9. NicoThe Marble Index
I was stoned and in Peckham when I first heard Nico’s solo stuff. I couldn’t work out whether it was utter rubbish or a work of genius. The next day I could work it out and it turned out to be the latter. It’s rare for me to have pieces of music in my dreams but on one vivid occasion the line "into numberless reflections rises a smile from your eyes into mine" rang out above a huge surrealist chess board in my brain mid-sleep. It was wonderful. That track ‘Frozen Warnings’, from where that lyric comes, stands in a genre all of its own. I tried ripping it off many years ago but not with much success. Not only is this Nico’s finest album, it is also some of John Cale’s best work. It certainly sounds neurotic from start to finish so probably not one for an evening of Connect 4 with relatives.
