Lou Reed dead at 71
The first time I indulged in a full Velvet Underground album was when I was seventeen. It was "Loaded." I borrowed the CD from the local library in the center of Florence, the Oblate, a labyrinth of a building with stunning views of the Duomo from every window and little to no internet access. Amid the bustle of a hundred jaded high school students shuffling into the courtyard for cigarette breaks, I would sit for hours, deep into my Greek literature, conspicuously bobbing my chin to the bass of 'Sweet Jane.'