Nico

This double-disc set combines two live recordings by Nico from the early '80s, neither of them approaching the usual standard of a legitimate concert recording. The first CD, called "Incognito," features performances that fade out ("Saeta," "Femme Fatale"), stop abruptly ("Afraid"), or start in the middle ("The End"), and even when a track is complete, Nico herself may be all but inaudible. Annotator Dick Witts is able to offer little information about the source of the recording. He knows a bit more about the music on the second disc, which first appeared as an album called Janitor of Lunacy in 1996. This show was recorded at the Library Theatre in Manchester, England, in 1983. The quality of the recording is better than the first disc, but it still isn't very good. So, this album on the whole must be considered, in essence, a legal bootleg. That said, Nico offers a good selection of songs from her studio albums as well as the Velvet Underground favorites "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" (the latter rendered first in a band version and then a cappella). ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide