Lou Reed Archive has announced a reissue of Reed’s Hudson River Wind Meditations, which will be available on January 12, 2024. Originally released in 2007, the deeply personal project provides the best example of Lou Reed’s decades-long exploration into drone and ambient music, as well as the artist’s final solo album.

For more than five decades, Reed (1942-2013) never stopped exploring new creative avenues. From his broadly influential albums with The Velvet Underground to his groundbreaking solo works. Reed experimented with minimalist drone feedback music in the early 60s while in the Velvet Underground, and released the highly provocative double-album Metal Machine Music in 1975. From there he further developed his passion for drone music using both guitar and keyboards, including “Fire Music” on The Raven in 2003. This experimental side of Lou’s musical life led to Hudson River Wind Meditations in 2007, and after that, live performances with the Metal Machine Trio and trios with Anderson and John Zorn. Reed was also a spiritual being, who devoted his later years to Tai Chi and routinely integrated yoga and meditation practices into his life. It was inevitable that his two passions would eventually mingle. Inspired to create a soundtrack for these quiet – yet powerful – exercises, Reed composed four compelling works, which comprise his 20th and final solo album, Hudson River Wind Meditations.

Released in 2007, the ambient compositions were initially created for Reed’s personal use, to accompany spoken-word meditations that his acupuncturist recorded for him. Over time, they transformed into music for Reed’s beloved Tai Chi and yoga practices. Eventually, the artist chose to share them with his fans, crafting them into an album with the late producer Hal Willner.

Hudson River Wind Meditations has been produced for re-release by GRAMMY®-nominated producers Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Jason Stern, Matt Sullivan, and Hal Willner; restored by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Steve Rosenthal; remastered by the GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin with vinyl pressed at Record Technology Inc. (RTI). The 2-LP and CD sets are presented in a gatefold jacket designed by GRAMMY®-winning artist Masaki Koike and features new liner notes by renowned Yoga instructor and author Eddie Stern, who guided Reed’s practice for years. Also included in the physical editions is a fascinating conversation conducted earlier this year between author/journalist Jonathan Cott and Anderson, who discusses Hudson River Wind Meditations, as well as her husband’s devotion to Tai Chi — one of the album’s primary inspirations.

The original release of Hudson River Wind Meditations included a brief introduction by Reed, in which he wrote, “I first composed this music… to play in the background of life – to replace the everyday cacophony with new and ordered sounds of an unpredictable nature.”

Anderson muses, “I guess by ‘life,’ he meant something like what Brian Eno might mean – ambient music that colors the air in very interesting ways. For me, it resets my brainwaves.” She continues, “In Tibetan Buddhism teachings, heart and mind are the same word – citta – close to the chi of Tai Chi, which is pure energy. This music is pure energy; it breathes in and out. It’s not like here’s the beginning: dum da da! And now it develops, and now it ends! Rather, it’s one long loop that keeps changing in subtle ways.”

The 2-LP is available in three different vinyl variants, including Black Wax, Coke Bottle Wax and Glacial Blue Wax, while the Deluxe Edition includes the CD or 2-LP, a set of five 8×10 photos of the Hudson River photographed by Reed and printed on 10-pt High Gloss Kromekote C1S cover stock and housed in a glassine envelope, plus a 24”x36” fold-out poster designed by Yolanda Cuomo.

Hudson River Wind Meditations Tracklist (Double Vinyl)
Side A
1. “Move Your Heart”

Side B
1. “Move Your Heart – Part II”

Side C
1. “Find Your Note”

Side D
1. “Find Your Note – Part II”
2. “Hudson River Wind (Blend the Ambiance)”
3. “Wind Coda”

Hudson River Wind Meditations Tracklist (CD/Digital)
1. “Move Your Heart”
2. “Find Your Note”
3. “Hudson River Wind (Blend the Ambience)”
4. “Wind Coda”

Pre-order Hudson River Wind Meditations by Lou Reed HERE