★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
The Warhol protégé's first album, after her famous collaboration with the Velvet Underground. This is chamber-pop-folk set against Nico's icy Teutonic lower register deadpan. No drums or bass, just guitar and keyboard, plus strings or flute. I learned that the string and flute arrangements were added by the producer against the wishes of Nico. She especially hated the flute. I agree, the strings don’t add anything, and the flute is frankly ridiculous; they tie Nico down to a twee chamber folk sound which she doesn’t fit into. This could have been a great album, but it will have to be filed away with popular music's hypothetical, never-were albums. What we have in this reality is a sort of curiosity. The eight-minute "It Was a Pleasure Then" is certainly not one. Favorite tracks: "Somewhere There's a Feather," Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine," and Jackson Browne's "These Days," the world-weary message of which is perfect for Nico's Euro-ennui voice.
