Twin Flame

 

In the days of mist and cold there could be a song by Weyes Blood from their new album the best opportunity to start into Sunday morning. Weyes Blood is the stage name of Natalie Mering and she is known as an indie-folk singer/songwriter. Sometimes compared with Joni Mitchel or if you like an exceeding Velvet's Nico she made records since a couple of years and is maybe known by a duet she done with Lana Del Ray a couple of years ago. Like many Californians she walks the folk path with her clear voice picking out the state of our world and love as central themes. on one song she moves away from acoustic guitars towards soft retro-drums an drum-computers for her rhythmic basic framework. A beautiful voice anyway and a sound you can drift away if it fits to you

My Mum Was Nico's Driver

 

A few days ago a song by a band I've never heard before came to my ears and never let me go since. HANN is a Manchester based indie-pop band and derived by the singers first name Hannah. I don't know if the story of the song is true but it is clever using name dropping in a good pop song. Of course nothing new and exciting but just another good song for the upcoming summer.

The brilliance of the song's lyrics is that I remembered Nico once again. Born in Germany as Christa Päffgen before the war she became a model and moved to New York where Andy Warhol got aware of her. He also was the one who introduced her to Velvet Underground where she got a member of. Although she couldn't sing her voice fitted together perfectly with the Velvet's sound. In 1967 she released her first solo album Chelsea Girl a little masterpiece by her. With the help of her bandmates Reed and Cale and Jackson Browne she created probably the blueprint of doom and gothic sounds that should became decades later famous. On 18 July 1988 Nico swings on her bike; dressed in black leather trousers and other heavy clothes, her emaciated body collapses in the shade at 40 degrees in Ibiza. The woman, who turned the head of many of the most desirable men of the 60s and also became an icon musically, leaves her life on a roadside in the bright sun of Spain. 

Nico - These Days

The Stars We Are

 

A few days ago I read the news that Marc Almond will release an extended version of his 1988 classic The Stars We Are. For this reason I grabbed out my original and played once again after ages. I think I don't have to say much about Marc Almond because most of you will know him, if only for his work with Soft Cell. And I can say that I really enjoyed listening to this once again. The album was high in the charts when it was released and it seems like an almost perfect pop album. Away from the synth-pop of Soft Cell and the cover version he did with Matt Johnson as Marc and the Mambas he added orchestral sounds to his songs that make the songs brighter. This album shows also his talent in songwriting and choosing excellent duet partners. Your Kisses Burn is still a highlight not only because it was one of the last performances by German chanteuse Nico. 

Marc Almond - These My Dreams Are Yours

Marc Almond - Tears Run Rings

Marc Almond - Your Kisses Burn

Marc Almond - Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart

The Return of Nico?

Christa Päffgen, better know as Nico one of Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls and the voice of Velvet Underground. She wasn't able to sing but her spoken words made the early songs of the Velvets unique. These days I listened to the first album by Stella Sommer, the leading voice of German Indie-band Die Heiterkeit. I don't think that she tries to copy Nico but her deep voice is close to Nico. But the sound of their songs is very different. Listening to Dark Princess, Dark Prince I remember the early Mekons with their cow-punk drums on Prince Of Darkness. Of course, it is a dark and morbid sound with straight-lined guitar lines, some bar piano and sticky organs but it is probably the perfect soundtrack for a late summer evening with a glass of wine on your balcony.

Silver Bullets

A few weeks ago I had a little series about the Flying Nun label. Now I found out that The Chills, one of the main protagonist of the new sound from New Zealand made a new record. They still do their picking, little twangy, funny new wave sound added with some piano. Not the worst way tho start into a new week.

Baby's On Fire

I believe each of you has experienced at least once that by chance a song appeared and then you could not be able to ban it from your head. This happened to me these days when Brian Eno's 'Baby's On Fire' shuffled up my mobile phone on the way to work. This song was released in 1973 on Eno's first album 'Here come the warm jets' and it is a superb collaboration with Robert Fripp's guitar playing. It is a masterpiece of that so called era of art-/glam rock. When Eno left Roxy Music he started to create electronic sounds with very different kind of musicians. And he continued until now. I don't like everything he released but a lot of his stuff was ahead of his time. Sometimes it is good to back 40 or more years in music to enjoy that old songs and be surprised how good they work still. And they can't be wrong when some young dudes make a remix out of it.

Brian Eno - Baby's On Fire




Live with Kevin Ayers, John Cale and Nico: