The Marble Index's lackluster sales led Elektra to drop Nico, but in 1970 Reprise picked her up, and she and Cale teamed again to make Deserstshore, included here on disc two. The sparser setting gives the songs a sunnier feel, transforming the stirring "No One Is There" and the reflective "Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie)" from maudlin to bittersweet. Some of these alternates are different mixes of Cale's contributions, but the most interesting present Nico alone with just her harmonium. The Frozen Borderline adds the other four, plus alternate versions of every track save the opening instrumental "Prelude". The original release of The Marble Index included eight of the 12 songs Nico recorded for it. The Marble Index may seem to strike only one note, but inside it Nico and Cale found a universe of possibilities. For every sad line or aching refrain, there's the touching beauty of "Ari's Song", the rising viola of the pristine "Frozen Warnings", the pulsating piano of "Facing The Wind". Sure, Nico's cryptic lyrics about "the end of time," "the heaving sea," and "frozen warnings" sound grim, but her Teutonic croon could've made commercial jingles seem foreboding. But Nico's melodies are so hypnotic, and Cale's sonics are so fertile and unpredictable, that it's hard not to be entranced by these songs. There is certainly an underlying bleakness that can make The Marble Index a strenuous listen. The result is a strange, moving album that Lester Bangs called in a 1978 review "the greatest piece of 'avant-garde classical' 'serious' music of the last half of the 20th century so far." He also said it scared the shit out of him. Spending four days in an Elektra studio in L.A., she recorded 12 pieces with John Cale, who wrapped a rich pastiche of viola, piano, guitar, and more around Nico's harmonium and vocals. But Nico played a portable, hand-operated Indian version, and the instrument's droning tone was an apt counterpart to her obliquely tragic songs. The Frozen Borderline: 1968-1970 is a UK-only deluxe combination of both albums, appending 18 alternate versions to the pair's original 16 songs.Īfter Chelsea Girls, apparently on the suggestion of Leonard Cohen, Nico took up the harmonium, an accordion sibling that's usually foot-operated. They may not have achieved the renown of Chelsea Girls, but they've held up just as well, if not better, artistically. Her next two albums, 1969's The Marble Index and 1970's Desertshore, are more accurate representations of her dark, dramatic vision. But to Nico they were the antithesis of her own artistic core. The lithe melodies (written by ex-boyfriends Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, and Lou Reed, among others) and ornate string arrangements struck an irresistible contrast to her chilly vocals. Less well-known is how much Nico despised the album. Its bittersweet folk-pop has continually grown in stature, even hitting a pop culture peak a few years ago when "These Days" showed up repeatedly in commercials and films. Frozen Warnings (Hidden Track) (4:24)įour decades after its release, Nico's first solo album Chelsea Girls remains her most famous. Roses In The Snow (Alternate Version) (4:00)ġ4.1 On The Desert Shore (All That Is My Own) (2:44)ġ5.
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