''Desertshore'' is the third studio album by German musician

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

. It was released in December 1970 on the

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

label and co-produced by John Cale and

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked with Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny who was in Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The ...

Recording

''Desertshore'' was co-produced by John Cale and

. "Janitor of Lunacy" was composed as a tribute to her friend

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

, founding member of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, who had died the previous year. The back and front covers feature stills from the film '' The Inner Scar'' by Philippe Garrel which starred Nico, Garrel and her son Ari Boulogne. A few of the songs from the album were included on the film's soundtrack.

Legacy

Like '' The Marble Index, Desertshore'' obtained a small cult following its release, but was overlooked by most large publications and the public in general. However, it has received mainstream praise from critics in subsequent years with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

and The New Rolling Stone Album Guide in particular providing a strong and positive reception.

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

rated ''Desertshore'' five out of five. ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' was less favorable—giving the album a ''C'' rating. "All That Is My Own" was selected by

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

for inclusion on his '' Under the Influence'' compilation. "Le petit chevalier" was covered live by Bjork during her '' Post tour'' in 1996 and also by Bat for Lashes in 2007 at the

Glastonbury festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. It was prominently sampled by Abu Lahab on his 2013 album '' Of Heliotaxis and Cosmic Knifing''. "Janitor of Lunacy" was covered by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n artist Soap&Skin and included in her 2008 debut EP.

X-TG cover

Industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle entered the studio to record a reinterpretation of ''Desertshore'' in 2007. The product of this studio session which was made open-to-the public was '' The Desertshore Installation'', a record of the entirety of the 3-day, 12-hour-long session. The plan had been to edit the three days of recordings and craft a finished album from it but the group was not satisfied with the sessions. Peter Christopherson continued working on it in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

with Danny Hyde until his death in November 2010. Hyde passed the remaining work to Throbbing Gristle members Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti to complete, which they did with the help of several guest vocalists including

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

, Sasha Grey, Blixa Bargeld and Anohni. ''Desertshore/The Final Report'' was released on 26 November 2012 under the name ''X-TG The Album.'' It debuted live at AV Festival on 17 March 2012, performed by Carter and Tutti. It was accompanied by a screening of Philippe Garrel’s ''La cicatrice intérieure'', "for which ''Desertshore'' was soundtrack and inspiration".

Track listing

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, harmonium * John Cale – all other instruments except

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

* John Cale and Adam Miller – harmony voices * Ari Boulogne – vocals on "Le petit chevalier"

References

External links

{{Authority control Nico albums 1970 albums Albums produced by Joe Boyd Albums produced by John Cale Reprise Records albums