Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone

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Music: Rock & Indie

Adventures in underground and experimental music. A partner to the Freak Zone Playlist.

Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone: Nico

Nico

BBC Radio 6 Music - Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone, Nico

Stuart looks back on the German musician's dystopian and ominous 1970 album Desertshore.

Stuart looks back on the German musician's dystopian and ominous 1970 album Desertshore. Plus, jazz piano, Anglo-Italian cyborg trap and field recordings in brutalist bus stations.

Stuart looks back on the German musician’s dystopian and ominous 1970 album Desertshore. Arranged and produced by fellow Velvet Underground member John Cale, Nico’s third album centres around dream-weaving harmonium and her woeful deep vocals that speak of highly emotional experiences of parenthood and family. A true bohemian artist of the time who ran in circles with Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison to name but a few, the nomadic Nico made Desertshore after moving to Rome from New York and rehauling her trademark image of ethereal blonde to dying her hair and wearing all black. Ambling piano, scraping viola, sparse piano and bursts of accidental orchestral noises create a dark and powerful record.

Plus, hectic jazz piano, pulsing Anglo-Italian cyborg trap from Bristol’s underground radio scene and field recordings made in an iconic brutalist bus station in England’s North.

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