to me. A bad idea: Hey, let’s have Metallica perform with various guest singers, like Ozzy Osbourne, the Kinks’ Ray Davies, and Lou Reed.

A few shaky vids of balcony seat footage aside, I was blissfully unaware of what truly went down between Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, Trujillo, and their new legendary frontmen until the concert aired on television the other night. It’s now on the series of YouTubes, and I was just too curious to look away.

So we’re not really suggesting you watch James Hetfield holler “sweet Jaaaaneeyeah!” but feel free to rubberneck here or below if you’re curious and/or a masochist. Meanwhile, Elvis Costello and the Beastie Boys make for a better 25th anniversary mashup, if you ask me.

It’s been four years since Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett and company’s second Gorillaz LP, Demon Days, sold millions of copies and topped dozens of “best of” lists, but the animated, genre-bending group aren’t planning to rest on their laurels anytime soon. In an interview with the Guardian’s Paul Morley, singer/songwriter/producer Damon Albarn confirmed rumors about the third Gorillaz full-length, including the album title and ambitious roster of collaborators.

The “nearly finished” album, entitled Plastic Beach, is “the most pop record [he’s] ever made,” featuring guest performances by Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Barry Gibb, Mos Def and (as was previously known) the Horrors.

There’s no release date yet set for Plastic Beach, but Albarn also revealed that he’s currently wrapping up an album with Flea and Tony Allen, with whom he also collaborated on the Africa Express project.

For more from Albarn on recording seagulls at landfills for Gorillaz LP3, the Blur reunion, and a few thoughts on the aughts, listen to Morley’s brilliant interview here.

News like this sure makes me wish I lived back on the East Coast: The surviving lineup behind not only two of my favorite Velvet Underground songs, but two of my favorite songs of all time, “Candy Says” and “Pale Blue Eyes,” are set to reunite for a discussion at the New York Public Library on Dec. 8.

According to the NYPL’s site (via Billboard), former Velvet Underground members Lou Reed, Doug Yule, and Maureen “Moe” Tucker will join Rolling Stone’s David Fricke for the chat at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in NYC. The good news for those of us unable to attend is that the event is part of the same “Live from the NYPL” series that Ryan Adams and Mary-Louise Parker took part in earlier this fall, which means a downloadable MP3 and/or video will likely be posted afterward.

It’s too bad they couldn’t get John Cale to attend as well, but I suppose he’s more of a MoMA man. To pick up general admission tickets head thataway fast.

I said recently that TwentyFourBit wouldn’t be the place for Cribs-esque posts, but screw it ‘cause some of these living music legend real estate stories are actually kind of fun. So here’s this week’s contribution:

Björk may be moving out of her swanky Hudson River abode (after Phish’s Trey Anastasio bought a house down the street) for an apartment in NYC, but Iggy Pop left the city years ago for Miami and now Velvet Underground’s Lou Reed is also looking for a calmer retreat from the street hassle (lame pun, I know, but great song). Real Estalker reports that Lou Reed and his equally famous wife, Laurie Anderson, just bought a $1.5 million home in East Hampton, NY. Check out a few pictures above or go here.

The heated pool and luxurious location aside, Reed and Anderson’s 2 bedroom house isn’t that flashy. In fact, it looks fairly comfortable with its natural wood finishes and pale blue color scheme. Okay, enough with the song title puns. If you care to know more about Reed and Anderson’s new digs, take the NY-27 or go thataway.

Famed “punk” ballerino and choreographer Michael Clark presented his new ballet program inspired by and including music from David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed last month for Venice’s Dance Biennale; he and his company will also perform in Edinburgh, Stockholm, Paris and London in coming months.

Interestingly, for those of us more attuned to the music world rather than the dance sphere, Clark has a long history of incorporating his favorite music into dance: “I remember playing the Sex Pistols to my ballet teacher, he said: ‘But it’s so …’ – what’s the opposite of subtle – ‘blatant’. And I remember saying, ‘Yes, but it was meant to be direct’. I think my work’s probably more subtle now.” And if you know anything about Clark’s previous work (onstage sex, incorporating chainsaws, dildos and toilet seats into his performances, among other things), you’d probably agree.

Clark compares the three musical legends to equally legendary danseurs: “This is a similar trilogy for me, Lou Reed, Bowie and Iggy Pop. I guess Iggy Pop would be [Vaslav] Nijinsky, Lou Reed might be [Bronislava] Nijinska. Would Bowie be [George] Balanchine? No, I think not. Anyway. It was, you know, that idea. I’m actually wholeheartedly enjoying working with this music, I’m thrilled that I’ve been given permission to.”

So what songs did these guys permit for use in Clark’s rock ballet? His last installment, Thank U Ma’am (the titles change week-to-week), included Pop and Bowie’s “Mass Production” from The Idiot, the Bowie/Eno hit “Heroes,” Bowie’s “The Jean Genie,” Diamond Dogs spoken word opening track “Future Legend,” Diamond Dogs closer “Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family,” and more.

Oh, just a couple throwaways from Berlin in the late 70s. I kid.