TS: Nico's Marble Index vs. Desert Shore vs. The End

Desertshore >>> The End >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Drama of Exile >>>>>Marble Index

The Marble Index is my pick on this Northern European day that has crossed the frozen borderline. "Evening of Light" is pretty overwhelming. I almost lost it listening to "Le Petit Chevalier" on Desertshore earlier---the child's voice always shocks when listening to the albums in sequence. "Je ne peux pas me effroyer."

yeah Petit Chevalier is one of the creepiest songs I know

Camera Obscura is my favorite Nico abum. It gets very little to no love in general. But of these three I'd pick Desertshore.

HOLY HELL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JHS35c-K6U

I downloaded Desert Shore about 6 months ago and fell very hard for "Janitor of Lunacy", what an incredible (vocal) performance. Bought a great vinyl reissue a couple of weeks back. Fantastic album. I've now heard/got Marble Index (blue vinyl lol), Chelsea Girl and Desert Shore. I think I may need everything she released. True?

If you don't own it already, surely you need "The End"!
Despite the not really top notch production, I like more than a couple of songs out of "Drama of exile". And there is also that great acoustic 1972 (?) bootleg with Reed and Cale, titled "Live at Bataclan".

yeah Drama of Exile in both of its versions is criminally overlooked

this weather is perfect for The Marble Index

i.e. otm the me of three years ago

Marble Index is easily her best, IMO.

I will alwyas rep for "Camera Obscura".

always

My heart is empty is such a goth jam

Fantastic to get the Frozen Borderline set with both Marble Index & Desertshore plus bonus demoes etc.
Would be even better if I knew where my copy was. Do have Marble Index on my walkman where tracks come up quite frequently I think.

Have been meaning to get the recent The End remaster since I'd been hoping for a remastered version of that for ages. But I think I go for the earlier stuff more though I do love Secret Side and You Forget To Answer.

Marble Index is easily her best, IMO.

Bollocks

My heart is empty is such a goth jam

^^^

like generally speaking I avoid Nico fanboying but "My Heart Is Empty" pushes every last one of my buttons

I don't like John Cale's cover of "Frozen Warnings" at the end of Nico Icon. Profoundly disliked, even, it permanently altered my appreciation of that song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b77SQmKcjg&feature=share&list=UUymQXI22jUE8TEffJILT8rw

Lester Bangs wasn't always OTM, but he was OTFM abt The Marble Index, esp Frozen Warnings.

This is my first post (so please be gentle!). All three parts of the trilogy are great, but if I must pick one as the best, then it’s The Marble Index.

As far as what Daniel Peterson (polkaholic) said “I once found a thrift store cassette of Desertshore and absolutely lived with it in my car deck for months. Oddly, contrary to the title, I found it perfect music for a long Minnesota winter.”
I think I might know why Desertshore might be perfect music for the coldness of winter. Nico apparently wrote many of the songs on Desertshore for the film La cicatrice intérieure (AKA The Inner Scar) (directed by Philippe Garrel, her then-lover I believe). According to one of the few people who have seen this film,
“Garrel has filmed his story in a wide range of deserts. Hot sandy deserts, cold glacial deserts, hot rocky deserts, hot lava deserts in a cold environment. Earth, fire and water (often in the form of ice) are very much at the centre of the film.” (For more information, see the post titled “A technical and poetic masterpiece” posted on 27 June 2005 by mmillington✧✧✧@hotm✧✧✧.c✧✧ from United Kingdom at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068380/reviews?ref_=tt_urv.)
So, Nico wrote many of the songs on Desertshore with the probable aim of evoking the atmosphere of a cold/glacial/polar desert, and/or of a hot desert in a cold environment. This should make Desertshore perfect music for the coldness of winter.
Hope this has been informative. Just trying to be helpful, y’all.

You've probably noticed: I'm not yet sure exactly how to quote the post from Daniel Peterson (polkaholic). How do I do that? Exactly how do I quote a previous post? Is

your text

My first post up there, and I already screwed it up! Oh well, I meant to put the symbols that (might be how) to quote block text, when asking how to quote a previous post. Live and learn, I guess. I do hope that the rest of the post provides some interesting information about Desertshore, though.

I stumbled over "Afraid" a few years ago and kept that on the hard drive--nice song. Haven't heard the rest of Desert Shore. I'm too worried about Miley Cyrus right now, though, to think about Nico.

(Click on "Show Formatting Help" below for help.)

Thank you for replying to my first post(s). Thanks for the tip on Formatting, I hope I get the hang of it.

For those who might be interested, and who might not have known about this: In the Autumn of 2012, there were 2 worthwhile Nico CD releases. A 2-disc Remastered edition of The End, part 3 of the trilogy, was released; the 2nd disc focuses on Nico’s 2 appearances on John Peel’s show (her appearances in, I think, 1971 and 1974). The other release was Reims Cathedral - December 13, 1974, her live performance where she performs many of her songs from the trilogy. About the latter of the two releases, a few people have complained about the sound quality. Personally, I don’t think anyone should expect the audio to rival today’s digital recording standards. FWIW: My opinion, as I have both of these CD releases: Any problems with the live recording are more than made up for with Nico’s stunning musical performances. But that’s just my opinion.

Introduced to this in Something in the Air, the Assayas film this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TjlhB9nvGg

Read yesterday that it's about Nico.

Read yesterday that it's about Nico.

Yeah, I've heard that Ayers had (at least) one song that was reportedly about Nico. I can't remember for sure which song it was I've heard mentioned in this regard but, "Decadence" is probably it.

Desertshore > Marble Index > The End

Nico would have turned 75 on Oct. 16, 2013. Earlier this year, John Cale mounted a Nico tribute show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). I will now try to post a video of John Cale (from around the time of this tribute show) talking about Nico and her music. (If this video fails to post, I’ll have to post the link to video on YouTube.)

OK, here's my attempt to post the video:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8iGrZxEQPZY?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Well, that doesn't seem to have worked.

Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGrZxEQPZY

Well now, what do you know? Posting just the web link (without trying to embed the video) seems to have posted the video.

jesus christ the end is incredible

i like how each record seems to refine the previous

(Well, I do hope the video will successfully post this time, for this post.)

Christmas wouldn’t really be Christmas without some Nico, now would it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5WlUKxLKT4

ROME — Nico, the late German chanteuse who was among Andy Warhol’s muses and sang with the Velvet Underground, is getting the biopic treatment. The 1960s cult pop culture figure will be played by Denmark’s Trine Dyrholm, winner of this year’s Berlin Silver Bear for best actress.
Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli, known on the festival circuit for her standout debut “Cosmonauta,” will start shooting Nov. 7 in Italy on the film, which is about Nico’s later years, titled “Nico, 1988.”

Nico, Cult Singer With Velvet Underground, Set for Biopic

Marble Index is on the short list of my favorite albums of all time; it absolutely towers over everything else she ever recorded IMO

Agree with the former, but definitely disagree with the latter: Desertshore for one takes Marble Index into a whole new sinister dimension. Gutwrenching. Few records throw me off completely like Desertshore does.

Marble Index is easily her best, IMO.

Bollocks

― Le petit chat est mort (Tom D.), Monday, 11 February 2013 13:40 (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Glad to have all 3. Now just wish I knew where they were. Not listened to Desertshore in a while. But do love Marbel INdex adn a lot of The End. Not the title track too much though. But Secret Side etc are really haunting.

The recently released '71 Peepl session is the best I've ever heard her voice

http://lightintheattic.net/releases/2142-bbc-session-1971

Amazing, I did not know of that release, thanks so much!

Secret side is on the '71 Peel session. It's also on the End. Is the Peel session just her plus harmonium?

Yes, it's just her and harmonium. Her singing is almost warm, and she sounds almost content, albeit with her own malcontent compositions. I feel like Peel caught her just as she was believing in herself as a songwriter, and more familiar with her creations than when she first committed them to tape.

Greetings all.

October 16, 2018 marked the 80th anniversary of Nico's birth. Does anyone know if any musical commemorations/tributes of this anniversary took place?

I think some tribute concerts took place for both the 70th and 75th anniversaries of Nico's birth, but I hadn't heard about any for the 80th anniversary.