The Marble Index | ||||
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File:NICOMARBLEINDEX.JPG | ||||
Studio album by Nico | ||||
Released | May 1969 | |||
Recorded | September 1968 at Elektra Sound Recorders, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Experimental, folk rock | |||
Length | 30:48 (original) 37:46 (1991 reissue) |
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Label | Elektra | |||
Producer | Frazier Mohawk | |||
Nico chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Piero Scaruffi | (8/10)[2] |
Rolling Stone | (Favorable)[3] |
The Marble Index is the second solo album by Nico, recorded in 1968 and released in 1969. The album featured long-term associate John Cale, who had worked briefly with Nico during her stint with The Velvet Underground. Cale had an extensive background in various avant-garde settings, working with minimalist composer LaMonte Young, among others.
Nico wrote all her own songs on the record and plays the harmonium. The record has influenced a wide array of various artists, such as Coil, Steve Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Jocelyn Pook, Jackson Browne, Elliott Smith and Dead Can Dance.
Trouser Press described the album as "Nico's disturbing poetry" set to "even more disturbing music; the result is one of the scariest records ever made. Unlike Chelsea Girl, in which Nico tried to adapt to an outmoded chanteuse tradition, The Marble Index blasts her off to her own universe."[4]
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The singer introduced "No One is There" at a live concert in Copenhagen, Denmark on 14 February 1982 by saying, "This song I wrote for Richard Nixon on Halloween. I want to dedicate it to Ronald Reagan." The performance was later included on the 1982 live album, Do or Die: Diary 1982.
"Frozen Warnings" went on to be one of the most performed song from this period of Nico's career. It appears frequently in the extensive volume of live recordings from her final years, including from her famous performance at the Library Theater in Manchester. The song also exists in two studio versions, one with Cale's synthesizer found on The Marble Index as well as a slightly longer version without the synthesizer but an additional repetition of the lyrics "the frozen borderline."
"Lawns of Dawns" was said to be about Nico's experience with peyote in the California desert with Jim Morrison in the late 1960s. Nico commented : "The light of the dawn was a very deep green and I believed I was upside down and the sky was the desert which had become a garden and then the ocean. I do not swim and I was frightened when it was water and more resolved when it was land. I felt embraced by the sky-garden."
"Ari's Song" concerns Nico's only child, Ari Boulogne. While she recorded the track, she brought pictures of the child with her into the booth for inspiration.
"Prelude" is actually a minute-long instrumental of the outtake "Réve Réveiller," which was a song sung in French that was excluded from the album's release.
The album's final track, "Evening of Light," was made into a video clip to promote the album. It features Nico walking around a field with others, including a white-faced Iggy Pop, who run amok while Nico elegantly strides with the wind blowing her hair in her face. The clip ends with the men erecting a cross and setting it aflame. (The clip was shot behind The Stooges' house in Ann Arbor).
All songs written by Nico.
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The Marble Index may refer to:
The Marble Index was a Canadian rock band from Hamilton, Ontario. The group formed in 2001, and comprised Brad Germain (guitars and vocals), Ryan Tweedle (bass), and Adam Knickle (drums). The band is named after the album “The Marble Index” by Nico.
The Marble Index was formed in Hamilton, Ontario in 2001 by Brad Germain, Ryan Tweedle and Adam Knickle. Dan Delaplante joined the band in 2008 and performed until their breakup. After being discontented with other bands they had played with, Germain and Knickle decided to start their own band with songs they had written at Adam's grandmothers house. After auditioning various bass players, they asked their friend Ryan Tweedle (at the time a guitar player) to join them since they did not have a bassist. Their first EP was recorded in 2002. It took less than a week to complete.
After being approached and signed by Canadian Music Manager Dan Brooks who was from Hamilton Ontario, but had resided in the United Kingdom for a number of years. The band recorded their self-titled album with John Kettle in Wigan, England in 2004. They lived and recorded in a converted barn with no hot water or showers. Because of the substandard living conditions, the band was continuously getting sick. However, they persevered. After three weeks, the band emerged with an album. The band subsequently created their own label, Death Of Records, and after two industry showcases licensed their debut release through Universal Music Canada. The 2006 release Watch Your Candles, Watch Your Knives" was released through Maple Music and Distributed by Universal Music Canada.